Is there a drop down combo with multi check box

[Aussie Rules]

Hi,

I want to have a single line combo box dropdown, but where i can selected
multiple items in the drop down via a check box...

I can see one in the standard tool box... is there one ?

If not any suggestions as to where to get one from.
Thanks

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

"Aussie Rules" <so*****@somewhere.com> schrieb:

I want to have a single line combo box dropdown, but where i can selected
multiple items in the drop down via a check box...

I can see one in the standard tool box... is there one ?

If not any suggestions as to where to get one from.

No, there is no such control. From a usability perspective comboboxes are
not suitable for the functionaliy "selection of m items out of n". I
suggest to use a CheckedListBox control or a ListView control with
checkboxes enabled instead.

Note that there are some groups devoted to .NET Windows Forms development in
the "microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.windowsform s" group hierarchy, for
example "microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.windowsforms.co ntrols", where
discussion focuses on Windows Forms control development.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://classicvb.org/petition/>

[steve]

"Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]" <hi***************@gmx.at> wrote in message
news:OL*************@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
| "Aussie Rules" <so*****@somewhere.com> schrieb:
| > I want to have a single line combo box dropdown, but where i can
selected
| > multiple items in the drop down via a check box...
| >
| > I can see one in the standard tool box... is there one ?
| >
| > If not any suggestions as to where to get one from.
|
| No, there is no such control. From a usability perspective comboboxes are
| not suitable for the functionaliy "selection of m items out of n". I
| suggest to use a CheckedListBox control or a ListView control with
| checkboxes enabled instead.

again herf, you offer only oppinion that is blanketed by lack of ui
development experience. a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
*wonderful* idea when one is simply limited by screen real-estate...i.e.
handhelds and smaller screened devices like toughbooks or other touch screen
interfaces for pos development, etc..

a more helpful comment would have been to suggest inheriting a
checkedlistbox or listview into a user-defined control so he can get what
he's describing. don't try to talk op's out of what they *want* to do with
what you *think* they should do!

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

"steve" <[e-mail]> schrieb:

| "Aussie Rules" <so*****@somewhere.com> schrieb:
| > I want to have a single line combo box dropdown, but where i can
selected
| > multiple items in the drop down via a check box...
| >
| > I can see one in the standard tool box... is there one ?
| >
| > If not any suggestions as to where to get one from.
|
| No, there is no such control. From a usability perspective comboboxes
are
| not suitable for the functionaliy "selection of m items out of n". I
| suggest to use a CheckedListBox control or a ListView control with
| checkboxes enabled instead.

again herf, you offer only oppinion that is blanketed by lack of ui
development experience.
I have studied User Interface Design and Human-Computer Interaction for
several years...
a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
*wonderful* idea
Not for standard Windows Forms. In Windows, the combobox closes after an
items is selected by the user. If the user should have the possibility to
select more than one item, the dropdown part of the control must remain
opened to provide a good user experience. However, this would lead to
/inconsistent/ behavior between the set of controls provided by Windows.
when one is simply limited by screen real-estate...i.e.
handhelds and smaller screened devices like toughbooks or other touch
screen
interfaces for pos development, etc..
I was referring to standard Windows Forms. Sure, there are special cases
and user interface libraries designed for use in these cases should contain
appropriate controls with /consistent/ behavior.
a more helpful comment would have been to suggest inheriting a
checkedlistbox or listview into a user-defined control so he can get what
he's describing. don't try to talk op's out of what they *want* to do with
what you *think* they should do!

Sometimes it's better not to provide a solution...

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://classicvb.org/petition/>

[david]

On 2005-09-17, Herfried K. Wagner [MVP] <hi***************@gmx.at> wrote:

"steve" <[e-mail]> schrieb:

| "Aussie Rules" <so*****@somewhere.com> schrieb:
a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
*wonderful* idea

Not for standard Windows Forms. In Windows, the combobox closes after an
items is selected by the user. If the user should have the possibility to
select more than one item, the dropdown part of the control must remain
opened to provide a good user experience. However, this would lead to
/inconsistent/ behavior between the set of controls provided by Windows.

Obviously this is /nonstandard/ behavior by the simple tautology of it
not being a built-in control, but as long as you provide strong visual
feedback, I don't see the inconsistency. Yes, it doesn't behave like a
single-select dropdown, but if you provide strong enough visual clues,
no user expects it to.

For example, this is becoming a fairly common control in data analysis
packages, and I've seen it in most OLAP tools I've seen. This is
probably because Excel has had this control type for years, and I
strongly suspect the Excel/Office team spends a lot of effort on UI
testing.

PS. I'm assuming a combobox in dropdownlist mode here.

[Aussie Rules]

Ok, I guess I should explain a bit further...

I have the dotnetbar menu which allows other control to be placed into the
menu bar..

I have the combo drop down box which does allow me to select a value and
then it closes.

The current combo shows a list of employees names. When you select a
employee it shows the calendar of that employee on the frm. I want to be
able to rather than just select one, select multiple employees at the same
time, so that I can show multi calendars so that the user can easily see all
selected peoples calendar to see who is available at a time, to book an
appointment.

The menu bar is in my UI design the best place to do this, and the current
version has the cbo box.I want the next version to simply update that
control into a drop down, multiselectable cbo box thingo..

I shall repost this ? for this control into the controls newsgroup..

Hope this clears this up.

Thanks

"david" <da***@woofix.local.dom> wrote in message
news:sl******************@localhost.localdomain...

On 2005-09-17, Herfried K. Wagner [MVP] <hi***************@gmx.at> wrote:

"steve" <[e-mail]> schrieb:

| "Aussie Rules" <so*****@somewhere.com> schrieb:
a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
*wonderful* idea

Not for standard Windows Forms. In Windows, the combobox closes after an
items is selected by the user. If the user should have the possibility
to
select more than one item, the dropdown part of the control must remain
opened to provide a good user experience. However, this would lead to
/inconsistent/ behavior between the set of controls provided by Windows.

Obviously this is /nonstandard/ behavior by the simple tautology of it
not being a built-in control, but as long as you provide strong visual
feedback, I don't see the inconsistency. Yes, it doesn't behave like a
single-select dropdown, but if you provide strong enough visual clues,
no user expects it to.

For example, this is becoming a fairly common control in data analysis
packages, and I've seen it in most OLAP tools I've seen. This is
probably because Excel has had this control type for years, and I
strongly suspect the Excel/Office team spends a lot of effort on UI
testing.

PS. I'm assuming a combobox in dropdownlist mode here.

[steve]

| I have studied User Interface Design and Human-Computer Interaction for
| several years...

that never shines through now does it.

| > a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
| > *wonderful* idea
|
| Not for standard Windows Forms. In Windows, the combobox closes after an
| items is selected by the user. If the user should have the possibility to
| select more than one item, the dropdown part of the control must remain
| opened to provide a good user experience. However, this would lead to
| /inconsistent/ behavior between the set of controls provided by Windows.

you *assumed* the context rather than addressing his question and giving a
solution that was even *close* to what he ask for.

| > when one is simply limited by screen real-estate...i.e.
| > handhelds and smaller screened devices like toughbooks or other touch
| > screen
| > interfaces for pos development, etc..
|
| I was referring to standard Windows Forms. Sure, there are special cases
| and user interface libraries designed for use in these cases should
contain
| appropriate controls with /consistent/ behavior.

why assume. this may be exactly the env. he's trying to get this to work
in...and you go and insult his intelligence by saying it's not a good
idea...without even asking about it!

| > a more helpful comment would have been to suggest inheriting a
| > checkedlistbox or listview into a user-defined control so he can get
what
| > he's describing. don't try to talk op's out of what they *want* to do
with
| > what you *think* they should do!
|
| Sometimes it's better not to provide a solution...

holy shit! you hit the nail on the head!!! i've been asking you to stop
posting your "solutions" for YEARS!!! your solutions are either links to
other people's code, a snippet of msdn code, or something not even
applicable. NEVER once have i seen you post your own code as a solution to
someone's request for help!!! never...so, yes, quit now...please!

[david]

On 2005-09-17, Aussie Rules <so*****@somewhere.com> wrote:

Ok, I guess I should explain a bit further...
....Answering backwards...
I shall repost this ? for this control into the controls newsgroup..
It really is more of a windows forms questions than a language
question.

I have the dotnetbar menu which allows other control to be placed into the
menu bar..

I have the combo drop down box which does allow me to select a value and
then it closes.

The current combo shows a list of employees names. When you select a
employee it shows the calendar of that employee on the frm. I want to be
able to rather than just select one, select multiple employees at the same
time, so that I can show multi calendars so that the user can easily see all
selected peoples calendar to see who is available at a time, to book an
appointment.

The menu bar is in my UI design the best place to do this, and the current
version has the cbo box.I want the next version to simply update that
control into a drop down, multiselectable cbo box thingo..

OK, I'm with Herfried. I hate the idea of a combobox in the menu. Why
not a simple list of checked menu items? If the item is checked, then
show the calendar for that person.

[Aussie Rules]

If i understand what you saying, then you mean to have in my menu, and
number of items which the end user can select.

If I understand correctly, then I can not see how that could work, as the
items in the drop down are a list of peoples names, and for some end users
that list could be up to 30 people(all with nice long EU names... go the
greeks!!!)...

If I do not follow what your saying, perhaps you could point me in the right
direction.

Thanks

"david" <da***@woofix.local.dom> wrote in message
news:sl******************@localhost.localdomain...

On 2005-09-17, Aussie Rules <so*****@somewhere.com> wrote:

Ok, I guess I should explain a bit further...

...Answering backwards...

I shall repost this ? for this control into the controls newsgroup..

It really is more of a windows forms questions than a language
question.

I have the dotnetbar menu which allows other control to be placed into
the
menu bar..

I have the combo drop down box which does allow me to select a value and
then it closes.

The current combo shows a list of employees names. When you select a
employee it shows the calendar of that employee on the frm. I want to be
able to rather than just select one, select multiple employees at the
same
time, so that I can show multi calendars so that the user can easily see
all
selected peoples calendar to see who is available at a time, to book an
appointment.

The menu bar is in my UI design the best place to do this, and the
current
version has the cbo box.I want the next version to simply update that
control into a drop down, multiselectable cbo box thingo..

OK, I'm with Herfried. I hate the idea of a combobox in the menu. Why
not a simple list of checked menu items? If the item is checked, then
show the calendar for that person.

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

"steve" <[e-mail]> schrieb:

holy shit! you hit the nail on the head!!! i've been asking you to stop
posting your "solutions" for YEARS!!! your solutions are either links to
other people's code, a snippet of msdn code, or something not even
applicable. NEVER once have i seen you post your own code as a solution to
someone's request for help!!! never...so, yes, quit now...please!

The many "thank you"s I hear every day confirm me in my perception that my
replies are helpful. Objective criticism is always welcome because it can
help me to improve the help I provide.

However, what you are doing is obeying the rules of conduct and insulting
other people from time to time. I can understand your frustration because
you hardly ever get any positive feedback.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://classicvb.org/petition/>

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

David,

"david" <da***@woofix.local.dom> schrieb:

a drop-down combobox with checkable items is a
*wonderful* idea
Not for standard Windows Forms. In Windows, the combobox closes after an
items is selected by the user. If the user should have the possibility
to
select more than one item, the dropdown part of the control must remain
opened to provide a good user experience. However, this would lead to
/inconsistent/ behavior between the set of controls provided by Windows.

Obviously this is /nonstandard/ behavior by the simple tautology of it
not being a built-in control, but as long as you provide strong visual
feedback, I don't see the inconsistency.

I agree with you -- but then I would not consider the control a combobox
:-). It's actually possible to build custom controls providing a drop-down
or popup window. The following article describes how to do that:

Use .NET Forms as Popup Windows
<URL:http://vbaccelerator.com/article.asp?id=13309>
Yes, it doesn't behave like a
single-select dropdown, but if you provide strong enough visual clues,
no user expects it to.

For example, this is becoming a fairly common control in data analysis
packages, and I've seen it in most OLAP tools I've seen.

There is a similar control used for programming language filtering in the
(locally installed) MSDN documentation. The main problem I am seeing with
introducing such a control is that the user is not able to see which items
are selected without seeing the dropdown part containing the checkboxes.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://classicvb.org/petition/>

[david]

On 2005-09-17, Herfried K. Wagner [MVP] <hi***************@gmx.at> wrote:

There is a similar control used for programming language filtering in the
(locally installed) MSDN documentation. The main problem I am seeing with
introducing such a control is that the user is not able to see which items
are selected without seeing the dropdown part containing the checkboxes.

True, but the alternative is to tell the user "I can't provide multiple
selections unless you allow me to display the complete list at all
times." Or you could show just the selected items in some way, but even
that gets onerous (I have a webcontrol that acts this way and I show the
selections in the tooltip, but it's often not easily readable). Neither
solution is reasonable for multiple selections within large datasets.

[david]

On 2005-09-17, Aussie Rules <so*****@somewhere.com> wrote:

If i understand what you saying, then you mean to have in my menu, and
number of items which the end user can select.

If I understand correctly, then I can not see how that could work, as the
items in the drop down are a list of peoples names, and for some end users
that list could be up to 30 people(all with nice long EU names... go the
greeks!!!)...

If I do not follow what your saying, perhaps you could point me in the right
direction.

No, you're following what I'm saying. Personally, I really dislike
putting anything but menus in the menu bar. I'd probably use a scrolling
menu of checked menu item, and make the first item an option to pop up
a dialog box (also, I might consider submenus).

After all, your dropdown combo is going to take up just as much room on
the screen.

But anyway, as to your original question: no, there's no built-in
control to do this. You'll have to create your own or find a
third-party control. A quick google search popped up a few sample
projects, but unfortunately I don't know of a professional version
of this type of control that's available.

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Steve,

holy shit! you hit the nail on the head!!! i've been asking you to stop
posting your "solutions" for YEARS!!! your solutions are either links to
other people's code, a snippet of msdn code, or something not even
applicable. NEVER once have i seen you post your own code as a solution to
someone's request for help!!! never...so, yes, quit now...please!

One of the first days I came in this newsgroup I wrote that it is in this
business not important to know how, however to know how to find something.

Hefried is a master in that. That is not possible without any knowledge
about what you find. These newsgroups should be as well for Herfried a
method to learn.

Giving the solutions from others is in my opinion a good way to help other
people and to see them yourself. Herfried is very good in that, you cannot
blame him for this and please let us not force him not to do that, he helps
with that a lot of people.

Yesterday I saw that he gave a solution where he wrote. "By Herfried K.
Wagner".
That confirms what you wrote, however my experience in discussions is that
he is well able to do more than that one.

Keep as well in mind that he, some others and I are writing a lot in these
newsgroups.
That gives errors in writing, misunderstanding etc etc.

As last, the way Herfried is writing now in this newsgroup is not the
Hefried from 2 years ago. He has learned in my opinion a lot, not only about
the subjects, however too about how to behave. One of the things I am hoping
is that he will understand some humour in future. Than I am able to answer a
sentence, that Herfried wrote like this in this thread.

"I have studied User Interface Design and Human-Computer Interaction for
several years..." with "Are you living on the planet of Apes?

Just my personal opinion.

Cor

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Aussie,

For me you are just asking for a multiselect listbox. A standard control in
Net.

A combobox has to show the item in the combotextbox. A little bit silly to
try to do that if you have selected more. In addition even if you want that,
than that would be a usercontrol with a textbox and a listbox.

I hope this helps,

Cor

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Herfried,

I can understand your frustration because you hardly ever get any positive
feedback.

Why is this needed?

Cor

[Dennis]

A simple solution would seem to make the listbox visible or not visible via a
button for "Select People". When visible, the user can select multiple
people then when finished, make the listbox invisible!

As for Herfried and anyone else postings, the guy STEVE doesn't have to read
the postings. I get a lot of information from Cor, Herfried, and Ken who
often quote links but also often post direct code. I get a lot of learnings
from all of these guys but haven't learned much from Steve's postings. As a
matter of fact, I don't see him answering many questions on this news group.

--
Dennis in Houston
"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" wrote:

Aussie,

For me you are just asking for a multiselect listbox. A standard control in
Net.

A combobox has to show the item in the combotextbox. A little bit silly to
try to do that if you have selected more. In addition even if you want that,
than that would be a usercontrol with a textbox and a listbox.

I hope this helps,

Cor

[steve]

| you hardly ever get any positive feedback.

lol herf...i don't often post here...how would you know my behavior,
responses, accolades, etc.?

as far as your self-perception...the ty's you get are from relatively noob
..net-sters who appreciated the *link to someone else's solution*. having a
mastery of google does not an mvp make nor a resume build. i still have yet
to find you offering code of your own making that addresses even a mildly
difficult problem with any degree of success...and where *that* gives you a
ty.

but anyway, over-estimation seems a good forte for you.