Control Choice - Do you use ComboBoxes instead of single-select List Boxes?

ComboBoxes are better than List Boxes for data entry because:

• They occupy less screen space
• They are less trouble to scroll through, owing to the fact that you can afford to have more room for the list (as it's collapsed most of the time)
• As you can see in the figures below, using a combo also makes the required field indicator (*) easier to see.

❌ Figure: Bad Example - Using list boxes

✅ Figure: Good Example - Using ComboBoxes - takes up less screen space and the required field indication is easy to see

Note: When are single-select list boxes OK?

As mentioned before, there are exceptions to this rule. It would be hard to imagine the Include/Exclude boxes in the SQL Server Enterprise Manager's Server Registration Wizard being handled with ComboBoxes, for example.

Figure: Include/Exclude Listboxes are an example of a valid use for List Boxes