What would be really useful is a control that covers both Data entry/display in grid ( ala Data/StyleGrid ) or entry form mode ( like Access or 4D ) PLUS reporting via layouts ( ala Crystal Reports ).
In other words, something like the PowerBuilder Datawindow control: http://www.sybase.com/products/development/datawindownet On 14/5/07 16:46, "Marc (aliacta.com)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On May 14, 2007, at 4:46 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> On May 14, 2007, at 11:48 UTC, Marc (aliacta.com) wrote: >> >>> PS: my take on features needed for the next ListBox, as discussed >>> several years ago on the NUG, is still: keep the current ListBox, >>> add a new control that is a minimalist frame on which anybody can >>> build what he wants. Something that simply provides flexible row >>> heights and column widths, horizontal and vertical scrolling, styled >>> cell contents, possibly with the ability to embed any control in a >>> cell. >> >> I can certainly imagine something that relies entirely on the >> equivalent of CellBackgroundPaint and CellTextPaint for its content, >> but also supports variable row heights, merging of cells, and maybe >> even freezing of N top rows and M left columns. >> >> Would we also require the ability to freeze some bottom rows and >> rightmost columns? > > I think the answer would be yes if you wanted to go all the way, but > I believe that the 'freezing' should be for people to implement > themselves. > > As a rule of thumb, the more features you'd implement, the harder it > might get for people to do things that are not foreseen (e.g. current > ListBox), whereas an 'empty' frame would leave all possibilities open. > >> As for embedding of controls in a cell -- that one is really hard, >> especially cross-platform. I understand why you want it sometimes; >> it's just quite difficult to do. Still, if it's important, and effort >> were put in to enabling it from the very beginning, it could be doable >> for at least most controls. > > It would be good to have at least the controls that are most used for > databases, e.g. popup, checkbox, radio, canvas (for thumbnails), > etc. And then each cell/control should be editable or not, enabled > or not. > >> While we're at it, let's define more selection types: >> >> 0 - no selection allowed at all >> 1 - single row >> 2 - multiple rows >> 3 - single column >> 4 - multiple columns >> 5 - single cell >> 6 - any contiguous block of cells >> 7 - discontiguous (arbitrary) cells >> >>> How it behaves, e.g. how it scrolls or populates itself, would >>> be for each one of us to implement. >> >> Controlling scrolling can be complex, since it goes both ways (e.g. >> the >> user may scroll the content using the scrollbar, or by using the arrow >> keys once a selection is established, or even while drag-selecting >> with >> the mouse). So I think you'd want this relationship between the >> content and the scrollbars to be managed by the grid control. >> However, >> I can certainly imagine the scrollbars being separate controls, so >> that >> you can size and position them however you like. > > There might be a default implementation for scrolling, but here too I > feel developers might have such a variety of needs that fully > customized scrolling should be the rule. (As an example, if you have > a lot of columns or they're simply very wide, you might want some > form of horizontal scrolling that just skips a number of columns to > speed navigation up.) > >> What do you think? I'm pushing on this because, to be frank, I'm so >> tired of the whining about it that if we can agree on a reasonable >> spec, I'll consider writing the dang thing and publishing it as open >> source. > > That would certainly be very welcome. I thought of doing this myself > several times over the past years but never came to it because the > gruesome lack of time that governs many of people's lives, > unfortunately including mine. > > Thanks! > > Marc > > _______________________________________________ > Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: > <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> > > Search the archives: > <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html> > Regards, Dan _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
