[AutoComplete] "preferred_choices" are ignored

[jmfeurprier]

I recently switched from regular "EntityType" form fields to "BaseEntityAutocompleteType", and most features work as expected, except for preferred choices, which appear to be totally ignored.

Given this form + this field :

<?php

namespace App\Form;

use App\Entity\Individual;
use App\Repository\BookmarkRepository;
use Override;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\SubmitType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\AsEntityAutocompleteField;

#[AsEntityAutocompleteField]
class AutocompleteTestType extends AbstractType
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly BookmarkRepository $bookmarkRepository,
    ) {
    }

    #[Override]
    public function buildForm(
        FormBuilderInterface $builder,
        array $options,
    ): void {
        $builder
            ->setMethod('GET')
            ->add(
                'test',
                AutocompleteTestField::class,
                [
                    'preferred_choices' => $this->getPreferredChoices(),
                ],
            )
            ->add(
                'submit',
                SubmitType::class,
            )
        ;
    }

    /**
     * @return Individual[]
     */
    private function getPreferredChoices(): iterable
    {
        $individuals = [];

        foreach ($this->bookmarkRepository->findAll() as $bookmark) {
            $individuals[] = $bookmark->getIndividual();
        }

        return $individuals;
    }
}

<?php

namespace App\Form;

use App\Entity\Individual;
use Override;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolver;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\AsEntityAutocompleteField;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\BaseEntityAutocompleteType;

#[AsEntityAutocompleteField]
class AutocompleteTestField extends AbstractType
{
    #[Override]
    public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver): void
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults(
            [
                'autocomplete' => true,
                'choice_label' => static fn(Individual $individual) => "{$individual->getLastName()}, {$individual->getFirstName()}",
                'choice_value' => 'id',
                'class'        => Individual::class,
                'multiple'     => false,
            ]
        );
    }

    #[Override]
    public function getParent(): string
    {
        return BaseEntityAutocompleteType::class;
    }
}

Expected behavior

Having the preferred choices showing before the autocomplete-fetched choices, like for non-autocomplete fields (EntityType, ChoiceType, etc).
...Or having the documentation reflect the absence of support for this feature.

Actual behavior

Starting with an empty selection, when I click on the form drop-down, the list is empty, the spinner shows, then the list of all choices is displayed, instead of showing preferred choices first, then the other choices.

[smnandre]

https://symfony.com/bundles/ux-autocomplete/current/index.html#passing-extra-options-to-the-ajax-powered-autocomplete

[jmfeurprier]

Thanks for the documentation link.

I adapted the code to be using the extra_options, but the preferred choices are still ignored :

<?php

namespace App\Form;

use App\Repository\BookmarkRepository;
use Override;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\SubmitType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\AsEntityAutocompleteField;

#[AsEntityAutocompleteField]
class AutocompleteTestType extends AbstractType
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly BookmarkRepository $bookmarkRepository,
    ) {
    }

    #[Override]
    public function buildForm(
        FormBuilderInterface $builder,
        array $options,
    ): void {
        $builder
            ->setMethod('GET')
            ->add(
                'test',
                AutocompleteTestField::class,
                [
                    'extra_options' => [
                        'preferred_choices' => $this->getPreferredChoices(),
                    ],
                ],
            )
            ->add(
                'submit',
                SubmitType::class,
            )
        ;
    }

    /**
     * @return string[]
     */
    private function getPreferredChoices(): iterable
    {
        $individuals = [];

        foreach ($this->bookmarkRepository->findAll() as $bookmark) {
            $individuals[] = $bookmark->getIndividual()->getId();
        }

        return $individuals;
    }
}

<?php

namespace App\Form;

use App\Entity\Individual;
use App\Repository\IndividualRepository;
use Override;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\Options;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolver;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\AsEntityAutocompleteField;
use Symfony\UX\Autocomplete\Form\BaseEntityAutocompleteType;

#[AsEntityAutocompleteField]
class AutocompleteTestField extends AbstractType
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly IndividualRepository $individualRepository,
    ) {
    }

    #[Override]
    public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver): void
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults(
            [
                'autocomplete'      => true,
                'choice_label'      => static fn(Individual $individual) => "{$individual->getLastName()}, {$individual->getFirstName()}",
                'choice_value'      => 'id',
                'class'             => Individual::class,
                'preferred_choices' => $this->getPreferredChoices(...),
            ]
        );
    }

    /**
     * @return Individual[]
     */
    private function getPreferredChoices(Options $options): iterable
    {
        $ids = $options['extra_options']['preferred_choices'] ?? [];

        if (empty($ids)) {
            return [];
        }

        return $this->individualRepository->findBy(
            [
                'id' => $ids,
            ]
        );
    }

    #[Override]
    public function getParent(): string
    {
        return BaseEntityAutocompleteType::class;
    }
}