Perhaps OT ?

[Mel Smith]

Hi:

I have a (series of 4) 2-char input field(s) (vertically oriented in a
crowded part of my screen) in which the user will input a U.S. State
Abbreviation (e.g., AZ for Arizona), or a Canadian province (e.g., AB for
Alberta), OR, click a key to return this correct abbreviation.

I have, of course, a concordance file with all the correct names and
region abbreviations.

But, my problem:

If my user knows that the input U.S. State name should be the correct
abbreviation for (say) Minnesota, but does not know the abbreviation itself
(i.e., MN), how can I show the user a drop-down list of States & Provinces,
from which the return value will always be the proper abbreviation, and
*not* the full State name ?

I don't know how to configure the <Select > tag for this operation. My
head is aching here

Thanks for a kick in the pants on this one !

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

Hi:

I have a (series of 4) 2-char input field(s) (vertically oriented in a
crowded part of my screen) in which the user will input a U.S. State
Abbreviation (e.g., AZ for Arizona), or a Canadian province (e.g., AB for
Alberta), OR, click a key to return this correct abbreviation.

I have, of course, a concordance file with all the correct names and
region abbreviations.

But, my problem:

If my user knows that the input U.S. State name should be the correct
abbreviation for (say) Minnesota, but does not know the abbreviation itself
(i.e., MN), how can I show the user a drop-down list of States & Provinces,
from which the return value will always be the proper abbreviation, and
*not* the full State name ?

I don't know how to configure the <Select > tag for this operation. My
head is aching here

From http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_option_value.asp :

<select>
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

adjusted to

Thanks for a kick in the pants on this one !

You are welcome. My answer seems so obvious that I am concerned
that I missed the point. Did I answer you correctly?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Michael Haufe (TNO)]

Hi:

    I have a (series of 4) 2-char input field(s) (vertically orientedin a
crowded part of my screen) in which the user will input a U.S. State
Abbreviation (e.g., AZ for Arizona), or a Canadian province (e.g., AB for
Alberta), OR,  click a key to return this correct abbreviation.

So what do the other mentioned fields do? Are they relevant at all?

what do you mean by "click a key to return this correct abbreviation."

    I have, of course, a concordance file with all the correct names and
region abbreviations.

Why use a 2 character field at all then? A select box seems
appropriate

But, my problem:

    If my user knows that the input U.S. State name should be the correct
abbreviation for (say) Minnesota, but does not know the abbreviation itself
(i.e., MN), how can I  show the user a drop-down list of States & Provinces,
from which the return value will always be the proper abbreviation, and
*not* the full State name ?

If you have a dropdown list, why can't they just type the letter "M"
and see the corresponding values? I quite confident that all major
browsers since the late 1990's have this feature.

    I don't know how to configure the <Select   > tag for this operation. My
head is aching here

Since I am American, I am a bit skeptical that other countries exist.
As a result you'll have to help me with my ignorance/laziness on this
fact:
between States and Provinces, are the abbreviations unique? If so,
just simply populate the element as such:

<select ...>
<option value="AB">Alabama</select>
...
</select>

If not, you'll need a way to determine Country before offering the
ability to choose from the list.

 

[Mel Smith]

Michael said:

crowded part of my screen) in which the user will input a U.S. State
Abbreviation (e.g., AZ for Arizona), or a Canadian province (e.g., AB for
Alberta), OR, click a key to return this correct abbreviation.

So what do the other mentioned fields do? Are they relevant at all?

what do you mean by "click a key to return this correct abbreviation."

Hi Michael:

I (currently) have a 2-char input text field where the user will enter a
U.S State Abbreviation or Canadian Province 2-char abbreviation. There are
four of these fields stacked vertically in a <td> column. The other fields
in neighboring columns are all Name/Street/Zip-PostCode/Contact info
related on each of the four lines of the table.

The problem is that the user will 'know' the name of the state (usually)
(from a hand-written form ), but *may not* know the region *abbreviation* or
may mis-spell it.

So, I would like to change this 2-char <input type="text"> field to a
<select> field where the user can either (confidently) type in the 2-char
fields, or 'click' on something to show all the various states and
provinces, and them let her 'select' one. Then, I want to return *only* the
correct 2-char abbreviation.

I have, of course, a concordance file with all the correct names and
region abbreviations.

Why use a 2 character field at all then? A select box seems
appropriate

Because my Database has a 2-char region field, The line is already very
crowded (see below), and I want a 2-char state/province abbreviation

But, my problem:

If my user knows that the input U.S. State name should be the correct
abbreviation for (say) Minnesota, but does not know the abbreviation
itself
(i.e., MN), how can I show the user a drop-down list of States &
Provinces,
from which the return value will always be the proper abbreviation, and
*not* the full State name ?

If you have a dropdown list, why can't they just type the letter "M"
and see the corresponding values? I quite confident that all major
browsers since the late 1990's have this feature.

She may not know *what* char to type or may make a mistake. If she is
confused, I want a clickable 2-char dropdown field that will show for
example:

AB - Alberta
AL - Alabama
MN - Minnesota
etc,
etc,

Then when she 'clicks on the 'AL - Alabame' option, *only* AL is
returned.

I don't know how to configure the <Select > tag for this operation. My
head is aching here

j>>ust simply populate the element as such:


Yes, the Canadian provinces *are* unique, and my concordance table has
both states and provinces, with the provinces at the bottom of the <select>
option list along with a disabled 'Canada' line as a separator between the
states and the provinces!


<select ...>
<option value="AB">Alabama</select>
...
</select>

But, then *Alabama* is returned NOT my required 'AL' (not AB which is
Alberta, in Canada)

So, in essence, I want my user to see in the dropdown list 'AL - Alabama',
then clicking on it I want returned 'AL'

Thanks for your response !

-Mel Smith

 

[Michael Haufe (TNO)]

So, in essence, I want my user to see in the dropdown list 'AL - Alabama',
then clicking on it I want returned 'AL'

So something like this?

<https://gist.github.com/1680706>

 

[Mel Smith]

Michael said:

So, in essence, I want my user to see in the dropdown list 'AL - Alabama',
then clicking on it I want returned 'AL'

So something like this?

<https://gist.github.com/1680706>

Michael:

I'll try that today- I think it will do the trick !

So, I've downloaded it, and will digest thoroughly during tghe day, and fit
it in to my page.

Thank you !

-Mel Smith
Mesa, AZ- Arizona )

 

[Mel Smith]

Gene said:

From http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_option_value.asp :

<select>
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

adjusted to



You are welcome. My answer seems so obvious that I am concerned
that I missed the point. Did I answer you correctly?

Hi Gene:

Yes, I think you may have missed that I wanted the 2-char 'WA' returned,
and not the word 'Washington' displayed on the screen after selection. I
have a 2-char field for 'region' and I'm crowded left and right and up and
down for landscape room

But,. Michael Haufe has given me some sample code to look at and chew
on, and now my head is 'abuzz' with more new ideas about this 'crowding'
problem

Thanks for the response !

-Mel

 

[Tim Streater]

Gene said:



Hi Gene:

Yes, I think you may have missed that I wanted the 2-char 'WA' returned,
and not the word 'Washington' displayed on the screen after selection.

"WA" *is* what you'd have returned.

 

[Michael Haufe (TNO)]

"WA" *is* what you'd have returned.

I believe what he wants is a size="2" combobox with options listed
with full names, which is emulated by what I posted (more or less
given styling differences per browser).

 

[Mel Smith]

I believe what he wants is a size="2" combobox with options listed
with full names, which is emulated by what I posted (more or less
given styling differences per browser).


Yes, that is what I want. But, since I need 4 of these <select>
comboboxes underneath each other in a vertical column, I need to think of
some efficient means of just using one set of select options (i.e., fifty
U.S. States, and ten provinces.)

Now, I'm beginning to think, that I should leave the four 2-char <text>
fields in place, and when focus is on any of them, I should have some way
for the user to activate a 'click' event to bring up a single <select>
element and its 60-odd options. Hmmmm ...

Again, Michael has given me a solution, but I'm still puzzling over how
to make it more efficient and less obtrusive.

btw, I think I might place my page on one of my web sites for you folks
to look at to give you a better perspective.

Going golfing now -- but thinking about this ))

Thank y'all.

-Mel Smith

 

[Mel Smith]

Hi:

I transferred my problem page to one of my older unused web sites, and
massaged the page to hide real names & addresses, and stop submission, and
to show my crowded Region fields (Rgn) near the top right of this sole page.

You may wish to look and comment. I'll be working on it again tomorrow.

So, if you wish, please visit: www.whosaway.com and enter the
password: 'LOTEDIT' to see the problem page.

Thanks,

-Mel Smith

 

[Jeff North]

| Hi:
|
| I transferred my problem page to one of my older unused web sites, and
| massaged the page to hide real names & addresses, and stop submission, and
| to show my crowded Region fields (Rgn) near the top right of this sole page.
|
| You may wish to look and comment. I'll be working on it again tomorrow.
|
| So, if you wish, please visit: www.whosaway.com and enter the
| password: 'LOTEDIT' to see the problem page.
|
| Thanks,
|
| -Mel Smith
|

You're probably wanting something like:
http://jeffnorth.com/newsgroup/select_items.html

The boxs 1-6 show the possible configurations for the select control.
The textboxs with the click hyperlink is probably what you are looking
for.

 

[Mel Smith]

Jeff said:

You're probably wanting something like:
http://jeffnorth.com/newsgroup/select_items.html

The boxs 1-6 show the possible configurations for the select control.
The textboxs with the click hyperlink is probably what you are looking
for.

Jeff:

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out today.

-Mel

 

[Dr J R Stockton]

Yes, that is what I want. But, since I need 4 of these <select>
comboboxes underneath each other in a vertical column, I need to think of
some efficient means of just using one set of select options (i.e., fifty
U.S. States, and ten provinces.)

If you can assume that the user has a working keyboard, why not put
in the column four <input type=text value="??" size=3 ...> (size 3 to
show the typist that there are only two letters), and, onChange or
otherwise, look up the entries in a 60-entry table. If any fail to
match, then pop up a small window in which the selection may be made by
full name, perhaps by 61 radiobuttons, all initially clear - 50 States,
10 Provinces, and "none of those".

BTW, are you disenfranchising those of Puerto Rico, Guam, US Samoa,
etc.; and those of St Pierre & Miquelon etc.?

 

[Mel Smith]

Hi Jeff:

Thanks for trying to help. I've got good ideas from your web site, and
the example page.

However, I'm not sophisticated enough to understand (completely) your
page, or to strip out the code that I could use in my own unique situation.
So, I'll plug on with your example and 'popups' in mind, and try to use as
much of your code as I can.

btw, your example *does* work on Firefox and Chrome but not on my old
IE 7. I *do* use IE7 on my dev machine, then do final tests on Chrome,
Safari, and FF.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I do see a path forward using popups for
the State/Prov selection process

-Mel Smith

 

[Jeff North]

| Hi Jeff:
|
| Thanks for trying to help. I've got good ideas from your web site, and
| the example page.
|
| However, I'm not sophisticated enough to understand (completely) your
| page, or to strip out the code that I could use in my own unique situation.
| So, I'll plug on with your example and 'popups' in mind, and try to use as
| much of your code as I can.
|
| btw, your example *does* work on Firefox and Chrome but not on my old
| IE 7. I *do* use IE7 on my dev machine, then do final tests on Chrome,
| Safari, and FF.

It's the 'obj.previousElementSibling.name' that is causing the problem
- only works in IE9.

I've put up a revised version with lots of comments so that you may
follow along. http://jeffnorth.com/newsgroup/select_items_2.html

I can't test this as I only have IE9 but it should work in all
browsers.

 

[Mel Smith]

Jeff said:

It's the 'obj.previousElementSibling.name' that is causing the problem
- only works in IE9.

I've put up a revised version with lots of comments so that you may
follow along. http://jeffnorth.com/newsgroup/select_items_2.html

I can't test this as I only have IE9 but it should work in all
browsers.

HI Jeff:

I'll download and try again late today and tomorrow.

Thanks for helping !

-Mel Smith

 

[Mel Smith]

Dr J said:

If you can assume that the user has a working keyboard, why not put
in the column four <input type=text value="??" size=3 ...> (size 3 to
show the typist that there are only two letters), and, onChange or
otherwise, look up the entries in a 60-entry table. If any fail to
match, then pop up a small window in which the selection may be made by
full name, perhaps by 61 radiobuttons, all initially clear - 50 States,
10 Provinces, and "none of those".

Yes, those fields are already there in that restricted horizontal space,
and I would like to continue to use them with an added
'verification/selection' process.

Your thoughts/suggestions and those examples of Jeff North will help me
to resolve this issue (and I hope without getting bogged down too deeply)

Have you visited the site and looked at the current work. I'd hate to
change the whole thing, but would like to add a bit of help.

BTW, are you disenfranchising those of Puerto Rico, Guam, US Samoa,
etc.; and those of St Pierre & Miquelon etc.?

The last I heard was the St. Pierre and Miquelon were a part of France, and
our Senior Park is used only by 'freezing' Canadians and Americans, and
those hardy permanent residents who 'fry' here at 115 degrees F during the
summer.

Thanks for the suggestions !

-Mel