Select object events problem in classic asp

[fig000]

Hi,

I want to use a select object in asp and have the user pick
something from this select and have javascript open a window fired by
an event. Once the new window is open it displays another select with
data based on what was picked in the first window. Once a choice is
made in the second window, it allow users to click a submit button and
pass back the chosen value to the calling window.


Let's say the first window has a select with two choices:

Red
Blue

Let's assume the user picks blue and the second window is opened.

Now, I tried using the onchange and the onclick events to open the
new window. Here are the results.


1.By putting the open window code in onchange event the second
window opens fine . Unfortunately it's possible that the user could
close the second window accidentally without hitting the submit button
and nothing would be passed back to the calling window. This would
require hitting "blue" again to reopen the window. However the
onchange event doesn't fire unless a new value is picked; clicking
"blue" does nothing. So I abandoned that.


I then tried onclick. This works fine in that it will always fire
once the user clicks on a choice in the select object. However it has
behavior that would drive my users crazy.

Usually, with a select object, you can click once which exposes
the dropdown list and leaves it exposed, even if you release the left
mouse button.
It just sits there and gives you the chance to leisurely choose what
you want.
In this case, when I used the onclick event to open the second
window, it exposed the dropdown list, but the second I let go of the
left mouse button the event was fired, my javascript took over and the
second window was opened and the first window (where the list was) was
obscured.

It does work if you don't let go of the left mouse button and move
immediately to your choice, but I think this will drive my users
crazy. I would like the select to function as it normally does but
also to have it fire my javascript each time a choice is made in the
select in the first window. Any ideas?

Neil

 

[Michael Winter]

[snip]

Let's say the first window has a select with two choices:

Red
Blue

Let's assume the user picks blue and the second window is opened.

Now, I tried using the onchange and the onclick events to open the
new window. Here are the results.

1.By putting the open window code in onchange event the second
window opens fine. [...]

You should never perform an action (such as opening a window, following a
link, etc) based on the onchange event.

Use a separate button.

Mike