Multi-character dropdown boxes

[Michael Satterwhite]

Does anyone have some ideas on how to put a multi-character dropdown box on
a form?

Example: If I'm in the combo (dropdown) box and type "BAC", I want it to
position to the first item that begins with "BAC". The default behavior is
to position to the first character beginning with B, then the first item
beginning with A, then to the first item beginning with C.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Scripsit Michael Satterwhite:

Does anyone have some ideas on how to put a multi-character dropdown
box on a form?

Pardon?
<select>
<option>several characters</option>

Example: If I'm in the combo (dropdown) box and type "BAC", I want it
to position to the first item that begins with "BAC".

Well, that's a completely different issue, is it not? You wish to affect the
_behavior_.

The short answer is that you cannot. The longer answer is that you cannot
and you should analyze what made you want such a behavior. You probably have
too complex a menu. For an analysis, a URL would be needed.

There might be some way of using client-side scripting to create such
behavior, but it's probably not worth the effort and users would not know
about it, since that's not how forms generally work. If you try to explain
the behavior on your page, users will waste more time reading it than using
any simple method to find the option they want.

The default
behavior is to position to the first character beginning with B, then
the first item beginning with A, then to the first item beginning
with C.

Well, that's just what many browsers do. There's no specification on such
behavior.