microsoft / microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml

Proposal: Provide customization for TextSearch timeout and support "First-Letter Cycling" in ComboBox

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area-ComboBox feature proposal
Dominant language
C++
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
2d 7h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Title

Support customizable TextSearch timeout and "First-Letter Cycling" for ComboBox(or more elements)

### Summary

Allow developers to configure the internal TextSearch (type-ahead) timeout and provide an option to cycle through items starting with the same character when a key is pressed repeatedly, matching the snappy behavior of WinForms.

### Rationale

It seems that the current ComboBox implementation in WinUI 3 (Windows App SDK) has a text search (type-ahead) logic that creates a suboptimal user experience compared to WinForms.

1. The search buffer reset is fixed at 1000ms (HasSearchStringTimedOut). Users cannot adjust this, leading to perceived "lag" when they expect a quicker reset for new searches.

2. In Win32, pressing the same key repeatedly (eg 'A' 'A' 'A') cycles through all items starting with that letter. In WinUI 3, the logic defaults to String Accumulation (searching for "AAA"), for users moving from WinForms to WinUI 3, the inability to quickly navigate lists via keyboard feels like a step backward in responsiveness.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c43bedc7-d39a-4f17-8e0b-462d48381164

### Scope

| Capability | Priority |
| :---------- | :------- |
| winforms snappy combobox feeling | Must |
| This proposal will allow end users to accomplish X | Should |
| This proposal will allow developers to accomplish Y | Could |
| This proposal will allow end users to accomplish Z | Won't |

### Important Notes

_No response_

### Open Questions

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the ComboBox text-search implementation and the HasSearchStringTimedOut logic referenced in the issue, then read how the current search buffer handles repeated keystrokes. Done means the design and implementation support a configurable timeout and an option for repeated-letter cycling, with the behavior validated against the stated WinForms expectations.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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