When data is imported into a form, all the current data is cleared if the source is an XML data file and data was previously imported into the form via another XML data file. It is possible, however, to have multiple data connections from which data is imported simultaneously however only one data connection to a schema (XSD) is permitted. You may have as many data connections to ODBC and WSDL data sources as you wish.
You say you've "managed dynamically populate a drop down using enumeration". I assume this means you've been able to enumerate the nodes in the imported data file and populate the drop down list with information from it?
If that's the case, then you should be adding items to the drop down list programmatically by using its
addItem method:
addItem(
text [,
value]);
where the second parameter is optional and specifies the value associated to the text for a given item.
The only thing you should be missing, then, in order to bind the value of the drop down list to a node in the form's output data is to ensure that the drop down list's Default Binding property (on the Object palette's Binding tab) is set to
Normal or to some explicit data node expression (SOM expression) into a data connection.
Another way to do it, if the drop down list's data is static (i.e. doesn't change depending on the data imported into the form), is to simply enter the items directly into the list by using the Object palette's Field and Binding tabs. You can specify an item's text on the Field tab and its associated value on the Binding tab.
Finally, there's a third option: You can use multiple data connections (the viability of this option will obviously depend on your requirements). For instance, you could load the drop down list's items from a data connection to an XML data file and load the rest of the form's data via an ODBC data connection.
Stefan
Adobe Systems
