Dropdown Menu Limitations

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
Mon Nov 03 12:23:13 CST 2003

>-----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) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*

buyensj
Tue Nov 04 15:54:56 CST 2003

"PinkBishop" <pinkbishop@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<0c1601c3a2e5$7e7f0550$a601280a@phx.gbl>...
> 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
Wed Nov 05 12:20:12 CST 2003

Jim,

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

Bish
>-----Original Message-----
>"PinkBishop" <pinkbishop@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<0c1601c3a2e5$7e7f0550$a601280a@phx.gbl>...
>> 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) ||
>|/----------------------------------------------------\|
>*------------------------------------------------------*
>.
>