Writer Guide

Form Design toolbar
Form Navigator
The Form Navigator is a nice utility, displaying
all the forms and controls in the current
document, allowing you to edit and delete them
easily.
If you use the Form Navigator, it's a good idea
to give your controls names (in the properties
dialog box). The name appears in the navigator
so, for example, if you have ten text boxes, you
can tell which is which.
Add Field
Add Field is only useful if you have specified a
data source for the form. If no data source is
specified, an empty box opens.
If you have specified a data source, Add Field
opens a list of all the fields in the specified
table, which you can then drag and drop onto
the page. The fields are placed on the page
with the name of the field before them.
This is a quick and easy way to create a form
from a data source.
Activation Order
Allows you to specify the order in which focus
shifts between controls. You can test the order
by leaving design mode and using Tab to
switch between the controls.
Open in Design Mode
Open the current form in design mode (to edit
the form rather than entering data into it).
Automatic Control
Focus
If activated, focus is set to the first form
control.
Position and Size
Launches the Position and Size dialog box,
allowing you to specify both by typing in
precise values, rather than dragging the
control. You can also lock the size or position,
so they do not get changed accidentally. For
some controls, you can rotate and set the slant
and corner radius.
Change Anchor
Just as with a frame, any form control can be
anchored to page, paragraph or character and
also anchored as a character (meaning that it
behaves like any other character on the page).
Chapter 15 Using Forms in Writer 475