GUI: List/Tree-View item selection by word typing

[monsterkodi]

Hello,

if a ListView or TreeView has the keyboard focus and i start typing, the item that starts with the typed letters gets selected.

A new search is started when there is no keyboard input for approximately 1-2 seconds.

I would like to know if it is possible to set the duration of this delay somehow.

I would also like to know if there is a way to receive the pressed keys. The documentation states that these Controls swallow the

WM_KEYDOWN messages. Is there no way to receive them in my script nevertheless?

Thanks in advance for any answer,

yours kodi

[Melba23]

monsterkodi,

First, welcome to the AutoIt forums.

Here is a first second cut at what you wanted. The only thing I cannot resolve is that the first item is always selected when you start - seems like a default setting and I have seen it remarked upon elsewhere in these forums.

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#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <ListviewConstants.au3>
#Include <GuiListView.au3>
#include <String.au3>

; Create GUI
$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

; Create LV
$hListView = GUICtrlCreateListView("                      ", 10, 10, 200, 220)
GUICtrlSetBkColor(-1, 0x0AFFB0)

; Fill LV
For $i = 0 To 9
    GUICtrlCreateListViewItem(_StringRepeat(Chr(65 + $i), 7), $hListView)
Next

; Create Input
$hInput = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 250, 10, 200, 20)

GUISetState()

; Set up LV search structure
$tInfo = DllStructCreate($tagLVFINDINFO)
DllStructSetData($tInfo, "Flags", $LVFI_PARTIAL) ; Looking for partial matches

; Set intitial values
$iOld_Index = -1
$sCurr_Input = GUICtrlRead($hInput)
$iBegin = TimerInit()

While 1

    ; Look for [X} click
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch

    ; Reset Input if no change in 2 secs
    ; Wait until 2 secs have passed
    If TimerDiff($iBegin) > 2000 Then
        ; If no change to Input value
        If GUICtrlRead($hInput) = $sCurr_Input Then
            ; Reset Input
            GUICtrlSetData($hInput, "")
            ; Clear all selection in LV
            _GUICtrlListView_SetItemSelected($hListView, -1, False)
        Else
            ; If value has changed, store current input and reset timer
            $sCurr_Input = GUICtrlRead($hInput)
            $iBegin = TimerInit()
        EndIf
    EndIf

    ; Search the LV for element containing Inpit content
    $iIndex = _GUICtrlListView_FindItem($hListView, -1, $tInfo, GUICtrlRead($hInput))
    ; If the selection has changed
    If $iIndex <> $iOld_Index Then
        ; Clear old selection in LV and set new one
        _GUICtrlListView_SetItemSelected($hListView, -1, False)
        _GUICtrlListView_SetItemSelected($hListView, $iIndex)
        ; Store current selection
        $iOld_Index = $iIndex
    EndIf
WEnd

As to receiving the pressed keys, I am unsure what exactly you mean. You can read what is in the Input by using GUICtrlRead, as you can see in the script. Is that enough? I should warn you that keyloggers (saving every key pressed) are very much NOT welcome here because of the obvious possibilites of malicious use.

M23

Edit: Updated and improved script example removing some earlier problems.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Melba23

[monsterkodi]

Hello M23,

thanks for your welcome and your script.

Unfortunately, it isn't quite what I expected.

I don't really want to re-implement the tree view navigation.

I would like to leave the focus in the tree view and just change the delay after which the search string gets resetted.

While browsing the MSDN, i found a solution to my second question: sending a TVM_GETISEARCHSTRING message will retrieve the search string.

But that also tells me that the incremental search is done in a part controlled by Microsoft, not by AutoIt, and therefore probably not tweakable without the corresponding interface.

After all, maybe I have to do it your way in the end.

Thanks again for your help and a general sorry to everybody for starting this thread in the wrong section (just discovered the UI topic )

yours kodi

[Melba23]

monsterkodi,

your script. Unfortunately, it isn't quite what I expected

Just to make sure you realise that normally we expect you to make an effort at coding something yourself first before we chip in with suggestions. I was being extra nice to welcome you to the forums - as Sir Percy said to Courtney "Do not expect treats like this every day"!

M23

[monsterkodi]

Hello M23,

I sense some misunderstanding here. I really appreciate your help.

You provided a workaround for my problem because it probably can't be solved directly, which is very nice of you.

I don't expect treats like this every day, please forgive me my bad wording.

Peace,

yours kodi

[Melba23]

monsterkodi,

Peace to you too.

M23