Getting started in EJ2 TypeScript Mention control

31 Jul 20268 minutes to read

This section explains the steps to create a simple Mention and demonstrates the basic usage of the Mention component using Essential® JS 2 quickstart seed repository. This seed repository is pre-configured with the Essential® JS 2 package.

This application is integrated with the webpack.config.js configuration and uses the latest version of the webpack-cli. It requires node v14.15.0 or higher. For more information about webpack and its features, refer to the webpack documentation.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following tools are installed on your machine:

Set up development environment

Clone the Syncfusion® TypeScript (Essential® JS 2) quickstart project from GitHub in the command prompt:

git clone https://github.com/SyncfusionExamples/ej2-quickstart-webpack ej2-quickstart

Navigate to the project folder in the command prompt:

cd ej2-quickstart

Install Syncfusion® Mention package

Syncfusion® TypeScript (Essential® JS 2) packages are available on the npmjs.com public registry. You can install all Syncfusion® TypeScript (Essential® JS 2) controls in a single @syncfusion/ej2 package or individual packages for each control.

Use the following command to install the @syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns package:

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns --save

Then, install the remaining dependent npm packages using the following command:

npm install

For more information about individual package and alternative installation methods, see the installation guide.

Import Syncfusion® Mention CSS styles

Syncfusion® JavaScript controls provide built-in themes, which are available from the npm theme packages. Additionally, themes can be loaded via CDN or customized using the Theme Studio. For more information, refer to the themes documentation.

The quickstart application is preconfigured to use the Fluent2 theme. To install the Fluent2 theme package, use the following command:

npm install @syncfusion/ej2-fluent2-theme --save

The required styles are imported in the ~/src/styles/styles.css file, as shown below:

@import "../../node_modules/@syncfusion/ej2-fluent2-theme/styles/mention/index.css";

Learn more about built-in themes and individual control CSS references.

Add Syncfusion® Mention control to the application

Open the application in Visual Studio Code and add the Syncfusion® TypeScript UI controls.

In this article, the Mention control is used as an example. Add the following Mention element to the ~/src/index.html file.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">


<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 Mention control</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>


<body>
    <div id='container' style="width:200px;">
        <!--element which is the Mention target to list the suggestions-->
        <label style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600;">Comments</label>
        <div id="mentionElement" style="min-height: 100px; border: 1px solid #D7D7D7; border-radius: 4px; padding: 8px; font-size: 14px; width: 600px;"></div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Now, to render the Mention control, add the following TypeScript code to the ~/src/app/app.ts file.

import { Mention } from '@syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns';

// define the array of data
let userData: string[] = ['Selma Rose', 'Garth', 'Robert', 'William', 'Joseph'];

// initialize Mention control
let mentionObject: Mention = new Mention({
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: userData
});

// render initialized Mention
mentionObject.appendTo('#mentionElement');

Run the application

Now, run the application in the browser using the following command.

npm run start

The following example, shows a basic Mention control.

import { Mention } from '@syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns';

// defined the array of data
let userData: string[] = ['Selma Rose', 'Garth', 'Robert', 'William', 'Joseph'];

// initialize Mention control
let mentionObject: Mention = new Mention({
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: userData
});

// render initialized Mention
mentionObject.appendTo('#mentionElement');
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 Mention</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-base/styles/bootstrap5.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-dropdowns/styles/bootstrap5.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='loader'>LOADING....</div>
    <div id='container' style="width:200px;">
        <!--element which is the Mention target to list the suggestions-->
        <label style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600;">Comments</label>
        <div id="mentionElement" style="min-height: 100px; border: 1px solid #D7D7D7; border-radius: 4px; padding: 8px; font-size: 14px; width: 600px;"></div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

Display mention character

By using the showMentionChar property, the text content can be displayed along with the mention character. You can customize the mention character by using the mentionChar property in the Mention control.

By default, the mentionChar is @ and the showMentionChar property is disabled.

The following example, displays the text content along with the mention character configured as #.

import { Mention } from '@syncfusion/ej2-dropdowns';

// defined the array of data
let userData: string[] = ['Selma Rose', 'Garth', 'Robert', 'William', 'Joseph'];

// initialize Mention control
let mentionObject: Mention = new Mention({
    mentionChar: '#',
    //set the data to dataSource property
    dataSource: userData,
    showMentionChar: true
});

// render initialized Mention
mentionObject.appendTo('#mentionElement');
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 Mention</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-base/styles/bootstrap5.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.1.29/ej2-dropdowns/styles/bootstrap5.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='loader'>LOADING....</div>
    <div id='container' style="width:200px;">
        <!--element which is the Mention target to list the suggestions-->
        <label style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600;">Comments</label>
        <div id="mentionElement" style="min-height: 100px; border: 1px solid #D7D7D7; border-radius: 4px; padding: 8px; font-size: 14px; width: 600px;"></div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>