Salesforce Lookup Component

[!IMPORTANT] The Winter '24 release introduces a new Lightning base component that is similar to this lookup component: lightning-record-picker (release announcement). Here is a table to help you understand the key differences (non-exhaustive) between the two components:

^* Forward-Looking Statements. No estimated date of delivery or guarantees.

1. About
2. Installation
3. Documentation
   1. Getting started
   2. Handling selection changes (optional)
   3. Providing default search results (optional)
   4. Saving form state when creating new records (optional)
   5. Passing custom data to JavaScript and Apex (optional)
4. Reference
5. Special use cases
   1. Working with picklists values

About

This is a generic & customizable lookup component built using Salesforce Lightning Web Components and SLDS style.
It does not rely on third party libraries and you have full control over its datasource.

Features

The lookup component provides the following features:

• customizable data source that can return mixed sObject types
• single or multiple selection mode
• client-side caching & request throttling
• great test coverage
• full accessibility (a11y) compliance
• keyboard navigation
• search term highlighting
• ability to create new records

Installation

The default installation installs the lookup component and a sample application available under this URL (replace the domain):
https://YOUR_DOMAIN.lightning.force.com/c/SampleLookupApp.app

If you wish to install the project without the sample application, edit sfdx-project.json and remove the src-sample path.

Install the sample app by running this script:

MacOS or Linux

./install-dev.sh

Windows

install-dev.bat

Documentation

Getting Started

Follow these steps to use the lookup component:

1. Write the search endpoint

   Implement an Apex @AuraEnabled(cacheable=true scope='global') method (SampleLookupController.search in our samples) that returns the search results as a List<LookupSearchResult>. The method name can be different, but it needs to match this signature:

   @AuraEnabled(cacheable=true scope='global')
   public static List<LookupSearchResult> search(String searchTerm, List<String> selectedIds) {}

2. Import a reference to the search endpoint

   Import a reference to the search Apex method in the lookup parent component's JS:

   import apexSearch from '@salesforce/apex/SampleLookupController.search';

3. Handle the search event and pass search results to the lookup

   The lookup component exposes a search event that is fired when a search needs to be performed on the server-side. The parent component that contains the lookup must handle the search event:

   <c-lookup onsearch={handleSearch} label="Search" placeholder="Search Salesforce">
   </c-lookup>

   The search event handler calls the Apex search method and passes the results back to the lookup using the setSearchResults(results) function:

   async handleSearch(event) {
       const lookupElement = event.target;
       try {
           const results = await apexSearch(event.detail);
           lookupElement.setSearchResults(results);
       }
       catch (error) {
               // TODO: handle error
       }
   }

Handling selection changes (optional)

The lookup component exposes a selectionchange event that is fired when the selection of the lookup changes. The parent component that contains the lookup can handle the selectionchange event:

<c-lookup onsearch={handleSearch} onselectionchange={handleSelectionChange}
    label="Search" placeholder="Search Salesforce">
</c-lookup>

The selectionchange event handler can then get the current selection from the event detail or by calling the getSelection() function:

handleSelectionChange(event) {
    // Get the selected ids from the event (same interface as lightning-input-field)
    const selectedIds = event.detail;
    // Or, get the selection objects with ids, labels, icons...
    const selection = event.target.getSelection();
    // TODO: do something with the lookup selection
}

getSelection() always return a list of selected items. That list contains a maximum of one element if the lookup is a single-entry lookup.

Providing default search results (optional)

The lookup can return default search results with the setDefaultResults(results) function. This is typically used to return a list of recently viewed records (see sample app).

Here's how you can retrieve recent records and set them as default search results:

1. Implement an Apex endpoint that returns the recent records:

   @AuraEnabled(cacheable=true scope='global')
   public static List<LookupSearchResult> getRecentlyViewed()

   See the full code from the sample app

2. In your parent component, create a property that holds the default results:

   recentlyViewed = [];

3. Write a utility function that sets your default search results:

   initLookupDefaultResults() {
       // Make sure that the lookup is present and if so, set its default results
       const lookup = this.template.querySelector('c-lookup');
       if (lookup) {
           lookup.setDefaultResults(this.recentlyViewed);
       }
   }

4. Retrieve the recent records by calling your endpoint:

   @wire(getRecentlyViewed)
   getRecentlyViewed({ data }) {
       if (data) {
           this.recentlyViewed = data;
           this.initLookupDefaultResults();
       }
   }

5. Initialize the lookup default results when the parent component loads:

   connectedCallback() {
       this.initLookupDefaultResults();
   }

[!NOTE] The initLookupDefaultResults() function is called in two places because the wire could load before the lookup is rendered.

Saving form state when creating new records (optional)

The lookup component allows the user to create new record thanks to the optional newRecordOptions attribute. When users create a new record, they navigate away to the record edit form and they lose their current form input (lookup selection and more).

To prevent that from happening, you may provide an optional callback that lets you store the lookup state before navigating away. To do that, initialize the lookup new record options with a preNavigateCallback when the parent component loads:

connectedCallback() {
    /**
     * This callback is called before navigating to the new record form
     * @param selectedNewRecordOption the new record option that was selected
     * @return Promise - once resolved, the user is taken to the new record form
     */
    const preNavigateCallback = (selectedNewRecordOption) => {
        return new Promise((resolve) => {
            // TODO: add some preprocessing (i.e.: save the current form state)

            // Always resolve the promise otherwise the new record form won't show up
            resolve();
        });
    };

    // Assign new record options with the pre-navigate callback to your lookup
    this.newRecordOptions = [
        { value: 'Account', label: 'New Account', preNavigateCallback },
        { value: 'Opportunity', label: 'New Opportunity', preNavigateCallback }
    ];
}

[!TIP] Consider working with cookies to store information in a temporary state with an expiry date.

Passing custom data to JavaScript and Apex (optional)

Sometimes, you may want to pass extra data from the lookup component to Apex. To do so, use dataset attributes:

1. In the parent component that uses the lookup, add a dataset attribute (data-custom in this example):

   <c-lookup
       selection={initialSelection}
       onsearch={handleLookupSearch}
       label="Search"
       is-multi-entry={isMultiEntry}
       data-custom="My custom value"
   >

2. In the parent JS, use the dataset attribute that you just added:

   handleLookupSearch(event) {
       const lookupElement = event.target;
   
       alert(lookupElement.dataset.custom); // My custom value
   
       // Actual search code
   }

Reference

Attributes

Functions

Events

Special use cases

Working with picklists values

The lookup component can also be used to select values from picklist fields.

This Apex sample example demonstrates how you can query for the values of Account.Industry:

@AuraEnabled(cacheable=true scope='global')
public static List<LookupSearchResult> search(String searchTerm, List<String> selectedIds) {
    // Prepare query parameters
    searchTerm = '%' + searchTerm + '%';
    // Execute search query
    List<PicklistValueInfo> entries = [
        SELECT Label, Value
        FROM PicklistValueInfo
        WHERE
            EntityParticle.EntityDefinition.QualifiedApiName = 'Account'
            AND EntityParticle.QualifiedApiName = 'Industry'
            AND isActive = TRUE
            AND Label LIKE :searchTerm
            AND Value NOT IN :selectedIds
        LIMIT 5
    ];
    // Prepare results
    List<LookupSearchResult> results = new List<LookupSearchResult>();
    for (PicklistValueInfo entry : entries) {
        results.add(new LookupSearchResult(entry.Value, null, null, entry.Label, null));
    }
    return results;
}