Script to activate dropdown list

[Asu]

Hello, I am wondering if there is a script step or or other mechanism which would cause the automatic activation of a drop-down list, or a pop-up menu,  as if I had clicked on it.

[bruceR]

Why?

[Lee Smith]

How about the TAB order?

[comment]

4 hours ago, Asu said:

Hello, I am wondering if there is a script step or or other mechanism which would cause the automatic activation of a drop-down list, or a pop-up menu,  as if I had clicked on it.

The Go to Field{} script step is equivalent to user tabbing into the field. In fact, any navigation step that causes a field to become active - Go to Field[], Go to Next Field[], Go to Previous Field []and Go to Object[] - will do the same thing.

Note however that while tabbing into the field causes a drop-down menu to drop down, it does not cause a pop-up menu to pop up (though there may be differences between versions and/or platforms in this aspect).

[Asu]

17 hours ago, comment said:

The Go to Field{} script step is equivalent to user tabbing into the field. In fact, any navigation step that causes a field to become active - Go to Field[], Go to Next Field[], Go to Previous Field []and Go to Object[] - will do the same thing.

Note however that while tabbing into the field causes a drop-down menu to drop down, it does not cause a pop-up menu to pop up (though there may be differences between versions and/or platforms in this aspect).

Great, thanks. I was using a popup menu and indeed the "go to field" step was not working with that. I did not know there was a difference.

[Willm5455]

Oddly enough, the show/hide arrow can not be on the list for it to work.

[comment]

1 hour ago, Willm5455 said:

Oddly enough, the show/hide arrow can not be on the list for it to work.

Why do you find it odd? Does tabbing into a field that has the "Include arrow…" option turned on cause the list to drop? 

 

[Willm5455]

 

On 2/11/2020 at 2:01 PM, comment said:

Why do you find it odd? Does tabbing into a field that has the "Include arrow…" option turned on cause the list to drop? 

 

From my experimentation I found that when the arrow is present tabbing in to the field just puts the cursor in the field as if you are going to type instead of producing the drop down. I took the arrow off then it worked just fine. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Willm5455

[comment]

1 hour ago, Willm5455 said:

when the arrow is present tabbing in to the field just puts the cursor in the field

Well, then there you have it:

On 11/19/2016 at 1:00 PM, comment said:

The Go to Field{} script step is equivalent to user tabbing into the field.

 

[Jeffrey Bloch]

On 2/13/2020 at 10:25 AM, Willm5455 said:

I took the arrow off then it worked just fine. 

Using Go To Object instead of Go To Field activates the Dropdown (with arrow)

[comment]

19 minutes ago, Jeffrey Bloch said:

Using Go To Object instead of Go To Field activates the Dropdown (with arrow)

That's not what I see. 

 

[Jeffrey Bloch]

3 minutes ago, comment said:

That's not what I see.

You're right. I forgot I had turned the arrow off before testing Go To Object. My bad.

3 minutes ago, Jeffrey Bloch said:

That's not what I see.

Couldn't we just stack 2 fields atop one (one with arrow and one without) another and control via script which it goes to?

Edited February 21, 2023 by Jeffrey Bloch

[comment]

---

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by comment

[mindos]

@Jeffrey Bloch stacking can be done but best avoided where possible. The following is likely to be safer and more manageable without needing experimentation:

 

If I wanted an arrow, but the native functionality that comes without the arrow, I would de-select 'Include arrow to show and hide list' for the Drop-down List and create a small button as a separate object that shows a Drop-down List arrow character/icon. The button can have a script that navigates the user to the Drop-down List field.