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#1
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drop-down form field appearance
I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't
do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel |
#2
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joelgee wrote:
I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel No, you're no missing anything, or at least not much. And Microsoft doesn't hate you more than it hates anyone else; they're just trying to satisfy 30 million people who have at least 50 million different ideas of the way things should work. :-) A dropdown field shows the arrow only when the field is selected. You can select it by clicking on it, or by tabbing to it. The reason for this behavior is that "many" ("most"?) people want the document to print as if the result in the dropdown is just regular text and not a formfield at all. The dropdown should appear "active" only when you're about to change its value. The shading (which doesn't print) is supposed to be the clue that there's a field there. If you create a userform (http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm), the ComboBox control -- roughly the equivalent of a dropdown -- lets you set the value of the ShowDropButtonWhen property to never, always, or when selected. A dropdown formfield isn't that flexible, and it gives you only the "when selected" behavior. This is only one of dozens of reasons I prefer userforms over protected forms. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#3
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Jay,
I am having a similar problem. When my document is protected, the dropdowns work, however, when I try to enter text, my document takes me to the nearest dropdown box. I can't enter data at all. When I unprotect the document, I can enter text, but my drop down boxes don't work. What am I missing? "Jay Freedman" wrote: joelgee wrote: I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel No, you're no missing anything, or at least not much. And Microsoft doesn't hate you more than it hates anyone else; they're just trying to satisfy 30 million people who have at least 50 million different ideas of the way things should work. :-) A dropdown field shows the arrow only when the field is selected. You can select it by clicking on it, or by tabbing to it. The reason for this behavior is that "many" ("most"?) people want the document to print as if the result in the dropdown is just regular text and not a formfield at all. The dropdown should appear "active" only when you're about to change its value. The shading (which doesn't print) is supposed to be the clue that there's a field there. If you create a userform (http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm), the ComboBox control -- roughly the equivalent of a dropdown -- lets you set the value of the ShowDropButtonWhen property to never, always, or when selected. A dropdown formfield isn't that flexible, and it gives you only the "when selected" behavior. This is only one of dozens of reasons I prefer userforms over protected forms. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#4
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You cannot type text in a protected document, unless it also contains
a text form field (inserted from the Forms toolbar). -- Stefan Blom "Larry W." Larry wrote in message ... Jay, I am having a similar problem. When my document is protected, the dropdowns work, however, when I try to enter text, my document takes me to the nearest dropdown box. I can't enter data at all. When I unprotect the document, I can enter text, but my drop down boxes don't work. What am I missing? "Jay Freedman" wrote: joelgee wrote: I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel No, you're no missing anything, or at least not much. And Microsoft doesn't hate you more than it hates anyone else; they're just trying to satisfy 30 million people who have at least 50 million different ideas of the way things should work. :-) A dropdown field shows the arrow only when the field is selected. You can select it by clicking on it, or by tabbing to it. The reason for this behavior is that "many" ("most"?) people want the document to print as if the result in the dropdown is just regular text and not a formfield at all. The dropdown should appear "active" only when you're about to change its value. The shading (which doesn't print) is supposed to be the clue that there's a field there. If you create a userform (http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm), the ComboBox control -- roughly the equivalent of a dropdown -- lets you set the value of the ShowDropButtonWhen property to never, always, or when selected. A dropdown formfield isn't that flexible, and it gives you only the "when selected" behavior. This is only one of dozens of reasons I prefer userforms over protected forms. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#5
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Unlike combo boxes, drop-down form fields only permit selecting from among
the options provided. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Larry W." Larry wrote in message ... Jay, I am having a similar problem. When my document is protected, the dropdowns work, however, when I try to enter text, my document takes me to the nearest dropdown box. I can't enter data at all. When I unprotect the document, I can enter text, but my drop down boxes don't work. What am I missing? "Jay Freedman" wrote: joelgee wrote: I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel No, you're no missing anything, or at least not much. And Microsoft doesn't hate you more than it hates anyone else; they're just trying to satisfy 30 million people who have at least 50 million different ideas of the way things should work. :-) A dropdown field shows the arrow only when the field is selected. You can select it by clicking on it, or by tabbing to it. The reason for this behavior is that "many" ("most"?) people want the document to print as if the result in the dropdown is just regular text and not a formfield at all. The dropdown should appear "active" only when you're about to change its value. The shading (which doesn't print) is supposed to be the clue that there's a field there. If you create a userform (http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm), the ComboBox control -- roughly the equivalent of a dropdown -- lets you set the value of the ShowDropButtonWhen property to never, always, or when selected. A dropdown formfield isn't that flexible, and it gives you only the "when selected" behavior. This is only one of dozens of reasons I prefer userforms over protected forms. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#6
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drop-down form field appearance
I was using the "tools" drop down menu to protect the document and my drop
down form fields wouldn't work. Then I tried the "protect form" icon on the "forms" toolbar. Presto, it worked just like it is supposed to. Hope this helps. Cameron "joelgee" wrote: I've created several drop-down form fields in a Word template. What I can't do is protect the template and have the form fields appear as drop-down boxes until I click on one. When I open the protected template as a new document, all I see are the shaded fields until I select one. Am I missing something? I don't see anything to make the field appear as a box with the arrow. Is this possible? Do I have to do something else? Does Microsoft hate me? Thanks. Joel |
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