c# - how to implement autocomplete functionality in search box in .net core mvc?

Question

I tried to add autocomplete or suggestion functionality in search box of view, as when some one enter any character, any word containing that character shows as suggestion, but this not works. I followed different tutorials but not able to solve it. Please take a look and give me the direction. Thnx in advance.

Controller

 public async Task<IActionResult> dashboard(string sortOrder, string SearchString)
        {
            ViewData["NameSortParm"] = String.IsNullOrEmpty(sortOrder) ? "name_desc" : "";
           
            var movies = from m in _context.Movie
                         select m;
            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(SearchString))
            {
                movies = movies.Where(s => s.MovieName.Contains(SearchString));
            }
            switch (sortOrder)
            {
                case "name_desc":
                    movies = movies.OrderByDescending(s => s.MovieName);
                    break;
                
                default:
                    movies = movies.OrderBy(s => s.MovieName);
                    break;
            }
            return View(await movies.AsNoTracking().ToListAsync());
        }
        
 
         public JsonResult AutoComplete(string prefix)  
         {
             var customers = (from movie in this._context.Movie
                              where movie.MovieName.StartsWith(prefix)
                              select new
                              {
                                  label = movie.MovieName,
                                  val = movie.Id
                              }).ToList();

             return Json(customers);
         }

dashboard.cshtml

@model IEnumerable<WebApplication1.Models.Movie>

@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "dashboard";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}

<h1>Dashboard</h1>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
<p>
    Find by Movie Name:  @Html.TextBox("SearchString")
    <input type="hidden" id="hfCustomer" name="Id" />
    <input type="submit" value="Search" />
</p>
}

<table class="table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>
                <a asp-action="dashboard" asp-route-sortOrder="@ViewData["NameSortParm"]">@Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.MovieName)</a>
            </th>

            

            <th></th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        @foreach (var item in Model)
        {
            <tr>
                <td>
                    @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.MovieName)
                </td>
               </tr>
        }
    </tbody>
</table>

<script type="text/javascript">
        $(function () {
            $("#txtMovie").autocomplete({
                source: function (request, response) {
                    $.ajax({
                        url: '/Movies/AutoComplete/',
                        data: { "prefix": request.term },
                        type: "POST",
                        success: function (data) {
                            response($.map(data, function (item) {
                                return item;
                            }))
                        },
                        error: function (response) {
                            alert(response.responseText);
                        },
                        failure: function (response) {
                            alert(response.responseText);
                        }
                    });
                },
                select: function (e, i) {
                    $("#hfCustomer").val(i.item.val);
                },
                minLength: 1
            });
        });
</script>

Answer 1

I tried to add autocomplete or suggestion functionality in search box of view, as when some one enter any character, any word containing that character shows as suggestion, but this not works.

Find by Movie Name:  @Html.TextBox("SearchString")

If you check the html source code of above TextBox in your browser, you would find it is rendered as below.

The value of id attribute is "SearchString", not "txtMovie". You can try to modify the code to use $("#SearchString") selector, like below.

$("#SearchString").autocomplete({
    //...
    //code logic here
    //...  

Test result with testing data

Note: please make sure you add references to required jquery libraries.

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.js"></script>