Tab ordering and 'Select Control' window

[Kelly]

When I have created a SWT Shell screen and have made a number of changes by adding and deleting widgets the tabbing order is not right.

How can I, through the WindowBuilder Pro program, set the tabbing order?

I know I could change the source code but with widgets attached to other widgets for alignment and such it's not easy.

Also if you do not create widgets from top/left to bottom/right order you are not always able to attack a widget to another widget in the 'Select Control' window because it will not be listed.

Thanks for the help.

[Eric Clayberg]

When I have created a SWT Shell screen and have made a number of changes by adding and deleting widgets the tabbing order is not right. How can I, through the WindowBuilder Pro program, set the tabbing order?

In SWT, the tab order is the same as the creation order of the widgets. This is also the order the widgets are shown in the component tree. To change the tab order, you would need to move the widgets in the tree. Using nested composites will give you some additional control over the tab order.

I know I could change the source code but with widgets attached to other widgets for alignment and such it's not easy.

That is true. If you need widget to widget attachments, you won't be able to independently control the tab order as well.

Also if you do not create widgets from top/left to bottom/right order you are not always able to attack a widget to another widget in the 'Select Control' window because it will not be listed.

Widgets may only be attached to widgets that precede them in the tab order / creation order. They need to be defined and instantiated before they can be attached to.

In general, if you find yourself needing to set up a lot of complex widget attachments, you might want to consider a different layout manager like the SWT GridLayout.

[Kelly]

Finally got back to working on tabbing order of widgets on my screens.

I tried to drag and drop widgets in the widget tree view but if a widget is already attached to other widgets, which is normally the case, it will miss up the layout of the widgets shown.

I am some what new to java programming but have been programming for 20+ years, so I searched the web and found some examples of using SWT setTabList, only doing SWT screens atm.

So I now know how to set tabbing order and how to exclude widgets from gaining focus when a user tabs through the screen.

I may have over looked it in the Designer but I am wondering if an enchancement could be added to WindowBuilder that brings up a list of all widgets and allows the user to group and order them and adds the code to the source?

[Eric Clayberg]

I may have over looked it in the Designer but I am wondering if an enchancement could be added to WindowBuilder that brings up a list of all widgets and allows the user to group and order them and adds the code to the source?

The latest v4.0.1 build adds support for setTabList() to shells and composites.

The tab order for each composite is set independently, and then the composite is positioned within the tab order of its parent.

[Kelly]

The latest v4.0.1 build adds support for setTabList() to shells and composites.

Thank you for the enhancement.

This will help me alot.

[Kelly]

After using the 'tab order' properites, which I like alot, I would like to see an enchanment to the popup window showing the widgets for the composite selected.

Can you please change the table that lists thje widgets so that it has a checkbox in the first column.

Have all the checkboxes selected the first time this window is used and if a user unchecks a widget in the list do not add it to the Control array used in the setTabList method.

Thanks in advance.

[Eric Clayberg]

After using the 'tab order' properites, which I like alot, I would like to see an enchanment to the popup window showing the widgets for the composite selected. Can you please change the table that lists thje widgets so that it has a checkbox in the first column. Have all the checkboxes selected the first time this window is used and if a user unchecks a widget in the list do not add it to the Control array used in the setTabList method.

Done. Here's a screen shot from the latest v4.0.1 build...



Rather than having all the checkboxes initially checked, we check everything except Labels and CLabels.

[Kelly]

I love it, thank you very much.