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Need to limit characters to the field size with no scrolling

spiced1
Registered: Dec 1 2006
Posts: 9

I created a form using Designer 7 & Acrobat 7 Pro. , I have a text field that has space for about 312 characters of 10 Arial (or 4 lines of text) if only text is entered, no paragraph/carriage returns, then the spacing is fine. If returns are used it can push the text past the bottom border of the field and a scroll bar appears at the side of the field. Most of the people who will use the form will fill and print with Acrobat reader and anything they type below the bottom of the field won't print. How can I prevent the text from going below the bottom of the field?

jmason
Registered: Jun 22 2007
Posts: 73
Hello,

Try this:

In LiveCycle, select "Allow Multiple Lines" and "Limit Length to Visible Area" in Object > Field palette.In Acrobat, select the Options tab in Properties menu. Then, select "Multi-Line" and make sure "Scroll Long Text" is NOT selected.

You can also limit the number of characters, but I prefer the above method. Hope this helps!
spiced1
Registered: Dec 1 2006
Posts: 9
Hi J.,
I do have "Allow Multiple Lines" and I see "Limit Length" but I don't see "to Visible Area" after Limit length, I have Max Chars: and a box.
I looked in Acrobat but can't find a Properties menu or an Options tab.
jmason
Registered: Jun 22 2007
Posts: 73
In mine (LiveCycle version 8.05), the "Limit Length to Visible Area" checkbox is directly below the "Limit Length...Max Chars:" check box. Hmmmm...

In Acrobat, if you double-click on the field you want to affect, you will get a Properties dialogue box with different tabs and options for the different types of fields. Double-click on your text field, and follow the steps I have previously posted.

It's probably because you're using version 7.0, but do try this in Acrobat though...it might be there for you.
R_Boyd
Registered: Nov 1 2007
Posts: 151
I've posted about this before. Unfortunately if you use Designer 7.0 you do not have the option to limit character size based on field size. It's just a tedious process of going through the fields and finding out the character limit and then applying it to each field.

Even if you have Designer 8.0 and use the limit option it will be ignored if the user is using Reader 7.0 to view the form.

Your other alternative is to create expanding fields (expand to fit on the Y axis) within a subform. An example of this can be found in the comments field on the Purchase Order example form in Designer 7.0.
spiced1
Registered: Dec 1 2006
Posts: 9
Sorry it took so long to get back to you to say thanks.

So thanks for your suggestions.

Unfortunately I'm stuck with LCycle 7 for now but it still makes better forms than Word 2K.

sincerely,
spiced1