AutoComplete Field

The AutoComplete field is one of the Special Fields that can be added to a form. It is a text field that suggests matching options in a drop down list as the user types. The matching options can be from a local list of values or from a lookup table.

The Force Selection and the Force Selection Message properties also apply to this field. They appear in the General Settings tab of the Field Properties panel when you insert an Autocomplete field. With Force Selection, you can allow a user to type something else or force them to select a value from the list.

All other settings on this property are the same as a text field.

Click the Auto Complete Config property to open the wizard where you can configure these lookup settings. You have two choices:

• Local Data Source
• Remote Data Soure

And the Select Distinct Option. Select Distinct, when enabled, will filter the looked up data to remove duplicates based on the value in the Display Field.

Local Data Source

The Local option is recommended if you have fewer than 100 values, and do not need to populate other fields with the data.

1. Choose Local and click Next.
2. In the Source Data field enter a comma separated list of values. For example daily,weekly,monthly.
3. Click Save.
4. The default for the Force Selection property in the Field Properties panel is false. This means a user can type some other value instead of the suggested ones. If you want to force a selection from your list, choose true.
5. If you force selection, the default error message on this field is "Please select one of the valid options." To change this message, enter it in the Force Selection Message property setting.

Remote Data Source

Use the Remote option if you need to look up data in another table. This option is preferred if you have large amounts of data. This option also allows you to populate other fields.

1. Click Remote and click Next.
2. Configure the feature using these properties:

   Property	Details
   Source Form/Table	Click to select the name of the form/table that will be queried for the look up data.
   Source Field	Select the source field in the selected table that will be queried to find matches. The query is executed based on the value that the user enters in the AutoComplete field.
   Source Field 2	Optional. Select a second field that will be queried to find matches. The query is executed based on the value entered in the AutoComplete field.
   Source  Field 3	Optional. Select a third field that will be queried to find matches. The query is executed based on the value entered in the AutoComplete field.
   Display Value	Click to enter one or more wildcard values in this field. For example, [first name] [last name]. This will be displayed in the suggestion list and inserted in the field when selected.
   Search Mode	Select either "Starts With" to search based on the starting characters entered, or "Contains" to search for the user typed value anywhere in the source fields.
   Multi Field Population	Optional. The Multi Field Population option allows you to populate additional fields on your form with the data returned from the AutoComplete query. Click Settings to open the window. Click Add Row to add a new row. Click on the left side under "Auto Complete Data Field'" and click to choose a field from the source table. Click on the right under "Destination Form Field" and click to choose the local destination field on your form from the right side column. When a value is selected in the AutoComplete suggestion list, these destination fields will be populated with the returned values

3. The default for the Force Selection property in the Field Properties panel is false. This means a user can type some other value instead of the suggested ones. If you want to force a selection from your list, choose true.
4. If you force selection, the default error message on this field is "Please select one of the valid options." To change this message, enter it in the Force Selection Message property setting.
5. The Clear on Invalid setting when true, will force the user to select from the list of suggestions and not allow free text entry.
6. Click Save.