Dropdown Menu Limitations

[PinkBishop]

Have run into some issues using dropdowns and database.

Are there limitations to the number of characters allowed
in a drop down?


Is there a way to get drop downs to wrap so they are not
one continuous line and causing a horizontal scroll?

Thanks,

Bish

 

[Jim Buyens]

-----Original Message-----

Have run into some issues using dropdowns and database.

Are there limitations to the number of characters allowed
in a drop down?

I've never encountered a limit, but they get ugly long
before they blow up. In general, you want the visible
selection to be 20-30 charactres at most.

Is there a way to get drop downs to wrap so they are not
one continuous line and causing a horizontal scroll?

Like I said, lengthy selection text definitely makes a
dropdown list ugly. You should show the visitor shorter
choices, and put the longer text in Value attributes.

Or, better yet, set the Value attributes to some sort of
code, and translate the codes to full text on the Web
server.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*------------------------------------------------------*
|\----------------------------------------------------/|
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ||
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out ||
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition ||
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002 ||
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming ||
|| (All from Microsoft Press) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*

 

[Jim Buyens]

All your points are well made and I agree 100% about ugly.

But, I have a unique situation where function beats out
ugly.

So... is there a way to make dropdowns with lengthy
options wrap?

Not to my knowledge.

When I need a list that exceeds what a drop-down box can do, I
generally create a frameset with my form or whatever in the left
frame, and a page that displays my list in the right frame. Each entry
in the list is typically one row of a multi-column table. An icon in
each row hyperlinks to some JavaScript that zaps the corresponding
value into a form field in the left pane.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*------------------------------------------------------*
|\----------------------------------------------------/|
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ||
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out ||
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition ||
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002 ||
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming ||
|| (All from Microsoft Press) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*

 

[PinkBishop]

Jim,

Thanks for the response and suggestion. Will give it a
try.

Bish