How do I create an index like the one used by windows help system

[RohanWest]

Hi there guys, i need some help for a project i am working on. I need to create a feature that will enable the user to start typing a word and in a list box show matching results. The feature i would like it to be based around is the windows help system "The Index Search".....

I have a screen dump of the layout if you would like it...

send me some mail please.....

Rohan

[Ianpbaker]

Where are grabbing the information from ?
Is it from a Database or is it static?

[RohanWest]

if you look at a windows help system you can see how that works. I am not sure but i can send you a picture

[Ianpbaker]

If you grab the words from a database, you can set an onchange event of the text box that the user is entering then each time it does, change the row source of the list box to lstbox.rowsource = "SELECT * FROM tbltest WHERE name LIKE '" & txtsearch & "*'"

Hope this helps

Ian

[RohanWest]

Thanks Ian, awesome idea.....

Rohan

[Serge]

You can use a simple SendMessage API to achiev exactly what you want. Let's assume that you have a ListBox and a TextBox where you type in your search text:

Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long
Private Const LB_FINDSTRING = &H18F


Private Sub Text1_Change()
    List1.ListIndex = SendMessage(List1.hwnd, LB_FINDSTRING, -1, ByVal (Text1.Text))
End Sub

When you type into the Textbox, it will search the Listbox for the string you typed in. If it finds it, then it will select that list item.

[Ianpbaker]

I bow down to the great Guru Serge, I forgot about that API

All credit

Ian

[yenni]

Will this also work for a listview ?

[Serge]

For ListView you can use ListView's FindItem method:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    Dim itmX As ListItem
    
    Set itmX = ListView1.FindItem("MyWord", , , lvwPartial)
    If Not itmX Is Nothing Then
        ListView1.SetFocus
        itmX.Selected = True
        itmX.EnsureVisible
    End If
End Sub