Livecycle

Overview of drop-down lists and list boxes

Drop-down lists and list boxes provide users with a way to select a single choice from a list. The choices are represented by text. You define the list of default options.

 

Drop-down list	List box
Only one choice is visible until the user opens the list.	Any number of options can be visible at once. When the display area of the list box is too small to display all of the items in the list, a vertical scroll bar is displayed.
Accepts custom user entries.	Does not accept custom user entries.

Unlike check boxes and radio buttons, drop-down lists and list boxes support variable sizes of data and variable sets of choices. Clicking the drop-down arrow button displays the full set of choices, and clicking a choice in the list selects a single item. When the layout of the form prohibits the use of check boxes or radio buttons, consider using a list box to present options.

After you add a drop-down list or list box to the form design, you can edit the caption text and manipulate the object’s properties in the Field, Value, and Binding tabs of the Object palette. You can define these properties:

•	Change the caption for the list. See To rename a caption.

•	Set a border style for the list. See To set the border style.

•	Define the list as visible, invisible, or hidden. See To make an object visible, invisible, or hidden.

•	Specify a locale for the list. See To specify a locale (language and country or region) for an object.

•	Add initial choices to the list and provide a default selection.

•	Sort the choices in ascending or descending order.

•	E nable or disable user input (drop-down lists only).

•	Define the list as visible, invisible, or hidden.

•	Specify a locale for the list.

•	Specify custom data values for each list item.

•	Specify a binding method for storing and retrieving bound data.

Tip:	You can dynamically populate a drop-down list or list box with values from a data source.

See also 

About Objects

To dynamically populate a drop-down list or list box

Layout properties in the Layout palette

Border properties in the Border palette

Drop-down list properties in the Field tab

Drop-down list properties in the Value tab

Drop-down list properties in the Binding tab

List box properties in the Field tab

List box properties in the Value tab

List box properties in the Binding tab

Overview of drop-down lists and list boxes