You are a field short. It should be:
{ IF {Dropdown1} = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician license"}
or
{ IF {REF Dropdown1} = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician
license"}

You can abbreviate that to
{ IF {Dropdown1} = "plu*" "plumber license" "electrician license"}
or
{ IF {REF Dropdown1} = "plu*" "plumber license" "electrician license"}

See also http://www.gmayor.com/SelectFile.htm

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org


Jeffrey Frankel wrote:
Hello, all. I'm trying to build a template with an IF field in Word
2003 that will display text that is dependent upon the user's
selection from a Drop-Down Form Field. For example, if the user
selects "plumbing board" from the dropdown list, the IF field should
read "plumber license." If the user selects "electrical board" from
the dropdown list, the IF field should read "electrician license."
The bookmark name for the form field is Dropdown1 (the default). The
IF field reads:

{ IF Dropdown1 = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician
license" \* MERGEFORMAT }

After I lock the document, make a selection from the 2-item dropdown
list and hit the tab key, the IF field displays "electrician license"
regardless of the selection made from the dropdown list. Selecting
"plumbing board" from the dropdown menu still results in "electrician
license." Checking Calculate on Exit in the Drop-Down Form Field
Options dialog box doesn't make any difference. Does anybody know
what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

Jeff Frankel

Hello, all. I'm trying to build a template with an IF field in Word 2003
that will display text that is dependent upon the user's selection from a
Drop-Down Form Field. For example, if the user selects "plumbing board" from
the dropdown list, the IF field should read "plumber license." If the user
selects "electrical board" from the dropdown list, the IF field should read
"electrician license." The bookmark name for the form field is Dropdown1
(the default). The IF field reads:

{ IF Dropdown1 = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician license" \*
MERGEFORMAT }

After I lock the document, make a selection from the 2-item dropdown list
and hit the tab key, the IF field displays "electrician license" regardless
of the selection made from the dropdown list. Selecting "plumbing board"
from the dropdown menu still results in "electrician license." Checking
Calculate on Exit in the Drop-Down Form Field Options dialog box doesn't
make any difference. Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

Jeff Frankel

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 09:46:52 -0500, Jeffrey Frankel
wrote:

Hello, all. I'm trying to build a template with an IF field in Word 2003
that will display text that is dependent upon the user's selection from a
Drop-Down Form Field. For example, if the user selects "plumbing board" from
the dropdown list, the IF field should read "plumber license." If the user
selects "electrical board" from the dropdown list, the IF field should read
"electrician license." The bookmark name for the form field is Dropdown1
(the default). The IF field reads:

{ IF Dropdown1 = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician license" \*
MERGEFORMAT }

After I lock the document, make a selection from the 2-item dropdown list
and hit the tab key, the IF field displays "electrician license" regardless
of the selection made from the dropdown list. Selecting "plumbing board"
from the dropdown menu still results in "electrician license." Checking
Calculate on Exit in the Drop-Down Form Field Options dialog box doesn't
make any difference. Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

Jeff Frankel


Hi Jeff,

In your IF field, the word "Dropdown1" is only text, not the reference
to the result of the dropdown that it should be.

To fix it, open up the IF field code, select the word Dropdown1, and
press Ctrl+F9. This makes it a field (technically a REF field, but the
REF keyword is optional) nested inside the IF field. Update the field,
protect the document, and try out the dropdown.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

Thank you so much, Graham and Jay. I never would have figured this out by
myself.

Jeff Frankel


On 1/22/06 9:46 AM, in article , "Jeffrey
Frankel" wrote:

Hello, all. I'm trying to build a template with an IF field in Word 2003
that will display text that is dependent upon the user's selection from a
Drop-Down Form Field. For example, if the user selects "plumbing board" from
the dropdown list, the IF field should read "plumber license." If the user
selects "electrical board" from the dropdown list, the IF field should read
"electrician license." The bookmark name for the form field is Dropdown1
(the default). The IF field reads:

{ IF Dropdown1 = "plumbing board" "plumber license" "electrician license" \*
MERGEFORMAT }

After I lock the document, make a selection from the 2-item dropdown list
and hit the tab key, the IF field displays "electrician license" regardless
of the selection made from the dropdown list. Selecting "plumbing board"
from the dropdown menu still results in "electrician license." Checking
Calculate on Exit in the Drop-Down Form Field Options dialog box doesn't
make any difference. Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

Jeff Frankel