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Delphi tab order

The tab order on my form in Delphi (Embarcadero® Delphi® 2010 Version 14.0) is incorrect, which means the tab key skips to seemingly random items in the form.

However, when I go and change it in Delphi, it rearranges them for me, in the same incorrect order!

So, I decided to programmatically assign them:

procedure FixDelphiTabOrder;
begin
  Form2.ButtonClear.TabOrder := 2000;
  Form2.ButtonExport.TabOrder := 1900;
  Form2.ButtonNew.TabOrder := 1800;
  Form2.MaxFreq.TabOrder := 1700;
  Form2.MinFreq.TabOrder := 1600;
  Form2.Summary.TabOrder := 1500;
  Form2.Plot6dB.TabOrder := 1400;
  Form2.Plot3dB.TabOrder := 1300;
  Form2.Use_dBs.TabOrder := 1200;
  Form2.PlotPoints.TabOrder := 1100;
  Form2.PlotPhase.TabOrder := 1000;
  Form2.Prop8Value.TabOrder := 900;
  Form2.Prop7Value.TabOrder := 800;
  Form2.Prop6Value.TabOrder := 700;
  Form2.Prop5Value.TabOrder := 600;
  Form2.Prop4Value.TabOrder := 500;
  Form2.Prop3Value.TabOrder := 400;
  Form2.Prop2Value.TabOrder := 300;
  Form2.Prop1Value.TabOrder := 200;
  Form2.FilterType.TabOrder := 100;
  ShowMessage(IntToStr(Form2.Prop1Value.TabOrder));
end;

(I tried assigning it both backwards and forwards; it does the same thing.)

But this still doesn't work. The message box pops up with 7 instead of 100, every time. Something is consistently changing the order, but it's not my code.

Why is this, and is it possible to fix it?

This is for my A2 Computing Project

like image 396
Thomas O Avatar asked Jan 16 '12 14:01

Thomas O


People also ask

How do I change the order of tabs in Delphi?

1 Select the component whose position in the tab order you want to change. 2 In the Object Inspector, select the TabOrder property. 3 Change the TabOrder property's value to reflect the position you want the component to have in the tab order.

How do I use tab Control in Delphi?

The user selects a page by clicking the page's tab that appears at the top of the control. To add a new page to a TPageControl object at design time, right-click the TPageControl object and choose New Page. To create a tabbed control that uses only a single body portion (page), use TTabControl instead.

What is TabOrder in Delphi?

TabOrder is the order in which child windows are visited when the user presses the Tab key. The control with the TabOrder value of 0 is the control that has the focus when the form first appears.

What is tab order in Visual Studio?

To set the tab order, you simply select all three textboxes, then select Tab Order from the View menu. Then just click the controls in the order you want the tabs to sit. As you click each control, the tab order will be displayed on the control to keep you up to date.


3 Answers

TabOrder is contiguous. The first control has TabOrder of 0. The next has TabOrder of 1 and so on. You cannot leave any gaps.

Whilst you can assign TabOrder programmatically, I personally find it easiest to use the GUI to do so. Right click on the form, or indeed on a container control, and select the Tab Order menu item. Then you will see a dialog like this:

enter image description here

You can use the arrow buttons to re-order, or you can simply drag items to re-order. It works reasonably well in my view but you must remember that controls which contain other controls (e.g. panels, tabsheets etc.) have their own tab order. For such a control you need to select that control, right-click and then modify the tab order for the children of that container.

like image 159
David Heffernan Avatar answered Oct 11 '22 17:10

David Heffernan


If I did understand you well, CnPack can help in design time.

Below you can see one feature. CnPack can show you the Tab Orders as you put the components in form. This can help when you have many edits, buttons or panels.
CnPack Display TabOrders in Designing Mode

Another feature is the button "Auto Set Tab Orders in the Form", that set the Tab Orders using the position of each controls to define it's Tab Order. See below the same form after pressed the button. "Auto Set Tab Orders in the Form" button

I find them extremely helping when designing big forms. Another option would be GExperts Tab Order screen that have the same "order by position" feature: enter image description here

like image 34
EMBarbosa Avatar answered Oct 11 '22 18:10

EMBarbosa


The way I set tab order is by selecting each component in the order you want the tab order, then cut the controls to the clipboard (CTRL-X), then paste (CTRL-V) them back again.

like image 27
Nat Avatar answered Oct 11 '22 18:10

Nat