Thank you everyone, awesome to have such a great community!!
I was able to get around this by using forceSelection and overriding the setValue thus allowing template items not in the store but in the combo to be selected via forceSelection. From playing around with the combobox, IMO, for a good look and feel, forceSelection is the way to go.
Here is my override, refer to statement //start of override
This was a quick fix, I will refine statement when I am back in the office, below I am pasting the solution from memory, you get the idea.
setValue: function(value, doSelect) {
var me = this,
valueNotFoundText = me.valueNotFoundText,
inputEl = me.inputEl,
i, len, record,
dataObj,
matchedRecords = [],
displayTplData = [],
processedValue = [];
if (me.store.loading) {
// Called while the Store is loading. Ensure it is processed by the onLoad method.
me.value = value;
me.setHiddenValue(me.value);
return me;
}
// This method processes multi-values, so ensure value is an array.
value = Ext.Array.from(value);
// Loop through values, matching each from the Store, and collecting matched records
for (i = 0, len = value.length; i < len; i++) {
record = value[i];
if (!record || !record.isModel) {
record = me.findRecordByValue(record);
}
// record found, select it.
if (record) {
matchedRecords.push(record);
displayTplData.push(record.data);
processedValue.push(record.get(me.valueField));
}
// record was not found, this could happen because
// store is not loaded or they set a value not in the store
else {
//start of override
// 'Select All Names' is the template item that was added // to the combo box, it looks like an entry from the store
// but it is not in the store
if (me.forceSelection && me.getDisplayValue() === 'Select All Names'){
processedValue.push(value[i]);
dataObj = {};
dataObj[me.displayField] = value[i];
displayTplData.push(dataObj);
}
//end of override
if (!me.forceSelection) {
processedValue.push(value[i]);
dataObj = {};
dataObj[me.displayField] = value[i];
displayTplData.push(dataObj);
// TODO: Add config to create new records on selection of a value that has no match in the Store
}
// Else, if valueNotFoundText is defined, display it, otherwise display nothing for this value
else if (Ext.isDefined(valueNotFoundText)) {
displayTplData.push(valueNotFoundText);
}
}
}
// Set the value of this field. If we are multiselecting, then that is an array.
me.setHiddenValue(processedValue);
me.value = me.multiSelect ? processedValue : processedValue[0];
if (!Ext.isDefined(me.value)) {
me.value = null;
}
me.displayTplData = displayTplData; //store for getDisplayValue method
me.lastSelection = me.valueModels = matchedRecords;
if (inputEl && me.emptyText && !Ext.isEmpty(value)) {
inputEl.removeCls(me.emptyCls);
}
// Calculate raw value from the collection of Model data
me.setRawValue(me.getDisplayValue());
me.checkChange();
if (doSelect !== false) {
me.syncSelection();
}
me.applyEmptyText();
return me;
},