We have a 1/2 decent version working right now based on NSTextField. It shows a scrolling table with a NSWindowController, and selects from the table (and beeps if not there). It also has a NSPopUpButton on the side to use as an additional option (handy for short lists or if the user is already mousing). Basically, that is the same approach we use/used in the C++ version (PowerPlant, Carbon).
But, getting all the details to work just right has been extremely difficult. NSComboBox is sooooo close, and so much less futzing. Also, the combo box in Windows MFC does exactly what we need, and it would be nice if both platforms looked the same. One big beef I have is that it's not possible to step into Cocoa source, unlike PowerPlant or MFC. It makes it much harder to understand what's going on inside Cocoa. Thanks, Casey McDermott Turtle Creek Software http://www.turtlesoft.com 607 220-4514 -------------------------------------------- On Wed, 7/25/18, Sandor Szatmari <admin.szatmari....@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Re: NSComboBox To: "Keary Suska" <cocoa-...@esoteritech.com> Cc: "Casey McDermott" <supp...@turtlesoft.com>, "Cocoa-Dev (Apple)" <cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com> Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 7:40 PM I have done stuff like this just using NSTextField. You can connect delegate methods to supply the array of suitable strings to select from that match the ‘prefix’ the user types in. For every character the user types I recalculate the array of completions. You can filter a very long list of completions very quickly. I don’t have the code in front of me but I can post something tomorrow if this sounds like an avenue you haven’t considered yet. I think it was a combination of: -controlTextDidChange: -(NSArray *)control:(NSControl *)control textView:(NSTextView *)textView completions:(NSArray *)words forPartialWordRange:(NSRange)charRange indexOfSelectedItem:(NSInteger *)index I found that the non obvious part was setting the pointer ‘index’ to -1 or something like that to indicate that no selection was made yet. This caused the entire list of possible completions to be presented. Then everything worked as expected. If you know the index of the string you want to autocomplete to you set ‘index’ to that, well…, index. Sandor > On Jul 25, 2018, at 18:56, Keary Suska <cocoa-...@esoteritech.com> wrote: > > NSComboBox is just a suped-up NSTextField, so you can some sort of validation so you can prevent the user from exiting the field if they don’t enter an acceptable value. The most basic approach is delegation and doing the check in -control:textShouldEndEditing: > > HTH, > > Keary Suska > Esoteritech, Inc. > "Demystifying technology for your home or business" > >> On Jul 25, 2018, at 4:40 PM, Casey McDermott <supp...@turtlesoft.com> wrote: >> >> I forgot to mention that the lists may contain 10,000s of items. Maybe 100,000s. >> Typing to select from NSPopUpButton works OK for short lists. I just made a test >> popup with 300 items and it's already awkward. 10K would be absurd. >> >> These are business records, and users may data enter hundreds a day. They want >> to tab, type a few letters to select a customer, tab to the next field, type a bit to >> select an inventory item, etc. Type a customer that doesn't exist and it should beep >> and ignore the keystrokes. If they need to enter a new customer, it's a right-click, >> then a panel to enter more than just the name. >> >> Our current interface does use popup buttons for some things, but people complain >> about them. They don't want to take hands off keyboard. We plan to convert those >> to combo boxes so it can be completely mouseless. >> >> That "disambiguating field" article by Tog may be on one of the developer CDs. >> I can't find it online. It explained this use case very well, and interface to solve it. >> It was a major reason why we switched from Excel templates to a C++ app. >> NSComboBox is close, but we need it confined to existing items. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Casey McDermott >> >> Turtle Creek Software >> http://www.turtlesoft.com >> 607 220-4514 >> >> -------------------------------------------- >> On Wed, 7/25/18, Jens Alfke <j...@mooseyard.com> wrote: >> >> Subject: Re: NSComboBox >> To: "Casey McDermott" <supp...@turtlesoft.com> >> Cc: cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com >> Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 2:51 PM >> >> >> >> On >> Jul 25, 2018, at 10:45 AM, Casey McDermott <supp...@turtlesoft.com> >> wrote: >> The >> goal is to auto-fill an account from what they type, and >> ignore typing if not a match. >> >> That sounds like the regular behavior >> of NSPopUpButton: after clicking to pop up the menu, you can >> type-select items from it. >> (Although it doesn't ignore >> mismatches, it just selects the closest item.) >> —Jens >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) >> >> Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. >> Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com >> >> Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: >> https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/cocoa-dev%40esoteritech.com >> >> This email sent to cocoa-...@esoteritech.com > > _______________________________________________ > > Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) > > Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. > Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com > > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/admin.szatmari.net%40gmail.com > > This email sent to admin.szatmari....@gmail.com _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. 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