Adding an input box

You can add a new input boxA form field in an input block. An input box accepts user data that will be inserted into a database. to an input block or a modification block. There are four kinds of input boxes:

  • Number input boxes accept numbers
  • String input boxes accept one line of text
  • Text input boxes accept multiple lines and paragraphs of text
  • Date input boxes accept dates and/or times

Adding an input box is a two-step process. First, you need to add the database field that the element will be associated with to the list of database fields used by the block. (If the relevant database field is already in the list, you can skip this step.) Then, you insert the new input box into the block.

To add an input box
  1. Right-click inside the block, point to Database, and then click Block Properties.
  2. Click the Database Fields tab.
  3. In the list of database tables and fields on the left, select the field that the new input box will be associated with, click Add, and then click OK.
  4. In the table that contains the input or modification block, insert a new row or column to contain the new input box and (optionally) its label.
  5. Right-click inside the cell you added for the new element, point to Database, and then click the Insert command corresponding to the type of input box you want to add.
  6. Click the Target field box and select the database field you added in step 3. (The menu will only list database fields whose data type matches the type of the input box.)
  7. In the Default value box, optionally enter a default valueThe initial contents of an input box, or the initial selection in an input control, when the document is opened in a browser. for the input box. (If you want the default value to be provided by a parameter, click the button next to the Default value box and select a parameter. The menu will only list parameters that have been registered.)
  8. Do one of the following, depending on the type of the input box:
    • If you are adding a number or string input box, specify its width (in characters) and its maximum input length.
    • If you are adding a text input box, specify its width (in characters) and its height (in lines).
    • If you are adding a date input box, specify the date/time format. Click the Date format triangle to select a common format, or click the button next to the Date format box to build the desired format from individual components (year, month, day, hour, minute, and second).
  9. Click OK.
  10. If you added a cell for the new input box’s label, click inside it and type the label.
Related topics

Modifying the properties of an input box

Replacing an input box with an input control

Changing a block element’s associated database field

Adding an input box