by SteveyB (1 Submission)
Category: VB function enhancement
Compatability: Visual Basic 3.0
Difficulty: Intermediate
Date Added: Wed 3rd February 2021
Rating: 
(17 Votes)
The following code adds the autocomplete functionality to the standard combo box.
The user can either type into the combobox, which automatically selects an item matching the users keypresses, or they can simply select an item in the standard fashion.
Assumes
A combo box, named Combo1, needs to be placed on your form, with the Sorted property set to TRUE.
VBcodersOption Explicit
Private Sub Form_Load()
With Combo1
.AddItem "Dog"
.AddItem "Growl"
.AddItem "Sausage"
.AddItem "Woof"
.Text = ""
End With
End Sub
Private Sub Combo1_KeyDown(keycode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
If keycode = vbKeyDelete Then
Combo1.Text = ""
keycode = 0
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Combo1_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)
Dim strSearchText As String
Dim strEnteredText As String
Dim intLength As Integer
Dim intIndex As Integer
Dim intCounter As Integer
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
With Combo1
If .SelStart > 0 Then
strEnteredText = Left(.Text, .SelStart)
End If
Select Case KeyAscii
Case vbKeyReturn
If .ListIndex > -1 Then
.SelStart = 0
.SelLength = Len(.List(.ListIndex))
Exit Sub
End If
Case vbKeyEscape, vbKeyDelete
.Text = ""
KeyAscii = 0
Exit Sub
Case vbKeyBack
If Len(strEnteredText) > 1 Then
strSearchText = LCase(Left(strEnteredText, Len(strEnteredText) - 1))
Else
strEnteredText = ""
KeyAscii = 0
.Text = ""
Exit Sub
End If
Case Else
strSearchText = LCase(strEnteredText & Chr(KeyAscii))
End Select
intIndex = -1
intLength = Len(strSearchText)
For intCounter = 0 To .ListCount - 1
If LCase(Left(.List(intCounter), intLength)) = strSearchText Then
intIndex = intCounter
Exit For
End If
Next intCounter
If intIndex > -1 Then
.ListIndex = intIndex
.SelStart = Len(strSearchText)
.SelLength = Len(.List(intIndex)) - Len(strSearchText)
Else
Beep
End If
End With
KeyAscii = 0
Exit Sub
ErrorHandler:
KeyAscii = 0
Beep
End Sub
Private Sub Combo1_LostFocus()
Combo1.SelLength = 0
End Sub
