multiline textbox limits.

first of all why are u using a textbox for status reports. instead use a Flexgrid where you can show the datetime of the incident along with a lot of details of the user using the system (for e..g login name if it is a multiuser system).

I am saying this because if you go on appending the incidents in a textbox then aftersometime when there would be a lot of incidents the system shall take time to load the form & fill the control. I have experienced it. If u want to try it add a multiline textbox on a new project & during the form load event try assigning 5000 chars to that textbox & see howmuch time it takes to insert values.

thanks for the comments :)

i agree about the time taken to insert values during form load, doing a 5000 cycle loop to a output sub. However, try asssigning the 5000 cycle loop to a button_onclick event on the same form and note the difference when the form has already been loaded and you are therefore only just appending text. significantly less noticable delay.

granted, the second method -does- take a second or two to write 5000 lines, but time is not the critical factor here. especially since i'll only be appending 1 to 7 lines at a time.

----------------
Private Sub Output(textmsg As String)
    Text1.SelStart = Len(Text1.Text)
    Text1.SelText = textmsg & vbCrLf
    Text1.SelStart = Len(Text1.Text)
End Sub
----------------

using the sub above, things do speed up a fair bit as compared to normal appending methods.
(ie: text1.text = text1.text & newtext )

but i digress...

when i mentioned performance hit in the question, i was talking about processor load vs complexity, not in terms of measurable speed.

am trying both flexgrid and listbox suggestions. will comment further in an hour or so. does anyone have any further alternatives/suggestions ?

cheerz

Someone else in another forum has aided me in providing essential code (the bulk of sub textoutput). as such i would like to delete this question as the suggestions from Gunsen and jayehshah, tho valid, were not what i was hoping for as a valid answer, especially in terms of overcoming the 64kb limit on textbox controls.


i thus submit this code snippet for anyone who might be interested and searching for answers.

--------------------
Public Sub textOutput2(textmsg As String)
On Error GoTo Handler
    txtMessageBox.SelStart = Len(txtMessageBox.Text)
    txtMessageBox.SelText = "<" & Time() & "> " & textmsg & vbCrLf
    txtMessageBox.SelStart = Len(txtMessageBox.Text)
    Exit Sub
Handler:
    MsgBox Err.Number & " textoutput2 " & vbCrLf & textmsg
End Sub


Private Sub textoutput(textmsg As String)
On Error GoTo Handler
    Dim txtlen As Double
    Dim vallen As Double
    Dim trimval As Double
    txtlen = LenB(txtMessageBox.Text)
    vallen = LenB(textmsg)
    trimval = (vallen / 2)
    'As VB Strings are in Unicode, 100 bytes is 50 characters
    If trimval Mod 2 <> 0 Then
        trimval = CInt(trimval)
    End If
    'If the sum of the sizes of current text and the new value
    'are less than 64 KB then append to text box
    If txtlen <= 60000 And (txtlen + vallen) <= 60000 Then
    ' 64 KB limit. setting just below the actual 65+ byte seems to help considerably in stability
        Call textOutput2(textmsg)
    Else
    'Else replace the textbox's contents with its contents
    'trimmed to the extent of the size of the new value
    'and append the new value
        txtMessageBox.Text = Mid(txtMessageBox.Text, trimval, txtlen - trimval)
        Call textOutput2(textmsg)
    End If
    Exit Sub
Handler:
    MsgBox Err.Number & " textoutput " & vbCrLf & textmsg
End Sub

----------------------

this method works well, without screen flicker or delay when parsing/modifying a full 64kb filled textbox.

however, i occasionally get a Error 380 raised by the handler in sub textoutput2. this happens after several hours of the application running, sometimes after two whole days.

the exact

oops.
to continue...

the exact error message as produced by handler/textouput2 is as follows

380 textoutput2
Modem: +CSQ: 28,0

several tests have ascertained that it consistently fails at that particular line. i will award points to anyone who can determine what the mistake is in my code that raises the error.

administrators, please advise on validity of my decision to delete question or change the basis of my awarding points.

thank you all for your help :)

JooZ

p/s how do i clean up my multiple comments? sheesh. quite embaressing :)

>>administrators, please advise on validity of my decision to delete question or change the basis of my awarding points.<<
Post a message in Community Support (http://www.experts-exchange.com/Community_Support/).

>>p/s how do i clean up my multiple comments? sheesh. quite embaressing :) <<
Don't hit Refresh.  Use the Reload This Question button on the top left corner of this page.

JooZ, an EE Moderator will handle this for you.
Moderator, my recommended disposition is:

    Refund points and save as a 0-pt PAQ.

DanRollins -- EE database cleanup volunteer

Thank you, moderators.
this question has been sitting around a while. partially my fault but i wanted to see if anyone else could add something significant to the discussion.

is it possible to also clean up my repeated comments to improve readability?

TQ.
JooZ

Jooz,

Dup posts removed, to avoid that from happening in the future, use the "Reload Question" (located at the top of the screen) option rather than using the browsers' refresh button.

Please resolve your other old questions as well. To see a complete list of UnlockedQs (Unlocked Questions), just click on your name or follow http://www.experts-exchange.com/memberProfile.jsp?mbr=JooZ to get into your profile.

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If you need any assistance to resolve, please post a 0 (zero) points question at the Community Support Topic Area http://www.experts-exchange.com/Community_Support/ and we'll be happy to help.

Thank you,

RotaredoM
CS Mod @ EE