Intelligent DropDownList and ListBox ASP.NET Server Controls

Introduction

When I was involved in one of my projects, where we used many aspx pages with DropDownLists and ListBoxs for selecting persons, departments and etc., my customer asked me if he could type the characters on his keyboard and select the suitable item. And I tried to make work easier for him. At first it was only javascript code and now it is ASP.Net server controls.
So, I'd like to describe two ASP.Net server controls: xNetDropDownList and xNetListBox with possibility to move focus to the first most suitable item on the list when a user types in characters on the keyboard.

Background

The principle of work for both components is similar, therefore I will describe xNetDropDownList.
On a client side element xNetDropDownList is represented as an HTML <select> box. When an element receives focus a Tooltip appears above it. Entered characters are represented in Tooltip and focus moves to the first suitable item on the list. Pressing Escape deletes all entered characters and focus moved to the first item. Backspace key deletes the last entered character. Focus is moved to the item on the list, corresponding the text in the Tooltip after deleting the character. When an element losses focus Tooltip disappears.

For correct work the list of items must be sorted in an ascending order!

Implementation

The component xNetDropDownList is inherited from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.DropDownList. Several new properties were added to it. They are mainly used for setting visual parameters of the ToolTip.
These properties are described in the table:

Public property	Type	Description
ToolTipHide	bool	Gets or sets visibility of ToolTip. False - to show ToolTip, true not to show
ToolTipBackColor	Color	Gets or sets the background color
ToolTipBorderColor	Color	Gets or sets the border color
ToolTipBorderStyle	BorderStyle	Gets or sets the border style
ToolTipBorderWidth	Unit	Gets or sets the border width
ToolTipFontFamily	string	Gets or sets an ordered array of font names
ToolTipFontSize	FontUnit	Gets or sets the font size
ToolTipFontBold	bool	Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the font is bold
ToolTipForeColor	Color	Gets or sets the color of the text
ToolTipOffsetLeft	int	Gets or sets horizontal moving the left top point of ToolTip as for the co-ordinate of DropDownList or ListBox. Measuring unit is a pixel. In the properties designer just figures (integers) are typed in.
ToolTipOffsetTop	int	Gets or sets vertical moving the left top point of ToolTip as for the co-ordinate of DropDownList or ListBox. Measuring unit is a pixel. In the properties designer just figures (integers) are typed in.
ToolTipPadding	Unit	Gets or sets the amount of space to insert between the text and border
ToolTipInitialWidth	Unit	Gets or sets initial width
ToolTipZIndex	int	Gets or sets z-index
ToolTipSaveText	bool	Gets or sets saving the typed in text in ToolTip. If true typed in text is saved, when the element loses and again acquires focus. If false the typed in text is lost

The picture gives explanation for ToolTipOffsetLeft and ToolTipOffsetTop properties:

The functionality of searching suitable item on the list is realized on JavaScript.

Function xOnFocus() is used for creating and setting properties for ToolTip.
When element <select> receives focus first time new HTML element <div> is created, otherwise function controls behavior of ToolTip as for settings in ToolTipSaveText and ToolTipHide properties.

function xOnFocus(elm)
{
    var el = document.getElementById('div_' + elm.id);
    if (!el)
    {
        var xdiv = document.createElement('DIV');
        xdiv.id = 'div_' + elm.id;
        xdiv.noWrap = true;
        xdiv.style.position = 'absolute';
        
        xdiv.ToolTipText = '';
        xdiv.style.color = elm.ToolTipForeColor;
        xdiv.style.width = elm.ToolTipInitialWidth;
        xdiv.style.padding = elm.ToolTipPadding;
        xdiv.style.display  = (elm.ToolTipHide == 'false') ? 'inline' : 'none';
        xdiv.style.backgroundColor = elm.ToolTipBackColor; 
        xdiv.style.borderColor = elm.ToolTipBorderColor; 
        xdiv.style.borderStyle = elm.ToolTipBorderStyle; 
        xdiv.style.borderWidth = elm.ToolTipBorderWidth; 
        xdiv.style.fontFamily = elm.ToolTipFontFamily; 
        xdiv.style.fontSize = elm.ToolTipFontSize; 
        xdiv.style.fontWeight = elm.ToolTipFontBold;
        xdiv.style.zIndex = elm.ToolTipZIndex;
        xdiv.style.top = document.body.scrollTop + elm.getBoundingClientRect().top - parseInt(elm.ToolTipOffsetTop);
        xdiv.style.left = document.body.scrollLeft + elm.getBoundingClientRect().left + parseInt(elm.ToolTipOffsetLeft);

        document.body.insertBefore(xdiv);
    }
    else
    {
        if (elm.ToolTipSaveText == 'false') 
        {
            el.innerText = '';
            el.ToolTipText = '';
        }
        el.style.display  = (elm.ToolTipHide == 'false') ? 'inline': 'none';
    }
}

Function xOnBlur() hides ToolTip.

function xOnBlur(elm)
{
    var el = document.getElementById('div_' + elm.id);
    if (el) el.style.display = 'none';
}

Function xOnKeyUp() handles pressing the following keys: Esc, BackSpace, Enter.
Notice, if property AutoPostBack is true, in addition to standard behavior of DropDownList and ListBox controls, an automatic postback to the server will occur when the user presses Enter key.

function xOnKeyUp(key_event)
{
    var lb = key_event.srcElement;

    var el = document.getElementById('div_' + lb.id);
    if (el)
    {
        if (key_event.keyCode == 8)
        {
            key_event.returnValue = false;
            if (el.ToolTipText.length > 0) el.ToolTipText = el.ToolTipText.substr(0, el.ToolTipText.length - 1);

            el.innerText = el.ToolTipText + ' ';
            xFindItem(el.ToolTipText, lb);
        }

        if (key_event.keyCode == 27)
        {
            key_event.returnValue = false;

            el.ToolTipText = '';
            el.innerText = '';
            xFindItem(el.ToolTipText, lb);
        }

        if (key_event.keyCode == 13)
        {
            key_event.returnValue = false;
            if(lb.AutoPostBack == 'true') lb.onchange();
        }
    }
}

Function xOnKeyPress() processes alphanumeric characters.

function xOnKeyPress(key_event)
{
    var lb = key_event.srcElement;

    var el = document.getElementById('div_' + lb.id);
    if (el)
    {
        el.ToolTipText = el.ToolTipText + String.fromCharCode(key_event.keyCode); 
        el.innerText = el.ToolTipText +' ';
        xFindItem(el.ToolTipText, lb);

        key_event.returnValue = false;
    }
}

Function xFindItem() is main function and it is responsible for searching an item on the list.

function xFindItem(s, lb)
{
    s = s.toUpperCase();
    
    var slen = s.length;
    var lblen = lb.length;
    var lbo = lb.options;
        
    if (slen == 0 && lblen > 0)
    { 
        lb.selectedIndex = 0;
        return;
    }

    for (i = 0; i < lblen; i++)
    {    
        if (lbo[i].text.toUpperCase().substr(0, slen) == s)
        {
            lb.selectedIndex = i;
            break;
        }
    }
}

Components were tested in Internet Explorer version 6.0.