How can I allow tab characters to be typed into an edit control?

[therks]

Does anybody know if there's a way I could allow users to type the tab character into an edit control created with GUICtrlCreateEdit()? Some style perhaps? I tried dicking around with IsPressed and detecting when a user hit the tab key and manually insert the tab character, but it ended up really messy and didn't work very well at all. Any suggestions? Or am I stuck with my IsPressed method?

[Sokko]

Ctrl-Tab will insert a tab character into an edit control quite handily. If you're dead-set on using just the Tab key, I can envision some absurd scheme involving HotKeySet and GUIRegisterMsg, but it's really too much effort for such a small effect.

[Richard Robertson]

I thought there was a style, something like ACCEPT_TABS or something equally as obvious looking.

[Sokko]

You're probably thinking of ES_WANTRETURN. MSDN doesn't list any edit control styles (or any styles for anything) that override the default Tab behavior, probably because doing so would break accessibility in certain situations. All I've seen out on the internet are complicated workarounds that rely on reversing the focus change after it happens. Simply using Ctrl-Tab is a much less clunky solution.

[MrCreatoR]

Hi,

Try this one:

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#include <GuiConstants.au3>

$GUI = GUICreate("Test Edit")

$Edit = GUICtrlCreateEdit("", 20, 50, 150, 150)

$Button = GUICtrlCreateButton("Button", 20, 210)
GUICtrlSetState(-1, $Gui_Focus)

GUISetState()

While 1
    $Msg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $Msg
        Case -3
            Exit
        Case Else
            ;;;;
    EndSwitch
    If _IsFocused($GUI, $Edit) Then
        HotKeySet("{Tab}", "TabPress")
    Else
        HotKeySet("{Tab}")
    EndIf
WEnd

Func TabPress()
    $OldClip = ClipGet()
    ClipPut(@TAB)
    Send("^v")
    ClipPut($OldClip)
EndFunc

Func _IsFocused($hWnd, $nCID)
    Return ControlGetHandle($hWnd, '', $nCID) = ControlGetHandle($hWnd, '', ControlGetFocus($hWnd))
EndFunc
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you will get error after trying press Tab key:

Recursion level has been exceeded - AutoIt will quit to prevent stack overflow.:

ControlSend($GUI, "", $Edit, @TAB)

Edited April 20, 2007 by MsCreatoR

[therks]

Wow, I'm kind of a jerk eh? Totally forgot I started this thread. Now to reply!

Ctrl-Tab will insert a tab character into an edit control quite handily. If you're dead-set on using just the Tab key, I can envision some absurd scheme involving HotKeySet and GUIRegisterMsg, but it's really too much effort for such a small effect.

Well look at that... I never would have thought that would work.

I thought there was a style, something like ACCEPT_TABS or something equally as obvious looking.

That's what I was hoping for, but...

MSDN doesn't list any edit control styles (or any styles for anything) that override the default Tab behavior, probably because doing so would break accessibility in certain situations.

That makes sense I guess.

I don't realy know why, but if you use ControlSend, or even just Send(" ", 1) (in the function TabPress()), like that:

Func TabPress()
    ControlSend($GUI, "", $Edit, @TAB)
EndFunc

you will get error after trying press Tab key:

That's because if you bind the tab key, then have the function it calls send the tab key, it's going to re-call the function, which sends the tab key, which calls the function, which sends the tab key........... See what I mean?

Thanks for the replies guys (even if I didn't return to the thread for like a week).

[darkshadow791]

When sending the tab key just put: HotKeySet("{TAB}") before it