How to get Autocomplete functionality without a control

Question

If you supply a list of strings to an edit control and set the autocomplete mode and source then you automatically get autocomplete functionality. My question is can I get the same functionality in .NET somewhere without a control. In other words I want something like:

string[] ProgressivePartialMatch( string[] Strings, string MatchText )

and so I want the strings back that would have showed up in the autocomplete, so to speak.

Answer 1

You can use ajax to get matched items from database (jQuery will fit your needs). And simple javascript (preferably jQuery) for edit control. The question is why you need this?

P.S. Take a look at this

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/305994/jquery-autocomplete-and-asp-net

Answer 2

If it doesn't exist, it's easy to write yourself

string[] ProgressivePartialMatch(string[] Strings, string MatchText)
{
    return Strings.Where(s => s.StartsWith(MatchText)).ToArray();
}

Answer 3

If you want fast autocomplete, you're going to want to implement a trie. You can find all the items that start with a particular string by following the trie down until the "starts with" string ends.