Autocomplete not working since Symphony 2.3.3 / Deprecate Extension?

[twiro]

I just noticed there was an update to version 1.5 that claims to be compatible with Symphony 2.5.2.

That's at least not true for the autocomplete functionality, which doesn't show any results/suggestions at the moment (Tested on a fresh 2.5.2-Install with Firefox and Chrome).

Without autocomplete this extension offers nothing more than a basic SBL-Field, so I think it's pretty obsolete in it's current state:

"Works in a near identical way to the Select Box Link field, except you can choose whether to display the field as a select box or an autocomplete input." (Field Description)

As the autocomplete-issues date back to Symphony 2.3.3 and originate from a plugin that has been deprecated since 2010 and regarding the fact we have an up-to-date working autocomplete solution with @nilshoerrmann's Association UI Selector since Symphony 2.5 I would suggest to no longer maintain this extension and mark it as deprecated.

@brendo, @nilshoerrmann, @nitriques - what do you think? Is there any reason to keep this alive?

Having extensions like this listed as compatible on symphonyextensions.com doesn't do Symphony any good as it clearly isn't capable of what it is promising and makes finding the right tools for the job even a little more difficult than it already is.

[nitriques]

what do you think? Is there any reason to keep this alive?

IHMO, no. But I never used it...

Having extensions like this listed as compatible on symphonyextensions.com doesn't do Symphony any good as it clearly isn't capable of what it is promising and makes finding the right tools for the job even a little more difficult than it already is.

I totally agree. I could deprecate it via the xml file, but I am not the one who manages the extensions site...

On the other hand, @kmeinke seems to be able to use it with 2.5 tho.

[brendo]

I'd be happy to deprecate this field, though I'd like to find what's the cause of the autocomplete not working so we can patch that and then officially deprecate it.

I totally agree. I could deprecate it via the xml file, but I am not the one who manages the extensions site...

The extensions site takes cues from the XML file, if it's marked as deprecated there it'll update on the extensions site next time it does it's import.

[nitriques]

The extensions site takes cues from the XML file, if it's marked as deprecated there it'll update on the extensions site next time it does it's import.

Yeah I forgot about that ... sorry !

[twiro]

On the other hand, @kmeinke seems to be able to use it with 2.5 tho.

Would be interested if that's true for the autocomplete part or only for the basic SBL-functionality - @kmeinke , could you share any light on this?

I'd be happy to deprecate this field, though I'd like to find what's the cause of the autocomplete not working so we can patch that and then officially deprecate it.

The jquery-plugin used in this extension simply isn't compatible with jquery 2.X - as mentioned above it was deprecated long ago and would have to be replaced with its successor which is part of the jquery UI library. Not a good solution in my eyes as jquery UI would be a pretty bloated library for a simple autocomplete - apart from that it might cause new troubles in combination with other (older and nowadays probably also obsolete) extensions like SBL Plus that also include a custom version of Jquery UI.

Another option would be to include a newer autocomplete-plugin, but that would probably just mean to rebuild something @nilshoerrmann has already done with his association UI work in a very convincing and conceptually much better way (Switching UIs of one core association field instead of introducing new fields for every UI).

So though a working autocomplete-solution for this extension would come handy with regard to easier updating-possibilities for older pages (I used this field quite a lot prior to Symphony 2.3.3) I don't really think it's worth the effort.

Focussing on building a rock solid base for all kind of association UIs would be a better investement I think and apart from still being in beta and having some basic issues I still see a conceptual flaw in Association Field that I'd really like to hear your opinion on @brendo

[kmeinke]

I didnt checked the autocomplete feature. At the time i just needed the basic functionality, and thats what i fixed.

I saw there is work done on upgrading existing SBL to assoc fields.

[twiro]

I didnt checked the autocomplete feature. At the time i just needed the basic functionality, and thats what i fixed.

That's what I guessed - but the "basic functionality" of Reference Field is in fact the functionality provided by Selectbox Link Field.

Reference Field just extends this field by adding an autocomplete-option for the interface. So without working autocomplete UI this extension is nothing more than a kind of useless facade for SBL.

And as autocomplete isn't working since Symphony 2.3.3 I'm all for reflecting that in the compatibility matrix. And deprecating this extension - if everyone is ok with that.

[kmeinke]

true. somewhere in the life of the project the autocomplete wasn not needed anymore. I forgot about it.
Sorry if I caused confusion!