DropTime Class

June 30, 2017

When Fast is still not fast enough....

I was supposed to update my subscribers this week but then I am thinking DropTime class is still not fast enough.  I need to make it faster.  And so I discarded the original concept of the class and turned this into a real time picker where user can also type if they want.  So this is how it looks now:

This class now also respects SET HOUR and will adjust display based on that.  What is more, the dropdown section now includes both hours and minutes into one so it involves only three (3) clicks now, first on the dropdown icon, 2nd on the hour and 3rd on the minute (that is if you don't want to type straight into the textbox for it):

And again on dtPicker nLevel = 3

Well that is it for now!  Next update will give it the capability to be used inside a grid.  Cheers!

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Over the years, I tried to find ways to speed up and provide a unique time picker for my users and subscribers.  And I ended up working on different classes for this need:

DropClock - is a time picker based on combobox.  It has Interval property (default is 1) that allows faster picking of the hour and minute portion.   If interval is say set to 5, then the values shown will be with interval of 5, i.e., 5,10,15,20.... But it still is not fast enough because user still has to scroll down on the combobox especially if Interval is on default 1.

Then I created ScrollTime class which is like on Android.  It works with mouse scroll where you position your mouse pointer above the hour and scroll up and down.  The same on minute.  But it still is not fast enough too, plus it eats space on form.

Finally I created TimerX which is what I used in dtPickerX class for its time needs.  This is based on spinners so user can either type or spin the values.  But then it still is not fast enough.

I need something that will really make my users and subscribers' lives easier.

Finally I thought of a new idea this morning and I started working on it.  And behold my latest class, DropTime class.

And using this is damn very fast.  Where the user will simply do this:  click, click, click, click.  Just like when you are reading it.  Of course, nothing will beat a textbox with picture "99:99" as all we need to do is type 4 numbers there.  But who wants a plain textbox for time these days?

Anyway, finally I am very satisfied with this that I also replaced TimerX in dtPicker with this one.

I am sure you will say, why not put the dropdown time going to the right as it looks better?  Until I find why clicking outside the border of its parent form causes it to close the dropdown portion of dtPickerX, it will remain that way.

Additional Properties for the dropdown section only

Themes = Default value is .F..  Turning this to .T. will remove the sunken effect of selection and will replace the appearance with a 3D effect

Alignment = 1 is Left (Default) and 2 is Right (Default on dtPickerX)

BackColor and ForeColor = well, colors

This will be part of the next update  to my subscribers (including the enhancements on NavigatorX).  Cheers!