Description
Selects text in an editable control. You specify where the selection begins and how many characters to select.
This method works for DataWindows with standard edit styles (non-RichTextEdit style), or columns which have the RichText edit style in such DataWindows.
Applies to
Syntax
PowerBuilder
long dwcontrol.SelectText ( long start, long length )
|
Argument |
Description |
|---|---|
|
dwcontrol |
A reference to a DataWindow control. |
|
start |
A numeric value specifying the position at which you want to start the selection. |
|
length |
A numeric value specifying the number of characters you want to select. If length is 0, no text is selected but SelectText moves the insertion point to the location specified in start. |
Return value
Returns the number of characters selected. If an error occurs, SelectText returns -1.
If any argument's value is null, in PowerBuilder and JavaScript the method returns null.
Usage
If the control does not have the focus when you call SelectText, then the text is not highlighted until the control has focus. To set focus on the control so that the selected text is highlighted, call the SetFocus function.
To select text in a DataWindow with the RichTextEdit presentation style, use Syntax 2.
PowerBuilder environment
For use with other PowerBuilder controls, see the section called “SelectText” in PowerScript Reference.
Backward selection in a RichText edit-style column
Both the new control and the old control cannot correctly handle the backward selection in a RichText edit-style column via the SelectText (although forward selection is well supported).
When backward selecting a string (which means length is a negative number) in a RichText edit-style column, the old control will only select the character before the last one and return 1. The new control will select two more extra characters and returns the number of the actual selected characters. For example, in the following statement, the old control selects the 9th characters and returns 1; while the new control will select 7 characters from 4th to 10th, and returns 7.
dw_1.selectText(10,-5)
Examples
This statement sets the insertion point at the end of the text in the DataWindow edit control:
dw_1.SelectText(Len(dw_1.GetText()) + 1, 0)
This statement selects the entire contents of the DataWindow edit control:
dw_1.SelectText(1, Len(dw_1.GetText()))
The rest of these examples assume the DataWindow edit control contains Boston Street.
The following statement selects the string ost and returns 3:
dw_1.SelectText(2, 3)
The next statement selects the string oston Street and returns 12:
dw_1.SelectText(2, Len(dw_1.GetText()))
These statements select the string Bos, returns 3, and sets the focus to the DataWindow control so that Bos is highlighted:
dw_1.SelectText(1, 3) dw_1.SetFocus()
See also
