RadDropDownList focus bug

[Frank Beerens]

Hi,

I found a bug when adding a few input controls like textboxes etc on a form, in combination with the raddropdownlist (DropDownStyle = DropDownList). When pressing the tab key to focus the next control, everything works normally with the textboxes, but when the dropdownlist gets focus, there is no visual feedback to see which control has the focus. After manually clicking the dropdownlist, the tab key focus works as it should do.

Tested with the winforms product, version 2013.1 321 (mar. 21, 2013) on a Windows 7 machine 64 bit, with the VisualStudio2012Light theme.

PS, I wanted to add this bug in your tracking system, but the RadDropDownList is not in the selection where you should choose the bug-related control. This list could also be sorted alphabetically, which makes finding the right control much easier ;)

[Louis]

Yes, we have same propblem.
Is there any way to bypass this?

[Peter]

Hello guys, 

Thank you for writing.

For the time being the RadDropDownList does not support such selection indicator and I logged it in our public issue tracking system as feature request. Feel free to add your vote for it and subscribe for its status updated. The more votes an item gets the higher it goes in our priority list.

As a workaround you can change the DropDownList BackColor when control contains focus:

this.radDropDownList1.GotFocus += new EventHandler(radDropDownList_GotFocus);
this.radDropDownList1.LostFocus += new EventHandler(radDropDownList_LostFocus);

void radDropDownList_LostFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadDropDownList dropDownList = (RadDropDownList)sender;
    dropDownList.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.BackColorProperty, Telerik.WinControls.ValueResetFlags.Local);
}

void radDropDownList_GotFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadDropDownList dropDownList = (RadDropDownList)sender;
    dropDownList.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.BackColor = Color.AliceBlue;
}

@Frank - your Telerik Points have been updated for this report.

Kind regards,
Peter
the Telerik team

[Blair]

This... is... a... BUG.

It worked in previous versions. It is not a feature that I should have to "feel free" to go vote for to get back. Your workaround does nothing practical.

The quick data entry person will tab to the control. They will then attempt to press F4 which is supposed to drop down the list. Did this used to work? Yes. Does it work now? No.

The data entry person may tab to the control and then start hitting the first letter of the item they want to get to the right item. Did this used to work? Yes. Does it work now? No.

I have tried this for the moment in the GotFocus event and it seems to work (this is in VB):

        Dim c As Telerik.WinControls.UI.RadDropDownList

        If (TypeOf sender Is Telerik.WinControls.UI.RadDropDownList) Then
            c = CType(sender, Telerik.WinControls.UI.RadDropDownList)

            If (c.DropDownStyle = Telerik.WinControls.RadDropDownStyle.DropDownList) AndAlso (Not c.DropDownListElement.ContainsFocus) Then
                c.DropDownListElement.Focus()
            End If
        End If




If you think there are negative ramifications to this, please feel free to comment :)
Thanks

[Peter]

Hello Blair,

Thank you for writing and for sharing your solution for this with the community. We will improve this behavior in our next releases.

Should you have any other questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Greetings,
Peter
the Telerik team

[Peter]

I just want to add my support to Blair here. This is  a indeed a bug!

It is currently impossible to get the RadDropDownList with DropDownStyle set to DropDownList to work using only the keyboard at first. Not until you have actually clicked on the control with the mouse will it respond in the normal expected fashion to key presses.

The workaround Blair has posted seems to fix the problem for now, so thank you for that Blair!

I sincerely hope this is fixed in the next release!

[Peter]

Hello Peter,

Thank you for your feedback.

We will consider your opinion when planning our future releases. For the time being you should use Blair's workaround.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,
Peter
Telerik

[Bob]

I also have found this to be a deviation from any type of normal data entry controls. The feature was working, when I installed the dll version update that changed it, I had to uninstall and go back to the old version. I recently upgraded, thinking that surely this bug was fixed only to find that it is still not working in a manner that could be deemed as 'normal' for UI control navigation. When tabbing into one of these drop downs, the user no longer knows which control has focus. I'm going to try the workaround listed above, but this is a huge bug.

You guys are doing a great job with these controls. But this really should be fixed.

Thanks for your workaround Blair. You saved me from having to roll back to the old DLL version. Without the workaround, this was going to cost me a lot of time.

[Peter]

Hi Bob,

Thank you for sharing your opinion about this issue. We will address it in one of our next releases. For the time being you should use the Blair's workaround.

Should you have any other questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,
Peter
Telerik

[Kim]

I just created a new custom control, inheriting The drop down. That way you dont have to add the code all over the place.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace PSI.BisTrack.Controls
{

    public partial class DropDownControl : Telerik.WinControls.UI.RadDropDownList
    {
        public DropDownControl()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.GotFocus += new System.EventHandler(DropDownControl_GotFocus);
            this.LostFocus += new System.EventHandler(DropDownControl_LostFocus);
            this.Click += new EventHandler(DropDownControl_Click);       

        }

        void DropDownControl_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            this.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.SelectAll();
            this.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.Focus();
        }

        void DropDownControl_LostFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

        }

        void DropDownControl_GotFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (this.ShowFocusCues)
            {
                this.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.SelectAll();
                this.DropDownListElement.EditableElement.Focus();
            }
        }

    }
    }

[Peter]

Hi Kim,

Thank you for sharing your solution with the community. We will apply a fix similar to yours as soon as possible.

I have updated your Telerik points for the cooperation.

Regards,
Peter
Telerik

[Hannah]

Thanks for the workaround Blair.

I'm disappointed in this...at least I was able to find this post...

[Peter]

Hello Wayne,

I would like to inform you that we will do our best to provide a focus indication in our next release. Please, excuse us for the inconvenience. 

Regards,
Peter
Telerik

[Henry]

I am using the latest trial version.  I am evaluating these controls for our company.  This tab dropdownlist issue is still not fixed.  I have the 2017.3.912.40 version. I am trying go gauge how long it takes to fix bugs within the telerick control sets. 

[Hristo]

Hello Henry,

Thank you for writing.

The issue was fixed in 2014 and you can refer to the feedback item, here: https://feedback.telerik.com/Project/154/Feedback/Details/109645-add-raddropdownlist-add-focus-indicator-for-dropdownlist-style.

Please make sure that you set the AllowShowFocusCues property of the control to true. Focus cues are only shown when the control has its DropDownStyle property set to DropDownList which is intended behavior: 

this.radDropDownList1.DropDownStyle = RadDropDownStyle.DropDownList;
this.radDropDownList1.AllowShowFocusCues = true;

I am also attaching a short video showing the result on my end.

I hope this helps. Should you have further questions please do not hesitate to write back.

Regards,
Hristo
Progress Telerik

[Andreas]

Hi, 

I faced the same problem. Setting AllowShowFocusCues made me see the active control. So this works for a RadDropDownList. 

But it didn't work on a RadMultiColumnComboBox. So I don't see when this control has got the focus. Is there any solution?

I use the WinForms Controls Version 2017.1.221.40. 

Thanks, 

Andreas

[Hristo]

Hi Andreas,

Thank you for writing.

RadMultiColumnComboBox performs a selection of the text in the editor when the control receives the focus and the focus cues are not painted. This can be considered an issue and I have logged it on our feedback portal, here: https://feedback.telerik.com/Project/154/Feedback/Details/244697-fix-radmulticolumncombobox-focus-cuses-should-be-painted-in-the-editor-when-th. I have also updated your Telerik points. Until we fix the issue you will need to rely on the selected text to indicate that the control has been focused.

I hope this helps. Should you have further questions please do not hesitate to write back.

Regards,
Hristo
Progress Telerik