My Design System

My Design System

Select

Source: TypeScript / Java

Select allows users to choose a single value from a list of options presented in an overlay.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<vaadin-select
  value="recent"
  label="Sort by"
  .renderer="${guard(
    [],
    () => (root: HTMLElement) =>
      render(
        html`
          <vaadin-list-box>
            <vaadin-item value="recent">Most recent first</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="rating-desc">Rating: high to low</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="rating-asc">Rating: low to high</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="price-desc">Price: high to low</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="price-asc">Price: low to high</vaadin-item>
          </vaadin-list-box>
        `,
        root
      )
  )}"
></vaadin-select>

The dropdown can be opened with a click, up/down arrow keys, or by typing the initial character for one of the options.

Common Input Field Features

Select includes all Text Field and shared input field features.

Dividers

Dividers can be used to group related options. Use dividers sparingly to avoid creating unnecessary visual clutter.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<vaadin-select
  value="recent"
  label="Sort by"
  .renderer="${guard(
    [],
    () => (root: HTMLElement) =>
      render(
        html`
          <vaadin-list-box>
            <vaadin-item value="recent">Most recent first</vaadin-item>
            <hr />
            <vaadin-item value="rating-desc">Rating: high to low</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="rating-asc">Rating: low to high</vaadin-item>
            <hr />
            <vaadin-item value="price-desc">Price: high to low</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="price-asc">Price: low to high</vaadin-item>
          </vaadin-list-box>
        `,
        root
      )
  )}"
></vaadin-select>
Note
Use Combo Box for long lists
Please note that for large data sets it is preferable to use Combo Box instead of Select, as it allows users to filter the list of options.

Disabled Items

Items can be disabled. This prevents users from selecting them, while still showing that these items would be available for selection under different circumstances.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<vaadin-select
  label="Size"
  value="xl"
  .renderer="${guard(
    [],
    () => (root: HTMLElement) =>
      render(
        html`
          <vaadin-list-box>
            <vaadin-item value="xs" disabled>XS (out of stock)</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="s">S</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="m">M</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="l">L</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="xl">XL</vaadin-item>
          </vaadin-list-box>
        `,
        root
      )
  )}"
></vaadin-select>
Caution
Accessibility
Some assistive technologies might not announce disabled options.

Placeholder

Use the placeholder feature to provide an inline text prompt for the field. Do not create, or use, a separate item for this purpose.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<vaadin-select
  label="Size"
  placeholder="Select size"
  .renderer="${guard(
    [],
    () => (root: HTMLElement) =>
      render(
        html`
          <vaadin-list-box>
            <vaadin-item value="xs">XS</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="s">S</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="m">M</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="l">L</vaadin-item>
            <vaadin-item value="xl">XL</vaadin-item>
          </vaadin-list-box>
        `,
        root
      )
  )}"
></vaadin-select>

Empty Selection Item (Flow Only)

An empty item can be set as the first option. Use it in cases where you want to allow users to clear their selection. The value of the empty item is represented as null.

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select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);

Customizing Empty Selection Caption

The label for the empty item is customizable.

The caption set replaces the placeholder for the empty selection item.

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select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);
select.setEmptySelectionCaption("Unknown size");

Custom Item Label

When using complex values, a label can be set to represent the item value as plain text.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<vaadin-item value="${person.id}">
  <!-- Use full name of the person as text content of the item -->
  ${formatPersonFullName(person)}
</vaadin-item>

When using custom item renderers with rich content, a label can be set to represent the item value when it is selected.

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The inline .renderer function is encapsulated by the guard directive for performance reasons. See the official Lit documentation for more details.

<!-- Use the label attribute to display full name of the person as selected value label -->
<vaadin-item value="${person.id}" label="${formatPersonFullName(person)}">
  <div style="display: flex; align-items: center;">
    <img
      src="${person.pictureUrl}"
      alt="Portrait of ${formatPersonFullName(person)}"
      style="width: var(--lumo-size-m); margin-right: var(--lumo-space-s);"
    />
    <div>
      ${formatPersonFullName(person)}
      <div
        style="font-size: var(--lumo-font-size-s); color: var(--lumo-secondary-text-color);"
      >
        ${person.profession}
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</vaadin-item>
Note
Flow-specific

When using setItemLabelGenerator in combination with setEmptySelectionAllowed, ensure that the implementation is capable of handling null values, as the empty selection item has the value null.

select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);
select.setItemLabelGenerator(person -> {
  if (person == null) {
      return "No assignee";
  }
  return person.getFullName();
});

The same applies when using a data source that may contain null values.

Custom Item Presentation

Items can be rendered with rich content instead of plain text. This can be useful to provide information in a more legible fashion than appending it to the item text.

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<vaadin-select label="Choose doctor" .renderer="${this.renderer}"></vaadin-select>

...

private renderer = (root: HTMLElement) => {
  render(
    html`
      <vaadin-list-box>
        ${this.people.map(
          (person) => html`
            <vaadin-item value="${person.id}">
              <!--
                NOTE
                We are using inline styles here to keep the example simple.
                We recommend placing CSS in a separate style sheet and
                encapsulating the styling in a new component.
              -->
              <div style="display: flex; align-items: center;">
                <img
                  src="${person.pictureUrl}"
                  alt="Portrait of ${person.firstName} ${person.lastName}"
                  style="width: var(--lumo-size-m); margin-right: var(--lumo-space-s);"
                />
                <div>
                  ${person.firstName} ${person.lastName}
                  <div
                    style="font-size: var(--lumo-font-size-s); color: var(--lumo-secondary-text-color);"
                  >
                    ${person.profession}
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </vaadin-item>
          `
        )}
      </vaadin-list-box>
    `,
    root
  );
};

Best Practices

Set a Default Value

When applicable, set the most common choice as the default value.

Do Not Use as a Menu

Select is an input field component, not a generic menu component. Use Menu Bar to create overlays for actions.

ComponentUsage recommendations

Radio Button

Better accessibility than Select, as all options are visible without user interaction.

Combo Box

Filterable list of options. Appropriate for large sets of options. Supports lazy loading entry of custom values.

List Box

Scrollable inline list of options. Supports single and multi-select.

Menu Bar

Overlay menus for items that trigger actions.