Hello Panorama enthusiasts!
Pan 6 allow multiple columns of choices, in the choice selection dialog. See below for an example:
See below for a screenshot of the current situation, for the same database in Pan X.
Can Pan X arrange my choices into multiple columns, like in the first picture? If so, how?
Thanks in advance!
You spelled âjalapenoâ, âcantaloupeâ, and ârutabagaâ wrong, if ya care 
I donât think PanX has ever had multi-column popups. For a long list which is alphabetized, I often use a modkey like âoptionâ with an arrayreverse( to re-order the list, which allows faster selection for words like zucchini.
Thank you.
Thank you. I could do this, but then I would have to train people how to use it. The training could be done, but I hoping for a more elegant and straightforward solution, like the one from Pan 6.
IIRC it also could produce multi column menus for things like Fonts. Apple, pre-OSX, allowed for such, and early in OSX provided hooks for some legacy features to keep working. All such were discontinued as OSX evolved. So until Apple provides new tools supporting them you wonât find them in Panorama X⊠or any other Apple compliant program.
Well, thatâs not the answer I was hoping for. But, it allows me to move forward.
Thank you for your help.
Since your screenshot shows a form, you can just arrange radio buttons on the form any way you want. Of course then it will take up space all the time. You could put it in a separate form and use a tab panel to switch to it when you want to. Actually, I think this would be a good application for a Text List.
Could you please explain in more detail on how this might be accomplished with a long list (in the data sheet view)?
I donât use the datsheet view often, preferring a layoutâŠ
Then I use buttons to perform tasks like selection or assignment.
I have about 200 subcategories so I use a popuplist for quick navigation/choice.
local mmkey
mmkey=info(âModifiersâ)
fileglobal lSublist,lSubch
lSubch=""
arraybuild lSublist,¶,"",SubCategory
/*lSublist builds a list of, in my case, recipe subcategories, like Alcohol, Almond, Anchovy, Appetizer, soon to be reversed to Zucchini, Winter Squash, Wine, Whole Wheat
*/
arraysort lSublist,lSublist,¶
arraydeduplicate lSublist,lSublist,¶
IF mmkey contains âoptionâ
lSublist=arrayreverse(lSublist,¶)
ENDIF
/// then the arrayreversed lSublist pops up in reverse order, i.e. z,y,x,w,v rather than a,b,c,d,e.
You could also use the technique Craig is describing in the data sheet.
Further down on that help page it shows how to make a popup menu this way.
Revisiting this topic, I have a client who has 144 choices in a field in the database (I know, I know). I have attached a picture of how it looked in Panorama 6. Is there anyway to do the multiple column display in the data sheet in Panorama X as it was in Panorama 6?
Even if you could still do the multicolumn choice lists and menus from pre-OSX Pan6 days if they otherwise worked like current PanX choice lists and pop-up menus they still wouldnât be quite as useful as the old Pan6 kinds. Back then, IIRC, you could select items by typing the first few letters of the item. Now, (unless Iâm wrong in which case please educate me) you can keyboard select only by the first letter and if there are more than one entries with that initial letter whatever else you type doesnât change the selection.
Yes, John, I understand. Iâm probably going to use the âclick:â trick to open a form in the middle of the screen that can search as you type, but Iâm asking to see if there has been an update in the choices field options that I may have missed.
No, you havenât missed anything. Iâm not planning on ever implementing multiple columns in choice boxes. If anyone asks why, Iâll just point them to the screen shot you posted a couple of days ago with 144 choices. 
Good idea, I would suggest using a Text List or a Text List + search box. Much better than 144 radio buttons.
Thanks Jim.
So, I set up the âClick:openformâ trick, but when my client tries to tab through the field, Panorama crashes. I changed the code to âopenformâ without the click but it still crashes if she tabs through. What works is, tab into the field, press return or enter so it closes the field, the window pops up to select the data she wants then, it closes and stays on that field. She has to click on the next field to proceed. If you tab out, Panorama crashes. She doesnât want to make so many âclicksâ
Any suggestions? Thank you.
Iâm sorry, I donât know what that is.
In the code that is triggered by data entry (return or tab out of a field), you are absolutely NOT allowed to open other windows. In fact, youâre not even allowed to switch to a different field. Your code is being executed in the middle of Panorama performing the tab to the next field. By opening a form, you are bolluxing up that process. Basically you are asking Panorama to do 2 separate incompatible tasks simultaneously - 1) open a form, 2) tab to the next field.
What you are attempting to do is impossible.
Edit: I see now what you mean by âClick:openformâ trick. There is no such trick mentioned in the Panorama documentation. You can click to immediately change a value, or click to bring up a pop-up menu, but it doesnât mention clicking to open a form. I suppose you could do that, but in no way would that integrate with Panoramaâs normal data entry flow. Once youâve opened a separate form, youâre not going to be able to go back to tabbing thru the record.
Personally, Iâd probably implement this using regular text editing with Clairvoyance. Donât forget that you can use Function-up/down arrows to cycle through the available choices.
Thanks Jim,
If you look at your June 2022 post earlier in this thread, you will see the âClick:â trick Iâm talking about. It works perfectly if you click on the field and open a form, make a selection and the code in the form enters the data from a text list, then closes the form. Panorama crashes if you try to tab through it. I can see now why it wonât work with tab termination, but it shouldnât crash Panorama should it?
Youâre messing with Panoramaâs window management behind itâs back. It would be nice if that didnât cause a crash, but it doesnât surprise me that it does.
I donât see anything in that post about opening a form, only a popup menu.
