Drop Down Boxes

[Thomas Farmery]

I have never used a forum before so here goes. I have a problem I can't solve,



I can create drop down tabs within my word document to give specific information such as names etc.

However I would like to link two or more drop down tabs so that when I put in a Name in the first drop down box it recognises the name and then fills in the relevent telephone number in another drop down box and fills it automatically?

Is this possible?

any feedback would be appreciated

[macropod]

Hi Thomas,

Unless you need to be able to select a different phone # than the one determined by the name, there's no need for the second dropdown. All you need is a set of ordinary formula fields coded along the lines of:
{IF{REF Dropdown1}= "1stname" "123456"}
{IF{REF Dropdown1}= "2ndname" "234567"}
{IF{REF Dropdown1}= "3rdname" "345678"}
and so on, where 'Dropdown1' is the formfield's bookmark name (found via its 'properties - which you also set to 'calculate on exit') and 1stname, 2ndname, 3rdname are the actual names and the number strings are the phone numbers.

I've put all the fields on separate lines for clarity, but you can have them all on the same line - the fields for which there's no match simply won't display.

Note: The field brace pairs (ie '{ }') for the above example are created via Ctrl-F9 - you can't simply type them or copy & paste them from this message.

[Thomas Farmery]

Hello Paul,
Thank you for your response, it does make sense what you have said and is exactly what I would like to do with the software. However I can’t find the area in which to enter the formula fields? Below are the steps I normally take to create a drop down box can you advise me on the additional step required.
Option 1,
1) Developer tab (click) drop down list drop down tab created (do I need to create a combo box instead?)
Choose an item.
2)click properties entre relevant information click ok and the drop down box is created.

Option 2,
Create a drop down form field in the legacy tools.

Then select properties a tab comes up that looks much more like the area I should be in however when I press F9 the brackets do not create.
Any additional help would be really appreciated
Regards
Tom

[macropod]

Hi Tom,

You don't actually need to access any of the tabs - see the note at the end of my previous post.

If, however, you want to access the field insertion dialogue box, go to Insert|Quick Parts|Field. The problem you'll have with this approach, though, is that the dialogue box doesn't show how to insert one field within another (which you'll need to do).

If you use the Ctrl-F9 method, you'll be able to create one field construction (note that there are two fields, one nested inside the other), then simply copy & paste it however many times you need and edit the name and number strings as appropriate.

[Thomas Farmery]

Cool, thanks Paul I have the F9 function working now so I will have a play and let you know how I get on with it.

[Thomas Farmery]

Hello Paul

I have managed to create formula fields and link names with numbers on a seperate line, so thank you very much.

I have created the drop down tab using "drop down form fileds" however every time I want to change the name I have to go in to the properties and choose the name from the list rather than there being a drop down on the main document (such as when you use the standard drop list). Is there any way of changing this?

I also have to right click on the formula field and click update is there any way so it auto updates when I change the name?

Regards

Tom

[macropod]

Hi Tom,

That suggests you haven't protected the document for forms yet. Before doing that, make sure the dropdown formfield is set to 'calculate on exit', as per my initial post.

[Thomas Farmery]

Cool, Thank you very much for all your help!