Drop-down list created in 2007 AND older versions of Word

[USEN]

Hi Everyone,

I've created a drop-down list in 2007, but it won't convert to older
versions of Word. I know that drop-down lists could be created in older Word
versions from the Form Field Options button on the Forms toolbar; therefore,
surely there must be a way to get it to convert?

I'd greatly appreciate anyone's suggestion.

Thanks,

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Everyone,

I've created a drop-down list in 2007, but it won't convert to older
versions of Word. I know that drop-down lists could be created in older Word
versions from the Form Field Options button on the Forms toolbar; therefore,
surely there must be a way to get it to convert?

I'd greatly appreciate anyone's suggestion.

Thanks,

If you used the dropdown list button at the left end of the second row in the
Controls group, you have one of the new "content controls". There is no
equivalent to this type of control in the earlier versions.

To get the same kind of dropdown form field (for protected forms) as in earlier
versions, which can be transported back to those versions, you have to click the
Legacy Tools button (fourth from the left in the second row) and click the
dropdown button in the Legacy Forms part of the menu.

 

[USEN]

Hi Jay,

OK...I did originally use the 1st button, so I tried it again...this time
using the Legacy form field. In addition to one line that just says "click
here to choose", at present, there are only 2 other items that need to go
into the drop-down list. I successfully added all 3 lines then clicked OK.
The first items "click here to choose" shows up, but there isn't any other
choices. There isn't even an arrow giving access to the drop-down list.
What am I doing wrong? I ignored the "Run macro on Entry and Exit"
buttons...is a macro required? I'd rather not have to worry with another
macro unless it's absolutely necessary because this particular template is
already being called from another template by a macro. The one macro is
already causing enough problems due to the different Word versions; I really
hate to add more to the fire.

 

[Jay Freedman]

I know I should never assume, but I did assume that you were familiar with
protected forms in earlier versions. The key here is "protected" -- the template
(and thus any document based on it) must be "protected for forms" in order to
make the form fields work.

There is a Protect Document button further to the right on the Developer ribbon.
Click that to open the Protect Document task pane. Check the box for "Allow only
this type of editing" and choose "Filling in Forms" in the dropdown below it.
Then click the Start Enforcing Protection button.

What you may not realize if you haven't done this before is that you cannot edit
anything else in the document while protection is turned on -- you won't be able
to select anywhere in the document except in the form fields. That's the real
meaning of "protected".

 

[USEN]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for your replies. While the protection works to enable the drop-down
list to appear, it presents another problem. Like I explained previously,
this particular template consists of a very small form that is called to the
current document by a macro that is part of another template. What the macro
does is to insert a page break in the current document at the location of the
cursor, then calls up this 2nd template (which you now know is a small table
& includes this drop-down list). The macro copies this small table (ctrl+A;
ctrl+C), closes the 2nd document, and then pastes the table at the top of the
newly inserted page of the 1st document (ctrl+V). With this protection on,
it won't allow the document to be copied for some reason. I tried choosing
"set as read only" instead of "filling in forms", but that once again
resulted in the listbox not appearing.

Is there ANY way I can get this to work? It works beautifully in 2007.

Thanks!

 

[Jay Freedman]

Ahem. You may think you explained this complication previously, but I reviewed
the thread and that was not mentioned.

There is a way to "make it work", but it's going to be a lot more complicated
than what we've discussed before.

It also isn't going to be helpful to thrash about, applying things that just
sound like they might have something to do with it when in fact they have
nothing to do with it.

Let's review a bit:

- You can't use content controls, because they're available only for Word 2007
and can't be saved in Word 97-2003 format documents. You must use legacy
controls, either form fields in a protected form or ActiveX controls with
macros. You've indicated that you have trouble with macros, so the only choice
left is form fields.

- This new information says that you're trying to insert a table containing the
form field into the middle of a document. You cannot insert _anything_ either
manually or with a macro into a document while it's protected. The document must
be unprotected until after the table is inserted, and _then_ the document can be
protected to make the form field work.

Do other parts of the document have to be edited after the table is inserted?
That can be done, but it introduces yet another wrinkle. You would have to
insert a section break (NOT a page break) before and after the table, and then
protect only the section containing the table.

Given the templates and document to start with, I could probably set this up in
a half hour or so. But there is no way I can explain it here, especially being
uncertain of the background you have in forms and macro programming.

It might help if you post the code of the macro you already have; you may just
need a few more lines added to it.

 

[USEN]

Hi Jay,

Thanks so much for your continued assistance. This would all be so easy if
everyone had the same version of Word. As you know, this is really difficult
to try to explain by "typing". I really wish this forum had "voice" like
Skype or Windows Messenger. It would be so much easier also, if I could send
you both templates or show you how they work. Oh well...at least maybe
you'll get some idea by the VBA coding in the macro:

Sub Insert_New_PTM_Page()
'
' Insert_New_PTM_Page Macro
' Inserts a Page Break at the current location of the cursor and places the
PMT table at the top of the new page.
'
Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdPageBreak
Application.Move Left:=1, Top:=0
Documents.Open FileName:="C:\Strategic Direct Templates\PTM Page Macro
Enabled Template - 97-2003.dot", _
ConfirmConversions:=False, ReadOnly:=False, AddToRecentFiles:=False, _
PasswordDocument:="", PasswordTemplate:="", Revert:=False, _
WritePasswordDocument:="", WritePasswordTemplate:="", Format:= _
wdOpenFormatAuto, XMLTransform:=""
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Copy
ActiveWindow.Close
Selection.PasteAndFormat (wdPasteDefault)
End Sub


Works like a charm in 2007, but not once it has been made compatible. The
problem they are having with the macro is that I've set it up to work with
keyboard shortcuts. In order for their computer to recognize the shortcut;
however, they need to be able to go in and assign that shortcut to the macro
which I attached to the first template as well as placing it in my
normal.dotm file. For some reason, when he opens the Tools/Macro/Macros menu
and chooses "Macros in", he finds the template file, but upon selecting it,
it doesn't place the name in the top section...thus he can't proceed to the
next screen and assign the keyboard shortcut. Not sure why this is
happening. He's working on it from his end & I'm waiting to hear back from
him. I really thought that as long as the macro was saved "with the file"
that there wouldn't be any problems...WRONG!

I'm open to suggestions... I'm also open to giving you my Skype, Yahoo, or
Windows Messenger ID so that we can actually "speak" if it would help.

Thanks!

 

[Jay Freedman]

Actually, you can send me the templates. The email address in my profile is
valid. Please zip the files before attaching them to an email, and put "Dropdown
List" in the subject so I'll recognize it. Allow me a couple of days to get to
it, as this isn't my day job.

Let me suggest a couple more things...

- If the keyboard shortcut to the macro is stored in the template itself, it
will be available to any document based on the template. Other users do not have
to add their own shortcuts.

- Instead of copying the table in from another template, you should be able to
store the table as an AutoText entry in the first template and have the macro
insert the AutoText. If the same template has to work in both 2003 and 2007,
though, this could get a bit complicated because the VBA programming related to
AutoText is different in the two versions.

- The macro can also protect the document -- or just the section containing the
table -- as part of its coding.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi USEN,

To add to Jay's reply, while the discussion/newsgroups don't have a 'voice' you can record a video of how it works, with narration
using the MS tool from http://officelabs.com Community Clips tool (or other similar tools)

=============
Hi Jay,

Thanks so much for your continued assistance. This would all be so easy if
everyone had the same version of Word. As you know, this is really difficult
to try to explain by "typing". I really wish this forum had "voice" like
Skype or Windows Messenger. It would be so much easier also, if I could send
you both templates or show you how they work. <snip>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*