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user text added to combo list?

cfinley
Registered: Jan 9 2008
Posts: 70

is there a way to set up a combo box (dropdown) so that when a user enters custom text it will be saved and appear in the list in the future?
 
I have a dynamic form set up for product labels, and I allow for custom text in case a new part is made - right now it appears I would have to edit the pdf in LiveCycle to permanently add these new part numbers, but if the user could add to the list in acrobat, that would be great!

My Product Information:
LiveCycle Designer, Windows
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
All data elements in a LiveCycle PDF acquire their values from two sources. The first is the default values setup at design time. The second source is the data model, which stores user entered values.

If you are adding values to a list, they should be automatically stored in the data model and re-merged into the form when it is opened. Although to tell you the truth I'm not sure, and in fact I seem to remember having problems with maintaining list values in a designer 7 project I worked on.

There are a couple of things you can do.

1. Store the list values in a hidden text field as a delimited list. When the form is opened, parse the string and repopulate the combobox.

2. Modify the default values. This can only be done on Acrobat Pro. These are in the "xfa.Template" model in about the same location and format as the display values that appear in the "xfa.form" model, but you'll have to do a little work to figure out the specifics.

3. Store the list data on a server and populate the combox using the list binding feature in Designer 7.1. I don't know why this feature wasn't put in Designer 8, but it does work in Acrobat 8. If you don't have access to Designer 7.1, then there are other ways to acquire the list data from a server, such as a regular data submit.

Thom Parker
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