Field or group properties

The Field or Group Properties dialog box is where you can view or set the properties for a field or group in your form template's data source. You can also use this dialog box to specify any data validation, rules, or merge behavior, and any XML Schema details for the field or group.

Note: If you see this locked field icon or this locked group icon in the Data source task pane, you cannot modify the field or group.You can change the values in these properties only if you added the field or group to the form template's primary data source. You cannot change the properties for fields or groups that are based on a database, Web service, XML Schema, XML document, or fields or groups in a secondary data source.

Data tab

Use the settings on this tab to view and change the properties for fields and groups in your form template's data source.

Properties

Name      Enter a name for the field or group in this text box. Names cannot contain spaces. They must begin with an alphabetic character or underscore (_), and they can contain only alphanumeric characters, underscores, hyphens (-), and periods (.). Use a name that describes the contents of the field or group. For example, if you have a group that contains the itemized details of expenses, name the group ItemizedExpense. For a field in the group that contains the total amount of expenses, name the field Expense.

Type      This defines whether the selected item in the data source is a field or a group. Although a field has a unique value, a group can contain other fields or groups.

Data type      Use this list box to select the kind of data that the field can contain. This list box is disabled for groups. The following table shows the data types that you can select for a field.

Data type	When to use
Text	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains unformatted text.
Rich Text	Use this data type for an element field that contains formatted text. You cannot use this data type for attribute fields.
Whole Number	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains numbers without decimal values.
Decimal	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains currency values or numbers with decimal values.
True/False	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains data that can be only one of two values.
Hyperlink	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), such as a hyperlink or a namespace.
Date	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains a calendar date.
Time	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains a 24-hour time.
Date and Time	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains both a calendar date and a 24-hour time.
Picture or File Attachment	Use this data type for an element or attribute field that contains binary data, such as an image or a picture.
Custom	Use this data type for an element or attribute field with custom data types that are defined by a namespace. This data type is typically used for a field or group that is bound to a custom control. The Data namespace box is enabled when you choose this data type.

Note: This table shows only the most common XML data types used in a form template. In InfoPath, you can use any XML 1.0 data type in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendations. To use a data type that is not listed in the table, you must extract the form files for a form template and edit the schema (.xsd) file. Find links to more information about extracting the form files for a form template in the See Also section.

Data namespace      Use this text box to define the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for the custom data type or custom control. This property is available only for element fields with a Custom (complexType) data type property. When you add a custom control to your form template, this property contains a value from that custom control.

Repeating      Select this check box if the element field or group can occur more than once in a form. List controls, repeating sections, repeating tables, and controls that are part of a repeating section or repeating table are bound to repeating fields and repeating groups.

Cannot be blank      This property is available only for fields and is not available for groups. Select this check box if the field must contain a value. If the field does not have a value, the control that is bound to this field is marked with a red asterisk. For some types of controls, a dashed red border is used in place of the red asterisk.

Default Value

Value      Type a value or click Insert Formula to add a formula that will generate the initial value of the field when the user opens a form that is based on this form template. This box is disabled for groups. Find links to more information about default values and formulas in the See also section.

Update this value when the result of the formula is recalculated      Select this check box to automatically update the value in this field each time the formula is calculated.

Validation tab

Use the settings on this tab to add, modify, or remove a field or to change the data validation order for a field. The contents of this tab are disabled for groups. Find links to more information on data validation in the See Also section.

Conditions with data validation      This list displays all of the data validation conditions that have been specified for this field. Each condition begins with the ScreenTip text that is displayed when the data validation shown in parentheses occurs. Each condition in this list is applied in the order that it is shown. Select the data validation condition that you want to modify, remove, or rearrange.

Add      Click this button to add a new data validation condition to the field.

Modify      Click this button to modify the selected data validation condition.

Remove      Click this button to remove the selected data validation condition.

Move Up      Click this button to move the selected data validation condition up in the list, so that it is applied to the field before any conditions that appear after it in the list. This button is disabled if there is only one data validation condition in the list.

Move Down      Click this button to move the selected data validation condition down in the list, so that it is applied to the field after any conditions that appear before it in the list. This button is disabled if there is only one condition in the list.

Rules and Merge tab

Use the settings on this tab to add, modify, or remove the rules that are applied to this field or to change the order of the rules. You can also use this tab to specify the actions that occur when a user merges a form that is based on this form template with other forms. You can use rules to display messages, set default values, and apply other actions that are based on conditions that occur when the user opens a form that is based on this form template. Find links to more information about rules and merging forms in the See also section.

Rules

Rule     This list displays all of the rules for the field or group. A rule can occur either each time the form is opened or when a condition or set of conditions, which are listed in parentheses, occurs. Select the rule that you want to modify, remove, or rearrange.

Add      Click this button to add a new rule to this field or group.

Modify      Click this button to modify the selected rule.

Remove      Click this button to remove the selected rule.

Move Up      Click this button to move the selected rule up in the list, so that it is applied to the field or group before any other rules that appear after it in the list. This button is disabled if there is only one rule in the list.

Move Down      Click this button to move the selected rule down in the list, so that it is applied to the field or group after any other rules that appear before it in the list. This button is disabled if there is only one rule in the list.

Merging Forms

Merge Settings     Click this button to set the action that you want to occur when a user combines the data in a form that is based on this form template with other forms.

Details tab

This tab shows the XML Schema for the field or group.