THE Multi Column ComboBox

[DraguVaso]

Hi,

The Multi column comboBox is a well spoken control, that a lot of people
desire, and a lot of people buildtheir own. I tested a lot of them, but none
really was what i wanted to have.
But does anybody knows where I can find the best Multi column combobox? One
that supports a lot of columns, possiblities to get the values in each
column for the selected item, adding a DataSource etc...
It should be free, and if possible with the source code (in VB.NET).

Thanks a lot in advance,

Pieter

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

What is for you a multicolumn combobox. For me it sounds as more comboboxes
side by side in a group box. However probably you mean something else with
it?

Cor

[DraguVaso]

Hi Cor,

I mean:
1 combobox, but with in the dropdown-list more than 1 columns (and not 1
like there is on the normal combobox).

Pieter

"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:uX**************@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

Pieter,

What is for you a multicolumn combobox. For me it sounds as more comboboxes side by side in a group box. However probably you mean something else with
it?

Cor

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

I still don't know what you mean, did you ever tried this, try it and tell
than what is good or wrong on it.

\\\needs 3 comboboxes side by side on a form and pasting in this code.
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender _
As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim dt As New DataTable
dt.Columns.Add("a")
dt.Columns.Add("b")
dt.Columns.Add("c")
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Pieter", "Belgie", "Lambik"}, True)
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Cor", "Holland", "Heineken"}, True)
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Rinze", "Zeeland", "Stella"}, True)
dt.DefaultView.Sort = "b"
ComboBox1.DataSource = dt
ComboBox1.DisplayMember = "a"
ComboBox1.ValueMember = "b"
ComboBox2.DataSource = dt
ComboBox2.DisplayMember = "b"
ComboBox2.ValueMember = "c"
ComboBox3.DataSource = dt
ComboBox3.DisplayMember = "c"
ComboBox3.ValueMember = "a"
End Sub
///
I hope this helps,

Cor

[DraguVaso]

Hehe no: you have more than one comboboxes.
Waht I need is only 1 (one, één, uno, eins) combobox :-)
With multiple (more than one, meerdere) columns in the dropdown-list :-)

Like you can see here:
http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/NE...ox/article.asp
or here:
http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/multicolumncombo.asp
or here:
http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/controls...cle.php/c1829/

But none of these are really nice. So I'm looking for a real good solution.

And also for you Cor: how do YOU call these things? :-)
"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:u6**************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

Pieter,

I still don't know what you mean, did you ever tried this, try it and tell
than what is good or wrong on it.

\\\needs 3 comboboxes side by side on a form and pasting in this code.
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender _
As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim dt As New DataTable
dt.Columns.Add("a")
dt.Columns.Add("b")
dt.Columns.Add("c")
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Pieter", "Belgie", "Lambik"}, True)
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Cor", "Holland", "Heineken"}, True)
dt.LoadDataRow(New Object() {"Rinze", "Zeeland", "Stella"}, True)
dt.DefaultView.Sort = "b"
ComboBox1.DataSource = dt
ComboBox1.DisplayMember = "a"
ComboBox1.ValueMember = "b"
ComboBox2.DataSource = dt
ComboBox2.DisplayMember = "b"
ComboBox2.ValueMember = "c"
ComboBox3.DataSource = dt
ComboBox3.DisplayMember = "c"
ComboBox3.ValueMember = "a"
End Sub
///
I hope this helps,

Cor

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

Hehe no: you have more than one comboboxes.
Waht I need is only 1 (one, één, uno, eins) combobox :-)
With multiple (more than one, meerdere) columns in the dropdown-list :-)

Do you mean a combobox where in you can say something as.

Datasource = mytable
Displaymembers are a, b, c
Valuemembers are x, y, z

And than it is displayed in one string row and returned in one string row,
ore do you want to have returned independent objects.

Cor

[DraguVaso]

I prefer independed objects. something like the .Item value most controls
have...
..Item(0).Text, .Item(1).Text, .Item(3).Text etc...

The best would be if you could thread the Datasource/DropDownList as a
DataTable, and the selected value as a DataRow...

"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:eM**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

Pieter,

Hehe no: you have more than one comboboxes.
Waht I need is only 1 (one, één, uno, eins) combobox :-)
With multiple (more than one, meerdere) columns in the dropdown-list :-)

Do you mean a combobox where in you can say something as.

Datasource = mytable
Displaymembers are a, b, c
Valuemembers are x, y, z

And than it is displayed in one string row and returned in one string row,
ore do you want to have returned independent objects.

Cor

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

The best would be if you could thread the Datasource/DropDownList as a
DataTable, and the selected value as a DataRow...

And what is than wrong with concatination the columns using an extra columns
in the datatable as often is showed here in these newsgroups. For the
valuemembers from the datarow the concurrencymanager can of course be used.

(I know a reason however asking it to you)

:-)

Cor

[DraguVaso]

It's jsut ugly :-)
It won't be a nice presentation with columns, but just every time a line
with a lot af values next to each other, and absolutely not well-presented.

Actually: it's really the solution with the columns I need. and I jsut know
that there are a lot of them on the internet, but I jsut want to have the
opinion of the people who used them :)

"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

Pieter,

The best would be if you could thread the Datasource/DropDownList as a
DataTable, and the selected value as a DataRow...
And what is than wrong with concatination the columns using an extra

columns in the datatable as often is showed here in these newsgroups. For the
valuemembers from the datarow the concurrencymanager can of course be used.
(I know a reason however asking it to you)

:-)

Cor

[Marina]

I don't know about free ones - the quality/support there may not bee too
reliable. There are definitely vendors out there that sell controls like
this (e.g. Infragistics).

If spending money is not an option, then you can contenate fields together
as was suggested in other thread. You can pad each columns to a set # of
characters, so the text in each column lines up. This should work if a fixed
width font is being used.

"DraguVaso" <pi**********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eR**************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

Hi,

The Multi column comboBox is a well spoken control, that a lot of people
desire, and a lot of people buildtheir own. I tested a lot of them, but
none
really was what i wanted to have.
But does anybody knows where I can find the best Multi column combobox?
One
that supports a lot of columns, possiblities to get the values in each
column for the selected item, adding a DataSource etc...
It should be free, and if possible with the source code (in VB.NET).

Thanks a lot in advance,

Pieter

[Peter D. Dunlap]

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:19:11 +0200, "DraguVaso"
<pi**********@hotmail.com> wrote:

It's jsut ugly :-)
It won't be a nice presentation with columns, but just every time a line
with a lot af values next to each other, and absolutely not well-presented.

Actually: it's really the solution with the columns I need. and I jsut know
that there are a lot of them on the internet, but I jsut want to have the
opinion of the people who used them :)

Sounds like what you want is a ComboBox where the dropdown displays a
DataGrid or a ListView in detail mode, no?

I don't know of any free ones that do this, though I haven't looked
for one. SyncFusion has a package with that in it, but that is
*definitely* not free!

[Jim Rand]

Take a look at http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/WFSubscription/

I'm slowly working my way through it. The set of controls that ships with
VS-2003 is pretty lame.

Think of a grid with a combo box - what a concept. And yes, it does do
multi-column data lookup combo boxes.

Jim

"Peter D. Dunlap" <pd*****@NOSPAMfcsg.com> wrote in message
news:me********************************@4ax.com...

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:19:11 +0200, "DraguVaso"
<pi**********@hotmail.com> wrote:

It's jsut ugly :-)
It won't be a nice presentation with columns, but just every time a line
with a lot af values next to each other, and absolutely not well-presented.
Actually: it's really the solution with the columns I need. and I jsut knowthat there are a lot of them on the internet, but I jsut want to have the
opinion of the people who used them :)

Sounds like what you want is a ComboBox where the dropdown displays a
DataGrid or a ListView in detail mode, no?

I don't know of any free ones that do this, though I haven't looked
for one. SyncFusion has a package with that in it, but that is
*definitely* not free!

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

That was I expecting. So what you need is a single column datatbox with a
tab seperator in the text part of it. The nicest is when the seperator is
visible as a |.

Right?

Cor

[Cor Ligthert]

combobox of course.

[DraguVaso]

Yes but is still ugly :)
and if you do it like this you have to calculate the ith of the text to have
everything nice set :)

Not like this :-)
Pieter | Belgium | Maes
Cor | Netherlans | Heineken

"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:O6**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

combobox of course.

[DraguVaso]

Hm, doesn't look too bad :-)
Is it free?

"Jim Rand" <ji*****@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

Take a look at http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/WFSubscription/

I'm slowly working my way through it. The set of controls that ships with
VS-2003 is pretty lame.

Think of a grid with a combo box - what a concept. And yes, it does do
multi-column data lookup combo boxes.

Jim

"Peter D. Dunlap" <pd*****@NOSPAMfcsg.com> wrote in message
news:me********************************@4ax.com...

On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:19:11 +0200, "DraguVaso"
<pi**********@hotmail.com> wrote:

It's jsut ugly :-)
It won't be a nice presentation with columns, but just every time a linewith a lot af values next to each other, and absolutely not well-presented.
Actually: it's really the solution with the columns I need. and I jsut knowthat there are a lot of them on the internet, but I jsut want to have theopinion of the people who used them :)

Sounds like what you want is a ComboBox where the dropdown displays a
DataGrid or a ListView in detail mode, no?

I don't know of any free ones that do this, though I haven't looked
for one. SyncFusion has a package with that in it, but that is
*definitely* not free!

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

I tried to explain that you wanted a tab setting than this problem is in my
opinion gone. Now you give an reply on the answer from Marina. (I wrote this
because maybe somebody has done this and can than help you).

:-)

Cor

[Cor Ligthert]

Pieter,

Hm, doesn't look too bad :-)
Is it free?

Are you Dutch?

:-)

Cor

[Peter D. Dunlap]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 11:27:43 +0200, "Cor Ligthert"
<no************@planet.nl> wrote:

Pieter,

Hm, doesn't look too bad :-)
Is it free?

Are you Dutch?

:-)

Cor

Who, me? I live in Ohio.

[DraguVaso]

Hehe no he meant me :-)
I live in Gent! :-) Which has some colonial posessions like Belgium and The
Netherlands ;-)

"Peter D. Dunlap" <pd*****@NOSPAMfcsg.com> wrote in message
news:f7********************************@4ax.com...

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 11:27:43 +0200, "Cor Ligthert"
<no************@planet.nl> wrote:

Pieter,

Hm, doesn't look too bad :-)
Is it free?

Are you Dutch?

:-)

Cor

Who, me? I live in Ohio.

[Cor Ligthert]

Peter,

Is it free?

Are you Dutch?

:-)

Cor

Who, me? I live in Ohio.

You should have to be from Holland or from Belgium to understand this. And
it was as far I can see connected to a message from Pieter (DraguVaso),

Cor

[DraguVaso]

We Belgian's tell (and know! ;-) ) that Dutch people (like Cor!!!) are
stingy, they don't spend any money etc :-)

But, back to the topic: I still doen't have my combobox...

"Cor Ligthert" <no************@planet.nl> wrote in message
news:ue**************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

Peter,

Is it free?

Are you Dutch?

:-)

Cor

Who, me? I live in Ohio.

You should have to be from Holland or from Belgium to understand this. And
it was as far I can see connected to a message from Pieter (DraguVaso),

Cor

[Frank Loizzi]

Am Thu, 16 Jun 2005 12:59:33 +0200 schrieb DraguVaso:

The Multi column comboBox is a well spoken control, that a lot of people
desire, and a lot of people buildtheir own. I tested a lot of them, but none
really was what i wanted to have.
But does anybody knows where I can find the best Multi column combobox? One
that supports a lot of columns, possiblities to get the values in each
column for the selected item, adding a DataSource etc...
It should be free, and if possible with the source code (in VB.NET).

It sounds you search for this one -> www.compona.se or www.compona.com.

Look for the free editors components. These components include a multi
column combobox with the ability to style every column. But I think the
combobox is not able to store multi values, in fact it is unable to
store/hold any value. To workaround this problem use a table as data source
with the amount of values you want.

Unfortunately exist no longer support for the products at this time. The
company is dead or the author pays no longer attention to his work. The
companys forum is orphaned.

Mfg

Frank Loizzo
Germany

[Mark]

Hello

Maybe (and probably) this is a dumb question, but can you use the combobox
that comes with microsoft forms? This has muliple columns etc. etc. etc. and
is free(?)

Mark

[Frank Loizzi]

Am Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:57:24 GMT schrieb Mark:

Maybe (and probably) this is a dumb question, but can you use the combobox
that comes with microsoft forms? This has muliple columns etc. etc. etc. and
is free(?)

Look at this picture: http://it.bacal.de/index.html

Is this possible with build in components from .NET?

Ciao

Frank Loizzi

[Mark]

WOW... very nice, anythings possible I suppose... If you figure it out I'd
be real interested :@)

Cheers

Mark

"Frank Loizzi" <us********@loizzi.de> wrote in message
news:1p***************@loizzi.de...

Am Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:57:24 GMT schrieb Mark:

Maybe (and probably) this is a dumb question, but can you use the
combobox
that comes with microsoft forms? This has muliple columns etc. etc. etc.
and
is free(?)

Look at this picture: http://it.bacal.de/index.html

Is this possible with build in components from .NET?

Ciao

Frank Loizzi

[Aaron Smith]

You should be able to build this. There was a sample on codeguru.com for
..Net 1.1 that was for a multicolumn combobox. At least I thought it was
on there...

Frank Loizzi wrote:

Am Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:57:24 GMT schrieb Mark:

Maybe (and probably) this is a dumb question, but can you use the combobox
that comes with microsoft forms? This has muliple columns etc. etc. etc. and
is free(?)

Look at this picture: http://it.bacal.de/index.html

Is this possible with build in components from .NET?

Ciao

Frank Loizzi

--
---
Aaron Smith
Remove -1- to E-Mail me. Spam Sucks.

[Aaron Smith]

I was mistaken, it was thecodeproject.com .. Do a search for multicolumn
combobox and you will find a ton of examples.

Aaron Smith wrote:

You should be able to build this. There was a sample on codeguru.com for
.Net 1.1 that was for a multicolumn combobox. At least I thought it was
on there...

Frank Loizzi wrote:

Am Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:57:24 GMT schrieb Mark:

Maybe (and probably) this is a dumb question, but can you use the
combobox that comes with microsoft forms? This has muliple columns
etc. etc. etc. and is free(?)

Look at this picture: http://it.bacal.de/index.html

Is this possible with build in components from .NET?

Ciao

Frank Loizzi

--
---
Aaron Smith
Remove -1- to E-Mail me. Spam Sucks.