Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

[lgrupido]

Is it possible to setup a button list or a radio button so that the user can make a selection by typing the first character of the value instead of clicking the mouse?

So if the values are Yes/No/Maybe, they can click "Y" instead of taking their hands of the keyboard, grabbing their mouse and clicking Yes when they come to that field?

I can do that with a standard drop down box, but the customer likes the look of a horizontal button list for this form.

[mikeallenbrown]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

I couldn't get a button list to do what you want. You can use regular buttons, however, and tab to focus then the use can press enter to execute the onClick JS.

[lgrupido]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

That is true. It's funny, because a buttonlist doesn't work the same way. If you press enter or space on a button in a buttonlist it does not select that value.

In this particular case, some of the buttonlists are based off of data in a table. While it would be possible to do what you are suggesting, its a lot more coding than I was hoping for!

[Davidk]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

You've not detailed what version/build you're working with... but... not being able to select a button within a ButtonList control using Spacebar or Enter may be due to yet another Alpha bug.

Tab into your Button List and hit your Spacebar or Enter key... then check your console. I'm getting this error...

ButtonListSpaceEnterError.PNG

It could be that Spacebar or Enter should work... but Alpha is failing.

Once you tab into your ButtonList, each Tab will then move focus to a specific button. You may not be able to see it because of styling, but the buttons do get focus.

You'd need to examine the ButtonList element to see focus changing to each button in the list.

[lgrupido]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

I get that same error. However, I am not on the latest version of Alpha, I am one back - and I know there have been a LOT of changes since then.

I will test it on the latest version as soon as possible and will submit a bug request if necessary. Thank you for pointing this out.

[Davidk]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

Just checked... and this error was introduced about 2 years ago. In Build 3670 (June 2016) you could select a ButtonList button with a spacebar or enter key.

After that, and around the same time that the Alpha Style was introduced, this functionality is broken... and produces and error. So... the bug has been around for 2 years.

You should report it... it will probably get fixed... but in a current pre-release. So... there's that.

[lgrupido]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

I'll just point Selwyn to this thread!!!!

[lvasic]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

You could be a text box above the radio buttons. Then write the code so that when the user presses enter it will grab the first letter of whatever they type and update the radio button.

[lgrupido]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

Not sure how graceful that would look. I was thinking I could look at some keypress options too, but at this point I am hoping Selwyn will come through with something simple!

I have submitted the bug request to him already.

[Selwyn Rabins]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

I am afraid that I don't agree that this is a bug. You could use the Keyboard shortcuts property to define keyboard shortcuts that would select a button in a Button List but I don't believe we have ever said that there are keyboard shortcuts for a Button List.

[lgrupido]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

FYI: I have taken the discussion with Selwyn offline. I'll let you know if any thing comes of this one way or the other. I expect, at the least, that the javascript error will be taken care of.

[Davidk]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

Since my post was deleted if you want the code I posted please let me know.

If you get approval from Selwyn, please post the end result information for the benefit of the forum.

[kkfin]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

It may good to bear in mind that bug is a software behavior that does not comply with the documentation.

[RichCPT]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

Great question.
There is the HTML "accesskey" Global Attribute that can be specified for a control:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/...utes/accesskey

This ought to work, but as noted in the above article there are browser compatibility issues. One key problem (pardon the pun) is what to do with conflicts between access keys the browser wants to use for itself vs. the keys you want to use. The other problem seems to be that one can create their own JavaScript keyboard handling code (like what is inside the AA Javascript library for LISTS) that interferes, overrides or just prevents the "accesskey" Global Attributes from working properly.

Here is some code to dynamically add the "accesskey" element to four buttons on a UX I was working with, which I could never get to work satisfactorily as indicated by the comment in the code. I do not know if it would make any difference if the "accesskey" attribute were included directly with the HTML definition instead of trying to attach the attribute after the control is created:

In Client-Side events of a UX inside "onRenderComplete"

var thisUX = {dialog.object};
thisUX.cptNavdViaBtn = false;

// Setup acclerator keys for Next/Previous
// In Chrome these accelerator keys mess up the dropdown boxes by automatically
//   opening them up and then not closing them when combined with the 
//   code that selects first editable control in detail section.
var ctl = $(thisUX.dialogId + '.V.R1.BTN_NEXTDTL');
ctl.accessKey = 'n';
ctl = $(thisUX.dialogId + '.V.R1.BTN_PREVDTL');
ctl.accessKey = 'p';
ctl = $(thisUX.dialogId + '.V.R1.BTN_VALIDATE');
ctl.accessKey = 'v';
ctl = $(thisUX.dialogId + '.V.R1.BUTTON_DVSYNCHRONIZE_LIST_DRRATE');
ctl.accessKey = 's';

[Davidk]

Re: Select value on a button list or radio button without using mouse?

I used the UX Property "Keyboard shortcuts" to define several shortcuts to select a ButtonList value.

E.g. CTRL-Y executes this Javascript...

var bObj = {dialog.object}.getControl('buttonList1');
bObj.setValue('Yes');

I just checket today's pre-release and there is still a Javascript error if you press the SpaceBar or Enter Key while focus is on a ButtonList. This doesn't adversely affect the Keyboard shortcut... but I suspect it is the reason why SpaceBar or Enter no longer selects a ButtonList value.