Just bumping this up to the top of the list, as I continue my research.
Paul
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, "aceoohay" <pa...@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> I have created an extension of the DateField() (ValidatedDateField())
> component. The main purpose of this extension is to call an extension to
> the TextInput component.
>
> Everything seems to work swimmingly. I have found that in some cases
> however, the tab key (tab index order) handling gets messed up. Because
> of the poor tab handling design in flex, the method that we use to
> control the tab order is by placing the fields in the order in the mxml
> file that we want. This seems to work most of the time.
>
> I have found that on forms where the custom datefield components are in
> a TabNavigator canvas that the ValidatedDateField() that I have created
> will cause the tab order to break. In one case it causes the focus to go
> to a dataGrid in another container above the one the
> ValidatedDateField() is in. My best guess is that it causes the next
> field to be the first editable field within the TabNavigator canvas that
> the datefield is in.
>
> If I make the field editable=false, the tabbing seems to work fine
> irrespective of the TabNavigator.
>
> My conclusion is that when the custom "TextInput" portion of the
> DateField gets instantsiated the tab order gets hosed.
>
> I have looked through the code for the ComboBase and DateField to see if
> I can tell where the tab order gets defined and I can't see it. I saw a
> line that says;
>
> textInput.parentDrawsFocus = true;
>
> and thought that might have something to do with it, but I can't
> replicate that in my code, I get an "inaccessible" error.
>
> If my assumption that I am not creating the textInput component
> correctly is true, the question is;
>
> How can I ensure that the custom textInput component portion of my
> DateField component gets the same tab order as the DateField itself?
>
> Here is the creatChildren method of the custom DateField Component;
>
>
> override protected function createChildren():void {
> super.createChildren(); removeChild(textInput);
> if(this.textInput) { // Use ValidatedTextInput instead of TextInput
> and Setup various fields //needed by ValidatedTextInput
> textInput = new ValidatedTextInput(); textInput["dataType"] =
> "date"; textInput["formatter"] = "_dateFormat";
> textInput["minDataChars"] = _minDataChars; textInput["maxDataChars"]
> = _maxDataChars; textInput["minValue"] = _minValue;
> textInput["maxValue"] = _maxValue; textInput["id"] = "vti" +
> this.id; textInput["rootOwner"] = this.parent;
> textInput["charactersAlsoPermitted"] = _charactersAlsoPermitted;
> textInput["formatData"] = _formatData; textInput["doValidateData"] =
> _doValidateData; textInput["defaultValue"] = _defaultValue;
> textInput.addEventListener("focusOut",updateTextValue)
> textInput.addEventListener("textChanged",updateTextValue)
> addChild(textInput); } }
>
> Since the application that I am working on contains a number of "heads
> down" data entry environments, this is a critical issue for me.
>
>
> All help is greatly appreciated.
>
> Paul
>
