i have this, $(function() { $('#input').autocomplete('test.php', {json: true}); }); Code (markup): that bring back values from the database here is my php section $result = mysqli_query($db,$query); while( $row = mysqli_fetch_array($result) ) { $aResults[] = array( "id"=>($row['s_id']) ,"value"=>($row['s_last']), "info"=>($row['s_first']) ); } $return = array(); foreach ($aResults as $key => $res) { $return[] =$res['value'] . ' , ' . $res['info']; } echo json_encode($return); } } } Code (markup): i would like, when i select a name from the auto suggest to be able to have the id be filled in a input text area... uncle Google says this, but i am having a hard time implementing it. myCallback = function(li, $input) { // I need to refer to the appropriate "myXxxInput" here alert($input.attr('id')); } setup = function() { setupInput($('#myFirstInput')); setupInput($('#mySecondInput')); } function setupInput($input) { $input.autocomplete('blah.php', {onItemSelect: function(li) { myCallback(li, $input);} }); } Code (markup):