In searching to see if Xojo has, or soon will have, a grid control, the info I found only added to my confusion. In the Xojo keynote address, there was a very brief mention of a Grid control but it was paired with the word “Excel” - as a supplier (not the spreadsheet). When I found them, their Xojo add-ons cost $495 !!. Was that Xojo’s “solution”?
There are other vendors who supply a grid (or “super list”) control; PiDog and Einhugur for example. I need a matrix/grid, to display individual letters or numbers and the ability to control the shifting of columns and rows - either automatically or with a mouse click/drag. What tool/control do you think would be best for that?
Also, while looking, I wanted to review the current Xojo controls available. I couldn’t find a document that listed all the controls with a description of purpose/function. Yes, it is usually apparent in their name. But a document describing each, perhaps with an example, wouldn’t be unreasonable.
But mostly I came across disgruntled posts concerning what many seemed the unnecessary renaming of things that already worked. From many of the user’s points of view, the result was just more work (i.e. re-work) for the programmer with no added functionality.
I was constantly looking for the posting date in order to determine if what I was reading was a current issue or something that was “a thing” five years ago.
some things could be made with the DesktopListbox Control (in the past, before 2021r3 it was the Listbox Control). There are a couple of samples within the Xojo Example folder and couple of videos on YouTube, which should be a good start into the control.
There are a vocal group of people who don’t like the new API. Personally, I think that it works well and corrects all the oddities that have come in over the years. It didn’t take me very long to get to grips with it, but then over the last 35+ years I’ve known so many different languages that just another API doesn’t really phase me. That doesn’t make me any better than anyone else, it’s just my opinion. Others are free to think what they want. If you are new to the language then what the API used to be won’t make the slightest difference to you one way or the other.
I certainly don’t think that Xojo would be adding a new control that adds $500 to the price of the product. It wouldn’t make any sense as all controls are available even in the Lite version at $149.
You didn’t say for which OS you need the grid. There is also NSTableView from the MBS plugin which brings the macOS grid to Xojo.
The renaming of things is ongoing which is a huge hassle. Some of the new names have slight improvements. The lastest round is a huge waste of time for nothing (the desktop controls).
Thank you all for your replies. I’ll study the links.
I initially thought I’d be building hobby programs for the Mac and PC; these days I think I’ll just stick with the Mac (Mini) platform and eventually pick up an M1 or M2 machine.
My background goes way back to IBM7094, with a lot of time in (starting with FORTRAN) PASCAL and the Panorama Database. I started looking at Xojo after ZBasic/FutureBasic had to leave the arena.
These days I have PanoramaX, SimplyFortran, and Xojo. I was reluctant to jump on the Xojo wagon in the early years because calculation speed - crank power - was my jam. Nowadays, the CPUs run at GHz, not MHz, speeds; the difference between a couple seconds of execution is just a long blink of the eye.
I prototype procedures in Fortran and knew Panorama quite well. But Apple’s changes demanded a rewrite of Panorama 6 (and earlier) to the new, Apple Compliant, PanoramaX. So that’s about as new as Xojo.
About time to take that one foot off the dock and put both in the boat.
I understand the examples are simple for getting started. But those I saw all expected the List control to already be created and the task is populating/managing the columns that are already there.
What if you needed to create the listbox “on the fly” with the columns dependent upon various input? I didn’t see any location (x,y), relative to the window borders, properties for the listbox.
I suppose I could have a listbox control already on the form - with zero rows and zero columns - then change those properties (column count) depending upon the data?
So - hijacking my own tread - can the Xojo controls be created and placed on the form programmatically; or must they be placed on the form with the design tools ahead of time?
If you have a listbox already in your program, it is easy to reconfigure it (add/remove columns, headers, etc,) programatically. It is also possible to add controls on the fly.
