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Scannable form - one character per text box

Last post 09-01-2011 10:30 AM by Patrick Halstead. 5 replies.
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  • 07-03-2010 08:55 AM

    Scannable form - one character per text box

    I'm trying to develop a form in InfoPath that exactly matches a paper form which allows the user to write in one character per box - for instance, the First Name field contains 15 little boxes for the user to enter their name. Is there a control that mirrors this form function? I realize you can create a text box with one character, but just wanted to see if there is a more elegant way of doing this. Thanks, Stuart

  • 07-05-2010 09:27 PM In reply to

    Re: Scannable form - one character per text box

    Why don't you set a 1 character limit to a textbox? In the text box properties, go to the 'Display' tab and set the limit.

    Attached a snapshot from InfoPath 2010.... 


    Aruna Akella
    Qdabra® Software / InfoPathDev.com
    The InfoPath Experts – Streamline data gathering to turn process into knowledge.™
  • 07-06-2010 08:17 AM In reply to

    Re: Scannable form - one character per text box

    Thanks for your reply. That does work, but I was hoping that there was a special control that had been developed for this purpose. I have about a hundred of these scannable input fields to recreate in my form, which would create almost 1,000 individual text boxes.
    Thanks,
    Stuart

  • 07-06-2010 08:38 AM In reply to

    Re: Scannable form - one character per text box

    I don't understand what you mean by "scannable" or what the purpose of separating the text into separate boxes is.  Would you care to enlighten us?

    Jimmy Rishe / Software Developer / Microsoft MVP
    Qdabra Software
  • 07-06-2010 09:57 AM In reply to

    Re: Scannable form - one character per text box

    Thanks for your reply. Attached is a image that I hope will explain the situation better than my words can describe. This is a state government form which requires that each character (whether filled out by hand or electronically) sit inside each individual box. I need to create an InfoPath form that exactly duplicates these boxes on the form. 


  • 09-01-2011 10:30 AM In reply to

    Re: Scannable form - one character per text box

    Well, wouldn’t it be great if secondary data sources supported the Limit and Automatic Move functionality that Aruna shows in her image!? That way you could do it in the secondary data source and have concat build up a single field in your main data source.Alas, looks like you have to use the main data source. I recommend creating an XTP for a one-char-repeating field that has the 1 character limit per field *and* the automatic move enabled.Then you can just drag and drop this XTP for all of your fields. That will save you considerable time.Make sure the data source for the XTP is generic enough (group with name “field” and 30 fields underneath it called “char1”, “char2”, etc.) since each subsequent drag-drop will add a _<number> suffix to the XTP data source. You may also want to rename the schema. You can export your source files via the publish tab (InfoPath 2010), open the schema.xsd and run a find replace to fix them up.Sorry there wasn’t a silver bullet.

     

    Patrick Halstead
    Project Manager at Qdabra
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