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Important: The information in this document is obsolete and should not be used for new development.

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Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox /


Chapter 4 - List Manager

This chapter describes how your application can use the List Manager to create scrollable lists that allow the user to select one or more of a group of items. The List Manager lets you create one-column lists or multicolumn lists. By default, it creates lists that contain only unstyled text, but with extra effort, you can use the List Manager to create lists that display items graphically.

Read the information in this chapter if you need to allow users to select one or more items from a group of items. If you only need to allow the user to select one item from a small group of items, a pop-up menu may be more appropriate than a list. If, however, you would like the user to be able to select one of many items or to be able to select multiple items, the List Manager provides a convenient and intuitive interface.

If the contents of a group of items might change, use a list rather than a pop-up menu. Users generally expect the contents of pop-up menus to remain the same, whereas a list provides instant visual feedback when its contents change, thus preventing user confusion. For example, you might use the List Manager to create a list of appointments and allow the user to add or remove appointments to or from the list.

Although the List Manager can handle small, simple lists effectively, it is not suitable for displaying large amounts of data (such as that used by a spreadsheet application). The List Manager cannot maintain lists that occupy more than 32 KB of memory, and performance degrades sharply well before the 32 KB limit. Also, the List Manager expects all cells to be equal in size. Thus, if you are writing a spreadsheet application, you should use the Control Manager and your own internal data structures. However, you should still read the sections of this chapter that concern selection of list items so that your application can have a user interface consistent with the List Manager's.

To use this chapter, you should be familiar with the concepts of the Control Manager, the Event Manager, and the Window Manager, and, if you plan to create a list in a modal or modeless dialog box, with the Dialog Manager. For more information on these topics, see Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials.

This chapter begins by describing lists and the user interface for them. The chapter then discusses how you can


Chapter Contents
Introduction to Lists
Appearance of Lists
Selection of List Items
Keyboard Navigation of Lists
Movement of a Selection With Arrow Keys
Extension of a Selection With Arrow Keys
Type Selection in a Text-Only List
Multiple Lists in a Window
About the List Manager
Using the List Manager
Creating a List
Adding Rows and Columns to a List
Responding to Events Affecting a List
Working With List Selections
Customizing Cell Highlighting
Manipulating List Cells
Searching a List for a Particular Item
Supporting Keyboard Navigation of Lists
Supporting Type Selection of List Items
Supporting Arrow-Key Navigation of Lists
Supporting the Anchor Algorithm for Extending Lists With Arrow Keys
Outlining the Current List
Writing Your Own List Definition Procedure
Responding to the Initialization Message
Responding to the Draw Message
Responding to the Highlighting Message
Responding to the Close Message
Using the Pictures List Definition Procedure
List Manager Reference
Data Structures
The Cell Record
The Data Handle
The List Record
List Manager Routines
Creating and Disposing of Lists
Adding and Deleting Columns and Rows To and From a List
Determining or Changing the Selection
Accessing and Manipulating Cell Data
Responding to Events Affecting Lists
Modifying a List's Appearance
Searching a List for a Particular Item
Changing the Size of Cells and Lists
Getting Information About Cells
Application-Defined Routines
List Definition Procedures
Match Functions
Click-Loop Procedures
Summary of the List Manager
Pascal Summary
Constants
Data Types
List Manager Routines
Application-Defined Routines
C Summary
Constants
Data Types
List Manager Routines
Application-Defined Routines
Assembly-Language Summary
Data Structures
Trap Macros

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© Apple Computer, Inc.
6 JUL 1996