free typing area on a form.

[Glenn]

I have a form with text boxes and pull down lists that
users can tab between. the problem is in the bottom half
of the first page of this form I need the users to
basically revert to typing in as in a normal document;
their text may go on for 2 or 3 A4 pages or it may just be
a few lines. I've tried a text box with word wrapping and
auto-size but there seems to be some sort of problem
whereby even if I set the text box width property to 400
pixels initially it insits on formatting it in a l letter
wide column. so instead I tried using a frame, but the
problem here is that if the text overruns onto the next
page the entire frame is moved over onto the next page. Is
there a way to overcome either of these problems?

Thanks in advance,

Glenn.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

A text box form field is always only as wide as its default content. To
begin with this is five nonbreak spaces. If you add default text, it can be
wider. But it will expand to fit the text that is typed into it unless you
set a limit on the amount of text it can contain. Have you tried locking the
form and testing this?

If this solution is not satisfactory, you could insert Continuous section
breaks around the freeform text section and leave it unprotected so that
users could type normally (not using a form field).
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Glenn]

Susan,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately neither
of these solutions works. The first solution with a text
box may work if I could have some default text in the text
box but this won't be possible in my case and I can't see
a way to just have blank spaces in there. The suggestion
for placing a section break in there doesn't seem to work.
the section break is re-named 'end of protected section'
yet when the protected section is locked I am unable to
type in the section after the 'end of protected section'
as it appears to be locked as well. Is there a way to
overcome this?

Thanks in anticipation,

Glenn.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

As I said, a text box form field always has spaces in it (you can see them
if you have nonprinting characters displayed). You can add more, or you can
have default text such as "Type [whatever you want people to type] in this
box." To get an unprotected section, you must first unprotect the form. Add
your section break, then use Tools | Protect Document. When you select
Forms, the Sections... button will be enabled, and you can choose which
sections to protect. The rest will be unprotected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Glenn]

brilliant! thanks very much suzanne. I wasn't aware of how
to protect sections of the document before.

-----Original Message-----
As I said, a text box form field always has spaces in it (you can see them
if you have nonprinting characters displayed). You can add more, or you can
have default text such as "Type [whatever you want people to type] in this
box." To get an unprotected section, you must first unprotect the form. Add
your section break, then use Tools | Protect Document. When you select
Forms, the Sections... button will be enabled, and you can choose which
sections to protect. The rest will be unprotected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Susan,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately neither
of these solutions works. The first solution with a text
box may work if I could have some default text in the text
box but this won't be possible in my case and I can't see
a way to just have blank spaces in there. The suggestion
for placing a section break in there doesn't seem to work.
the section break is re-named 'end of protected section'
yet when the protected section is locked I am unable to
type in the section after the 'end of protected section'
as it appears to be locked as well. Is there a way to
overcome this?

Thanks in anticipation,

Glenn.
ups
to the newsgroup so just
be page.
Is

.