Set the value of SharePoint People Picker Controls

SharePoint People Picker

(function(module,$) {
"use strict";

window.PD = window.PD || {};
PD.SP = PD.SP || {};

PD.SP.PeoplePicker = function() {
  var
    _module = {
      Validate: ValidatePeoplePicker,
      Set: SetPeoplePicker
    };
  return _module;

  function ValidatePeoplePicker(pickerid) {
    // click on check names
    $("SPAN[id$='" + pickerid + "'] A[id$='" + pickerid + "_checkNames']").first().click();
  },

  function SetPeoplePicker(pickerid, key, append) {
    var
      a = (typeof append != "undefined" ? !!append : false).toString(),
      xml = '';
    a = a.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + a.slice(1);
    xml = '<Entities Append="'+a+'" Error="" Separator=";" MaxHeight="3">'
            + CreatePeoplePickerEntityXml(key)
        + '</Entities>';
    EntityEditorCallback(xml, pickerid, true);
    ValidatePeoplePicker(pickerid);
  },

  function CreatePeoplePickerEntityXml(key) {
    return '<Entity Key="' + key + '" DisplayText="" IsResolved="False" Description=""><MultipleMatches /></Entity>';
  }
}();

})({ Name: 'SP-PeoplePicker' }, jQuery);

/* how to use */

// get the control id of a people picker using the field display name
var controlId = $('TD.ms-formlabel nobr:contains("Approval Manager")').parent().parent().next().find('span > span').attr('id');
// set the control value using either display names or loginnames
PD.SP.PeoplePicker.Set(controlId, 'bob;alice', true);
PD.SP.PeoplePicker.Set(controlId, 'pdogs\\bob;pdogs\\alice', false);