LiveCode Forums.

Are you sitting comfortably? .... then I'll begin:

I have multiple lines of data I need to display and edit. A Table Field seemed the obvious answer except for one thing .... the fields on each row hold vastly different data, so having all the fields one width (which has to be wide enough to hold the widest data element - a product description) makes for a very clumsy looking table!

So my first question is:
Is there any way of having variable-width columns (so the quantity column can be narrower than the description column) in a table field? (I have not been able to track down this feature, if it exists.)

If the answer to my first question is "That's not what Table Fields are designed for", my second question would be:
Is there some way of having multiple 'normal' text entry fields all connected to a scrollbar?
If I used individual text entry fields and set them out in a grid, say 5 fields wide and 10 fields deep/high (to look like a table field), how can I get them to 'scroll' if there are more than ten lines of data to be dealt with? (and what happens to the data that is not currently visible on the card?).

If by this time you are rolling your eyes at the ineptitude of this newbie upstart and his odd questions, any other helpful suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

LAZ

You can vary the width of the columns by putting in more than one tab stop, separated by commas, into the Table properties panel of the field.

Alternatively, you could use the multiple scrolling fields technique.

To do this, you need to lay out your fields from the left to right, with the next field to the right covering up the scrollbar of the previous field.

In all of the fields, you will need to use the scrollBarDrag handler to handle not just the user scrolling the field with the scrollbabr but also using the scroll wheel on any of the fields.

The handler works along the lines of:
You can put lock screen/unlock screen commands either side of the drawing to neaten up any visible lag in the updating, if necessary.

If you've got to handle geometry on the card, I'd recommend using the table method as keeping five fields neatly placed is going to be a bit of a headache.

Hope that helps,


Steve

That's excellent thanks Steve .... I now have a perfect Table Field with variable width columns

Many thanks

LAZ