Creating selection fields

Use these procedures to create selection fields. For an overview of selection fields, see Types-of-data-fields.

To create a selection field for a drop-down list, radio button, or check box

1. Open the appropriate form.
2. Right-click the form, and select Create a New Field > selectionField.
    Selection field types are Drop-Down List, Radio Button, or Check Box.
    The new field appears on the form.
3. Select the field.
4. In the Properties tab, set the Selections values.
    See the following procedures.
5. Set the other field properties as needed.
    See Field-Properties.
6. Right-click the form, and select Save.

To add selection items

1. Select the appropriate selection field.
2. In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button.
    In the Selections dialog box, you can create items that have linear IDs or custom IDs. AR System creates linear IDs automatically, beginning with 0. You must enter custom IDs manually. A selection field cannot have items with both linear IDs and custom IDs. See Data-fields.
3. To add items with linear IDs, go to step 5.
4. To add items with custom IDs:
   1. In the ID Enumeration list, select Custom.
   2. In the ID column of the item, enter an integer from 0 through 2147483647.
       Negative integers are not permitted.
5. In the Selection Values column, enter the database value.
6. In the Alias column, enter the text to display in a browser.
7. Click Add to add the item to the selection field.

8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 for each item you want to add.

   For Check Box fields, add only one item because users have access to only the first item.

9. To rearrange the items, select an item and click Up or Down.

   If the items have linear IDs, do not change the order of existing items. If you do, the meaning of data previously entered in the database is changed. See Data-fields.

10. (Optional) In the Default Value list, select the item that appears when users initially open the form to perform a search or to create a request.
11. Click OK.
12. Right-click the form, and select Save.

To modify selection items

1. Select the appropriate selection field.
2. In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button.
3. In the Selections dialog box, select an item.
4. In the Selection Values, Alias, or Default Value fields, edit the information.
5. Click OK.
6. Right-click the form, and select Save.

To delete selection items

1. Select the appropriate selection field.
2. In the Properties tab, select the Selections property, and click its ellipsis button.
3. In the Selections dialog box, select an item.

4. Click Delete.

   If the items have linear IDs, do not delete items in the beginning or middle of a selection field in an existing form. See Data-fields.

5. Click OK.
6. Right-click the form, and select Save.

Troubleshooting

In some cases, when you use the radio button fields, the height of the radio button fields change, corrupting the layout of the form. To correct the layout, go to Field Properties > Font > Data Font and choose Edit Field. Change and adjust the height to get the correct layout.