combo box selection navigation

Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter) and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list & then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress of "A" just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after hours
of google.

Andy

Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click the combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter) and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list & then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress of "A" just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after hours
of google.

Andy

Reggie:
This property was already set to "yes". Tried "no" - see
no difference in behavior.

What am I missing?

Andy
-----Original Message-----
Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click the
combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the
Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in
message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter) and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list & then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress of "A"
just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after
hours
of google.

Andy


.

Andy, I've seen this work on the web and when I place a combo box on one of
my MS Frontpage pages, however not sure how to accomplish this in Access.
Maybe someone else knows of a way. Sorry.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in message
...
Reggie:
This property was already set to "yes". Tried "no" - see
no difference in behavior.

What am I missing?

Andy
-----Original Message-----
Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click the
combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the
Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in
message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter) and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list & then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress of "A"
just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after
hours
of google.

Andy


.

AFAIK, HTML comboboxes work differently than Access comboboxes. With an HTML
combobox, you get the behaviour you describe: that you can hit the A key
three times and it'll take you to the 3rd A entry. In Access, three As will
be treated as AAA. You can limit your combobox so that it won't accept AAA
unless it's in the list, but I don't believe you can change how it treats 3
As.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)



"Reggie" wrote in message
...
Andy, I've seen this work on the web and when I place a combo box on one
of
my MS Frontpage pages, however not sure how to accomplish this in Access.
Maybe someone else knows of a way. Sorry.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in message
...
Reggie:
This property was already set to "yes". Tried "no" - see
no difference in behavior.

What am I missing?

Andy
-----Original Message-----
Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click the
combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the
Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in
message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter) and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list & then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress of "A"
just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after
hours
of google.

Andy


.

Well, that seems consistent with what I've seen.

Also note that an Access list box has the default
behavior I want but it doesn't support the dropdown
function, so with a .1667 high 8pt font list box, you get
those ugly little up & down arrows!

urrgggg!

Web page input forms that use State code drop down boxes
almost always have the behavior I'm looking for in my
Access object.

Any other ideas?

Andy

-----Original Message-----
AFAIK, HTML comboboxes work differently than Access
comboboxes. With an HTML
combobox, you get the behaviour you describe: that you
can hit the A key
three times and it'll take you to the 3rd A entry. In
Access, three As will
be treated as AAA. You can limit your combobox so that
it won't accept AAA
unless it's in the list, but I don't believe you can
change how it treats 3
As.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)



"Reggie" wrote in
message
...
Andy, I've seen this work on the web and when I place
a combo box on one
of
my MS Frontpage pages, however not sure how to
accomplish this in Access.
Maybe someone else knows of a way. Sorry.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in
message
...
Reggie:
This property was already set to "yes". Tried "no" -
see
no difference in behavior.

What am I missing?

Andy
-----Original Message-----
Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click
the
combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the
Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote
in
message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup
table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter)
and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list &
then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they
reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first
state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress
of "A"
just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter
press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this
behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after
hours
of google.

Andy


.





.

Have you tried a combo box? Right-click the List Box and select Change
To/Combo Box.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in message
...
Well, that seems consistent with what I've seen.

Also note that an Access list box has the default
behavior I want but it doesn't support the dropdown
function, so with a .1667 high 8pt font list box, you get
those ugly little up & down arrows!

urrgggg!

Web page input forms that use State code drop down boxes
almost always have the behavior I'm looking for in my
Access object.

Any other ideas?

Andy

-----Original Message-----
AFAIK, HTML comboboxes work differently than Access
comboboxes. With an HTML
combobox, you get the behaviour you describe: that you
can hit the A key
three times and it'll take you to the 3rd A entry. In
Access, three As will
be treated as AAA. You can limit your combobox so that
it won't accept AAA
unless it's in the list, but I don't believe you can
change how it treats 3
As.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)



"Reggie" wrote in
message
...
Andy, I've seen this work on the web and when I place
a combo box on one
of
my MS Frontpage pages, however not sure how to
accomplish this in Access.
Maybe someone else knows of a way. Sorry.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote in
message
...
Reggie:
This property was already set to "yes". Tried "no" -
see
no difference in behavior.

What am I missing?

Andy
-----Original Message-----
Andy, Open the form in design mode. Double-click
the
combo-box to launch
the properties window. Click the data tab. Set the
Auto Expand to yes.

--
Reggie

----------
"Andy" wrote
in
message
...
Using Access 2003...

I have a form with a combo box bound to a lookup
table
for USA state values (AK, AL, AR, etc).

I want to allow user to press "A" (or any letter)
and
jump to the first instance of "A" on the list &
then to
the next, etc. with each "A" keypress until they
reach
the one they want & then hit enter to select it.

Currently the first keypress jumps to the first
state
beginning with that letter but a 2nd keypress
of "A"
just
puts "AA" in the field which of course is invalid.

Suppose I'd also need to handle an invalid letter
press
("X" for example).

BTW, what is this feature called? I see this
behavior
many places, but can't find out how to do it after
hours
of google.

Andy


.





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