<ReferenceArrayInput>

Use <ReferenceArrayInput> to edit an array of reference values, i.e. to let users choose a list of values (usually foreign keys) from another REST endpoint.

Usage

For instance, a post record has a tag_ids field, which is an array of foreign keys to tags record.

┌──────────────┐       ┌────────────┐
│ post         │       │ tags       │
│--------------│       │------------│
│ id           │   ┌───│ id         │
│ title        │   │   │ name       │
│ body         │   │   └────────────┘
│ tag_ids      │───┘
└──────────────┘             

To make the tag_ids for a post editable, use the following:

import { Edit, SimpleForm, TextInput, ReferenceArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

const PostEdit = () => (
    <Edit>
        <SimpleForm>
            <TextInput source="title" />
            <ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags" />
        </SimpleForm>
    </Edit>
);

<ReferenceArrayInput> requires a source and a reference prop.

<ReferenceArrayInput> uses the array of foreign keys to fetch the related records. It also grabs the list of possible choices for the field. For instance, if the PostEdit component above is used to edit the following post:

{
    id: 1234,
    title: "Lorem Ipsum",
    body: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.",
    tag_ids: [1, 23, 4]
}

Then <ReferenceArrayInput> will issue the following queries:

dataProvider.getMany('tags', { ids: [1, 23, 4] });
dataProvider.getList('tags', { 
    filter: {},
    sort: { field: 'id', order: 'DESC' },
    pagination: { page: 1, perPage: 25 }
});

<ReferenceArrayInput> renders an <AutocompleteArrayInput> to let the user select the related record. Users can narrow down the choices by typing a search term in the input. This modifies the query sent to the dataProvider as follows:

dataProvider.getList('tags', { 
    filter: { q: ['search term'] },
    sort: { field: 'id', order: 'DESC' },
    pagination: { page: 1, perPage: 25 }
});

See Customizing the filter query below for more information about how to change filter prop based on the <AutocompleteArrayInput> search term.

You can tweak how <ReferenceArrayInput> fetches the possible values using the page, perPage, sort, and filter props.

You can replace the default <AutocompleteArrayInput> with another choice input, by setting a child component. For instance, to use a <SelectArrayInput>:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, SelectArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tag_ids" reference="tags">
    <SelectArrayInput />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

See the children section for more details.

Props

Note: <ReferenceArrayInput> doesn’t accept the common input props ; it is the responsability of children to apply them.

children

By default, <ReferenceInput> renders an <AutocompleteArrayInput> to let end users select the reference record.

You can pass a child component to customize the way the reference selector is displayed.

For instance, to customize the input label set the label prop on the child component:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, AutocompleteArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput label="code" />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

The child can be:

• <SelectArrayInput>
• <AutocompleteArrayInput>
• <DualListInput>
• <CheckboxGroupInput>,

import { ReferenceArrayInput, SelectInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <SelectArrayInput />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

You can even use a component of your own as child, provided it detects a ChoicesContext is available and gets their choices from it.

The choices context value can be accessed with the useChoicesContext hook.

enableGetChoices

You can make the getList() call lazy by using the enableGetChoices prop. This prop should be a function that receives the filterValues as parameter and return a boolean. This can be useful when using an <AutocompleteArrayInput> on a resource with a lot of data. The following example only starts fetching the options when the query has at least 2 characters:

<ReferenceArrayInput
     source="tags_ids"
     reference="tags"
     enableGetChoices={({ q }) => q && q.length >= 2}
/>

filter

You can filter the query used to populate the possible values. Use the filter prop for that.

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags" filter={{ is_published: true }} />

Note: When users type a search term in the <AutocompleteArrayInput>, this doesn’t affect the filter prop. Check the Customizing the filter query section below for details on how that filter works.

format

If you want to format the input value before displaying it, you have to pass a custom format prop to the <ReferenceArrayInput> child component, because <ReferenceArrayInput> doesn’t have a format prop. It is the responsibility of the child component to format the input value.

For instance, if you want to transform an option value before rendering, and the selection control is an <AutocompleteArrayInput> (the default), set the <AutocompleteArrayInput format> prop as follows:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, AutocompleteArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput format={value => value == null ? 'not defined' : value} />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

The same goes if the child is a <SelectArrayInput>:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, SelectArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <SelectArrayInput format={value => value === undefined ? 'not defined' : null} />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

label

In an <Edit> or <Create> view, the label prop has no effect. <ReferenceArrayInput> has no label, it simply renders its child (an <AutocompleteArrayInput> by default). If you need to customize the label, set the label prop on the child element:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, AutocompleteArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput label="Post tags" />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

In a Filter form, react-admin uses the label prop to set the Filter label. So in this case, the label prop is not ignored, but you also have to set it on the child input.

const filters = [
    <ReferenceArrayInput label="Post tags" source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
        <AutocompleteArrayInput label="Post tags" />
    </ReferenceArrayInput>,
];

parse

By default, children of <ReferenceArrayInput> transform the empty form value (an empty string) into null before passing it to the dataProvider.

If you want to change this behavior, you have to pass a custom parse prop to the <ReferenceArrayInput> child component, because <ReferenceArrayInput> doesn’t have a parse prop. It is the responsibility of the child component to parse the input value.

For instance, if you want to transform an option value before submission, and the selection control is an <AutocompleteArrayInput> (the default), set the <AutocompleteArrayInput parse> prop as follows:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, AutocompleteArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput parse={value => value === 'not defined' ? null : value} />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

The same goes if the child is a <SelectArrayInput>:

import { ReferenceArrayInput, SelectArrayInput } from 'react-admin';

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <SelectArrayInput parse={value => value === 'not defined' ? undefined : null} />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

perPage

By default, <ReferenceArrayInput> fetches only the first 25 values. You can extend this limit by setting the perPage prop.

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags" perPage={100} />

This prop is mostly useful when using <SelectArrayInput> or <CheckboxGroupInput> as child, as the default <AutocompleteArrayInput> child allows to filter the possible choices with a search input.

queryOptions

Use the queryOptions prop to pass options to the dataProvider.getList() query that fetches the possible choices.

For instance, to pass a custom meta:

<ReferenceArrayInput 
    source="tag_ids"
    reference="tags"
    queryOptions={{ meta: { foo: 'bar' } }}
/>

reference

The name of the reference resource. For instance, in a post form, if you want to edit the post tags, the reference should be “tags”.

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags" />

<ReferenceArrayInput> will use the reference resource recordRepresentation to display the selected record and the list of possible records. So for instance, if the tags resource is defined as follows:

<Resource name="tags" recordRepresentation="name" />

Then <ReferenceArrayInput> will display the company name in the input and the list of possible values.

You can override this default by specifying the optionText prop in the child component. For instance, for an <AutocompleteArrayInput>:

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput optionText="reference" />
</ReferenceArrayInput>

sort

By default, <ReferenceArrayInput> orders the possible values by id desc.

You can change this order by setting the sort prop (an object with field and order properties).

<ReferenceArrayInput 
    source="tag_ids"
    reference="tags"
    sort={{ field: 'name', order: 'ASC' }}
/>

source

The name of the property in the record that contains the array of identifiers of the selected record.

For instance, if a post contains a reference to tags via a tag_ids property:

{
    id: 456,
    title: "Hello, world!",
    tag_ids: [123, 456]
}

Then to display a selector for the post tags, you should call <ReferenceArrayInput> as follows:

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags" />

Customizing The Filter Query

By default, <ReferenceArrayInput> renders an <AutocompleteArrayInput>, which lets users type a search term to filter the possible values. <ReferenceArrayInput> calls dataProvider.getList() using the search term as filter, using the format filter: { q: [search term] }.

If you want to customize the conversion between the search term and the query filter to match the filtering capabilities of your API, use the <AutocompleteArrayInput filterToQuery> prop.

const filterToQuery = searchText => ({ name_ilike: `%${searchText}%` });

<ReferenceArrayInput source="tags_ids" reference="tags">
    <AutocompleteArrayInput filterToQuery={filterToQuery} />
</ReferenceArrayInput>