FileMaker Pro needs the ability to tab into a field (or go to via script) and select/activate a pop-up menu (NOT a drop-down menu, a pop-up menu).
To be crystal clear I’m referring to activating the built-in FMP pop-up menus. I’ve contemplated various workarounds. One kludgy one being using the 24U Virtual User plugin and having it instigate a mouse click at the correct position in the current window where the pop-up exists. However, tracking dozens of pop-ups across dozens of windows all positioned in various user controlled areas of the screen (e.g. drag and window here or there) was just too much to deal with (I endure lots of pain, but, not that much).
Another alternative is to use ScriptMaker and its Java menus which you can tab into or activate via a script. I futzed around with ScriptMaker and its Java menus for a bit about a year and half ago. For a while I was contemplating using SM JUST for the ability to tab into pop-ups AND do type-ahead within pop-ups. However, the partial list of reasons for not going that way are as follows:
1) Type-ahead in pop-ups is now provided in FMP v11 (thank you FMI)
2) SM Java menus are slow and klunky and the look and feel doesn’t match the rest of my FMP-based design (inquiries on how to customize the pop-ups went unmet and/or it’s too kludgy to mess with)
3) Overhead of SM just for this functionality seemed excessive and unnecessary
I’m not sure if the FileMaker plugin API would allow a 3rd party developer to provide said functionality. But, regardless, I’d really like to see it built-in. With type-ahead within pop-ups in FileMaker v11 it only makes sense to allow access to the pop-up via the keyboard.
I agree. I recently inquired about this on FMForums (http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/214501/). I ended up using a Drop-down, though I would have preferred to use a Pop-Up.
The Reactor plugin from fusionplugins.com is also capable of doing this by using the popup widget function included. Basically it’s just a web viewer on the layout, where you call a plugin function and pass parameters such as the field you want it to set to, and the value list you want it to use. These popups can be tabbed to, and have typeahead etc , basically like a web browser.
I should also mention that pop-ups on windows can be tabbed to and activated, though not automatically, it’s the mac ones which are the real pain.