Requirement

• Allow to search in a select box
• Replace a <select> box
• Be degradeable for usage without javascript
• Autocomplete like behavior for search string (search for "ab" returns all entries that contain "ab" in the list)
• Still be browsable (down arrow button)
• Simulate select box - The hidden field containing the selected "<option>" value must have the same name and id as the original select box
• Set initial value to the value of the selected entry
• Work with all wide-spread browsers including IE6
• Be jquery-based so that no additional js library is necessary
• Optional: ajax support for large lists with lazy loading

Candiates

SexyCombo

http://vladimir-k.blogspot.com/2009/02/sexy-combo-jquery-plugin.html

Problems

• Doesn't really work in IE6 - only the first entry is displayed
• Once an entry is selected, you can't browse anymore using the down arrow

FlexBox

http://www.fairwaytech.com/Technology/FlexBox.aspx

Problems

• No option to simply replace a select box
• No option to set the name and id of the hidden field
• Setting the initial value (a id) using "initialValue" displays the id in the field and not the corresponding name

Autocomplete

 http://mabp.kiev.ua/2008/04/08/autocomplete/

Problems

• Didn't get it work :-(

Quickselect

http://github.com/dcparker/jquery_plugins/tree/0ea47163c3ae4098f19f60b04aedfb4733bf6dc2/quickselect

Problems

• No select-like down arrow for browsing

Extjs

http://extjs.com/deploy/dev/examples/form/combos.html

http://extjs.com/deploy/dev/docs/ -> search for "combo"

Problems

• Large framework, not jquery based
• IE6 rendering not convincing
• No option found to search in the middle of words (Default = beginning of word)
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