Tab order handling in repeating sections

[Russ Ramirez]

For the average Office user, the behavior of the tab key when using repeating
sections is surprising and unexpected (for observers in the stands, fields in
repeating sections tab to the same field between each section instance until
all instances of that tab order/field are exhausted). Secretaries and
Receptionists in particular do not like to have their speedy fingers leave
the keyboard (for the mouse) when typing data into a form.

A MS employee on another InfoPath forum mentioned that the product was not
"smart enough" yet to handle the expected tab key behavior. Even though this
is a case of handling an event, the situation seems to be analogous to the
notion of reference counting.

 

[Brian Teutsch [MSFT]]

On a repeating section, this behavior is expected for InfoPath. The
application cannot distinguish the order of fields inside a repeating
section vs. the tab order on the overall page. So putting something as
tabOrder="1" means all items on the whole page get hit first. So if you have
a desired order inside a repeating section, putting those items in that
visual order is the only way to get the correct tab order.

Brian

 

[Russ Ramirez]

I had not tried reverting the tab order settings all to 0 (zero) until after
I posted. If you set all your text fields (for example) to a 0 value, the tab
key behaves as one would expect going from the topmost text field to the last
text field in your section, then to the topmost text field in the next
section instance, etc.

I cannot tell if this behavior is "guaranteed" but it works reliably in my
application.

On a repeating section, this behavior is expected for InfoPath. The
application cannot distinguish the order of fields inside a repeating
section vs. the tab order on the overall page. So putting something as
tabOrder="1" means all items on the whole page get hit first. So if you have
a desired order inside a repeating section, putting those items in that
visual order is the only way to get the correct tab order.

Brian

 

[Brian Teutsch [MSFT]]

Yes, items with tabOrder = 0 will hit all items in order. The best way is to
remove the tab order, so that any new items you add are hit in the correct
order as well.

I had not tried reverting the tab order settings all to 0 (zero) until
after
I posted. If you set all your text fields (for example) to a 0 value, the
tab
key behaves as one would expect going from the topmost text field to the
last
text field in your section, then to the topmost text field in the next
section instance, etc.

I cannot tell if this behavior is "guaranteed" but it works reliably in my
application.