The DBList and DBCombo controls expose a MatchEntry property, that – when set to True – permits to perform quick incremental searches by simply typing the searched sequence of characters. If MatchEntry is set to False, any time the user presses a key, the next item that begins with that character becomes the highlighted item.Unfortunately this feature has not been added to standard unbound list box and combo box controls, and we have to implement it using two separate controls, a text box and a listbox, and a lot of code. The principle is simple: when the search string typed in the text box changes, a fast search is performed on the list box (using the LB_FINDSTRING message).

Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal _    hWnd As Long, ByVal msg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, _    lParam As Any) As LongConst LB_FINDSTRING = &H18F' this is a form-level variableDim DoSearch As IntegerSub List1_Click()    ' user selected a new item    ' (also activated by Text1_KeyDown)    Text1.text = List1.textEnd SubSub List1_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, _    Y As Single)    ' keep the two controls synchronized    Text1.text = List1.textEnd SubSub List1_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, _    Y As Single)    ' keep the two controls synchronized    Text1.text = List1.textEnd SubSub Text1_Change()    Static active As Boolean    Dim index As Integer    Dim search As String    Dim found As Integer    ' avoid recursive calls    If active Or DoSearch = False Then Exit Sub    active = True    ' search is not case sensitive    search = UCase$(Text1.text)    found = -1        ' search the first item in the listbox    ' that matches the search string in the textbox    found = SendMessage(List1.hWnd, LB_FINDSTRING, -1, ByVal search)    If found >= 0 Then        ' make the found value the current item        List1.ListIndex = found        Text1.text = List1        ' select the remaining characters        Text1.SelStart = Len(search)        Text1.SelLength = 999    End If    active = FalseEnd SubSub Text1_KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)    If Shift Then        ' do nothing if a shift key is pressed    ElseIf KeyCode = vbKeyUp Then        ' move on previous item        If List1.ListIndex > 0 Then            List1.ListIndex = List1.ListIndex - 1        End If        KeyCode = 0    ElseIf KeyCode = vbKeyDown Then        ' move on next item        If List1.ListIndex < List1.ListCount - 1 Then            List1.ListIndex = List1.ListIndex + 1        End If        KeyCode = 0    End IfEnd SubSub Text1_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)    If KeyAscii = 8 And Text1.SelStart > 0 Then        ' if BackSpace has be pressed, trim one        ' character off the search string        DoSearch = False        Text1.text = Left$(Text1.text, Text1.SelStart)        Text1.SelStart = Len(Text1.text)    Else        DoSearch = True    End IfEnd Sub

When a match is found, the selection is moved on the corresponding item and it also appears in the text box editing area, with the remaining characters already selected (so that they can be easily overwritten by another key press).