jQuery autocomplete to get unused value

Question

In my ASP.Net MVC application I have a jQuery autocomplete on a text box. I have everything working to display currently used item names and what I want to do is force the user to enter a completely NEW item name. I.e. the autocomplete acts as a guide to what exists but the user must ultimately enter a completely used string value.

I want the UI to signal if a currently used item is selected (there will be anther check on the server side when submit is posted) so for the moment there is just a simple alert().

My script is as follows:

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#combobox').autocomplete('<%= Url.Action("ProjectIdList", "LookUp") %>', {
    delay:10,
    minChars:1,
    matchCase: 0,
    matchSubset: 1,
    autoFill: true,
    maxItemsToShow:10,
    cacheLength: 10,
    onItemSelect:selectItem,
    onFindValue:selectItem    
    });

});

Please note the markup: onItemSelect:selectItem, onFindValue:selectItem

I have further script as follows:

    function findValue(li) {
        if (li != null) return alert("This Project Id cannot be used");


    }
    function selectItem(li) {
        findValue(li);

    }

However, I cannot get these events to fire. What am I missing?

Alternatively, is there a better way to do this?

Answer 1

I have used

$("combobox").result(function(item){
  if(!item)
  {
    //no match
   }
});

with some success with the official plugin.

Answer 2

Full final code for this to help anyone who needs it was as follows:

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#combobox').autocomplete('<%= Url.Action("ProjectIdList", "LookUp") %>',
{
    delay: 10,
    minChars: 1,
    matchCase: 0,
    matchSubset: 1,
    autoFill: true,
    maxItemsToShow: 10,
    cacheLength: 10

}
);

        $('#combobox').result(function(item) {
            if (item) {
                //no match
                alert("Not this one!");
            }
        });
    });