_GUICtrlComboBox_GetList Missing Closing Delimiter

[prizm1]

I notice that this function does not preserve the ending delimiter when returning the delimited string of all Combobox items. 

Or, Perhaps this is a result of the _GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString not preserving the ending delimiter. I'm not sure how to test which function does not preserve the closing delimiter.

If I insert the string "|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse|" into the Combobox using _GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString , and then retrieve the string list using _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList, I get ""|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse" without the closing delimiter.

Is this by design? Could someone explain the conceptual reason for this. Of course, I can just concatenate a closing "|" delimiter to the result from _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList.

Source code Line 79 is where I encountered this question.

Lifetime COG Tracking Application.au3

[Melba23]

prizm1,

I am afraid I do not understand your problem. If you insert a string into a combo using _GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString it is regarded as a single item even if it contains delimiters - you can see this with Combo_1 in the example code below. Reading the combo content with _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList returns the same string - obviously with the ending delimiter as that is part of the item.

If you add the string to the combo using GUICtrlSetData then it is treated as delimited and the items are added individually - as you can see with Combo_2. Note that the final delimiter is ignored - there is no blank item added at the bottom of the combo. So when the list is read with _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList you will not get a final delimiter - there is nothing to delimit.

This is the example code I rant to test:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <GUIComboBox.au3>

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

GUICtrlCreateLabel("Combo 1", 10, 10, 200, 20)
$cCombo_1 = GUICtrlCreateCombo("", 10, 30, 200, 20)
_GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString($cCombo_1, "|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse|")

GUICtrlCreateLabel("Combo 2", 260, 10, 200, 20)
$cCombo_2 = GUICtrlCreateCombo("", 260, 30, 200, 20)
GUICtrlSetData($cCombo_2, "|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse|")

GUISetState()

ConsoleWrite("Combo_1: " & _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList($cCombo_1) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("Combo_2: " & _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList($cCombo_2) & @CRLF)

While 1
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
WEnd

I suggest you try to create a simple reproducer script which shows the problem you say you have discovered as at present I cannot reproduce it in the manner you suggest.

M23

[BrewManNH]

When you retrieve the contents of the combo with _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList it doesn't add the final delimiter by design, I'm pretty sure it's always been like that and for perfectly good reasons. The contents of the combo are added and separated by the delimiter,the extra delimiter at the end is automatically stripped when adding the items to the combo, otherwise you'd have a blank item at the end of your combo box. Adding it when you put the items in there won't preserve it when retrieving it, even if the function didn't strip it. You can look at the function _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList and see how the combo items are retrieved and the returned string is built up. It's simply reads each item in the combo, adds it to a string and then adds the delimiter. 

[prizm1]

prizm1,

I am afraid I do not understand your problem. If you insert a string into a combo using _GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString it is regarded as a single item even if it contains delimiters - you can see this with Combo_1 in the example code below. Reading the combo content with _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList returns the same string - obviously with the ending delimiter as that is part of the item.

If you add the string to the combo using GUICtrlSetData then it is treated as delimited and the items are added individually - as you can see with Combo_2. Note that the final delimiter is ignored - there is no blank item added at the bottom of the combo. So when the list is read with _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList you will not get a final delimiter - there is nothing to delimit.

This is the example code I rant to test:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <GUIComboBox.au3>

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

GUICtrlCreateLabel("Combo 1", 10, 10, 200, 20)
$cCombo_1 = GUICtrlCreateCombo("", 10, 30, 200, 20)
_GUICtrlComboBox_InsertString($cCombo_1, "|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse|")

GUICtrlCreateLabel("Combo 2", 260, 10, 200, 20)
$cCombo_2 = GUICtrlCreateCombo("", 260, 30, 200, 20)
GUICtrlSetData($cCombo_2, "|Car|Boat|Plane|Horse|")

GUISetState()

ConsoleWrite("Combo_1: " & _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList($cCombo_1) & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("Combo_2: " & _GUICtrlComboBox_GetList($cCombo_2) & @CRLF)

While 1
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
WEnd

I suggest you try to create a simple reproducer script which shows the problem you say you have discovered as at present I cannot reproduce it in the manner you suggest.

M23

 

 

Thank you for your invaluable information.

The program that I wrote utilized the _StringBetween() function to create an array from a fully delimited string, ex., "|<NOT USED>|Top Left [1]|Top Right [2]|Middle Left [1]|Middle Right [2]|". 

The fully delimited string was a single element text item in a two dimensional array imported from a CSV file using the _FileReadArray() funtion.

CSV file line entry, ex.,    SKL HV BT 35;|<NOT USED>|Top Left [1]|Top Right [2]|Middle Left [1]|Middle Right [2]|

The problem I had was that I did not understand that the GetCtrlSetData() function that I used to populate Comboboxes dropped the ending delimiter. The Help file did not detail this fact. So, when my error input checking function which incorporated the line  $TxtSrchPos = StringInStr($SKLHVPOS, "|" & StringStripWS(GUICtrlRead($rPos), 3) & "|"),  with $rPos being the pointer assigned variable to the combobox and $SKLHVPOS = "|<NOT USED>|Top Left [1]|Top Right [2]|Middle Left [1]|Middle Right [2]|", the last combox item was not found and $TxtSrchPos returned 0,

I have since corrected my error input checking function line to  $TxtSrchPos = StringInStr($SKLHVPOS, "|" & StringStripWS(GUICtrlRead($rPos), 3)) , and now the last combobox selected item is found by the StringInStr() function.

[Melba23]

prizm1,

 

I did not understand that the GetCtrlSetData() function [...] dropped the ending delimiter. The Help file did not detail this fact

It does not "drop" the delimiter, it just does not create a blank final item if there is a trailing delimiter in the string - which is obvious when looking at the combo content. But I have added a suitable comment to the Help file to prevent any future confusion.

M23