XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Word 2003 Tutorial 9 1 Microsoft Office Word 2003 Tutorial 9 – Creating On-Screen Forms Using Advanced Table Techniques.

New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Word 2003 Tutorial 9

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Microsoft Office Word 2003

Tutorial 9 – Creating On-Screen Forms Using Advanced Table Techniques

New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Word 2003 Tutorial 9

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XPDesign an effective on-screen form

• An on-screen form is a Word template that contains spaces for entering specific information.

• Forms may contain standard Word template features or advanced features such as form fields, which can be used to control the type and format of information entered by the user.

• A form template's ability to format and restrict data entry information helps to prevent users from entering incorrect data.

• Forms can be designed using tables to control data placement, but you are not required to use tables.

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XPPlan your form before creating it

• It is always a good idea to plan the form before trying to create it.

• Drawing a rough sketch of the form makes it easier to ensure that all required data will be entered on the form, and to determine how to define the table.

• Sketching the form beforehand allows you to experiment with the placement of graphics and form header fields.

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XPAn example of a form design drawing

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XPDraw and erase rules and gridlines

• By default, tables are enclosed in gridlines, which are lines that separate the cells of the table.

• Gridlines do not print, and can be turned on or off, but even when turned off they still define the table's structure.

• Rules are borders that can be applied to table cells, and display when the table is printed.

• Rules can be drawn by using tools on the Tables and Borders toolbar. They can also be erased when no longer wanted. – You should not use the eraser to remove rules. Using the eraser to remove

a border will also remove the gridline, and result in the cells being merged.

• Rules can be added to a form table to highlight certain areas.

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XPA table with rules drawn

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XPA table with rules erased

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XPDraw cell borders using the Draw Table button and insert graphics into a form table

• The Draw Table button is used to draw and to remove borders from table cells.

• Clicking the Line Weight button on the toolbar allows you to change the width of the border before you begin drawing the border.

• Word also makes it easy to add graphic images to a form, such as a company or school logo, or any image that helps to improve the appearance of the form.

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XPRotate text, and shade cells into a form table

• You can rotate text by clicking the Format menu, and then clicking the Text Direction option.

• Another way to add emphasis to selected areas of a form is to add shading to selected cells.

• You can change cell shading by selecting the cell, clicking the Shading Color list arrow on the toolbar, and selecting a color from the palette.

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XPThe Text Direction-Table Cell dialog box

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XPSplit cells and merge cells

• Cells can be split vertically or horizontally in a table.

• The purpose of splitting cells is to increase the number of cells in the form table.

• Be careful when splitting cells with borders, as Word may draw a rule along one or more of the cells that you do not want.

• To split cells:– Select the cell or cells to be split, and then click the Split Cells button on

the Tables and Borders toolbar

– Specify the number of rows and columns to split the cell(s) into

• You can also merge cells to decrease the number of cells or to provide sufficient space for a text header or phrase.

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XPUse reverse type, and move gridlines in a form table

• Reverse type is white text on a black background, and is frequently used to attract the user's attention to information you want to be sure the users see.

• Another technique frequently used in forms is moving the gridlines only for specific cells.

• You can make a cell in a row wider than the cell in the row above or below it without affecting the entire column.

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XPAn example of merged cells and reverse type

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XPCreate text form fields to store numbers, dates, and regular text

• Text form fields can be created that can store numbers. • When you create the field you will use a numeric picture to

determine what type of data the field will accept, and how it will be formatted.

• If the form field is properly defined, it will not allow the user to enter any non-numeric text into the field, nor allow them to enter decimal place values if the field is an integer type field.

• You can insert a form field to accept only date input, and format how the date will display after it is entered.

• You can create form fields that accept regular text, or whatever characters the user types into the field.

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XPInsert a form field in a document

• To insert a text form field:– Display the Forms toolbar

– Place the insertion point in the cell to contain the field

– Click the Text Form Field button on the Forms toolbar. The Text Form Field Options dialog box opens.

– Specify if it is a Number field, a Date field, or a Regular Text field

– Enter the mask that defines the field format and content in the same dialog box

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XPNumeric picture symbols

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XPThe Text Form Field Options dialog box

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XPCreate drop-down list form fields, and check box form fields

• A drop-down form field is used to display a drop-down list with a set of options or items the user can choose from instead of having to enter them manually.

• This speeds up data entry and improves accuracy by eliminating the need to check for spelling errors in those fields.

• Check box fields allow users to insert one or more check marks in a list of items.

• Each check box has a label associated with it that identifies what the check box represents, and all the user has to do to choose that option is to click the box and insert the check mark.

• Clicking the box again will remove the check mark.

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XPInsert a drop down list

• To insert a drop down list form field:– Place the insertion point where you want the field to go

– Click the Drop-Down Form Field button on the Forms toolbar

– Enter the items to be in the list into this dialog box and click the Add button

– Click OK, and the box will close and the drop-down field will be added to the form

• You can enter as many items as you want.

• You can also add help text that will appear in the Status bar when the field is clicked.

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XPThe Drop-Down Form Field dialog box

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XPAn example of a form with check boxes

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XPSet up a form to perform automatic calculations

• When creating a form that includes numeric data and will require one or more columns to be added, subtracted, averaged, etc., you can use a form field to perform the calculation for you.

• This reduces the amount of work required by the person entering the data, and increases the accuracy of the data.

• You can insert this type of field by selecting a Calculation type field in the Text Form Field Options dialog box.

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XPInsert a calculated field

• Insert a calculated field by positioning the insertion point where the field is to go, and then click the Text Form Field button on the Forms toolbar.

• Click the Type list arrow and select Calculation.

• When the Expression text box appears, enter the expression for the calculation you want to perform.

• Select the Calculate on exit check box, which causes Word to perform the calculation when the insertion point leaves the field.

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XPDefining a calculated field in the Text Form Field Options dialog box

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XPRecord macros to perform special functions in an on-screen form

• Word allows you to create macros to perform special functions in custom forms.

• One such function could be to determine the order that the user will enter data into the form fields.

• Word normally defaults to entering fields from left to right, top to bottom.

• For a form, it may be confusing for the user to have to enter data that way.

• You can create a macro that will run whenever the insertion point leaves a particular field and will position the insertion point in the next field you want the user to enter.

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XPSetup a macro to change data entry order

• To create macros to change data entry order, you first need to define a bookmark for the field you want to access after the current field.

• Double-click the REC button in the Status bar to begin the macro recording process. – Define a name for the macro

– Enter a description for the macro

– Make sure you select the form template as the location for the macro

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XPRecord a macro to change data entry order

• When the recording process begins:– Click the Edit menu, click Go To, and then click

Bookmark – Select the bookmark name you defined earlier, click the

Go To button, and then the Close button – Click the Stop Recording button on the Recording

toolbar – Double-click the form field that precedes the

bookmarked field in the data entry process, and assign the name of the macro to that field's Exit text box, and click OK.

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XPAssign a macro to a form field

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XPProtect, save and fax an on-screen form

• You can protect a form template, which means that the user can only move between the form fields, and cannot access any other part of the document. – Once you protect the form, you can test it by pressing the Tab key to

move from field to field.– If not, you must unprotect the form to make any required changes.

• Once your template has been tested, you can use it to open a new document and start filling in form data. – Once a form has been filled in, you can fax it to someone else.– Depending on your software and hardware setup you may be able to fax it

directly from Word, or you may have to print it and fax it manually.

• You can also route the form to multiple people by including it as an e-mail attachment.

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XPProtect a form

• You can protect the form by clicking the Protect Form button on the Forms toolbar.

• You can tab around the form, stopping at all non-calculation type form fields, but you will be unable to access any other portion of the form.

• After saving and closing the form template, you can click the New option on the File menu, and then select the form template from the Templates dialog box.

• You can fill in the fields and examine all calculated values.

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XPAn example of a filled in form