You typically display data in an updateable browse column using a FILL-IN widget. However, it can be useful to provide users with the ability to enter data in browse cells using a combo-box or toggle-box widget. For example, when the user enters a cell to edit it, they can select an entry from a combo box or check a toggle box. Not only is this convenient, but it speeds data entry and reduces errors by ensuring that the user selects only a valid choice for the field.

You can extend the behavior of an updateable browse in a Windows GUI to display data in a browse column using a combo-box or toggle-box widget.

The DISPLAY phrase includes the following VIEW-AS phrase, which lets you specify a widget type for displaying values in a browse column:

VIEW-AS combo-box-phrase | TOGGLE-BOX

You can specify a DROP-DOWN combo box or a DROP-DOWN-LIST combo box for a combo-box browse column in the combo-box-phrase. When you use a DROP-DOWN or DROP-DOWN-LIST combo-box widget in a browse column, a drop-down button appears only when the editable combo-box column has focus. You can use a DROP-DOWN combo box only for a CHARACTER column. You can use a DROP-DOWN-LIST combo box for a CHARACTER, DECIMAL, INTEGER, INT64, DATE, or LOGICAL column. The following figure shows a combo-box column with focus.

Figure 1. Combo-box column with focus

When you use a TOGGLE-BOX widget in a browse column, the toggle box always appears whether it is enabled or not, and the toggle box is always centered within the column. A solid outline appears to indicate that a cell in a toggle-box column currently has focus. The following figure shows a toggle-box column with focus.

Figure 2. Toggle-box column with focus

If you do not specify a VIEW-AS phrase for the browse column, the widget type for the column will be a FILL-IN, by default.

You can also add a combo-box or toggle-box browse column to a dynamic updateable browse widget by:

  • Specifying the widget type in the VIEW-AS attribute for a buffer-field object before creating the column with the ADD-LIKE-COLUMN() or ADD-COLUMNS-FROM() method
  • Passing the widget type as an optional parameter to the ADD-CALC-COLUMN() or ADD-LIKE-COLUMN( ) method

For more information on the VIEW-AS phrase, COMBO-BOX phrase, VIEW-AS attribute, and ADD methods, see their respective reference entries in the ABL Reference.