[Epic] Unification of select controls

[acstll]

✨ Summary

Following different "unification" (one-ification?) initiatives organization-wide (like One Discover), an idea has come up to also try and unify the Select Control offering in EUI.

The purpose of this epic is to define the API (exact or direction) of such "OneSelect" component, to enable its development.

❗ Problem or Opportunity

There are 4 different select-kind of controls in EUI: Basic select, Super select, Combobox and Selectable; yet some use cases are not covered, and it can be confusing for folks (for designers as well, not only developers) to decide which one might be the best options for they use case.

A recent example of a use case not covered by the available options is multiple selection with a customizable input (screenshot below). The workaround involved using EuiPopover with a custom button and EuiSelectable.

🎯 Value

Should improve cross-product consistency (e.g. having 3 different popovers on a single toolbar in Kibana is not desirable).

Should also heavily improve design/code parity and design/development workflows.

🎯 Urgency

It's causing friction among consumers and maintainers but also not contributing to overall product consistency.

🧠 Feasibility & Direction

We need to do: (a) research, in order to have clarity in terms of requirements (b) deliver a plan with an API that is long-lasting and fulfills all requirements

❓ Open Questions to answer

~

---

Related

• [EuiComboBox] Rebuild with EuiSelectable #2841
• https://github.com/elastic/eui-private/discussions/342
• The Ultimate Guide to EUI Selection Components #7049
• Define customizable <select> whatwg/html#10548 / https://developer.chrome.com/blog/a-customizable-select

Notes/ideas

• Benchmark other design systems/components libraries (we could define a "standard" list of systems we want to benchmark against)

[tkajtoch]

This is a large-scale initiative that may take several months. Please consider this issue a stub for the time being, as we're unsure how and when we'd proceed with this work.

We decided to tentatively put this in next 6 months roadmap horizon so that it's there and we don't forget about it..

[acstll]

That makes perfect sense, I just updated the issue. Thank you @tkajtoch!

[JasonStoltz]

I think Epic would be fine here. "This is a large-scale initiative that may take several months" is the definition of an Epic, right? I've been using stub only when I haven't had time to fill out the description. I think an Epic type with the need design/definition label is appropriate -- it's a large piece of work that needs better definition. What do you think?

[acstll]

I'm gathering an initial list of unfulfilled requests/requirements (WIP):

• [EuiSelectable] Evaluate supporting groups and "bulk" selection #8994