On Mac OS, a ComboBox with autocomplete activated works fine, you type text, it autocompletes, the added text appears as selected (with a colored background), if you tab to another control the selection is removed, you press the down arrow to see the list of choices, press return to select one… No need to use a mouse.
But on Windows??? no text is autocompleted, a weird list is displayed, the arrow keys don’t let you navigate… actually the down arrow select the first entry, the up arrow select the last one, no way to select anything in the middle without clicking with your mouse, if you press the tab key with some text and a list of choices, nothing is done, I mean the typed text is left as is… etc… this is completely useless. The question is, how does the combos box works on windows? Do you have to click on your mouse to select an entry on the list each time? … or I am missing something… Why doesn’t the arrow keys work like on Mac OS? Why the ComboBox is not filled with the appropriate choice (the first one in the list?) when you press the tab key?
On Windows, as you type into the ComboBox the control should display all the entries that match what you’ve typed so far. If you type more, the list will be pruned as you go. The up/down arrow keys should traverse the list in the direction of the cursor key you press and the selected list entry should fill the typing area of the control. Subsequent pressing of the up or down arrow should move the selection to the next, or previous, entry in the list assuming there is a possible match. Pressing TAB accepts whatever is currently in the box and moves the focus off the control and to the next control in the tab order.
One thing that does not work as expected, or at least as I expect, is that the directional arrows don’t work unless the list is expanded or there is another possible match in the list. Thus, if you tab into the control, you must type something to expand the list before the selection process works. I would prefer having the arrow keys be seen and extend the list even at that point. But that’s just me.
Now it is clear, thanks. I finally deactivated auto-complete and wrote my own code so it works the same way on Mac OS and Windows.