Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

[Jeff Fried]

If you have any experience with this, or its counterpart in Xdialog called Check Box-List Box, you know that this is a list you create. Once created and this dialog pops up, the user can type a value which, once arrived at, can be checked off, and the process can continue until all values desired are captured to a variable.

I want to do this for the 30,000 cities in the U.S., but it's obviously impractical, and probably not possible, to construct this list using this approach.

It would be ideal if, instead of the list, you can just use a table of all U.S. cities, still with the attributes of quick search, a check box to select each value needed, and otherwise behaving just like the "Prompt Using Check List Box".

Do you know if this is possible?

Thank you.

Jeff

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

The xbasic for a simple prompt such as you describe is

DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
choice_list = <<%txt%
a
b
%txt%
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
defaultValue = ""
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)

So you need to capture the xbasic of your prompt and substitute code to populate the choice_list variable (replacing section that would otherwise be there). If you have a table of cities, table.external_record_content_get() seems suited to that task.

'Prompt for a value using a check-list box dialog box.
DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
choice_list = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city")
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
defaultValue = ""
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)

cities.zip

[Jeff Fried]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

The xbasic for a simple prompt such as you describe is

DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
choice_list = <<%txt%
a
b
%txt%
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
defaultValue = ""
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)

So you need to capture the xbasic of your prompt and substitute code to populate the choice_list variable (replacing section that would otherwise be there). If you have a table of cities, table.external_record_content_get() seems suited to that task.

'Prompt for a value using a check-list box dialog box.
DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
choice_list = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city")
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
defaultValue = ""
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)

[ATTACH]37177[/ATTACH]

Really, this does what I'm looking for? I'll be trying it out real soon. If this really works, I'll be making a charitable contribution in your honor. Thanks.

Jeff

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

If you want to test it just download the cities.zip, unzip it to a database directory you have (assuming you don't have a cities.dbf). Add the table to the database. Create a button on a form, paste in the second code segment as the onpush event code. Save and push the button.

Actually the code will work as a standalone script or run from the interactive.

Note: Just tried it with a table of 576 cities. Works fine.

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

If the user often makes the same or similar selections we could present them with the prior selections as the default.

'Prompt for a value using a check-list box dialog box.
DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
svd = ui_msg_box("Saved","Use previously saved selection as basis?",UI_YES_NO)
choice_list = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city")
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
if svd = UI_YES_SELECTED
	defaultValue = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city","marked()")
else
	defaultValue = ""
end if
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)
rslt = ui_msg_box("Save","Would you like to preserve the current selected records"+crlf()+"for the basis of the next selection?"+crlf()+"Cancel to clear all selections.",UI_YES_NO_CANCEL)
if rslt = UI_CANCEL_SELECTED 'unmark all records
	tbl = table.open("cities")
	tbl.unmark_range(".T.")
	tbl.close()
elseif rslt = UI_YES_SELECTED 'unmark all records and then mark currently selected records
	tbl = table.open("cities")
	tbl.unmark_range(".T.")
	tbl.mark_range("is_one_of(city,"+quote(var->tst)+")")
	tbl.close()
else 'no changes
	'do nothing
end if

Not suitable for a multiuser scenario, of course.

[Jeff Fried]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

If the user often makes the same or similar selections we could present them with the prior selections as the default.

'Prompt for a value using a check-list box dialog box.
DIM Shared  tst as c 
DIM choice_list as c 
svd = ui_msg_box("Saved","Use previously saved selection as basis?",UI_YES_NO)
choice_list = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city")
Dim headingText as c 
headingText = <<%txt%
%txt%
dim defaultValue as c 
if svd = UI_YES_SELECTED
	defaultValue = table.external_record_content_get("cities","alltrim(city)","city","marked()")
else
	defaultValue = ""
end if
tst = ui_get_check2("Select Value",defaultValue,choice_list,headingText,.t.,.t.,.t.,80,25,.t.,"Horizontal",.f.)
rslt = ui_msg_box("Save","Would you like to preserve the current selected records"+crlf()+"for the basis of the next selection?"+crlf()+"Cancel to clear all selections.",UI_YES_NO_CANCEL)
if rslt = UI_CANCEL_SELECTED 'unmark all records
	tbl = table.open("cities")
	tbl.unmark_range(".T.")
	tbl.close()
elseif rslt = UI_YES_SELECTED 'unmark all records and then mark currently selected records
	tbl = table.open("cities")
	tbl.unmark_range(".T.")
	tbl.mark_range("is_one_of(city,"+quote(var->tst)+")")
	tbl.close()
else 'no changes
	'do nothing
end if

Not suitable for a multiuser scenario, of course.

Hi Stan,

I've been meaning to look at this since you posted it but got diverted. Now I've looked at it and it is quite nice as a solution to my original query.

The original intent was to take a variable at time among several variables (state, city, region, county, product, etc.) and build a multi-filter query to satisfy the needs of sales people needing to focus down on historical sales and proposals. For this purpose, they have a browse with the many columns representing the variables from which they would form the filter.

The original desire of the client was to have the checklist approach for querying the various tables such as city, state, etc. Then in a meeting, the client came up with an interesting idea for how to form the query. From the vantage point of the sales person, they are looking at this vast amount of data within the browse. So they want to form a query by randomly selecting pieces of the query.

So for example, the rep wants to include all of Connecticut. He/she clicks, under the State column, CT, then either via double-click or a button, adds CT to the query. Then the rep wants to include the city of Baltimore in the query -- not Maryland, just Baltimore -- so clicks Baltimore under the City Column, then want Chester County in Pennsylvania so clicks under the County column, then again selects Chicago under the City column, and on and on. In the end we've formed a query that includes all of the pieces that the rep selected in random order. And I've only mentioned geographical elements here. There are also product elements as well as vendor elements. You can see that forcing them to formulate the checklist method in a more structured way is less friendly to the reps than moving through their selections in a haphazard way.

I thought when the client suggested this that it was an ideal approach to what they want to do. So I am working on this approach but may be able to borrow concepts from the code you provided. Don't know yet. I just wonder whether a rep can go on and on with this and overload whatever way I will keep track of the variables. Yet to be seen.

Stan, thanks for providing the checklist-on-table approach.

Jeff

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Prompt Using Check List Box, but want table instead

Implementation is generally more troublesome than the process coding.