Dropdown List

The dropdown component is a great way to display a list of choices in a limited amount of space. The current selection is shown, and the choices are only presented when the user clicks on the dropdown button. The choices that are shown depend on the data property. This is a dataset, which can be typed in manually in the Designer, or (more commonly) it can be populated dynamically from a property binding, often a SQL Query binding.

It is often the case that you want to display choices to the user that are 'dressed up' versions of the actual choices. For instance, suppose that you are selecting choices for a downtime tracking entry. The choices might be: "Operator Error", "Machine Malfunction", and "Other". But, you really want to map these choices to some numeric code which is how the choice is stored. So, for instance, when the user chooses "Other" you really want to get the number 3. The dropdown component is perfect for such a use. The data property can be set up in one of three fashions, which control how the "selected values" properties change.

The 3 ways to set up the data dataset and the corresponding behavior is as follows:

The dropdown component can operate in one of three Selection Modes. These modes affect how the dropdown's current selection (defined by the values of its Selected Value, Selected String Value, and Selected Label properties) behave when the selection properties are set to values not present in the choice list, or conversely, when the choice list is set to a new dataset that doesn't contain the current selection:

Appearance

Font

Font of text of this component

Scripting name	font
Data type	Font

Foreground Color

The foreground color of the component.

Scripting name	foreground
Data type	Color

Background Color

The background color of the component.

Scripting name	background
Data type	Color

Selection Background

The background color of a selected cell in the dropdown list.

Scripting name	selectionBackground
Data type	Color
Flags	expert

Dropdown Display Mode

Changes the dropdown's display

Scripting name

mode

Data type

int

Values

0	List
1	Table

Max Row Count

The number of rows to display in the dropdown list before displaying a scrollbar.

Scripting name	maximumRowCount
Data type	int
Flags	expert

Hide Table Columns?

A comma separated list of columns to hide from the dropdown table, eg. 0,2 (only used in table mode)

Scripting name	hideTableColumns
Data type	String
Flags	expert

Show Table Header?

Selects whether or not the dropdown table header is displayed. (only used in table mode)

Scripting name	showTableHeader
Data type	boolean
Flags	expert

Max Table Width

The maximum width allowed for the dropdown table. (only used in table mode)

Scripting name	maxTableWidth
Data type	int
Flags	expert

Max Table Height

The maximum height allowed for the dropdown table. (only used in table mode)

Scripting name	maxTableHeight
Data type	int
Flags	expert

Antialias

Draw with antialias on? Makes text smoother

Scripting name	antialias
Data type	boolean
Flags	expert

Styles

Contains the component's styles

Scripting name	styles
Data type	Dataset
Flags	bindable \| expert

Behavior

Selection Mode

The selection mode determines the behavior of the dropdown: whether its selected value must strictly be in the underlying set of choices, whether it is flexible, or even user-editable.

Scripting name

selectionMode

Data type

int

Values

0	Strict
1	Lenient
2	Editable

No Selection Value

The value when nothing is selected.

Scripting name	noSelectionValue
Data type	int
Flags	expert

No Selection String

The string value when nothing is selected.

Scripting name	noSelectionString
Data type	String
Flags	expert

No Selection Label

The label to display when nothing is selected.

Scripting name	noSelectionLabel
Data type	String
Flags	expert

Common

Name

The name of this component.

Scripting name	name
Data type	String
Flags	bindable

Enabled

If disabled, a component cannot be used.

Scripting name	componentEnabled
Data type	boolean

Visible

If disabled, the component will be hidden.

Scripting name	visible
Data type	boolean
Flags	bindable

Border

The border surrounding this component. NOTE that the border is unaffected by rotation.

Scripting name	border
Data type	Border

Mouseover Text

The text that is displayed in the tooltip which pops up on mouseover of this component.

Scripting name	toolTipText
Data type	String

Cursor

The mouse cursor to use when hovering over this component.

Scripting name

cursorCode

Data type

int

Values

0	Default
1	Crosshair
2	Text
3	Wait
12	Hand
13	Move
4	SW Resize
5	SE Resize
6	NW Resize
7	NE Resize
8	N Resize
9	S Resize
10	W Resize
11	E Resize

Data

The data which fills up the combo box. Either a 1 or 2 column DataSet, with the first column being the value, and the second being the display

Scripting name	data
Data type	Dataset
Flags	bindable

Selected Value

The currently selected value

Scripting name	selectedValue
Data type	Integer
Flags	bindable

Selected String Value

The currently selected value, if the value column is a string

Scripting name	selectedStringValue
Data type	String
Flags	bindable

Selected Label

The currently selected label

Scripting name	selectedLabel
Data type	String
Flags	bindable

Data Quality

The data quality code for any tag bindings on this component.

Scripting name	dataQuality
Data type	int
Flags	bindable \| expert

Layout

Horizontal Alignment

Determines the alignment of the contents along the X axis

Scripting name

horizontalAlignment

Data type

int

Flags

expert

Values

2	Left
0	Center
4	Right
10	Leading
11	Trailing

Vertical Alignment

Determines the alignment of the contents along the Y axis

Scripting name

verticalAlignment

Data type

int

Flags

expert

Values

1	Top
0	Center
3	Bottom

Uncategorized

Selected Index

The index of the selected item.

Scripting name	selectedIndex
Data type	int
Flags	bindable \| read-only

The following event sets are fired by this component. See Component Event Handlers to learn more.