207: Searchable List

Previous: 206: Displaying a Map

Now let’s build a form that contains a searchable list of everyone in the mailing list. I’ll start by creating another new, blank form.

The next step is to create the list, which I’ll do by choosing Construct>List/Matrix. This opens a dialog with a template for creating the list. This template initially displays all of the fields in the database.

I only want my list to display the person’s name, so I’ll edit out the rest of the template, then press the Construct button to create the Text List Object.

Voila! This object displays a list of everyone in the database. When I switch to data mode, I can click on different names in the list and the database will jump to that person.

This list is much wider than it needs to be. To fix that, I’ll go back to graphics mode, re-open the List/Matrix constructor dialog, then add a special `<width>` tag at the top of the template. I can simply type in this special tag, or I can let Panorama type in the tag for me by clicking on the tag icon and choosing from the pop-up menu, as shown here. (The new width is 160 points, or just a bit more than 2 inches.)

Ok, the width is now correct, but remember that I said that I wanted the list to be searchable. So I’ll go back and re-open the List/Matrix constructor dialog again. To make the list searchable, I need to add a special `<search>` tag at the top of the template. For more information about the various special tags available, see Text List Constructor. With the `<search>` tag in place, I press the Construct button again to revise the list. Now in addition to the text list object, there is also a search box above the list.

When I switch to data mode, I can filter the list by typing in a search.

When I place the data sheet next to this form, I can see that the Text List object is synchronized with the database. When I click on a name in the list, the data sheet also jumps to the same item.

For more information about displaying data in a form in rows and columns, see Displaying Data in a Grid and the associated topics.

Next: 208: Tab Panels

See Also

- Displaying Data in a Grid -- fundamentals of displaying data in a grid (Text List/Matrix).
- Matrix Constructor -- quickly creating a Matrix Object from a template.
- Matrix Object -- displaying a grid of items with a custom arrangement.
- Text List Constructor -- quickly creating a Text List Object from a template.
- Text List Database Integration -- synchronizing a Text List Object with a database.
- Text List Multiple Columns -- displaying multiple columns in a Text List Object
- Text List Object -- displaying a grid of text.
- Text List Searching -- searching within a Text List Object.
- Text List Selection -- selecting items in a Text List Object.

History

Version | Status | Notes
10.0 | Updated | Carried over from Panorama 6.0, with updates.