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AutoCAD

Associating Lists and Dialog Box List Boxes

31 Oct, 1999 By: Bill Kramer

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One of the more frequently asked questions by AutoLISP programmers who are learning about dialog boxes is how to associate a dialog list box with an AutoLISP data list. I've been told that when you first look at the documentation it is not exactly clear if they are associated or not. The quick answer is that they are not associated, except by your program. Your program controls the content of lists displayed, what is displayed in the lists, what happens when a list box is selected in a dialog box and what happens when a value is changed.

Novice programmers and experienced Windows developers can find themselves confused because in both cases, they expect a more automatic approach. Other languages that are used to program dialog boxes have list box controls that store and retrieve the data displayed, allowing the programmer to use the object as a mechanism to store data in a running program. AutoLISP uses a more basic approach, and sometimes this in itself can be a source of confusion. This month, we will look at list boxes in more detail. We will start by looking at list boxes on a general level and then discuss how to work with them in a program.

List Boxes
There are two basic types of list boxes in AutoLISP