File Drop Combo

questions
1

Hi Folks,

I have a file drop combo control on a screen and it works as it should. But I would like like to alter its behavior so that it accepts entries that are not in the list and I don’t want the new entries added to the list. I have spent many days trying to figure this out but to no avail. Does any body have a solution/suggestion that might help?

Thanks
Gary

2

What do you want to happen to the new entries?

3

What have you set in Update tab in template setting? Especially what you set in Silent automatic add ?

4

I have tried with update settings on and off. When update is on and
silent is on, new values get added to the database and this is not what
I want. This quickly fills up my customer database with names that may
never be used again. I just want to be able to enter a value that is not
in my database, a one off name.

5

I have also run into the same problem. Additionally I wanted the list to sync with the target file on window opening but have tried various settings and read the help over and over. I notice the help says that both File drop and combo templates will shortly be replaced/developed with a derivation from the Browse.

Are these features yet to come and only the source to target is finished? Be glad to have insight on this.

Meanwhile you could copy the source table to a temp file or queue, work with that but discard the additions on closing? Not elegant but it will keep your project on track until we have the answers.

6

Thanks Jim,

I have actually resolved the issue just last night using the in memory
driver and doing exactly what you have suggested. As you say, not
elegant but it gets me up and running. But then I struck another problem
where each time I edited an existing record, the lookup filled fields
would all be blanked/emptied and I would have to re enter the lookup
field. Very annoying, it turned out to be caused by setting the “Allow
blank choice” flag. As to the comments about future directions of the
product, I have no idea how long those comments have been there and the
product seems to be evolving very slowly. There is little difference
between the clarion 5.5 filedropcombo and the clarion 10 version but
that difference is where the final problem came in. It was by comparing
the two that I discovered what is causing the problem. In the c10
version: the parent.resetqueue method checks to see if a blank choice is
allowed. IF YES, a blank entry is added to the queue and a pointer (i)
is set to 1. The queue is then filled from the file but because the
pointer is already set, it is never reset to point to the actual queue
entry that matches the target record. This pointer (i) is what is
returned from resetqueue method and is subsequently used to fire the
lookup and fill the target fields in form which in this case is all
blank fields. I resolved this simply by commenting out the line which
sets the pointer to 1. It is probably not the best way to do it but so
far it seems to work with no issues. I will be doing some more testing
of this.

Thanks for your suggestion Jim.

Cheers
Gary

7

Sorry it has taken so long to get back and thank Gary for the extra information. Very useful.

I have checked the problem log at http://problemtracker.softvelocity.com/ and can’t see these issues raised, although other problems with these templates have been and dealt with. I have therefore logged my issue of lack of sync and referenced this thread in the hub. I haven’t really checked out your (Gary’s) specific issue so I just recorded it as ‘other problems’.

I do worry about working round template problems too much because in some later release you can get caught out by nothing any longer working quite as expected. So in this instance I used a local variable with the file copy as a string on the window, inviting uses to change from the list below. (It looks better than it sounds on the screen!). I could have done it all by hand, or made my own revised template but this was quicker. Hopefully that should isolate me from problems from template upgrade.

Cheers, Jim

1 Like
8

Hi Jim,

Your concerns are shared by myself and others. I actually cloned the
class and modified the clone using a different name. It is the clone I
am using in my program. I tried to sub class it but I couldn’t get it to
work and decided to cut my losses as I had already spent a ridiculous
amount of time on it.

Good luck with the problem tracker. There have been some grumblings on
the forums lately about the seemingly lack of response to many issues.

Cheers
Gary

1 Like
9

Can you include the PTSS id here as well in case anyone wants to ‘watch’ it there as well? I have heard rumours that additional watchers can add influence :slight_smile:

10

Hi sure, the number is 42259.

Any company managing a large list will need ways to prioritize. The numbers watching certainly should suggest what the market is concerned about. The file-drop presentation is commonly the best choice for applications, so would be expected to be a high enough priority.

Having said that, from the releases lately, H5 seems to be their major concern and presumably the market demand they are responding to. There has been little for the IDE or the ABC templates recently.

Like many I can get frustrated when no notice appears to be taken of submissions. On the other hand unless it is reported how will they know of problems in the field? For that reason I think it is always still worth recording in the Tracker.

Regards Jim

1 Like