Drop-down field with over 25 entries

[Dan Fingerman]

I created a form in a template for my company's fax cover page. I
want to put all the employee names in a drop-down list in the "From"
field. Unfortunately, Word permits only 25 entries in a drop-down
form field, and we have 29 employees.

I tried using an AutoTextList[1] field (which allowed me to use all 29
names) while using ordinary form fields for the rest of the form.
Unfortunately, this caused problems when I protected the document.
The form fields worked properly, but when I right-clicked on the
"From" field, all the autotext entries were greyed-out, and I could
not select any of them.

Suggestions would be appreciated.


[1] Following this procedure:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextListContent.htm

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Dan,

The AutoTextList field and protected form fields don't mix, in
general. If you don't have any form fields in the template, then don't
protect it.

If you do have form fields in addition to the AutoTextList field, you
might be able to make it work by putting continuous section breaks
before and after the AutoTextList field (which would have to be in a
paragraph that contains no form fields), and use the Tools > Protect
Document > Sections dialog to avoid protecting the section containing
the AutoTextList field.

A better solution, if you must have other form fields besides the name
list, is to use a userform or custom dialog (see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm). Not only
does this solve the limited entries problem, but it gives you the
flexibility to fill other fields based on the chosen name. I've posted
a sample template for you at
http://members.verizon.net/~vze27sds/download/test_fmfld_dropdown.zip.

I created a form in a template for my company's fax cover page. I
want to put all the employee names in a drop-down list in the "From"
field. Unfortunately, Word permits only 25 entries in a drop-down
form field, and we have 29 employees.

I tried using an AutoTextList[1] field (which allowed me to use all 29
names) while using ordinary form fields for the rest of the form.
Unfortunately, this caused problems when I protected the document.
The form fields worked properly, but when I right-clicked on the
"From" field, all the autotext entries were greyed-out, and I could
not select any of them.

Suggestions would be appreciated.


[1] Following this procedure:
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/AutoTextListContent.htm

 

[Dan Fingerman]

Jay Freedman wrote at Wed 14 Jul 2004 13:57:02, in

A better solution, if you must have other form fields besides the
name list, is to use a userform or custom dialog (see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm). Not only
does this solve the limited entries problem, but it gives you the
flexibility to fill other fields based on the chosen name.

Thank you! This ALMOST works the way I want it -- I just have one
thing I could not figure out.

I got every type of field to work the way I want except check boxes.
Check boxes insert the words "true" and "false" into the document. I
would like these to show up as check boxes, or X boxes, or something
similar -- like they do when I use form fields. How can I do that?

 

[Jay Freedman]

Jay Freedman wrote at Wed 14 Jul 2004 13:57:02, in


Thank you! This ALMOST works the way I want it -- I just have one
thing I could not figure out.

I got every type of field to work the way I want except check boxes.
Check boxes insert the words "true" and "false" into the document. I
would like these to show up as check boxes, or X boxes, or something
similar -- like they do when I use form fields. How can I do that?

I replaced the file
http://members.verizon.net/~vze27sds/download/test_fmfld_dropdown.zip with a
new one containing a check box on the userform and a matching check box form
field on the document. You can have a look at the code in the userform. The
line in the cmdOK_Click procedure that does the transfer is

.Item("Internal").CheckBox.Value = cbInternal.Value

Notice that for a check box form field you use the .CheckBox.Value property
instead of the .Result property.