Getting Started with DropDownButton Web Component
Smart UI Web Components work with current evergreen browsers and Node 18+ for local tooling; pin package versions to match your project policy.
Smart UI is distributed as the smart-webcomponents NPM package. You can also use the full download from the Download page.
Quick start
- Install the package:
npm install smart-webcomponents
- Load the DropDownButton module (ES module script):
<script type="module" src="node_modules/smart-webcomponents/source/modules/smart.dropdownbutton.js"></script>
- Add the default stylesheet (prefer angular.json / bundler entry in app codebases; for plain HTML use a link):
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="node_modules/smart-webcomponents/source/styles/smart.default.css" />
- Add markup in one of two ways - semantic custom element (the component tag is in your HTML) or a host
div(you mount programmatically with appendTo):
Semantic element (id matches the selector in Smart()):
<smart-drop-down-button id="dropdownbutton"></smart-drop-down-button>
Host container (id matches appendTo on Smart.DropDownButton):
<div id="dropdownbuttonContainer"></div>
- Initialize after the module loads: define a const dropdownbuttonOptions object, then either bind with Smart('#dropdownbutton', ...) on the semantic tag or use new Smart.DropDownButton({ ...dropdownbuttonOptions, appendTo: '#dropdownbuttonContainer' }) on the host
div:
<script type="module"> import 'node_modules/smart-webcomponents/source/modules/smart.dropdownbutton.js'; const dropdownbuttonOptions = { placeholder: 'Calendar' }; // Option A - semantic <smart-drop-down-button> with id="dropdownbutton" Smart('#dropdownbutton', class { get properties() { return dropdownbuttonOptions; } }); // Option B - host div id="dropdownbuttonContainer" // const dropdownbuttonInstance = new Smart.DropDownButton({ // ...dropdownbuttonOptions, // appendTo: '#dropdownbuttonContainer' // }); // Option C - constructor(selector, options), then append the returned element yourself // const myDropDownButton = new Smart.DropDownButton('#dropdownbutton', dropdownbuttonOptions); // document.body.appendChild(myDropDownButton); </script>
Uncomment Option B when you use the host
div; use Option A when you use the semantic element. The Runtime cookbook also documents new Smart.DropDownButton('#dropdownbutton', dropdownbuttonOptions) with appendChild, and document.createElement('smart-drop-down-button') with .props or Object.assign (all are valid patterns; do not combine overlapping patterns for the same instance unless you intend multiple components). - Serve the folder over HTTP (or use your bundler dev server) and open the page.
Runtime cookbook
Alternative creation patterns and imperative APIs. These are all valid ways to create Smart UI components: semantic markup + Smart(); new Smart.DropDownButton({ ...options, appendTo: '#...' }); new Smart.DropDownButton('#dropdownbutton', dropdownbuttonOptions) plus appendChild on the returned element; and document.createElement('smart-drop-down-button') then assigning options via .props or Object.assign on the element.
Constructor with a selector string and options, then append the returned element (for example const myDropDownButton = new Smart.DropDownButton('#dropdownbutton', dropdownbuttonOptions)):
const dropdownbuttonOptions = { placeholder: 'Calendar' };
const myDropDownButton = new Smart.DropDownButton('#dropdownbutton', dropdownbuttonOptions);
document.body.appendChild(myDropDownButton);
Create with document.createElement('smart-drop-down-button'), assign properties (same as any custom element), then append:
const dropdownbuttonOptions = { placeholder: 'Calendar' };
const dropdownbutton = document.createElement('smart-drop-down-button');
Object.assign(dropdownbutton, dropdownbuttonOptions);
document.body.appendChild(dropdownbutton);
Host on a div with appendTo (import the module, then instantiate when the document is ready; the container id must match appendTo):
import "../../source/modules/smart.dropdownbutton.js";
document.readyState === 'complete' ? init() : window.addEventListener('load', init);
function init() {
const dropdownbuttonOptions = { placeholder: 'Calendar' };
const dropdownbutton = new Smart.DropDownButton({
...dropdownbuttonOptions,
appendTo: '#dropdownbuttonContainer'
});
}
Append to the DOM:
const container = document.getElementById('dropdownbutton-container');
container.appendChild(dropdownbutton);
Remove from the DOM:
dropdownbutton.remove();
Set a property:
dropdownbutton.disabled = true; dropdownbutton.theme = 'dark';
Get a property value:
const isDisabled = dropdownbutton.disabled; const currentTheme = dropdownbutton.theme;
Invoke a method:
dropdownbutton.refresh(); dropdownbutton.focus();
Add event listener:
dropdownbutton.addEventListener('open', (event) => {
console.log('open triggered:', event.detail);
});
Remove event listener:
const handleDropDownButtonEvent = (event) => {
console.log('open triggered:', event.detail);
};
dropdownbutton.addEventListener('open', handleDropDownButtonEvent);
dropdownbutton.removeEventListener('open', handleDropDownButtonEvent);
Accessibility
The DropDownButton component follows WAI-ARIA best practices:
- Keyboard navigation - Tab, Arrow keys, Enter, and Escape are supported
- ARIA roles - Appropriate roles and labels are applied automatically
- Focus management - Visible focus indicators for keyboard users
- Screen readers - State changes are announced to assistive technology
- High contrast - Supports Windows High Contrast Mode and forced colors
For custom labeling, set aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes on the component.
Supported stacks: Smart UI targets Angular 17+, React 18+, Vue 3+, Node 18 LTS, and evergreen browsers; pin exact package versions to your org policy.