Sorting a dropdown

[StephenP]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Thanks, Steve for clearing that up for John. Sorry John for not making it clear from the out set that you had to be so specific. Even though I struggled with the very same thing at one time, we quickly forget that others don't know it already. I should have mentioned that in my original post. It is rather curious that they would have used field positioning to refer to the specific fields. Hopefully they can fix that for v10 and beyond.

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Ahhh...ok. I thought it might have been something with the version I was using, good to see it was something fairly obvious.

Stphen and Steve, thanks for all the helpon this one.

-John

John,

The reason your example does not work is due to field position. Your override code is:

tmpl.field_info[1].DropdownBox.Choices = table.external_record_content_get("[PathAlias_ADBPath]\products","description-'|'+product_id","retail",".t.")

That [1] refers to field number one in the stack. You have your dropdown in field position 2. So you can fix it by moving the field to position 1, or changing the value above to [2].

Too bad we can't use a field alias here rather than numbers. But since it is based on field position, they have to be accurate. By the way, this includes any formatting objects like Tab Controls, Frames, etc. they all take up one field position.

[Steve Wood]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

John,

The reason your example does not work is due to field position. Your override code is:

tmpl.field_info[1].DropdownBox.Choices = table.external_record_content_get("[PathAlias_ADBPath]\products","description-'|'+product_id","retail",".t.")

That [1] refers to field number one in the stack. You have your dropdown in field position 2. So you can fix it by moving the field to position 1, or changing the value above to [2].

Too bad we can't use a field alias here rather than numbers. But since it is based on field position, they have to be accurate. By the way, this includes any formatting objects like Tab Controls, Frames, etc. they all take up one field position.

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Hi Stephen or Steve,

Is there any way you can take a gander at the attached? For the life of me I can't see why it isn't working, it works in the example Stephen posted and I thought I'd pretty much copied everything exactly but it doesn't work. I'm flummexed.

I hope v10 has an easier way of sorting a dropdown and saving a different field.

Thanks in advance.
-John

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Did anyone notice what I was doing wrong? Stephen's example works great, I thought I'd followed it the same way but mine doesn't seem to work.

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Hi Stephen

I got your test file and it works great, just what I'm looking for, however, I try to do the same and it doesn't work. As far as I can see I'm doing everything the same but...something isn't right and I'll be darned if I can see it. Maybe it's the version? I'm using V9 build 3252

I'm attaching it to this message, maybe if you can look at it you'll see immediately what the issue is.

Thanks

-John

[StephenP]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Sorry, John,

I forgot to include the web project files in my example.

--Stephen

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Stephen/Steve

I didn't see these replies until just now. I'm trying this out on a test database and then I'll put it into my real one.

Thanks both of you for the help
-john

John,

Attached is a very simple example database. I hope it helps.

--Stephen

[StephenP]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

John,

Attached is a very simple example database. I hope it helps.

--Stephen

[Steve Wood]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Stephen/John,

This solution works nicely. I've never used that Other Properties section, but I see its value. John - putting the code in the Other Properties instead of where I suggested is important. My suggestion creates a variable when the page is loaded, then the DropDownBox alphabetizes it. Stephens solution creates the list directly and it stays ordered by the ORDER field in the expression.

The Other Properties are in the Properties for the Grid, at the very bottom, under the Advanced tab.

[StephenP]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

John,

The section with line numbers in the background of the image is the XBASIC tab near the bottom of the screen on the Grid Builder. I left it there to show where I looked up the info I needed for the Other Properties section.

The window with line number in front is the Other Properties box from the Properties section. You need to click the section to open it.

The '|' pipe symbol denotes a pairing of "Displayed Value|Stored Value".

The idea is to create any old dropdown just to define it, then use the Other Properties to redefine it using the table.external_record_content_get() function, which allows you to filter your results, order them any way you want, and return data formatted any way you want.

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I'm as familiar with xBasic or web pages as you are so your example has me a little lost.

The section that has line numbers, where is that from? Is it from a A5w page? And the pipe sysmbol | can you tell me what that does? I did try a quick example and I got pretty lost. I may just live without this feature for now (it's not a show stopper in my app) and hope Alpha can put that option in for v10 :)

I surely do appreciate all the responses.

Thanks
-John

John,

How about this for a solution? I created a drop down field, and filled it with static data of:

One
Two
Three

Then I went to the Properties section, and under Other Properties, added this line (as shown in the attached picture):

tmpl.field_info[1].DropdownBox.Choices = table.external_record_content_get("[PathAlias.ADB_Path]\job","name-'|'+jid","department",".t.")

Is this what you are looking for?

--Stephen

[StephenP]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

John,

How about this for a solution? I created a drop down field, and filled it with static data of:

One
Two
Three

Then I went to the Properties section, and under Other Properties, added this line (as shown in the attached picture):

tmpl.field_info[1].DropdownBox.Choices = table.external_record_content_get("[PathAlias.ADB_Path]\job","name-'|'+jid","department",".t.")

Is this what you are looking for?

--Stephen

[Steve Wood]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

I never noticed that if you select Variable, the choice to input something other than the variable (in whole) is saved as the value. I'll have to think about this. I will also send a note to Alpha that I think this should allow a different value saved to the table.

if the var contained "apples | 1001", you should be able to save word(var,2,"|") (or "1001") to the table.

[Jberry]

Re: Sorting a dropdown

Hi Steve,
I did as you suggested and it works well except how do I now specify the field I want to store in the database?

Field Sort Order ID
Cucumber 2 800
Grape 3 850
Apple 1 900

In the drop down I'd like to see
Apple
Cucumber
Grape

When the user clicks Grape I want the database to store 850, not "Grape". Is that possible?

Thanks again.

Close. Take the expression out of your grid and put it in the A5W page that contains the grid (or anywhere PRIOR to when your grid is opened. Change the expression so that it populates a session variable.

session.mylist = table.external.....

Then in the grid, make your dropdown source a Variable, and assign it that session variable. You can sort your list using the Order parameter in the function.