Rich Text Box vs List Box

Post by Les
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been sending to a list
box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is either faster to
load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can someone tell me
which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me what is the quickest
way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also rememeber trying to do
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when finished sent
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do! What is
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich text box?

If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which type of
file will be loaded, and a FileName property, which figures out the file
type automatically. You can use either one to load the file and it will do
so very, very quickly.

Rick - MVP

Les

2003-11-02 17:10:10 UTC

Hi Rick,

I am generating all 15,000 rows and wanted to know which is faster to load ?
a rich text box or a list box and what is the fastest way (ie
text1.txt=text1.txt & .........txt stuff) of loading it.

Thanks,

Les

Post by Les
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when finished sent
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do!

What

Post by Les
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich text

box?
If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which type of
file will be loaded, and a FileName property, which figures out the file
type automatically. You can use either one to load the file and it will do
so very, very quickly.
Rick - MVP

Veign

2003-11-02 17:23:02 UTC

I know this may be a simple solution, but instead of waiting for an answer
why not just try and see..

Also, whats the point of loading all 15,000 rows?..No person could possibly
look through all rows and make something of the data...Could you do
something different to the algorithm to load less rows of data?

If you want post what you are trying to accomplish with loading all 15,000
rows and maybe we can assist in some alternate methods..
--
Chris Hanscom
MVP (Visual Basic)
http://www.veign.com
Application Design Section
http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
------

Post by Les
Hi Rick,
I am generating all 15,000 rows and wanted to know which is faster to load ?
a rich text box or a list box and what is the fastest way (ie
text1.txt=text1.txt & .........txt stuff) of loading it.
Thanks,
Les

Post by Les
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been sending to a list
box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is either faster

Post by Les
load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can someone tell me
which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me what is the

quickest

Post by Les
way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also rememeber trying

Post by Les
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when finished

sent

Post by Les
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do!

What

Post by Les
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich text

box?
If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which

type

Post by Les
of

Post by Rick Rothstein
file will be loaded, and a FileName property, which figures out the file
type automatically. You can use either one to load the file and it will do
so very, very quickly.
Rick - MVP

Les

2003-11-03 03:43:27 UTC

Hi Veign,

First I did make a mistake in my post saying Text1.text since my question in
fact had to do with comapring a rich text box to a list text box. Sorry
Rick for the misleading info. Anyway the reason for the 15,000 rows
(potentially) I will try to explain. This application wil be doing a bunch
of comparisons of 7 or 8 accounting tables each of which will contain
information relevant to each other. The customer requires that all rows
that meet a fixed bunch of criteria be displayed since he will then need to
do further comparisons of the records that are outputed in either this list
box or rich text box. Although it is unlikely that the list will contain
15,000 rows I have been told it will not exceed this limit. My interest in
the rich text box is that this object has the extra property of a horizontal
scroll bar which might be required if the 9 columns of data I have been
asked to display exceeds the width of there monitor. I remember someone
here some time ago mentioned he/she experienced a limit as to how many
entries were allowed to be added to the list box where as I know that a rich
text box is limited to storage space ( I beleive). I am merely trying to
cover my options and doing things right.

Sorry for the confusion guys, my apologies,

Les

Post by Veign
I know this may be a simple solution, but instead of waiting for an answer
why not just try and see..
Also, whats the point of loading all 15,000 rows?..No person could possibly
look through all rows and make something of the data...Could you do
something different to the algorithm to load less rows of data?
If you want post what you are trying to accomplish with loading all 15,000
rows and maybe we can assist in some alternate methods..
--
Chris Hanscom
MVP (Visual Basic)
http://www.veign.com
Application Design Section
http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
------

Post by Les
Hi Rick,
I am generating all 15,000 rows and wanted to know which is faster to

load

Post by Veign
?

Post by Les
a rich text box or a list box and what is the fastest way (ie
text1.txt=text1.txt & .........txt stuff) of loading it.
Thanks,
Les

Post by Les
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been sending to a

list

Post by Les
box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is either faster

Post by Les
load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can someone tell

Post by Les
which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me what is the

quickest

Post by Les
way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also rememeber trying

Post by Les
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when finished

sent

Post by Les
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do!

What

Post by Les
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich text

box?
If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which

type

Post by Les
of

Post by Rick Rothstein
file will be loaded, and a FileName property, which figures out the file
type automatically. You can use either one to load the file and it

will

Post by Veign
do

Post by Rick Rothstein
so very, very quickly.
Rick - MVP

Rick Rothstein

2003-11-04 16:46:59 UTC

Since you have several columns of information and want to display them (and
possibly do some kind of additional comparisons with them), maybe a Grid
control would meet your needs.

Rick - MVP

Post by Les
Hi Veign,
First I did make a mistake in my post saying Text1.text since my question in
fact had to do with comapring a rich text box to a list text box. Sorry
Rick for the misleading info. Anyway the reason for the 15,000 rows
(potentially) I will try to explain. This application wil be doing a bunch
of comparisons of 7 or 8 accounting tables each of which will contain
information relevant to each other. The customer requires that all rows
that meet a fixed bunch of criteria be displayed since he will then need to
do further comparisons of the records that are outputed in either this list
box or rich text box. Although it is unlikely that the list will contain
15,000 rows I have been told it will not exceed this limit. My interest in
the rich text box is that this object has the extra property of a horizontal
scroll bar which might be required if the 9 columns of data I have been
asked to display exceeds the width of there monitor. I remember someone
here some time ago mentioned he/she experienced a limit as to how many
entries were allowed to be added to the list box where as I know that a rich
text box is limited to storage space ( I beleive). I am merely trying to
cover my options and doing things right.
Sorry for the confusion guys, my apologies,
Les

Post by Veign
I know this may be a simple solution, but instead of waiting for an answer
why not just try and see..
Also, whats the point of loading all 15,000 rows?..No person could

possibly

Post by Veign
look through all rows and make something of the data...Could you do
something different to the algorithm to load less rows of data?
If you want post what you are trying to accomplish with loading all 15,000
rows and maybe we can assist in some alternate methods..
--
Chris Hanscom
MVP (Visual Basic)
http://www.veign.com
Application Design Section
http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
------

Post by Les
Hi Rick,
I am generating all 15,000 rows and wanted to know which is faster to

load

Post by Veign
?

Post by Les
a rich text box or a list box and what is the fastest way (ie
text1.txt=text1.txt & .........txt stuff) of loading it.
Thanks,
Les

Post by Les
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been sending to a

list

Post by Les
box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is either

faster

Post by Les
to

Post by Les
load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can someone tell

Post by Les
which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me what is the

quickest

Post by Les
way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also rememeber

trying

Post by Les
to

Post by Les
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when

finished

Post by Les
sent

Post by Les
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do!

What

Post by Les
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich

text

Post by Rick Rothstein
box?
If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which

type

Post by Les
of

Post by Rick Rothstein
file will be loaded, and a FileName property, which figures out the

file

Post by Rick Rothstein
type automatically. You can use either one to load the file and it

will

Post by Veign
do

Post by Rick Rothstein
so very, very quickly.
Rick - MVP

Rick Rothstein

2003-11-02 17:42:20 UTC

You are going to have to be a little more careful with your typing... you
say RichTextBox in your Subject line, but your example says text1.txt...
text1 would seem to indicate a TextBox (not RichTextBox), but the .txt is
not a property of a TextBox (that would be .Text)... actually, .txt would be
the extension of a text file (which I asked if you were using; although I'm
assuming when you say that you are "generating all 15,000 rows", that means
your doing so "in code").

Anyway, if you are generating the 15,000 row of data in code, I'd use the
SelText property to add the text to either the TextBox or RichTextBox as its
much faster than concatenating text onto the Text property or either... much
faster.

For N = 1 To 15000
Text1.SelTex = AssumedArrayOfData(N) & vbNewLine
Next

I'd assuming adding text this way to a TextBox would be faster than doing so
to a RichTextBox (I'm guessing there is less overhead in a TextBox).
However, I don't know which would be faster between a TextBox or a ListBox,
but you should be able to test that easily enough using your own live data.

Rick - MVP

Post by Les
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been sending to a list
box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is either faster

Post by Les
load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can someone tell me
which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me what is the

quickest

Post by Les
way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also rememeber trying

Post by Les
this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and when finished

sent

Post by Les
it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long time to do!

What

Post by Les
the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data into a rich text

box?
If your data is in a text file (either plain or rich text format), the
RichTextBox has a LoadFile method, which allows you to specify which

type

Post by Les
of

Ben Taylor

2003-11-03 10:41:42 UTC

There's no comparing a listbox to an rtb - the'yre totally
different beasts with totally different purposes. It's
like comparing an apple to a ... donkey.

-----Original Message-----
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been

sending to a list

box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is

either faster to

load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can

someone tell me

which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me

what is the quickest

way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also

rememeber trying to do

this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and

when finished sent

it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long

time to do! What is

the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data

into a rich text box?

Thanks in advance
.

Ben Taylor

2003-11-03 10:43:34 UTC

You could set off a different thread to read from the
database, as this will be consuming the server's resources
not the clients. There's a way of subclassing a listbox in
order to post messages to it - the data reading thread can
then have posted the next call to the server for the next
record while the listbox's updating itself. Just an idea.

-----Original Message-----
I have 15,000 rows of data which currently I have been

sending to a list

box. I seem to remember someone here stating that it is

either faster to

load a list box or faster to load a rich text box. Can

someone tell me

which is the more efficient way? And can you tell me

what is the quickest

way of sending these rows to a rich text box? I also

rememeber trying to do

this a while ago by concatenating a string variable and

when finished sent

it to the rich text box but this appeared to tak a long

time to do! What is

the most efficient way of loading 15,000 rows of data

into a rich text box?

Thanks in advance
.

Woody

2003-11-03 12:31:59 UTC

i use text box for standard single or multiline character data, rich
text of there is need of being able to cut/copy/paste contents in or
out, listbox where i have repetitive data.

all are different critters and usually work best when used for their
purposes.

Woody
any sugestion or comment made by me should be examined first for
validity and appropriateness before assuming i have any idea at all
what the heck i am talking about. I am not responsible for anything you
may see with my name attached to it, i think.

*** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!

Jeff Bennett

2003-11-03 16:24:09 UTC

1) Unless you need the formatting of a RichTextbox I would
suggest comparing plain textbox to listbox rather than RichTextbox
to listbox. I'm very confident Textbox will be faster than RichTextbox.
That said I'm also sure that the Listbox will be faster than the textbox

2) The fastest way to load into either RichTextbox or plain
text box would be to combine all your 15000 rows into a
single string.

For example
For i = 1 to 15000
aString = aString & "this is line " & i & vbCrLf
next
RichTextBox1.Text = aString
' or Textbox1.Text = aString

This will be much faster than building up the RichTextbox ( or textbox )
content line by line. If you do need to use the textbox approach line
by line use the SelText property

For i = 1 to 15000
With RichTextbox1 ' or Textbox1
.SelText = "this is line " & i & vbCrLf
.SelStart = Len ( .Text)
next

3) Ok, all that aside - consider it just for theoretical purposes
The Listbox will be faster.

For i = 1 to 15000
List1.AddItem "this is line " & i
next

Is much faster than any of the above approaches.

4) Aside from speed the big advantage to a Listbox type control
would be in terms of list management - ability to select
a single row, move/delete a row, insert a row in a specific
position, etc

5) If the reason you are looking at RichTextbox is that
you are really needing to show formatted text
( mixed bold, italic, colors, etc) then let me know.
In this case I might suggest another control
( our own TList control - a kind of List / Tree / Grid
control with support for Rich Text formatting.

-----

* * Please include a copy of this note with your reply

Jeff Bennett
***@Bennet-Tec.Com

Bennet-Tec Information Systems, Inc
50 Jericho Tpk, Jericho, NY 11753
Phone 516 997 5596, Fax - 5597
WWW.Bennet-Tec.Com

RELIABLE Component Software
and Software Development Services
* TList/Pro * ALLText HT/Pro * MetaDraw *

====================== ======================

Les

2003-11-03 17:02:05 UTC