Getting started with Angular MultiSelect component

26 Aug 20258 minutes to read

This section explains how to create a simple MultiSelect component and configure its available functionalities in Angular. The MultiSelect component allows users to select multiple values from a dropdown list, providing an intuitive interface for multi-item selection scenarios such as selecting multiple skills, categories, or preferences.

Dependencies

The following dependencies are required to use the Angular MultiSelect component in your application. Each package provides essential functionality for component operation, styling, and data management.

|-- @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns
    |-- @syncfusion/ej2-base
    |-- @syncfusion/ej2-data
    |-- @syncfusion/ej2-angular-base
    |-- @syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns
        |-- @syncfusion/ej2-inputs
        |-- @syncfusion/ej2-lists
        |-- @syncfusion/ej2-navigations
        |-- @syncfusion/ej2-popups
            |-- @syncfusion/ej2-buttons

Setup angular environment

Angular provides the easiest way to set up Angular CLI projects using the Angular CLI tool.

Install the CLI application globally to your machine.

npm install -g @angular/cli

Create a new application

ng new syncfusion-angular-multiselect

By default, this installs a CSS style-based application. To set up with SCSS, pass the –style=scss argument when creating the project.

Example code snippet:

ng new syncfusion-angular-multiselect --style=scss

Navigate to the created project folder.

cd syncfusion-angular-multiselect

Installing Syncfusion® MultiSelect package

Syncfusion® packages are distributed in npm as @syncfusion scoped packages. You can get all the Angular Syncfusion® packages from npm link.

Currently, Syncfusion® provides two types of package structures for Angular components:

  1. Ivy library distribution package format
  2. Angular compatibility compiler (Angular’s legacy compilation and rendering pipeline) package

Ivy library distribution package

Syncfusion® Angular packages(>=20.2.36) have been moved to the Ivy distribution to support the Angular Ivy rendering engine, and the packages are compatible with Angular version 12 and above. To download the package, use the below command.

Add @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns package to the application.

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns --save

Angular compatibility compiled package(ngcc)

For Angular versions below 12, you can use the legacy (ngcc) package of the Syncfusion® Angular components. To download the ngcc package, use the command below.

Add @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns@ngcc package to the application.

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns@ngcc --save

To specify the ngcc package in the package.json file, add the suffix -ngcc with the package version as shown below.

@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns:"20.2.38-ngcc"

Note: If the ngcc tag is not specified while installing the package, the Ivy Library Package will be installed and this package will throw a warning.

Registering MultiSelect module

Import the MultiSelect module into your Angular application (app.module.ts) from the package @syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns.

import { NgModule }      from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
// import the MultiSelectModule for the MultiSelect component
import { MultiSelectModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns';
import { AppComponent }  from './app.component';

@NgModule({
  //declaration of ej2-angular-dropdowns module into NgModule
  imports:      [ BrowserModule, MultiSelectModule ],
  declarations: [ AppComponent ],
  bootstrap:    [ AppComponent ]
})
export class AppModule { }

Adding CSS reference

The following CSS files are available in the ../node_modules/@syncfusion package folder. These can be referenced in [src/styles.css] using the following code.

@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-base/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-popups/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-lists/styles/material.css';
@import '../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns/styles/material.css';

Adding MultiSelect component

Modify the template in the [src/app/app.component.ts] file to render the Angular MultiSelect component. Add the Angular MultiSelect by using the <ejs-multiselect> selector in the template section of the app.component.ts file.

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  // specifies the template string for the MultiSelect component
  template: `<ejs-multiselect id='multiselectelement'></ejs-multiselect>`
})
export class AppComponent  { }

Binding data source

After initialization, populate the MultiSelect with data using the dataSource property. Here, an array of string values is passed to the MultiSelect component.

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
    selector: 'app-root',
    // specifies the template string for the MultiSelect component
    template: `<ejs-multiselect id='multiselectelement' [dataSource]='data'></ejs-multiselect>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    constructor() {
    }
    // defined the array of data
    public data: string[] = ['Badminton', 'Basketball', 'Cricket', 'Football', 'Golf', 'Gymnastics', 'Hockey', 'Rugby', 'Snooker', 'Tennis'];
}

Running the application

After completing the configuration required to render a basic MultiSelect, run the following command to display the output in your default browser.

ng serve

The following example illustrates the output in your browser.

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'
import { FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms'
import { MultiSelectModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns'
import { ButtonModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-buttons'



import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
imports: [
        FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule, MultiSelectModule, ButtonModule
    ],


standalone: true,
    selector: 'app-root',
    // specifies the template string for the MultiSelect component with dataSource
    template: `<ejs-multiselect id='multiselectelement' [dataSource]='data' [placeholder]='placeholder'></ejs-multiselect>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    constructor() {
    }
    // defined the array of data
    public data: string[] = ['Badminton', 'Cricket', 'Football', 'Golf', 'Tennis'];
    // set placeholder to MultiSelect input element
    public placeholder: string = 'Select games';
}
import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import 'zone.js';
bootstrapApplication(AppComponent).catch((err) => console.error(err));

Configure the popup list

By default, the width of the popup list automatically adjusts according to the MultiSelect input element’s width, and the height automatically adjusts according to the height of the popup list items.

The height and width of the popup list can also be customized using the popupHeight and popupWidth properties respectively.

In the following sample, the popup list’s width and height are configured.

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core'
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser'
import { FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms'
import { MultiSelectModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-dropdowns'
import { ButtonModule } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-buttons'




import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
imports: [
        FormsModule, ReactiveFormsModule, MultiSelectModule, ButtonModule
    ],


standalone: true,
    selector: 'app-root',
    // specifies the template string for the MultiSelect component with dataSource
    template: `<ejs-multiselect id='multiselectelement' [dataSource]='data' [placeholder]='placeholder' [popupHeight]='popupHeight' [popupWidth]='popupWidth'></ejs-multiselect>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    constructor() {
    }
    // defined the array of data
    public data: string[] = ['Badminton', 'Cricket', 'Football', 'Golf', 'Hockey', 'Rugby'];
    // set placeholder to MultiSelect input element
    public placeholder: string = 'Select games';
    //set height to popup list
    public popupHeight:string = '200px';
    //set width to popup list
    public popupWidth:string = '250px';
}
import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import 'zone.js';
bootstrapApplication(AppComponent).catch((err) => console.error(err));

You can refer to the Angular MultiSelect feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore the Angular MultiSelect example that shows how to render the MultiSelect component in Angular.