Type Aheads
Type Ahead Finds
SeedCode Complete uses Type Ahead finds when filtering portals or finding records using a Selector.
To get a smooth experience for the user, there are a few different techniques in play.
On Keystroke Script Trigger
The On Keystroke Script Trigger fires every time a character is typed (or deleted) in a field with the trigger attached. This script then initiates on On Timer Script to do the find in the Control file for the Selectors or to refresh the portal being filtered. However, the beginning of each Keystroke trigger script clears any existing timers, so if you're typing fast, you will prevent the type ahead from firing until you slow down enough for it to fire. This provides a nice experience, but you may want to adjust the lag depending on how slow and fast your users type.
To take it one step further, since we know what Staff user is logged in different lags could be set up for different users.
To adjust the lag, go to the bottom of the appropriate On Keystroke trigger script and adjust the interval the timer uses. You can also adjust the minimum number of characters required to fire the trigger in the same script to further refine the user experience.
WebDirect and the WAN
By default, the type aheads will not function on the WAN or WebDirect for performance considerations. For WebDirect we use a combination of the OnModify and OnValidate triggers to emulate pressing Tab, Return or Enter to initiate the find (Return Or Enter to exit a field or not supported on WebDirect). For the WAN we don't fire the trigger on every keystroke, but rather wait for a Tab, Return or Enter to launch it. This is the default behavior, but it can be changed by making changes to this part of the appropriate Keystroke triggers script.
