<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: Tabs Guide > View > Toolbars > Form Toolbar > Add Dropdown Menus to Documents |
Dropdown menus allow users to select one option from a fixed list of options:
Figure 1. Example Dropdown Menu
The functionality of PDF-XChange Editor enables a wide range of dynamic customization for dropdown menus, as detailed below. Click the dropdowns for further information:
1. Click Edit Form, then click the Dropdown icon in the Form Toolbar (these locations are highlighted in the image below). A blue rectangle will be displayed at the location of the pointer. This rectangle represents the dropdown menu:
Figure 2. Active Dropdown Tool
2. Move the rectangle to the desired location and then click to add the dropdown menu to the document. (Use the editing aids detailed here to assist in the precise placement of dropdown menus). Added dropdown menus appear as below:
Figure 3. Added Dropdown Menus
•Click and drag the yellow control points to resize dropdown menus. •Use the options in the Properties Toolbar to determine the style and appearance of dropdown menus: •Fill Color determines the color used to fill dropdown menus. •Stroke Color determines the border color of dropdown menus. •Border Style determines the style of dropdown menu borders. •Border Width determines the width of dropdown menu borders. •Text Color determines the color of the text in dropdown menus. •Font determines the font used in dropdown menus. •Properties launches the Widget Properties pane, which enables the customization of additional elements of dropdown menus.
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Follow the steps below to add/edit dropdown menu items:
1. Click Edit Form, then select the dropdown menu and click Properties in the Properties Toolbar:
Figure 8. Selected Dropdown Menu
The Widget Properties pane will open.
2. Move to the Combo Box Items property and click <Empty>:
Figure 9. Widget Properties Pane, Combo Box Items
The Dropdown Menu pane will open. This pane is used to add/edit dropdown menu items:
Figure 10. Dropdown Menu Pane
3. Click Add New to add new entries to the dropdown menu:
Figure 11. Dropdown Menu Items Pane
•Click Delete Item to delete the selected item from the dropdown menu. •Click the Up and Down buttons to move selected items up or down in the list. The order of items in the pane represents the order to items in the dropdown menu. •Enter values in the Export Value column to determine the value given for exported dropdown menu items. Note that values must be first selected in the Dropdown Menu Items pane and then clicked in order to edit the name. •Click to select Display Value names, and then click them again in order to edit the name. •Select the check box of the item to be used as the default selection in the dropdown menu. This item will be selected when the dropdown menu is in its default state.
4. Click outside the Dropdown Menu Items pane to complete the process:
Figure 12. Completed Dropdown Menu |
The following example details a simple value calculation. There are three dropdown menus: 'Dropdown1', 'Dropdown2' and 'Dropdown3':
Figure 13. Value Calculation Example, Dropdown Menus
This example will detail how to use the product of the values entered in 'Dropdown1' and 'Dropdown2' to create the value for 'Dropdown3':
1. Click Edit Form, then select 'Dropdown3' and click Properties in the Properties Toolbar. The Widget Properties pane will open:
Figure 14. Value Calculation Example, Widget Properties Pane
2. Scroll down the Widget Properties pane to the Value Calculation tab, then click the Calculation property and select Product:
Figure 15. Value Calculation Example, Calculation Option
Note that the Fields option will appear beneath the Calculation option in the Value Calculation tab, as detailed in the image below. This option is used to specify the source of the values to use in the product calculation that will create the value for 'Dropdown3'.
3. Click the ellipsis icon on the right of the Fields option. The Fields Selection dialog box will open. Select 'Dropdown1' and 'Dropdown2', then click OK:
Figure 16. Value Calculation Example, Field Selection Dialog Box
The value of 'Dropdown3' will then be the product of the values entered in 'Dropdown1' and 'Dropdown2':
Figure 17. Value Calculation Example, Process Complete
If the values in 'Dropdown1' and 'Dropdown2' are subsequently changed, then the value in 'Dropdown3' will update.
Please note that the Set Field Calculation Order setting in the Fields Pane can be used to determine the order in which fields are calculated. This is a useful feature when documents contain more than one form field that have value calculation settings. Follow the steps below to determine the order of calculation:
1. Click Edit Form (highlighted in the image below), then click View in the Menu Toolbar, hover over Other Panes and click Fields:
Figure 18. View Submenu, Other Panes, Fields
The Fields pane will open.
2. Click Options and then click Set Field Calculation Order in the submenu:
Figure 19. Fields Pane, Set Field Calculation Order
The Calculation Order dialog box will open:
Figure 20. Calculation Order Dialog Box
The Calculation Order dialog box displays all form fields that contain value calculations. The order from top to bottom is the order in which calculations are performed. Click to select form fields and then click Move Up/Move Down to move fields up or down in the list. |
The following example details a simple value validation of values entered into the dropdown 'Dropdown1':
Figure 21. Value Validation Example, Dropdown Menu
This example will detail how to validate that values entered into 'Dropdown1' fall in the range 0-100:
1. Click Edit Form, then select 'Dropdown1' and click Properties in the Properties Toolbar. The Widget Properties pane will open:
Figure 22. Value Validation Example, Widget Properties Pane
2. Scroll down the Widget Properties pane to the Format Value tab, then click the Category property and select Number:
Figure 23. Value Validation Example, Category Option
3. Scroll down the Widget Properties pane to the Value Validation tab, then click the Validation option and select Value in Range:
Figure 24. Value Validation Example, Validation Option
Note that the From and To options will appear beneath the Validation property.
3. Enter '0' in the From option and '100' in the To option:
Figure 25. Value Validation Example, From/To Option
All values subsequently entered into 'Dropdown1' must fall into the range 0-100. Values outside of the specified range will not be permitted, and if they are entered then an error message will appear. |
The default settings of dropdown menus use a list item as the display name. The process below details how to create a different display name for dropdown menus:
The default settings were used to create the dropdown menu below, and the display name is 'Item 1':
Figure 26. Default Dropdown Menu
1. Click Edit Form, then select the dropdown menu and click Properties in the Properties Toolbar. The Widget Properties pane will open:
Figure 27. Dropdown Menu Tool, Widget Properties Pane
2. Scroll down the Widget Properties pane to the Allow Edit property and change the setting to Yes:
Figure 28. Dropdown Menu Tool, Allow Edit Property
3. Enable the Hand Tool, then click the dropdown menu and enter the desired display name. This example will use 'Select...':
Figure 29. New Dropdown Menu Display Name
4. Click Edit Form, then select the dropdown menu and click Properties in the Properties Toolbar. The Widget Properties pane will open:
Figure 30. Dropdown Menu Tool, Widget Properties Pane
5. Scroll down the Widget Properties pane to the Allow Edit property and change the setting to No:
Figure 31. Dropdown Menu Tool, Allow Edit Property
The dropdown menu will display as detailed below:
Figure 32. Dropdown Menu, New Display Name |