NsDialogs FAQ: Difference between revisions

From NSIS Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 751: Line 751:


== How to create a sorted droplist control ==
== How to create a sorted droplist control ==
Sometimes you may have to display a dropdown list with sorted information - for example, a list of folders or files (retrieved through one of the many filesearch scripts) that may not have come in sorted.
One solution would be to pre-sort the results using a sorting script or the [[Arrays in NSIS|Array]] plugin.
Another solution is to use a dropdown list which has a 'sorted' style, [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7h63bxbe%28VS.80%29.aspx CBS_SORT], set on it so that its listings are automatically sorted.
Unfortunately this is not a style you can add after the control has been created, so you have to create it yourself.
Below is a header file I wrote for use in our installer which lets us use the same syntax as nsDialogs uses for other controls.
<highlight-nsis>
<highlight-nsis>
/*
/*
nsDialogs_createDroplistSorted.nsh
nsDialogs_createDroplistSorted.nsh
Header file for creating a sorted droplist control.
Header file for creating a sorted droplist control.

Revision as of 17:57, 12 April 2010

How to Enable/Disable a control

Use the standard NSIS EnableWindow command.

NSDialogs lets you pop the hwnd of a control created via ${NSD_Create*}. EnableWindow takes a hwnd as one of its parameters. With this, you can easily enable/disable a control. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
var button
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
	Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateCheckbox} 0 0 50% 6% "Enable button below"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd EnDisableButton
 
	${NSD_CreateButton} 25% 25% 50% 50% "Hello World"
		Pop $button
		EnableWindow $button 0 # start out disabled
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function EnDisableButton
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetState} $hwnd $0
	${If} $0 == 1
		EnableWindow $button 1
	${Else}
		EnableWindow $button 0
	${EndIf}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to Show/Hide a control

Use the standard NSIS ShowWindow command.

NSDialogs lets you pop the hwnd of a control created via ${NSD_Create*}. ShowWindow takes a hwnd as one of its parameters. With this, you can easily show/hide a control. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
var button
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateCheckbox} 0 0 50% 6% "Show button below"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd EnDisableButton
 
	${NSD_CreateButton} 25% 25% 50% 50% "Hello World"
		Pop $button
		ShowWindow $button ${SW_HIDE} # start out hidden
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function EnDisableButton
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetState} $hwnd $0
	${If} $0 == 1
		ShowWindow $button ${SW_SHOW}
	${Else}
		ShowWindow $button ${SW_HIDE}
	${EndIf}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to create a multi-line edit (text) control

Although multi-line is a Style of a control, for Edit (Text) controls it is one of few styles that cannot be set once the control has already been created - so you can't use ${NSD_AddStyle}.

Instead, you will have to create the control manually: 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateText} 0 0 100% 40% "This is NOT a$\r$\nmulti-line$\r$\nedit control"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	nsDialogs::CreateControl EDIT \
		"${__NSD_Text_STYLE}|${WS_VSCROLL}|${ES_MULTILINE}|${ES_WANTRETURN}" \
		"${__NSD_Text_EXSTYLE}" \
		0 50% 100% 40% \
		"This IS a$\r$\nmulti-line$\r$\nedit control"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

Or, much cleaner, using the NsDialogs_CreateTextMultiline header: 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "nsDialogs_createTextMultiline.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateText} 0 0 100% 40% "This is NOT a$\r$\nmulti-line$\r$\nedit control"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	${NSD_CreateTextMultiline} 0 50% 100% 40% "This IS a$\r$\nmulti-line$\r$\nedit control"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to create a Text Password control

See the nsDialogs documentation - a Password control is one of the controls supported by default; ${NSD_CreatePassword}

How to set the character used by a Text Password control

By default a Text Password control will use an asterisk (*****) character to mask the text. You can change this character using SendMessage with the EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR flag.

The password character is identified by its ASCII or UNICODE index; keep in mind that the font you use for your installer may not support the character you wish to use.

NOTE If you set the password character to 0 (zero), the text will not be masked! You can use this to toggle between the text being visible and masked. See also the How to hide/show passwords in a Text Password control entry. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreatePassword} 0 0 50% 8% "This is a password field"
	    Pop $hwnd
	    SendMessage $hwnd ${EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR} 149 0 # 149 = fat dot
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to hide/show passwords in a Text Password control

By using SendMessage with the EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR flag, specifying the character as 0 (zero), you can make a password visible, and invisible again by specifying a non-zero character.

See also the How to set the character used by a Text Password control entry.

NOTE The Password control has to be forcibly redrawn after changing the mask character. This is done by hiding and then showing the control using ShowWindow. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
var passwordControl
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
 
	${NSD_CreateCheckbox} 0 0 25% 8% "Show password"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd ShowPassword
 
	${NSD_CreatePassword} 0 10% 50% 8% "This is a password field"
	    Pop $passwordControl
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function ShowPassword
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetState} $hwnd $0
	ShowWindow $passwordControl ${SW_HIDE}
	${If} $0 == 1
		SendMessage $passwordControl ${EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR} 0 0
	${Else}
		SendMessage $passwordControl ${EM_SETPASSWORDCHAR} 42 0
	${EndIf}
	ShowWindow $passwordControl ${SW_SHOW}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to create a Numbers-only Text control

See the nsDialogs documentation - a Numbers-only control is one of the controls supported by default; ${NSD_CreateNumber}

How to create a Read-only Text control

The read-only state of a Text control can be set using SendMessage with the EM_SETREADONLY flag.

Note that a read-only Edit (Text) control is not the same as a disabled Text control. A disabled Text control will display its text grayed out, a read-only Text control remains black on a light grey background. In addition, a disabled multi-line Text control cannot be scrolled. A read-only multi-line Text control, on the other hand, can be scrolled. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
var textControl
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateCheckBox} 0 0 50% 6% "Set text field below read-only"
	    Pop $hwnd
	    ${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd SetReadonly
	${NSD_CreateText} 0 12% 100% 8% "Hello World"
		Pop $textControl
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function SetReadonly
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetState} $hwnd $0
	SendMessage $textControl ${EM_SETREADONLY} $0 0
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to create two groups of RadioButtons

Use ${NSD_AddStyle} to add the WS_GROUP style to the first radiobutton of each group. In Windows' UI handling, all radiobuttons are considered to be part of the same group if no group starter is defined.

Therefore, to have two radiobutton groups of two radiobuttons each, you must specify a group starter for each, otherwise the third and fourth radiobuttons will be considered part of the first group.

Setting a group starter is easy using ${NSD_AddStyle}, use: 

${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP} # WS_GROUP is defined in winmessages.nsh
</higlight-nsis>
 
example:
<highlight-nsis>
!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 0 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 1"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP}
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 12% 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 2"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 50% 0 40% 6% "Group 2, Radio 1"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP}
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 50% 12% 40% 6% "Group 2, Radio 2"
		Pop $hwnd
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to easily handle radiobutton selections

Often you do not want to specify separate OnClick functions for each radiobutton... 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 0 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 1"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP}
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd Group1Radio1Click
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 12% 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 2"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd Group1Radio2Click
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function Group1Radio1Click
	Pop $hwnd
	MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio1"
FunctionEnd
Function Group1Radio2Click
	Pop $hwnd
	MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio2"
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

But the only obvious alternative seems to be to place each in a different variable and comparing the hwnd on the stack when the callback function is called to that variable. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
var Group1Radio1
var Group1Radio2
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 0 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 1"
		Pop $Group1Radio1
		${NSD_AddStyle} $Group1Radio1 ${WS_GROUP}
		${NSD_OnClick} $Group1Radio1 RadioClick
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 12% 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 2"
		Pop $Group1Radio2
		${NSD_OnClick} $Group1Radio2 RadioClick
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function RadioClick
	Pop $hwnd
	${If} $hwnd == $Group1Radio1
	    MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio1"
	${ElseIf} $hwnd == $Group1Radio2
	    MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio2"
	${EndIf}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

However, you can eliminate both by making use of the getUserData and setUserData commands of nsDialogs. Using these *UserData commands, you can store data in a control and easily retrieve this later.

To simplify the use of these commands, we'll be using the header from NsDialogs UserData. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre
 
var dialog
var hwnd
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 0 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 1"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP}
		${NSD_SetUserData} $hwnd "Group1Radio1"
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd RadioClick
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 12% 40% 6% "Group 1, Radio 2"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_SetUserData} $hwnd "Group1Radio2"
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd RadioClick
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function RadioClick
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetUserData} $hwnd $0
	${If} $0 == "Group1Radio1"
	    MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio1"
	${ElseIf} $0 == "Group1Radio2"
	    MessageBox MB_OK "onClick:Group1Radio2"
	${EndIf}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

Using this method, you can easily set a variable to an internal string stored on the radiobutton control without any If-ElseIf-EndIf or Case selections in the OnClick event function at all. 

!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
!include "winmessages.nsh"
!include "logiclib.nsh"
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Page Custom pre post
 
var dialog
var hwnd
var minor
 
Function pre
	nsDialogs::Create 1018
		Pop $dialog
 
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 0 40% 6% "I am 14 years of age or older"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${WS_GROUP}
		${NSD_SetUserData} $hwnd "false"
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd RadioClick
	${NSD_CreateRadioButton} 0 12% 40% 6% "I am younger than 14 of age"
		Pop $hwnd
		${NSD_SetUserData} $hwnd "true"
		${NSD_OnClick} $hwnd RadioClick
 
	nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function RadioClick
	Pop $hwnd
	${NSD_GetUserData} $hwnd $minor
FunctionEnd
 
Function post
	${If} $minor == ""
	    MessageBox MB_OK "Please specify your age group"
	    Abort
	${ElseIf} $minor == true
	    MessageBox MB_OK "installation will continue with content appropriate for your age"
	${Else}
	    MessageBox MB_OK "installation will continue normally"
	${EndIf}
FunctionEnd
 
Section ""
SectionEnd

How to Control a Progress Bar control (using absolute values)

You can control a Progress Bar using sendMessage and the messages for Progress Bar controls. These are _almost all_ defined in the WinMessages.nsh header that comes with NSIS, so be sure to include this header.

There is at least one exception, which is very useful to define yourself because it cuts down on code and makes your source more easily readable, and that is PBM_SETRANGE32. PBM_SETRANGE32 allows you to set the start and end range as simply two numbers, instead of having to use ${MakeLong} from WinDef.nsh as required by PBM_SETRANGE 

!define /math PBM_SETRANGE32 ${WM_USER} + 6


In order to update the Progress Bar's value, you'll need to use an nsDialogs timer to invoke a function that handles your actual processing. This timer is only invoked once.

Here's a simple example that creates a Progress Bar that has a 0 (zero) to 100 range for a typical full percentage increase, and sets the progress to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, using the Sleep command to simulate processing occurring - normally this might be other NSIS calls or calling external applications/installers before your main installation, etc. 

!include "WinMessages.nsh"
!include "MUI2.nsh"
!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
 
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Section
SectionEnd
 
Var dialog
Var hwnd
Var null
 
!define /math PBM_SETRANGE32 ${WM_USER} + 6
 
Page Custom page.custom
Function page.custom
    nsDialogs::Create 1018
    Pop $dialog
 
    ${NSD_CreateProgressBar} 0 0 100% 10% "Test"
        Pop $hwnd
 
     ${NSD_CreateTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback 10
 
    nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function NSD_Timer.Callback
    ${NSD_KillTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETRANGE32} 0 100
 
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 25 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 50 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 75 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 100 0
FunctionEnd
 
!insertmacro MUI_LANGUAGE "English"

How to Control a Progress Bar control (using step values)

One of the down sides of the previous example is that you always have to keep track of your percentages, when those percentages might not even be important, as long as the user knows there -is- progress. An example where keeping track of your percentages could become problematic is with copy/pasting chunks of code. You might suddenly find yourself with a progress bar that goes from 0% to 50% back to 25% and then up to 75%.

One pretty simple solution to this is to use a stepped progress bar instead. This method lets you define a step increment value, and simply call a step function to always increment the progress bar by that value. Here is an example using this method, which is functionally the same as the previous example. Note that we're setting the range to the number of steps we're expecting in our function. 

!include "WinMessages.nsh"
!include "MUI2.nsh"
!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
 
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Section
SectionEnd
 
Var dialog
Var hwnd
Var null
 
!define /math PBM_SETRANGE32 ${WM_USER} + 6
 
Page Custom page.custom
Function page.custom
    nsDialogs::Create 1018
    Pop $dialog
 
	${NSD_CreateProgressBar} 0 0 100% 10% "Test"
		Pop $hwnd
 
     ${NSD_CreateTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback 10
 
    nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function NSD_Timer.Callback
    ${NSD_KillTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETRANGE32} 0 4
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETSTEP} 1 0
 
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_STEPIT} 0 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_STEPIT} 0 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_STEPIT} 0 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_STEPIT} 0 0
 
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 4 0
FunctionEnd
 
!insertmacro MUI_LANGUAGE "English"

Note that at the end, we still set the progress to 100%. The reason for this is that you might have some conditional steps in your function. If you forget to step the progress, then the progress value will fall short of 100%. This is an oft-reported user interface issue, where the user complains that even though the process is complete, the progress bar is stuck at less than 100%.

You'll still have to take care to not use -more- steps than you have specified in the PBM_SETRANGE32 call, as any steps after that will just show 100% without any apparent progress.

How to Create a Marquee (endless loop) Progress Bar control

Sometimes you might not know anything about progress - for example, you're simply executing a task that may take some time but there's no way to tell how far along that task you are. In that case you might want to use a so-called Marquee progress bar that simply loops from left to right endlessly.

There is one caveat to this: You can't use a Marquee progress bar unless you use an interface that uses XP styles (see also XPStyle).

Other than that, it's smooth sailing by using ${NSD_AddStyle} to add the PBS_MARQUEE style to the progress bar.

Here's an example of doing exactly that: 

!include "WinMessages.nsh"
!include "MUI2.nsh"
!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
 
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Section
SectionEnd
 
Var dialog
Var hwnd
Var null
 
!define PBS_MARQUEE 0x08
 
Page Custom page.custom
Function page.custom
    nsDialogs::Create 1018
    Pop $dialog
 
    ${NSD_CreateProgressBar} 0 0 100% 10% "Test"
        Pop $hwnd
        ${NSD_AddStyle} $hwnd ${PBS_MARQUEE}
 
    ${NSD_CreateTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback 10
    nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function NSD_Timer.Callback
    ${NSD_KillTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback ; Kill the timer
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETMARQUEE} 1 50 ; start=1|stop=0 interval(ms)=+N
    _again:
    MessageBox MB_YESNO "Stop the marquee?" IDNO _again
        SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETMARQUEE} 0 0
 
FunctionEnd
 
!insertmacro MUI_LANGUAGE "English"

Note that a Marquee Progress Bar always runs from left to right - you can't set it to any other position.

How to Create a Smooth Progress Bar control

A Smooth Progress Bar is one that is not cut up into small rectangles - i.e. the entire progress is one solid, smooth, bar.

Unfortunately, there are two caveats in this case:

1. The standard Progress Bar is styled by XP styles which override this style. For the same reason you can't have a Marquee progress bar _without_ XP Styles, you can't have a Smooth progress bar _with_ XP Styles (see also XPStyle).

2. The Smooth style (PBS_SMOOTH) can't be added -after- the control has been created by nsDialogs. So you have to create it with that style already set.

Below is an example that uses a Smooth Progress Bar, with XP Styles off. 

!include "WinMessages.nsh"
!include "MUI2.nsh"
!include "nsDialogs.nsh"
 
OutFile "test.exe"
 
Section
SectionEnd
 
Var dialog
Var hwnd
Var null
 
!define PB_EXSTYLE ${WS_EX_WINDOWEDGE}|${WS_EX_CLIENTEDGE}
!define PBS_SMOOTH 0x01
!define /math PBM_SETRANGE32 ${WM_USER} + 6
 
Page Custom page.custom
Function page.custom
    nsDialogs::Create 1018
    Pop $dialog
 
    nsDialogs::CreateControl "msctls_progress32" \
        ${DEFAULT_STYLES}|${PBS_SMOOTH} \
        ${PB_EXSTYLE} \
        0 0 100% 10% \
        "Test" \
 
        Pop $hwnd
 
    ${NSD_CreateTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback 10
    nsDialogs::Show
FunctionEnd
 
Function NSD_Timer.Callback
    ${NSD_KillTimer} NSD_Timer.Callback ; Kill the timer
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETRANGE32} 0 100
 
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 25 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 50 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 75 0
    Sleep 2000
    SendMessage $hwnd ${PBM_SETPOS} 100 0
FunctionEnd
 
!insertmacro MUI_LANGUAGE "English"
XPStyle off

How to let controls receive Hotkey (alt+letter) combinations

Only controls that have labels can be assigned a hotkey, simply by including an ampersand in its title. E.g. 

${NSD_CreateCheckbox} 3% 3% 20% 8% "The hot&key here is alt+k"

However, when the page is first navigated to in NSIS, the NSIS dialog is what has focus, rather than the inner nsDialogs dialog. So set focus to the nsDialogs dialog before you tell nsDialogs to show it: 

nsDialogs::Create 1018
Pop $dialog ; assuming you have a 'dialog' variable!
; further code here
SendMessage $dialog ${WM_SETFOCUS} $HWNDPARENT 0
nsDialogs::Show

The NSIS dialog will still handle e.g. alt+N for the Next button as the hotkey event simply 'bubbles up' to the parent window if window with current focus does not react to it. ( Hint: That means you shouldn't set any hotkeys for the B(ack) or N(ext) letters! )

Using these methods, you can easily create an installer that can be navigated entirely and easily by keyboard-only.

How to create a sorted droplist control

Sometimes you may have to display a dropdown list with sorted information - for example, a list of folders or files (retrieved through one of the many filesearch scripts) that may not have come in sorted.

One solution would be to pre-sort the results using a sorting script or the Array plugin.

Another solution is to use a dropdown list which has a 'sorted' style, CBS_SORT, set on it so that its listings are automatically sorted.

Unfortunately this is not a style you can add after the control has been created, so you have to create it yourself.

Below is a header file I wrote for use in our installer which lets us use the same syntax as nsDialogs uses for other controls. 

/*
nsDialogs_createDroplistSorted.nsh
Header file for creating a sorted droplist control.
 
Usage:
  ${NSD_CreateDroplistSorted} left top width height ""
  Creates the sorted droplist at the location specified.
*/
 
!ifndef NSDIALOGS_createDroplistSorted_INCLUDED
	!define NSDIALOGS_createDroplistSorted_INCLUDED
	!verbose push
	!verbose 3
 
	!include WinMessages.nsh
 
	!define __NSD_DropListSorted_CLASS COMBOBOX
	!define __NSD_DropListSorted_STYLE ${DEFAULT_STYLES}|${WS_TABSTOP}|${WS_VSCROLL}|${WS_CLIPCHILDREN}|${CBS_AUTOHSCROLL}|${CBS_HASSTRINGS}|${CBS_DROPDOWNLIST}|${CBS_SORT}
	!define __NSD_DropListSorted_EXSTYLE ${WS_EX_WINDOWEDGE}|${WS_EX_CLIENTEDGE}
 
	!insertmacro __NSD_DefineControl DropListSorted
 
	!verbose pop
!endif
Retrieved from "https://nsis.sourceforge.io/mediawiki/index.php?title=NsDialogs_FAQ&oldid=18405"