Unwanted Calendar

[Michael Humby]

Hi All,

I have a date field based on a lookup of dates.dbf so that my user can select from a predefined list of date. I do not want the user to enter a date other than from the list.

My problem is that when I place the field on a form I cannot find a way to hide/disable the Alpha pop up calendar icon even though I set the properties to 'Type In'. There is an option in a browse field to disable the popup but no where can I find this option on a form.

Anyone know how to hide or disable the Alpha calendar icon?

I could use an array but this gets tricky if I need to bring in other values from the lookup table

Michael

[Bonbon]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

One way would be:
- get rid of any "lookup" field rules for your form's date field
- in form design, set the date field to Record List-Combo Box (in the Setup tab)
- then go to the Choices tab; From table: dates; Return value: <whatever your date field in dates.dbf is called>
- add 2 columns into the Record List. The first column should be an expression: cdate(<date field name>), and the second should just be <date field name>, i.e. whatever you called it.
- then edit the first column (the expression), and set its width to 0.

This is because the drop down list always sorts on the first column, so you need a character field in ascending date order - cdate turns a date into yyyymmdd format.

It works; the only minor annoyance is that for blank records, the field will always display the first date in the drop-down list.

* Edit *: just realised you can get round this by saving a blank record to the dates.dbf file - it comes up first in the drop-down list.

[CALocklin]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

This sounds like something I reported 2-3 weeks ago as a bug but haven't heard anything back yet.

I tested the same form in v7 (where it came from originally) and it works there without the calendar when it's defined as a Type-in field.

With a little further testing (I love spending my time trying to figure out work-arounds to Alpha issues), I discovered that you could "fix" this by using the
a5.System_Mode_set("field_popup_button_position","inside")
command in your autoexec. Just be aware that this will move the calendar popup box back inside the field (as it was in v8 and earlier) instead of outside the field as it is now.

I haven't checked to see if I can switch back and forth - i.e., make it "inside" when I open one form and make it "outside" when using another form. I'm only willing to go so far with work-arounds.

[Michael Humby]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Thanks, I had tried the list box option combo box and this is not what I need, there is very little that will force the user to react to the selection, in the meantime I shall use an array.

Yes it is a bug because it is OK in V8.

I will report this again

Michael

[Bonbon]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Did you try the Record List-Combo Box (not list box) option ? (see screen shot)

It drops down only the dates in your dates.dbf, and won't allow the user to enter anything else. If user types into the box it goes to the closest match in the list. No calendar icon, as requested.

[Michael Humby]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Pete,

Thanks but the list box does not meet my needs.

This is definitely a bug because it works as expected in V8 and prior so I have send a replica sample to Alpha bug department.

Michael

[RCarvalho]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

I submitted this as a bug a couple of weeks ago. I received an email from Alpha last Wednesday that this is going to be addressed in the next patch in a form of a command that you can place in the autoexec script.

Rui

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

I was told some time ago this is not a bug, this was a change of design feature in V9.

[Michael Humby]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Keith,

I don't want my users to to have access to the calendar under certain circumstances where I want to force them to enter a date from a pre-defined list.

Selwyn has sent me a temporary fix in a betapatch that he says will will be showing in the next update patch.

Michael

[CALocklin]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

I was told some time ago this is not a bug, this was a change of design feature in V9.

Personally, if not a bug then I think it was either a bad choice of "design feature" or they overlooked the issue of "Type-in" vs. "Calendar" format. Adding a design feature to allow the calendar to show up outside the field object is fine with me. (Although I do think the ability to change back to the old format, which is possible as noted above, is important - see note.) However, changing the "Type-in" object format to work the same as a "Calendar" object format doesn't make sense to me.

NOTE - Why I want to retain the ability to have the calendar inside the object:
Some of my forms show some type of descriptive/explanatory text to the right of the field object. If I'm forced to leave extra space on the right for the calendar, then the explanatory text is likely to appear as thought it's not associated with that field.

I put together a dummy xdialog to demonstrate the issue. In this dummy example, the "explanatory text" just describes how that example was set up. In real life it would be something related to entering data in that field. It might even just be a "?" button to get more help about that field - imagine what that would like if the distance to the "Help" button was 3 times the width of the "Help" button itself. Can someone figure it out? Yes - if they try hard enough. But, (a) some users don't seem to be able to figure out anything that isn't staring them in the face and (b) if they do have to "figure it out" then it's my belief that it doesn't look very professional.

Edit: And I agree with Michael's concern.

[Michael Humby]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Cal,

As you can see from my previous post, Selwyn has acknowledged this and the next update for V9 will be including an Alpha preference to 'Not show Calendar if field is Type In'.

e.g. a5.system_mode_set("Show_Calender_Icon_For_Type-In_Fields", "No")

Michael

[CALocklin]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

I did see that. I just don't see any reason why it should be an option. If I want the calendar, I should just select "Calendar". If I don't want the calendar, I should just select "Type-in". This is the way it has always been. This is what makes sense. And this is what still happens if you choose the option to show the calendar inside the box.

The "new/improved" method is to change it so that these two options both do the same thing (at least it seems that way to me) and then give us an optional command to change one of them back to what it should have been in the first place. And, it's pretty certain that people will have a hard time finding the [unnecessary] option or even realizing that it exists.

Can anyone give me a good reason for having the calendar drop-down appear with both the Calendar and Type-in options? Or, is was this perhaps another of those "let's make it easy for the ignorant people" ideas? Those seem to be more and more prevalent lately and I hate them because they almost always make it impossible, or at least much harder, for the non-ignorant to do something they've been doing for years. This would be a perfect example if that's what happened here. At least in this case Alpha decided to give us back the option rather than taking it away completely.

<soapbox>I'm sorry. It may not be politically correct but I say "to heck with the ignorant people - make them learn just like I had to." Stupid people might not be able to learn but ignorance can be overcome with just a little bit of effort. I'm getting tired of people making things harder for me just to make something easier for someone who's too lazy to learn. I feel like it's becoming a sin to expect someone to actually learn something. And I'll stop there because if I go any further than that I'd have to get into how ignorance plays into politics and the election process and then I'd really get upset. Keep people ignorant and you can get them to agree to anything. That's why the most dangerous thing to our current way of life is the decline of our educational system - which is getting worse rather than better under "no child left behind".</soapbox>

[Bill]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Mike,
I saw the same issue with v10 so I used your "a5_system_..." in the autoexec and it worked for the forms. In the browses I just checkmarked the "disable popup editor" in the browse setup properties for columns that contained date fields. Allowed me to keep them when I wanted to, kill 'em when I didn't.

[Michael Humby]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Bill

Thanks, yes I have been using the 'Disable Pop Ups' and it fits my needs but not entirely sure if that is the correct purpose of the property.

Michael

[Bill]

Re: Unwanted Calendar

Guess I spoke too soon. Doesn't appear to be working now.