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To create a popup list

Use alphanumeric, numeric or date cells to create a dynamic popup that displays a list of items from which the User in the Form Mode can select.

Each item in the list can have a value that either appears when the item is selected or updates other cells in the document referenced to the popup cell.

If the popup accepts User input, the User can add an item to the popup list.

1. Place the cursor in the cell where the popup is to go. On the Format menu, select Cell.

   Note: Alternatively you can double-click the cell to open the Cell Dialog.

2. On the General tab, under Calculation Properties, select both Popup Cell and tick Input Cell.
3. Click Popup.Select Manual.
4. Under Popup Attributes, Take display contents from: select whether the popup list displays the list item itself or some other text that you will specify in the alternative content box below. Under make cell value equal to: select whether the cell’s value will be the popup list item or the alternative content.

5. Select the other options for the popup.

   Select Manual input text must match a popup list item to force users to pick from the popup list. With this option selected, no manual input is allowed.

   Leave Show Blank Items in list selected if you wish to hide any item in the list that is a blank. This can be useful when having a popup list that includes calculations that may give a variable result, for example iif((0,"","Item 1"). In this case the item would not display when its value was 0. When the value is 0, the item cannot be selected. In addition, the user cannot type in the value of the item selected into an input cell to allow it to be selected.

   Use Show_Lines to specify how many lines of the popup list display in Form Mode.

6. Click Add and enter the first value for the popup list in the Popup List Item box. Click to access the calculation editor or enter text in the box. If the popup item is text, surround it in quotations.

   Note:

• If you forget to put text entries in quotes, an error message appears when the dialog box closes. To fix, reopen the dialog and add the missing quotes.

  If you have selected to either display or use alternative text as the value of the cell in the Popup Attributes box, input the alternative text. If neither of these two properties is selected, the alternative text box remains grayed out.

  In the Index box, assign each of the items in the popup list a unique number.

  If you wish, you can pick an item to be the Default item by ticking the Default Item box. The item that has this flag checked is shown in bold text in the popup list. Additionally, this will be the default value of the cell in Form Mode. If the cell is overridden, removing the override will reset the cell to that value.

• Selecting a default item is optional. A popup list does not have to have a default item set, but designating a default value avoids the problem of having blank pop-up cells in the document.

7. Click Add to create additional items for the popup list.

Tips

• If you want to display text within the popup cell, the cell must be designated as Alphanumeric in General. To display dates, the cell must be designated a Date cell in General. Dates display in the format set in the Date settings.
• To open a popup cell quickly in the Form Mode, hold down the ALT key and press the down arrow key.
• If the popup cell's contents exceed the width of the popup cell, the contents wrap.

Related Topics

• To create a cell