Is there a better multi-select than the default TDBGrid in Delphi?

Question

First off, this applies to Delphi 5 Enterprise, as this is what we use at work. There's no view to upgrading any time soon, as this version "does what we need", apparently.

After setting the dgRowSelect and dgMultiSelect options on a TDBGrid, the behavior does not confirm to a standard Windows UI.

I don't think we've ever needed this option before, else I would have noticed how poor the default implementation is on Delphi's TDBGrid. I want Ctrl-Click for single rows (which works OK; not great, but OK) but also Shift-Click for a range selection (which doesn't work).

I suspect I could trap the WM_LBUTTONDOWN message and process it manually in a subclass, but are there any pitfalls that await me down that path?

I'm hoping someone has already had to go through these motions, as I can't imagine people being happy with the poor default effort offered.

Answer 1

The Infopower library, available from Woll2Woll [http://www.woll2woll.com], contains an extended datagrid which includes properties (msoAutoUnselect,msoShiftSelect) that will provide the behavior you want.

These properties were introduced very early in Infopower's history, so even the cheapest version you can find should be adequate. Infopower costs less than three hundred dollars in any case.

I am not affiliated with Woll2Woll in any way; I just use their product.

-Al.