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Thread TComboBox issues
Tue, Apr 24 2012 6:41 AMPermanent Link

Rick

Hi.

Here are some issues I found with the TComboBox.

1. Clicking the TComboBox triangle image doesn't collapse the list after it
has been dropped-down and the list is showing. Double-clicking the triangle
appears to collapse the list correctly. I expected that single clicking the
triangle would alternately expand/collapse the list.

2. Moving the mouse over the items in the TComboBox drop-down list doesn't
display a tracking highlight. The currently selected item is highlighted
correctly however. This appears to be the same with the TListBox. Any chance
of adding an item highlight when performing mouse over?

Thanks.

--
Rick

Tue, Apr 24 2012 9:46 AMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Rick,

<< 1. Clicking the TComboBox triangle image doesn't collapse the list after
it has been dropped-down and the list is showing. Double-clicking the
triangle appears to collapse the list correctly. I expected that single
clicking the triangle would alternately expand/collapse the list. >>

This is as-designed - there are focus issues in IE that prevent this from
working like Windows controls, so it has to stay this way.

<< 2. Moving the mouse over the items in the TComboBox drop-down list
doesn't display a tracking highlight. The currently selected item is
highlighted correctly however. This appears to be the same with the
TListBox. Any chance of adding an item highlight when performing mouse over?
>>

This is way beyond the capabilities of a browser application.  There is
absolutely no way of getting item heights, performing owner drawing, or any
other type of customization with the built-in combo/list controls.  To do
this would require writing such controls completely from scratch, which may
happen in the future, but not for some time.

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
Wed, Apr 25 2012 10:15 AMPermanent Link

Rick

"Tim Young [Elevate Software]" <timyoung@elevatesoft.com> wrote in message
news:B979A2CA-AA4F-4720-BE6D-C237F35D257A@news.elevatesoft.com...
> << 1. Clicking the TComboBox triangle image doesn't collapse the list
> after it has been dropped-down and the list is showing...
>
> This is as-designed - there are focus issues in IE that prevent this from
> working like Windows controls, so it has to stay this way.
>
> << 2. Moving the mouse over the items in the TComboBox drop-down list
> doesn't display a tracking highlight...
>
> This is way beyond the capabilities of a browser application...

Hi Tim.

Is the TComboBox in EWB the standard window control? It doesn't appear to be
the same as that drawn by the HTML SELECT tag.

If TComboBox is being drawn by EWB code then can't you detect that the list
is visible when the user clicks the triangle and then collapse it? Same with
the tracking highlight. The selected item is visible so something must be
known about item heights. Wouldn't moving the mouse over them be managed by
some CSS or a javascript event?

I'm not trying to question your experience here, obviously you've spent
considerable time with this. I'm just interested in making the web
application experience as familiar and standard to my users as possible.
Anything that can be done to reduce support calls is very welcome.

Thanks.

--
Rick

Wed, Apr 25 2012 2:41 PMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

Avatar

Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Rick,

<< Is the TComboBox in EWB the standard window control? It doesn't appear to
be the same as that drawn by the HTML SELECT tag. >>

It's an edit control with a drop-down list control (both standard browser
controls).

<< If TComboBox is being drawn by EWB code then can't you detect that the
list is visible when the user clicks the triangle and then collapse it? >>

It's a little more complicated than that due to the funky way that some
browsers like IE handle focus events, but I did spend some time on this
after you mentioned it, and I think I've got a solution that works as
expected.

<< Same with the tracking highlight. The selected item is visible so
something must be known about item heights. Wouldn't moving the mouse over
them be managed by some CSS or a javascript event? >>

The DOM in the browsers does not surface anything regarding the items
heights of items in a list control.  In fact, on devices like an iPad, the
list control doesn't look anything like a normal list control.  One of these
days I'll completely replace it, and at that point I can offer hot
highlighting of list items.  I'm already there with the TGrid, I just need
to back-port it to a simple list control.

<< I'm not trying to question your experience here, obviously you've spent
considerable time with this. I'm just interested in making the web
application experience as familiar and standard to my users as possible.
Anything that can be done to reduce support calls is very welcome. >>

Absolutely.  If EWB doesn't do that (act standard), then it really isn't of
much use to anyone. Wink

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Sun, May 6 2012 7:57 PMPermanent Link

Rick

"Tim Young [Elevate Software]" <timyoung@elevatesoft.com> wrote in message
news:3C063734-472C-4F7B-960A-2FAA55EE928E@news.elevatesoft.com...
>
> << If TComboBox is being drawn by EWB code then can't you detect that the
> list is visible when the user clicks the triangle and then collapse it? >>
>
> It's a little more complicated than that due to the funky way that some
> browsers like IE handle focus events, but I did spend some time on this
> after you mentioned it, and I think I've got a solution that works as
> expected.
>
>


Tim, the May 3rd build fixes the TComboBox single click collapse issue.
Works really well now, thanks!

Is there a reason why you use an edit and list control rather than the
standard HTML SELECT tag to implement the combobox? Is it to do with sizing
of the control?

--
Rick

Mon, May 7 2012 12:21 PMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

Avatar

Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Rick,

<< Is there a reason why you use an edit and list control rather than the
standard HTML SELECT tag to implement the combobox? Is it to do with sizing
of the control? >>

No, it has to do with the general level of detailed control that one has
over the drop-down process, change event handling, etc.  It's the same
reason why I'll probably implement my own list control for EWB also.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
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