Beginning InfoPath™ 2003

7.3. Utilizing Drop-Down List Boxes on the Form

Drop-down list boxes are extremely useful for both controlling the data that goes into your form and adding convenience for users by supplying the necessary choices for the field currently being updated.

A few good examples of locations where drop-down list boxes can be useful can be seen right on the form you have been modifying. On the form that is being used for this chapter, Employee ID, Product ID, and Ship Via are currently using text boxes that take a number as a value. The problem with selecting a value is you can't be sure what the value represents unless you have looked at data the values are based on. For instance, instead of displaying the field Employee ID, you could display the names of the employees and have the user choose from that list. See Figure 7-9.

Figure 7.9. Figure 7-9

Although the Product ID field is hidden under the drop-down list box, you can see the Ship Via field displaying an integer value instead of the various shipping options such as Speedy Express and United Package.

This whole section can be applied to the list box control as well as the drop-down list box. Which you decide to use depends on one main question: How much room is there to display data? The methods for setting properties such as the data source will be the same.

7.3.1. Adding a Drop-Down List Box to a Form

There are two ways to add ...