ABAQUS GUI Toolkit User's Manual  


3.3 Lists and combo boxes

This section describes the widgets in the ABAQUS GUI Toolkit that allow you to choose one or more items from a list.

  • You use a list widget when there is enough room in the GUI and when it is helpful to display all or most of the choices at the same time.

  • You use a combo box to conserve space in the GUI and when it is preferable to display only the current choice.

The following topics are covered:


3.3.1 Lists

AFXList allows one or more selections from its items.

The list created by AFXList supports the following selection policies:

LIST_SINGLESELECT

The user can select zero or one items.

LIST_BROWSESELECT

One item is always selected.

LIST_MULTIPLESELECT

The user can select zero or more items.

LIST_EXTENDEDSELECT

The user can select zero or more items; drag-, shift-, and control-selections are allowed.

The AFXDialog base class has special code designed to handle double-click messages from a list. If the user double-clicks in a list, the dialog box first attempts to call the Apply button message handler. If the Apply button message handler is not found, the dialog attempts to call the Continue button message handler. If the Continue button message handler is not found, the dialog attempts to call the OK button message handler. As a result, you do not need to do anything in your script to get this behavior.

However, if you have special double-click processing needs, you can turn off this double-click behavior by specifying AFXLIST_NO_AUTOCOMMIT as one of the list's option flags. If you turn off the double-click behavior, you must catch the SEL_DOUBLECLICKED message from the list in your dialog box and handle it appropriately.

Note:  Because the list may be used in combination with other types of widgets, the list does not draw a border around itself. As a result, if you want a border around the list, you must provide the border by placing the list inside some other widget, such as a frame. If you do not want a horizontal scrollbar, use the HSCROLLING_OFF flag; this flag forces the list to size its width to fit its widest item.

The following is an example of a list within a vertical frame: 

vf = FXVerticalFrame(parent, FRAME_THICK|FRAME_SUNKEN, 
    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)
list = AFXList(vf, 3, tgt, sel, LIST_BROWSESELECT|HSCROLLING_OFF)
list.appendItem('Thin')
list.appendItem('Medium')
list.appendItem('Thick')

Figure 3–14 An example of a list with a frame from AFXList.


3.3.2 Combo boxes

AFXComboBox provides a one-of-many selection from its items. AFXComboBox combines a read-only text field with a drop-down list.

After the parent argument, the next three arguments to the AFXComboBox constructor are the width of the text field, the number of visible list items when the list is exposed, and the label. If you specify the width as zero, the combo box will automatically size itself to the widest item in its list. For example, 

comboBox = AFXComboBox(p, 0, 3, 'AFXComboBox:')
comboBox.appendItem('Item 1')
comboBox.appendItem('Item 2')
comboBox.appendItem('Item 3')

Figure 3–15 An example of a combo box from AFXComboBox.


3.3.3 List boxes

The AFXListBox widget provides a one-of-many selection from its items. AFXListBox differs from AFXComboBox in that the items displayed by AFXListBox can include icons. For example, 

    listBox = AFXListBox(parent, 3, 'AFXListBox:', keyword)
    listBox.appendItem('Item 1', thinIcon)
    listBox.appendItem('Item 2', mediumIcon)
    listBox.appendItem('Item 3', thickIcon)

Figure 3–16 An example of a list box from AFXListBox.