Setting Tab Order - InfoPath Dev
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Setting Tab Order

Last post 01-24-2012 01:57 PM by PattyM. 3 replies.
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  • 01-24-2012 11:17 AM

    • PattyM
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-01-2011
    • Posts 7

    Setting Tab Order

    I have a form with numerous repeating tables and sections that are hidden based on different rules.  For maximum user friendliness, I'd like to setup a tab order for doing data entry.  Have a couple of questions:

     1.  Will Infopath try to tab to a field that is included in the tab order, but the field is not currently being displayed? (ie, depending on the selection the user makes a from a dropdown different sections are hidden or displayed but would still like to tab thru the currently displayed fields)

     2.  Can I skip numbers in the tab order so that if I add fields in the future, I do not have to redo my tab order (i.e., 1  2 3 4 5  then 10 11 12...)?

     3.  I understand that it is best to set the tab order for all the fields in a repeating table to 0 so that the default tabbing is used, but if I want to tab from repeating table 1 to repeating table 2, can I set a tab order number on the 1st field of the table 2?  Or will that cause all the 0 tabbing in the table 1 to be ignored?

    4.   Should I exclude people picker controls from the tab order because they will cause tabbing issues? 

    Thank you in advance for your assistance.

  • 01-24-2012 11:26 AM In reply to

    If the field is hidden, I'm guessing InfoPath will skip that control since its not rendered in the HTML. 

    You can skip numbers in your tab order.  InfoPath should support this just fine.

    I'm actually not sure.  You should try it out and let us know whether that works for you :)

    People pickers are tricky especially in the browser.  I actually don't believe they respect the tab order property, so perhaps you're best to leave it out.

    Anson Hidajat
    Qdabra® Software/ InfoPathDev.com
    The InfoPath Experts – Streamline data gathering to turn process into knowledge.™

  • 01-24-2012 11:51 AM In reply to

    • PattyM
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-01-2011
    • Posts 7

    Thanks for the quick response. 

    1.  so you think that if I make hidden fields 5-10 part of the tab order, then the tabbing will skip to 11 because the html does not know that 5-10 exist?

    2.  awesome that I can skip numbers.

    3.  will let you know about the tabbing to repeating table using a tab number in the first field and 0 in the others.

    4.  will skip the people picker.  Not optimal since I have several, but better than messing up the rest of the form.

  • 01-24-2012 01:57 PM In reply to

    • PattyM
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-01-2011
    • Posts 7

    Update:
    - Setting the 1st repeating field in a repeating table to a tab number does NOT work. 
    - Setting a tab order # on the repeating table (thought with might force focus to first field), but that does NOT work either.  The tab order # on a repeating table is ignored.

    Resolution:
    Put an ALT # on 1st repeating field of each repeating table.  Alt # moves the cursor to the 1st repeating field, then the default tabbing takes over (tab order must be 0 for all repeating fields.)  It is not optimal, but it does means the user can use keystrokes rather than mousing.  Does seem funny that the Alt # will work, but the tab order #s will not.  I will just have to address this with user training, unless someone can offer another option?  :-)

    Further note:
    Even though I saw posts that indictated that tabbing and the people picker are not compatible, it seems to work on my form.  The user just has to tab 2 times (once for each of the people picker buttons in the control) to go to the next field. 

    Thanks for the help!

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