This is a way to create a combobox, a very useful item which does not have a 
pure representation in html.  You are left to cobble one together from 
component parts and a little innovative coding on your own.  I am struck by 
how similar this situation is to what we faced when XBase++ first came out 
and there was no GET method, per se.  Using a phrase from the late 60's, we 
had to "roll our own".

This example lets the user select the "origin" from an array.  However, if 
the array does not include what the user needs, he can write it in.  This 
all happens in what appears to be a single dialog window, but actually is 
two separate windows superimposed one on top of the other.  If the user 
picks an item from the list, its value is also saved to the input var 
"m_ORIGIN", which is important var. If the user types an entry into the 
dialog, this entry is also appended to the select array should he go back to 
this method of data entry.  By making each <td> cell a <div>, this technique 
can be used multiple times on a single screen.  This code is partly borrowed 
and partly mine.

HTML Code
    <style type="text/css">
       .txtBox1 { position: absolute;
            top: 2px;
            left: 80px;
            width: 50px;
            z-index: 5;  }           this sets the "text" input behind the 
"select" input
       .dropDown1 { position: absolute;
               top: 2px;
               left: 80px;
               width: 75px;          this is 25px wider to accommodate the 
pull down arrow control
               border: 0;
               z-index: 0; }
    </style>

       oHtml:put([<tr><td><div 
style="position:relative;height:100%;">Origin:&nbsp;])
            oHtml:put([<input type="text" name="m_ORIGIN" id="m_ORIGIN" 
class="txtBox1" onkeypress="return fakeCombo(this,'m_O_SEL',event);" /><br 
/>])
            oHtml:put([<select name="m_O_SEL" id="m_O_SEL" class="dropDown1" 
onChange="comboSelect(this,'m_ORIGIN');" />])
            for n := 1 to len( aOrigin )
               cId := aOrigin[n]
               oHtml:put([<option value="] + cId + [" >] + cId + 
[</option>])
            next
            oHtml:put([</select>])
         oHtml:put([</div></td></tr>])

JavaScript Code
    function fakeCombo(xText,xSelect,eEvent)
    {
      var S = document.getElementById(xSelect);
      var L = S.options.length;
      var found = false;
      var myIndex = 0;
      var keycode;
      if (navigator.appName == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") {keycode = 
eEvent.keyCode; }
      else   { keycode = eEvent.which }

      if (keycode == 13)
      {  for (var i=0; i <= L-1; i++) { if (xText.value == 
S.options[i].value) {found = true; myIndex = i}; }
          if (found) { S.options.selectedIndex = myIndex; }
          else { S.options[S.options.length] = new 
Option(xText.value,xText.value);
                S.options.selectedIndex = (S.options.length - 1); }
          return false;
      }
    }

function comboSelect(xSelect,xText)
{ document.getElementById(xText).value = 
xSelect.options[xSelect.selectedIndex].value;}

Bruce Anderson
Graphical Database Programs
Houston

Hi Bruce;
I really liked your example.
It reminds me of the help that Phil and others used to give.
What a great guy you are to share your code with our community.

Bruce Anderson wrote:

> This is a way to create a combobox, a very useful item which does not have a 
> pure representation in html.  
[...]

nice work - on which browsers does this work?

regards
Thomas

It does work on IE, Firefox, and Safari. I have not tested it on any others.

Bruce Anderson wrote:

> It does work on IE, Firefox, and Safari. I have not tested it on any others.

Thanks!

Thomas