In Combo Box and Text Field Properties dialog box, you can choose the format of data entered in combo box and text form fields, such as numbers, dates, times, and other special or custom formats.

You can choose the following categories in the Format tab:

  • Number
    Select the number format as Style, Decimal, Currency and Negative. When you select Percent, the number displays as a percentage (If Percent is selected, the options Currency and Negative become disabled).
  • Date
    Select a date format from the date list. If you select Custom, you can customize the date format.
  • Time
    Select a time format from the date list. If you select Custom, you can customize the time format.
  • Special
    Select the format for ZIP code, telephone number, and social security number. You can also use the Arbitrary Mask option to specify the types of characters the user can enter in any given position and how data displays in the field. The following characters are used to specify the types of characters that can be entered:

    A — Accepts only letters (A-Z, a-z).
    X — Accepts spaces and most printable characters, including all characters available on a standard keyboard and ANSI characters in the ranges of: 32-126 and 128-255.
    O — The letter “O” accepts alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, and 0-9).
    9 — Accepts only numeric characters (0-9).

  • Custom
    Lets you create new data formats and keystroke validation scripts with your own custom Java Scripts.

Note: Select None if you do not want to specify any special form-field formatting.

Format Options