jsListView Overview
Introducing the jsListView
custom class for use with dBASE.
jsListView is a custom class
which is written almost entirely in dBL code and based on the PaintBox
standard dBL class. The dBL code in the jsListView
class surfaces the highly stable, widely used, and well-known Windows ListView
window class functionality.
If you've used Windows Explorer or other applications using ListView,
then you already know
what ListView functionality is all about. The same basic
ListView technology is used in all sorts of applications requiring simple
user-interfaces for list selections and manipulations. Now, as amazing as
it may seem, almost all of the ListView functionality can be easily integrated
directly into any dBL application with jsListView
and you have full control of the functionality which the users have
access to. And your clients will most likely already know and recognize ListView
behavior, so client training and support is also reduced.
jsListView can be used for many
purposes:
- jsListView is a very
stable item list interface. Almost all of
the standard ListView window class functionality is now available to you
through dBL code.
- jsListView can be used to
replace more cumbersome and difficult to program interfaces using the stock
ListBox class in dBL applications. But instead of the limited properties
and methods of the stock ListBox class, you will have the extended
functionality of jsListView
available to you through dBL code. Older multiple ListBox 'mover' user
interfaces with PushButtons can be replaced with a single lighter
jsListView object.
- jsListView supports the 4
'standard' listing views - large icon, small icon, list, and details
(sometimes referred to as report view). You control which views are
available in your applications using a simple single method call to the
jsListView dBL class.
- jsListView supports
column operations such as column header clicks to implement column-based
sorting, and column dragging for column width and drag and drop column ordering.
Your dBL code can be notified of column events through the built-in dBL events
to allow you to save/restore column widths and column position order, or to
perform column-based sorting or other operations.
- jsListView supports the use
of the system image list (the same image list used in Windows Explorer for
display of file icons), or use your own image list with the companion
jsImageList dBL class.
- jsListView supports header images,
and list item and subitem images. And with the companion jsImageList dBL class,
you can build image lists dynamically from single bitmaps or icons, or use
actual image list style bitmaps. Image overlays are also supported.
- jsListView provides all you need
to easily implement simple drag and drop of items to allow the user to order
item lists.
- jsListView makes it easy to
allow the user to relabel items in-place and to detect when an item label has
been changed. Or block item label editing under simple dBL control.
- jsListView provides the ability
to easily control the user's selection of single or multiple items, detect when
each item is selected, and determine which items have been selected. The
list can be set to highlight selected items, or display a checkbox for each
item for the user to make selections.
- jsListView provides a
rich set of features, not only for display and user entry/editing of list items,
but also for dBL source-level control, manipulation, ordering,
and querying of item lists. It easily provides counts for items, querying
of user-selected single or multiple items, etc. You can leverage the power,
functionality, and ease of jsListView
as a tool to help open the door to more sophisticated and more modern
applications. Or add this new functionality to update existing applications.
- jsListView is *not* an
ActiveX component, so there are no complicated and time-consuming
application deployment, ActiveX system registration, or ActiveX
licensing issues to contend with. Simply deploy the
jsListView and companion compiled dBL
object files the same as you deploy the rest of the object files for your
application, either in the application EXE or using DEO. And deploy the
small jsUtils.dll file as
you would any other dll required by your application. The best place
for the dll is in the same folder path where the application EXE is
located. Now jsListView is
ready to work for you. It really is that simple.
For those of you who don't believe it, YES dBASE can do
some rather
amazing things. And now with jsListView,
dBASE
becomes even more powerful.