How to Create Dynamic Labels in AngularJS Select Dropdowns

Learn how to customize dropdown option labels in AngularJS by merging company and person names into a single dropdown list.
---

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Two kinds of labels for options in select dropdown

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
How to Create Dynamic Labels in AngularJS Select Dropdowns

When working with dropdown menus in AngularJS, you might face situations where you need to display different types of entities, such as people and companies, in the same dropdown. In such cases, you want your dropdown options to showcase the most pertinent information, like the name of a person or the name of a company, depending on the type of entity.

In this guide, we will explore a practical solution for customizing the labels of dropdown options based on the type of the entries. Specifically, we will guide you through merging different fields from your objects to create a unified label for your dropdown list.

The Problem: Mixed Entities in a Dropdown

You may have a data structure where each object represents either a person or a company. Each object contains distinct properties, such as name for individuals and companyName for businesses. Your goal is to create a dropdown that appropriately displays:

Aida Whitburg (person)

Jones Investments (company)

Edison Yuen (person)

Example Objects

Here’s a look at how your data structure might look:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution: Merging Fields for Display Labels

To create a unified label for your dropdown, you can merge the name and companyName fields into a new property called label. This new property will contain either the name of the person or the company name based on the type of entity.

Implementing the Solution

Follow these steps to implement the solution:

Map Over Your Entities: Use the .map() method to iterate over the array of entities.

Create a New Property: For each entity, check if it’s a person (has a name) or a company (has a companyName), and then assign the appropriate value to a new property called label.

Return the Updated Object: Return the updated object with the new label property.

Here’s the code that accomplishes this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Why This Works

In the code above:

We are efficiently transforming the structure of our data to fit our dropdown requirements.

The label will now reference either name or companyName, optimizing the approach based on entity type.

Rendering the Dropdown

Now that the objects correctly contain the label, you can effortlessly use it in your ng-options directive in AngularJS. Here’s an example of how to modify the dropdown:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Takeaways

By merging fields into a new label property, you can customize dropdown options dynamically.

This approach is adaptable—whether you have additional properties or different types, you can easily modify the mapping logic.

Utilizing the power of AngularJS with a clear understanding of JavaScript arrays allows for smooth and efficient data handling.

With this method, you can create a flexible AngularJS dropdown that beautifully represents mixed entities. Happy coding!