Subform: Flow content only within certain boundaries

[Gray_Strickland]

Some of the most difficult concepts for me to keep straight in my mind are the effects of various combinations of:

• Content: Positioned vs. Content: Flowed for a subform,
• Allow Page Breaks within Content [yes/no] for a subform,
• Allow Multiple Lines for an object inside a subform,
• Allow Page Breaks within Content [yes/no] for an object inside a subform.

In my instant case, I have a form which has two fields as shown below. The field for 1.3 Subcontractor means: needs to be able to grow vertically to accommodate as many lines of text as the user wants to enter, but it needs to stay within the left/right area I have placed it. That is, the Y axis (vertical) needs to be able to grow, but the object should not be able to move within the X axis (horizontal). When and if it grows, it needs to push down the content that follows it (shown as 1.4 The Subcontract Date means: [text field]).

I've accomplished this before with other forms, but I'll be darned if I can remember how I did it.

[Magus069 · Accepted solution]

Hi, if you want your text 1.3 Subcontractor means: followed by the textfield on the right, you should insert the text in the caption of the textfield..

Insert Caption:

The caption in the design view is placed on left of the textbox if you can see in your picture above, there's 1 line on the left that limits the textfield area and one other line that is over the left line of the the textbox itself,

You can also change some of the settings in the Layout Palette at the bottom under Caption. Change its position and/or reserved space

The caption text can be inserted directly in the design or you can access it via the Object Field Palette in the Caption: textbox...

Expand TextField:

To be able to expand the textfield vertically, you will need the textfield's parents' subforms to be all Flowed Content.

For the TextField's properties you will need to set 2 different things:

1. Object Field Palette: Check Allow Multiple Lines

2. Layout Palette: Check (under Height) Expand to fit

Hope it helps!