>>But the highlighted item in the listbox will retain highlighting after losing focus. The item will just not have the outline after focus is lost. The difference when tabbing will be the presence or lack thereof of the outline of the item. I prefer this since the user can tell which item is currently selected in the list even tho the list does not have focus. Unless there is compelling reason to not have an item in the listbox "selected" ( and this may be in some conditions ), I prefer to have one selected at all times and let the outline indicate focus.
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>I took a look at several listboxes in different apps, though some are obviously more like listviews. They have different behaviors, and the only ones that are really intuitive are the ones with a textbox for entering search criteria, and they say so plainly for all to see "Enter search text..." etc. In fact, those (typically MS products) bounce you right back to the textbox if you try a search from within the list. These are really "listbox searches for dummies," but then we have plenty of computer dummies around my agency < s >
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>Some lists keep an outline with no selection when focus moves, and that's not bad...we could do that with a grid simulating a listbox...of course, the search would be an ordeal to code :)
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>I tested vfp a little more, but at least with my highlighting color, I have trouble seeing outline focus, and I'm looking for it - an average user would have more trouble, I'm sure. I'll stick with the textbox or dropdown approach.
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>Also, didn't test search with other rowsources, may be problems there, as I recall...
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>Anyway, there appears to be no standard from my observations, except the textbox approach, so whatever works with is fine if the users are happy...

Gotcha. And I understand your points. And some of my search forms use grids with the accompanying textbox for the search text ( "search for dummies" ) and it works really well.

The listbox highlighting outline is ok with my choice of colors but of course allowing users to choose their own color schemes takes a lot of the "control" out of our hands ... and speaking of computer dummies, :-) I've seen some color schemes set up by users that are unbelievable. I don't see ( no pun intended :-) ) why they aren't blind from staring at it all day long. :-)