A text input field allows users to enter and edit text or numeric values in one line. To help users enter a valid value, you can enable the autocomplete suggestion feature and the value help option.

Usage

Use the input field if:

• The user needs to enter a short, single-line text or number.
• The user needs to enter a password, URL, phone number, or email address.
• The user needs to make a single selection from a large amount of data (for example, more than 200 items).
• The user needs to find an object by searching for more than one attribute, such as an ID, city, and customer name. Use this control in combination with the autocomplete suggestion feature and value help option. For a small set of values (for example, fewer than 20 items), consider using the select control. Otherwise, use the combo box (for 20–200 items).

Do not use the input field if:

• The user needs to enter dates and times. In this case, use the date picker, date range selection, or date/time picker.
• The user needs to enter long texts. In this case, use the text area.
• The user needs to carry out a search. In this case, use the search field instead.
• The user needs to select multiple values. In this case, use the multi-combo box (for fewer than 200 items) or the multi-input field (for more than 200 items) instead.

Responsiveness

In the examples below, the input field is shown in combination with the tabular autocomplete feature for different device sizes.

Types

Six input types are currently supported (API). Be sure to select the correct type for your use case. Depending on the input type, a different keyboard layout is displayed on a mobile device (see some sample input types).

Note: The control does not provide validation based on the type. The app development team must carry out format validation. If binding is used, validation is carried out by the model, but the error handling still needs to be taken care of on the UI.

Behavior and Interaction

Entering Text Using the Autocomplete Feature

Have a look at the interaction flow below:

Entering Text Using the Value Help Dialog

Have a look at the interaction flow below:

Styles

An input field can have four states: default, warning, error, or success.

Properties

Value State and Value State Message

The input control offers the four value states listed below. For the error and warning states, you can show an additional value state text when the focus is on the input field.

1. None (default): No value state message is shown.
2. Warning
3. Error
4. Success: No value state message is shown.

For more guidance on when to use which state, check out the article on message handling.

Maximum Length

Use this property to set the maximum number of characters allowed. There is no limit by default.

Placeholder

Description

Width

The width of the input field is set to 100% by default. Input fields are usually used in forms, where the width is determined by the form element or container that the input field is embedded in. Therefore, we do not recommend defining a fixed width, but rather working with proper layout containers, like the form, simple form, and responsive grid layout, and with the layout data property, where the width is defined by the 12-column approach.

Editable and Enabled States

Text Alignment

Value Help

The values can also be pasted into the input field by copying and pasting, or dragging and dropping, if the user prefers this. In this case, the values will be automatically transformed into conditional expressions. Example: Copying values “1234” and “5678” leads to the token generation “=1234” and “=5678”. Additionally, these values will be found within the conditions tab of the value help dialog.

Autocomplete Suggestion

The input control offers three different types of autocomplete suggestions: single, two-value, and tabular. The width of the autocomplete and the input fields are set by default, but you can change these via the maxSuggestionWidth property. The position of the suggestion box depends on the space available below the control. If there is not enough space, the suggest box is shown above the control.

Guidelines

Always provide a meaningful label for any input field.

Maximum Length

Limit the length of the input field. For example, if you expect the user to enter a two-digit number, limit the maximum length to two. The maximum permissible character length is not defined by default. If the backend has a limit, ensure that you set this property accordingly.

Placeholder

Avoid using the placeholder attribute as an alternative to a label. This is important because the placeholder text is overwritten as soon as the form is filled out. Labels are necessary to indicate the meaning of the form fields when the placeholders are no longer visible.

Description

The description field should be used, for example, for displaying units or currency. Do not use a description for help text or as a label replacement. Note that the description is not placed in a new line in size S. Therefore, only use the description property for small input fields with a short description.

Width

• Avoid setting a fixed width, but rather embed it in a proper layout (such as a form, simple form, or grid layout) and use the layout data property to define the responsive behavior for sizes S, M, and L:
  • Simple form – See a live example of a simple form and code snippet.
  • Form – See a live example of a form.
  • Grid layout – See a live example of a grid layout and code snippet.
• Ensure an appropriate width for the range of values to be entered for the sizes S, M, and L. Keep in mind that word length can vary between languages, so take localization into account.

Editable and Enabled States

Editable

Property settings: editable = true, enabled = true

The input control is enabled and editable by default. Set the control to editable to allow the user to enter a value.

Not Editable

Property settings: editable = false, enabled = true

Use this state, for example, to display data only.

Disabled

Property settings: editable = not relevant, enabled = false

Set the control to disabled in an edit scenario to indicate that the user cannot change the control, for example, due to missing access rights or previous conditions not having been fulfilled or selected.

Text Align

Align left if:

• Text is used. Also use left alignment for a phone number, URL, password, and email address.

Align right if:

• Amounts and decimal numbers are used.
• Values need to be added and compared.

Value Help

Show the value help option to help the user select the correct value (such as a customer ID) from a large data set via the:

• Value help dialog (complex)
• Select dialog (simple)
• Custom dialog

Use this option in combination with the autocomplete suggestion feature.

When the user clicks or taps the value help icon, the data entered into the input field must be transferred to the processing dialog so that the user does not have to enter the search term again. Likewise, data entered in the processing dialog must be transferred back to the input field.

Autocomplete Suggestion

Use the autocomplete suggestion feature to display real-time suggestions and to help the user enter information more accurately and efficiently. If you expect the suggest values to be longer than the input field itself, you can change the width via the maxSuggestionWidth property.

Single Value with Autocomplete

Use the single-value autocomplete feature if you want to search by only one attribute, such as an ID or a customer name.

Two Values with Autocomplete

Use the two-value autocomplete feature if you want to search by two attributes, such as a customer name and an ID. This ensures that the search is carried out for both attributes.

Tabular Autocomplete

If you need to display more than two attributes, use the tabular autocomplete feature. Try to keep the number of columns to a minimum, and focus on the columns that are really relevant for the use case. Define appropriate responsive behavior for sizes S and M. For more information, see responsive table.

The width of the columns is distributed equally by default. To avoid truncation, accurately estimate the primary attribute length and set a minimum width for this column.

Creating and Editing Objects

Sometimes a new object needs to be created if the user cannot find a specific item via autocomplete or value help. In this case, we recommend that you place the New action next to the input field.

If you want the user to be able to edit a selected object directly, you should place the Edit link next to the input field.

If both actions are needed, they should be toggled based on the content of the input field. If a valid object is selected, you should display Edit. If the input field is empty or the object is not valid, you should display New. This pattern can also be applied for the multi-input field, combo box, multi-combo box, and select controls.

Resources

Want to dive deeper? Follow the links below to find out more about related controls, the SAPUI5 implementation, and the visual design.