• When the Choice drop-down list is open, typing "b" should go to item b1, leaving the list dropped down so the user can select b2 if desired.  Clicking somewhere other than the Choice should leave the b1 selected if the user does not select any other item.

Actual behavior:

• Sun JVM 1.4.2_03: Problem selecting first item with a letter.  When the Choice drop-down list is open, typing "b" highlights b1 and leaves the list dropped down as desired.  But clicking somewhere other than the Choice does not leave b1 selected.  If the user needs to choose b1 it is necessary to explicitly click that item even though it is highlighted.  Many users will not expect this extra step and will make data entry errors.
• Microsoft  JVM (3810): Problem selecting second item with a letter.  When the Choice drop-down list is open, typing "b" selects b1, but the list does not stay dropped down.  If the user needs to choose b2 it is necessary to open the Choice again and find b2.

Since Choice is a native component there are difficulties making it behave entirely as expected, but are there ways to do so?  If you have any insights, workarounds or comments about this test page please contact Mickey Segal.  A listing of  many Java resources is at this link.

Source code:

import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class ChoiceKey2 extends Applet implements ItemListener{

MyChoice choice;

public void init()
{
    choice = new MyChoice(this);
    choice.addItem("a1 ");
    choice.addItem("a2 ");
    choice.addItem("b1 ");
    choice.addItem("b2 ");
    choice.addItem("c1 ");
    add(choice);
}

public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent ie)
{
    choice.select(ie.getItem().toString());
}
} // END OF Class ChoiceKey2



class MyChoice extends Choice implements KeyListener{

ItemListener itemListener;

MyChoice(Container container)
{
    super();
    if (container != null) addItemListener((ItemListener)container);
    addKeyListener(this);
    itemListener = AWTEventMulticaster.add(itemListener, (ItemListener)container);
}

public void keyPressed(KeyEvent ke){}

public void keyReleased(KeyEvent ke)
{
    char keyChar = Character.toLowerCase(ke.getKeyChar());
    if (keyChar < 'a' || keyChar > 'z') return;
    int itemCount = getItemCount();
    for (int i=0; i<itemCount; i++)
    {
        if (getItem(i).toLowerCase().charAt(0) == keyChar)
        {
            select(i);
            break;
        }
    }
    itemListener.itemStateChanged(
    new ItemEvent(this, ItemEvent.ITEM_STATE_CHANGED, getSelectedItem(), ItemEvent.SELECTED));
}

public void keyTyped(KeyEvent ke){}
} // END OF Class MyChoice