[AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question

William Hindman wdhindman at bellsouth.net
Thu Mar 18 18:58:49 CST 2004


...snore ...do while ...snore ...do while ...snore ...do while ...loop de
loop :))))))

William Hindman
You know the world is upside down when Bill Clinton wins a Grammy and Janet
Jackson is the subject of a government sex investigation. Argus Hamilton.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DWUTKA at marlow.com>
To: <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:28 PM
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question


> Wait until I get that thing finished....THEN you'll have a reason to try
my
> new one.... grin.  Of course, you'll probably complain about how 'un-mini'
> it is...LOL!
>
> Drew
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of William
> Hindman
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 3:45 PM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question
>
>
> ...yes and no ...convenient but a suck for bad data entry ime ...one types
> in 6/1/2004 ...one types in 1/6/2004 ...one types in 1 jun 04 and tabs on
> down the line, etc ...lecture me all day on dumb users but I don't have
the
> option of firing them ...so I pop up a small calendar every time ...if the
> user enters directly in the text box, the calendar moves to the date
entered
> to provide visual feedback ...if he/she selects from the calendar it fills
> the text box ...either way they can mouse it or keyboard it ...so no
matter
> whether the user is military trained (euro dating) or public school
trained
> (US dating you hope) or wants to type in the alpha month, I get him there
> somehow so that the right date gets entered ...nothings foolproof but date
> entry errors have gone to zero ...which is worth the cost of the popup to
me
> and my clients.
>
> ...as a side I tried this approach using the native calendar control and
> could never make its speed acceptable ...after a lot of experimentation I
> standardized on an older version of Drew's all vba code calendar (with
some
> mods) which is quite fast for my needs ...one of these days I might get
> around to using his newest version but I've not found a reason to as yet
:)
>
> William Hindman
> You know the world is upside down when Bill Clinton wins a Grammy and
Janet
> Jackson is the subject of a government sex investigation. Argus Hamilton.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brett Barabash" <BBarabash at TappeConstruction.com>
> To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'"
> <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 3:43 PM
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question
>
>
> > >I do not believe that providing a pop up calendar is incorrect
especially
> > as
> > >the users can tab into a date field and use a keyboard in any event.
> >
> > You missed my point.  This is EXACTLY my sentiment.
> >
> > I said:
> > >One of my biggest UI pet peeves is fields that disallow keyboard entry.
> >
> > My response was to someone who doesn't allow the user to tab into a date
> > field and forces them to open up a calendar instead.  In my opinion,
this
> is
> > a lazy way of avoiding date validation code.
> >
> > Have you ever used a program or website that forces you to use a
calendar
> to
> > enter your birthdate?  (I have!)  Personally, I find it a PITA to click
a
> > button to open a calendar, navigate to 1975, select May from a dropdown
> and
> > then click on the 6.  I'd like to type 05/06/1975, but some lazy
> programmer
> > decided that it's way more elegant to launch a special screen to guide
me
> > through this complex process.
> >
> > OTOH, Outlook gives you several different options for date selection.
To
> > schedule a meeting for tomorrow, I can type...
> > 03/18/2004
> > March 18, 2004
> > 2004 Mar 18
> > ...or click on the box next to the field if I want to see a calendar.
> >
> > The developers put a lot of thought into this and because of its
inherent
> > flexibility it is easy to use by all types of users.  I wish other
pieces
> of
> > software were as ambitious.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jürgen Welz [mailto:jwelz at hotmail.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:45 PM
> > To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
> > Subject: RE: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question
> >
> > At one point a few years ago at this list I made a similar comment
saying
> I
> > provided a doubleclick pop up calendar and received a similar response.
> As
> > a result, I once logged usage of:
> >
> >     Double click pop up calendar
> >                vs
> >     Key down with form key preview on, Alt-d pops calendar if screen
> active
> > control had a standard input mask property.
> >
> > I also considered a keyboard autokeys macro call a runcode that did the
> same
> >
> > thing but never did implement this version.
> >
> > Logging indicated that well over 98% of the data entry was by double
click
> > popup calendar.  Granted these were very 'unsophisticated' users but the
> > majority of their daily tasks involved interaction with the application.
> >
> > I do not believe that providing a pop up calendar is incorrect
especially
> as
> >
> > the users can tab into a date field and use a keyboard in any event.
> IIRC,
> > I had changed the display format and input mask dynamically in the past
so
> > that a user could key in 'mm/dd/yy' but the display format whenever the
> > control didn't have focus was 'mmm/dd/yyyy'.  I also added a label
> > displaying the input format at each date entry textbox so there was
never
> a
> > question as to the required input sequence.
> >
> > I also believe that one of the reasons that my users like my pop up
> calendar
> >
> > is because it also displays appointments and blocked off dates for that
> user
> >
> > and other office staff (selected in multiselect list).  It can be popped
> by
> > keyboard or by doubleclick and can be navigated by mouse or cursor or
page
> > keys (for months) and you can tab into a year textbox.  The months are
> each
> > on a tab wtih Alt-character navigation and cursoring down past the end
of
> > one month moves to the next month (and up to previous).  Finally, the
> Enter
> > keys accepts the date, sets the source textbox and dismisses the
calendar
> > and the Escape key dismisses the calendar without setting or changing a
> > date.
> >
> > I am a firm believer in always providing a keyboard navigation method,
but
> > that never precludes adding a mouse alternative that does exactly the
same
> > thing.  A pop up calendar can be entirely keyboard controlled at a cost
of
> a
> >
> > few extra keystrokes for the rich graphical information that it can
> present.
> >
> >   And just because it's there doesn't mean a user ever has to use it.
It
> > just turns out that my experience is that they will even though I have a
> > prejudice for preferring to use the keyboard wherever possible.  I
suspect
> > this prejudice afflicts most programmers.
> >
> > If only browers were more keyboard friendly.
> >
> >
> > Ciao
> > Jürgen Welz
> > Edmonton, Alberta
> > jwelz at hotmail.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >From: Brett Barabash <BBarabash at tappeconstruction.com>
> > >
> > >I bet the data entry people love you!
> > >
> > >It may "work for you", but I'll bet that there are some users out there
> > >that
> > >feel otherwise.  One of my biggest UI pet peeves is fields that
disallow
> > >keyboard entry.  One record or 1000 records, it's still annoying to
move
> > >your hand off of the home row of your keyboard and click around to
select
> a
> > >date.
> > >
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: Heenan, Lambert [mailto:Lambert.Heenan at aig.com]
> > >Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 8:22 AM
> > >To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> > >Subject: RE: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question
> > >
> > >
> > >My solution to date entry is simple - I never let user's type in a
date.
> > >They always pick the date from a simple calendar form (though I don't
> use
> > >the MS Calendar control). Click on a date field and up pops the date
> > >picker.
> > >While this would not be suitable, perhaps, in applications where
massive
> > >numbers of dates need to be entered, I find it works just fine for me.
> > >
> > >Lambert
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Arthur Fuller [SMTP:artful at rogers.com]
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 5:47 PM
> > > > To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> > > > Subject: [AccessD] Short Date Input Mask question
> > > >
> > > > The standard short date input mask (99/99/0000;0;_) has a
shortcoming
> > > > that I hate: you have to type 04/04/04 to get April 4th 2004. The
year
> > > > handling is nice but the month and day suck. The mask won't let you
> type
> > > > 4/4/04. Is there an alternative mask that will respond intelligently
> to
> > > > such input? Or should I instead just remove all the input masks from
> all
> > > > the date fields?
> > > >
> > > > TIA,
> > > > Arthur
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> >
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------------------------
> > The information in this email may contain confidential information that
> > is legally privileged. The information is only for the use of the
intended
> > recipient(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you
> > are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the
> taking
> > of any action in regard to the content of this fax is strictly
prohibited.
> If
> > transmission is incorrect, unclear, or incomplete, please notify the
> sender
> > immediately. The authorized recipient(s) of this information is/are
> prohibited
> > from disclosing this information to any other party and is/are required
to
> > destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled.
> >
> > Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual
> > sender, except where the sender specifies and with authority,
> > states them to be the views of Tappe Construction Co.
> >
> > This footer also confirms that this email message has been scanned
> > for the presence of computer viruses.Scanning of this message and
> > addition of this footer is performed by SurfControl E-mail Filter
software
> > in conjunction with virus detection software.
> >
> > -- 
> > _______________________________________________
> > AccessD mailing list
> > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>
>
> -- 
> _______________________________________________
> AccessD mailing list
> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
> -- 
> _______________________________________________
> AccessD mailing list
> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>





More information about the AccessD mailing list