drop down list box adds blank line

[chloraphil]

My form populates a couple of drop-down list boxes from a SQL Server
connection. The problem is that Infopath adds a blank entry. Now this would
make sense if the default value is not specified. But when specifying a
default value, the blank line is still there when clicking on the drop-down
box.

Is it possible to prevent that blank line from appearing as a possible
selection? I know I can use data validation, etc to annoy the user not to
select it, but it would be much smoother to nip it in the bud. Thanks.

 

[chloraphil]

Thanks Greg!

 

[Anand]

Hello,
Can you please help me further to remove the <option/> tag, as I have many
dropdowns in the form and I am not able to understand which one to delete.

Thanks in advance.
-Anand

 

[Greg Collins]

It is usually not a wise idea to remove the blank options. They are there so
that users can make a blank choice--or no choice.

If your system does not allow for that, the you should specify a default
value (which will ensure a valid selection on each new form) and create data
validation to mark a blank value as an invalid choice.

If you absolutely cannot stand the fact that there is a blank value, you can
extract the form files (File menu) and manually remove the blank options
from the XSL files and rebuild your XSN. But this should be avoided where
possible as these manual changes could get reverted if you make any changes
to your drop-downs.