Setting focus of an input element in vue.js

Question

I'm trying to set the focus of an input element in Vue.js. I found some help online but none of the explanation worked for me.

Here's my code :

<template>
    <form method="post" action="" v-on:submit.prevent="search">
        <input type="text" placeholder="Person name" required v-model="name" v-el="nameInput" />
        <input type="text" placeholder="Company" required v-model="company" v-el="domainInput" />
        <input type="submit" value="Search" class="btn show-m" />
    </form>
</template>

<script>
export default {
    data () {
        return {
            contacts: [],
            name: null,
            company: null
        }
    },
    ready: {
        // I tried the following :
        this.$$.nameInput.focus();
        this.$els.nameInput.focus();
        // None of them worked !
    }
    methods: {
        search: function (event) {
            // ...

            // I also would like to give the focus here, once the form has been submitted.
            // And here also, this.$$ and this.$els doesn't work
        },
    }
}
</script>

I tried this.$$.nameInput.focus(); and this.$els.nameInput.focus(); for what I could find online to target the focus, but this.$$ is undefined, and this.$els is empty.

I'm using Vue.js v1.0.15

Answer 1

In vue 2.x you can solve it with a directive.

Vue.directive('focus', {
    inserted: function (el) {
        el.focus()
    }
})

Then you can use v-focus attribute on inputs and other elements:

<input v-focus>

Answer 2

Another solution using Vue 2.x and ref.

You can use the ref/$refs attribute to target your input and focus it.

In the example a simple method is used which can target the inputs using the ref attribute supplied to the inputs. Then access the $refs property on your instance to get a reference to the DOM element.

<script>
export default {
    // ...
  mounted: function () {
    this.focusInput('nameInput');
  },
  methods: {
    // This is the method that focuses the element
    focusInput: function ( inputRef ) {
      // $refs is an object that holds the DOM references to your inputs
      this.$refs[inputRef].focus();
    },

    search: function (event) {
      this.focusInput('domainInput');
    },
  }
}
</script>

<template>
  <form method="post" action="" v-on:submit.prevent="search">
    <input type="text" placeholder="Person name" required v-model="name" ref="nameInput" />
    <input type="text" placeholder="Company" required v-model="company" ref="domainInput" />
    <input type="submit" value="Search" class="btn show-m" />
  </form>
</template>

This solution is best for a one off situation or for a reusable component. For a more global approach the directive is the way to go.