In a VCL program, if you want to display two lists of strings, add and delete from each using a popup menu and move items between them with (internal) drag&drop.

In a VCL program, if you want to display two lists of strings, add and delete from each using a popup menu and move items between them with (internal) drag&drop.
Is there any reason to prefer ListViews over ListBoxes?

Comments

  1. If it displays only one column, I see no reason to go fancy, more work and no ROI, if you need more columns later, you can replace a list box faster than a list view IMHO

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  2. The question arose because there is (at least) one dialog in GExperts that uses ListViews in the manner described above. In this particular dialog the single column was not wide enough to display the string so I looked like this:
    'blablu...'
    Which annoyed the hell out of me. I replaced these ListViews with ListBoxes and the problem was gone.
    But then it got me wonder: Why were these ListViews in the first place?

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  3. Don't they look better when themed fully? Better hot tracking visuals.

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  4. David Heffernan I wouldn't know, I detest this theming stuff. But yes, that might be a reason.

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  5. Thomas Mueller IMO developer tools shouldn't focus on bling, but functionality and productivity

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  6. Dorin Duminica​ enter here young and dumb devs like me and yeah, we do like nice looking tools. ie Parnassus plugins are just beautiful and very productive

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  7. Dorin Duminica​ things like hot tracking and lasso selection are designed to improve functionality. Clear and consistent visuals are part of effective UX.

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  8. Agustin Ortu it's OK to like shiny, don't get me wrong

    David Heffernan I don't disagree, however, this is an open source project, IMHO, I'd like Thomas Mueller to spend whatever time he has available towards improving productivity and removing bugs, rather than shiny UI, but, that's just my 2 cents

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  9. Dorin Duminica​ Using list views costs no more than list boxes and the theming comes for free.

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  10. David Heffernan wrong. Listboxes are easier to handle than list views. You put them on the form and add strings. For a listview to do the same the first thing is to change its layout to report, add a column and set its width (!). Then you can start adding strings by adding a list item and setting its caption. Definitely not as easy.

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  11. Thomas Mueller  I personally don't find list views very hard, maybe you've got different experiences. Generally there's more work involved in handling all the interaction with the control and that dominates.

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  12. I think the point is that using the ListView requires greater attention to a number of details, and those are too often handled poorly.

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