FEATURE: Support Search Filter Option in jQueryUI selectmenu()

[TheWitness]

So, I'm looking to get select2() type search box functionality with jQueryUI's selectmenu(). I'm guessing that I could hack something together, but it would be nice if the search option was available in the stock selectmenu().

I did not see any open or closed tickets related to this. Is this a topic that was previously tracked in the old bug tracker and never migrated? Has anyone given any though or time into implementing such a thing?

[TheWitness]

I do like the approach of sumoselect(). It places a textbox above the select value and then filters the options list via a simple recursive search. Seems a reasonable approach. Or take the select2() route and reposition the dropdown to make space for a textbox below the selected item and allow searching from there. Both would be good IMHO.

[mgol]

We're generally avoiding new features in jQuery UI right now; see the project status at https://blog.jqueryui.com/2021/10/jquery-maintainers-update-and-transition-jquery-ui-as-part-of-overall-modernization-efforts/.

[TheWitness]

So is that a hard requirement or will you take a contribution if I happen to get the time to do it?

[mgol]

We could review a PR if it was small & relatively simple but I doubt it'd be the case here. Note that all such new functionality would need to be thoroughly tested, accessible (this is often hard to achieve), etc. - I'm not optimistic this is feasible with the current project status.