Great question and great answers, Dawn, Larry and Razzak! Adding my two cents worth
1. For me, real estate is the key reason for using a Combo box vs. a list box, as Razzak pointed out 2. Lines are an important feature when displaying multiple columns, a reason I lean toward Lookup list boxes 3. However, the nifty method Mike B developed allows you to circumvent the limitations Larry mentioned if you use a VARIABLE user defined list box. The list does NOT have to be "typed in by hand" but CAN come from one or MORE columns in a table. I just installed an upgrade at a client's that does just that. The only limitation I've found of mulitple columns is that in order to get them to align in columns, since you can't use the LINES feature, you must use a fixed font like Courier. And Larry, I know you've posted this before, but can you supply some more details about the two list box method, allowing users to move data from one to the other? David Blocker [EMAIL PROTECTED] 781-784-1919 Fax: 781-784-1860 Cell: 339-206-0261 David Blocker [EMAIL PROTECTED] 781-784-1919 Fax: 781-784-1860 Cell: 339-206-0261 ----- Original Message ----- From: "A. Razzak Memon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "RBG7-L Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:11 AM Subject: [RBG7-L] - Re: What's the difference > > At 04:00 PM 11/30/2004 -0600, Marc Schluter wrote: > > >What are the advantages / disadvantages between, > >in other words why would I use one over the other?? > > > >DB Look up ComboBox > >DB Look up List Box > >DB User Defined Combo Box > >DB User Defined List Box > > > Marc, > > That would be a perfect article for FTE! > From The Edge: http://www.razzak.com/fte > > While I prepare the article (time permitting), here's > a quick version of a few distinct reasons to use one > control (ComboBox) over another (ListBox): > > General: > > 01. Available Real-Estate on the Form > ListBox requires "fixed" width and height to > display list items. > > 02. Look and Feel > > 03. See Dawn Oakes and Larry Lustig's comments > > Specific: > > A. DB Lookup ComboBox vs. DB User Defined ComboBox > > 01. DB Lookup ComboBox > . Lookups are based on Tables/Values > . Can use WHERE clause to customize values > . Can show lines > . Supported/Documented PROPERTY Commands: > - ALIGN > - AUTODROPDOWN > - COLOR > - DROPDOWNCOUNT > - DROPDOWNWIDTH > - ENABLED > - FLATBUTTONS > - FRAMEVISIBLE > - HEIGHT > - HINT > - ITEMHEIGHT > - LEFT > - LISTOPEN > - REFRESHLIST > - SHOWHINT > - SHOWLINES > - TABORDER > - TABSTOP > - TOP > - VISIBLE > - WIDTH > > 02. DB User Defined ComboBox > . Lookups are hard-coded values > . Values can be "Editable" > . Lookups can be expressions > . Values can be saved to a file > . Cannot show lines > . Supported/Documented PROPERTY Commands: > - ALIGN > - AUTODROPDOWN > - COLOR > - DELIMITER > - DROPDOWNCOUNT > - DROPDOWNWIDTH > - ENABLED > - FLATBUTTONS > - FRAMEVISIBLE > - HEIGHT > - HINT > - ITEMHEIGHT > - ITEMINDEX > - LEFT > - LISTCOUNT > - LISTITEMS > - LISTITEMSADD > - LISTITEMSADDDELIMITEDTEXT > - LISTITEMSCLEAR > - LISTITEMSDELETE > - LISTITEMSREFRESH > - LISTOPEN > - LOAD_FROM_FILE > - READONLY > - SAVE_TO_FILE > - SELECTION > - SHOWHINT > - TABORDER > - TABSTOP > - TOP > - VISIBLE > - WIDTH > > B. DB Lookup ListBox vs. DB User Defined ListBox > > 01. DB Lookup ListBox > . Lookups are based on Tables/Values > . Can use WHERE clause to customize values > . Can show lines > . Supported/Documented PROPERTY Commands: > - ALIGN > - ALIGNMENT > - COLOR > - COLUMNS > - ENABLED > - FRAMEVISIBLE > - HEIGHT > - HINT > - HORZEXTENT > - HORZSCROLLBAR > - ITEMHEIGHT > - ITEMINDEX > - LEFT > - REFRESHLIST > - SHOWHINT > - SHOWLINES > - TABORDER > - TABSTOP > - TABWIDTH > - TOP > - VISIBLE > - WIDTH > > 02. DB User Defined ListBox > . Lookups are hard-coded values > . Lookups can be expressions > . May use external file to load values > . Values can be saved to a file > . Supports SELECT n, UNSELECT n, CHECKINDEX n > and SELECTEDSTATE PROPERTY commands. > . Cannot show lines > . Supported/Documented PROPERTY Commands: > - ALIGN > - CHECKINDEX > - COLOR > - COLUMNS > - DELIMITER > - ENABLED > - FRAMEVISIBLE > - HEIGHT > - HORZEXTENT > - HINT > - HORZEXTENT > - HORZSCROLLBAR > - ITEMHEIGHT > - ITEMINDEX > - LEFT > - LISTCOUNT > - LISTITEMS > - LISTITEMSADD > - LISTITEMSADDDELIMITEDTEXT > - LISTITEMSCLEAR > - LISTITEMSDELETE > - LISTITEMSREFRESH > - LOAD_FROM_FILE > - READONLY > - SAVE_TO_FILE > - SCROLLWIDTH > - SELECT > - SELECTEDSTATE > - SELECTION > - SHOWHINT > - TABORDER > - TABSTOP > - TABWIDTH > - TOP > - UNSELECT > - VISIBLE > - WIDTH > > Stay tuned for more descriptive version at FTE! > > Very Best R:egards, > > Razzak. >
