Tab order... the PAIN! :-O
OK, so it's not really all that painful, just a bit odd and tough to get where I want to go. I've read other posts where this is discussed, but the final solution was never reached. Here's what I've gathered so far:
Q: Tab order doesn't work properly when creating instanced subforms. The new instances of the subform get dropped to the bottom of the tab order list. How do I keep new instanced subforms in the proper tab order?
A: New instances will keep the tab order if Automatic tabbing is used.*
*One gotcha someone noted, simply opening the Tab Order tab will change Automatic to Custom, although for some odd reason, after switching it back from Custom to Automatic a few times, LC decides you really want it to be set to Automatic and stops changing it to Custom for you. :-)
OK, that much I can understand. But if you set Tab Order to Automatic, then getting some of your tabs to work in the order you want seems impossible. This image is a perfect example:
On top is the tab order layout. Of course I would like the tab order to be:
09= Name
10= DOB
11= Male
12= Minus Button
How do I keep the tab order set to automatic while at the same time rearranging this order? In the heirarchy, I tried rearranging the order of objects, but that didn't work (although, oddly enough, in another part of the form, doing this actually had an effect).
Any help would be appreciated.
Graham
Hi Graham,
Have a look at some of the MAX sessions. Angie (?) and Charlie Pike dealt with tabbing order (in part).
One thing I didn't appreciate before is that the tabbing order is primarily determined by the x and y coordinates of an object. Starting at the top left and working down and right.
So if an object on the right of the page is a FRACTION above an object on the left; even though you want the object on the left to get focus first, the higher object gets focus first.
SO...
Tip 1: Align objects so that they are in line;
Tip 2: Place groups of objects that you want tabbed in a sequence INTO a subform. Once is gets down to the x/y of the subform, the tabbing order will give focus to all objects within a subform in turn first before going to the next object/subform in the x/y coordinates (jumping out of the subform).
Tip 3: Leave tabbing tab alone!
Standing on the shoulders of giants!!!!
...bowing out of room... "we're not worthy"... 
Good luck,
Niall
ps Additional tip, if wrapping objects in a subform for tabbing purposes only, then set the binding of the subform to "none".
Hi,
The MAX sessions are available at http://max.adobe.com/scheduler/#view=1 You can filter out to LC ES and then there is a small video icon that will play each session.
I don't think you can exclude available objects from the tabbing order in the master page (or any page).
Niall
