WD: How to Create an Automated Form with Fill-in Fields

ID: Q187813

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to create a simple form that automatically prompts a user to fill in information.

MORE INFORMATION

Follow these steps to create a template with automatic fill-in fields:

1. On the File menu, click New.

2. Select Blank Document. (In Word 6.x, select the Normal template.)

3. Under Create New, select Template (In Word 6.x, select New Template).

   Click OK.

4. Create the Fill-in Fields.

   There are two methods you can use to create fill-in fields: menus and
   keystrokes. Select the method best suited for you.

    Method 1: Creating a Field Using the Menus:

    a. Position the insertion point where you want to insert the
       text field.

    b. On the Insert menu, click Field.

    c. In the Categories list, select Mail Merge.

    d. In the Field Names list, select Fill-in.

    e. The FILLIN field is displayed in the Field Codes text
       box below the Categories list. Click inside of the text box
       to the right of the word FILLIN and type quotation marks
       around the prompt you want to display. For example, use the
       following syntax to display a prompt asking the user to enter
       their name:

          FILLIN "Please enter your first and last name."

    f. Click OK. You will see a sample of the prompt. Click OK
       to return to your document.

       NOTE: To view the field code you just inserted, press
       ALT+F9 (Windows) or OPTION+F9 (Macintosh).

    g. Repeat steps a-f for every place in the document where you want
       a fill-in field.

    Method 2: Creating a Field Using Keystrokes.

    a. Position the insertion point where you want to insert the field.

    b. Press CTRL+F9 (Windows) or COMMAND+F9 (Macintosh). Field
       braces, { }, appear in the document.

    c. Position the insertion point inside the field braces.

    d. Type the following, where <prompt> is what Word asks the user
       to type:

          FILLIN "<prompt>"

       NOTE: If you press F9 while the insertion point is still on
       the field, you can see a sample of the prompt that will be
       displayed. This step is not necessary to create the fill-in.

5. On the File menu, click Save As.

6. Name the template appropriately.

NOTE: The template needs to be saved in the directory that contains your user templates. To locate where your User Templates are stored, on the Tools menu, click Options and click the File Locations tab.

NOTE: In Word 6.x for the Macintosh, the template must be saved in the Microsoft Office:Templates folder and be accessed through the File:New

command within Word for the Fillin fields to activate.   

7. Create an Automated Macro that automatically updates the fields
   when you open a new document based on the template. To create the
   macro, follow these steps:

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

   a. On the Tools menu, click Macro.

   b. Type "AutoNew" (without the quotation marks) for the Macro Name.

   c. In the Macros Available In list, select the template name you are
      using.

   d. Click Create.

   e. Type the following code:

         Sub Main
           EditSelectAll
           UpdateFields
           EndofDocument
         End Sub

   f. On the File menu, click Close. When prompted to save changes to your
      template, click Yes.

After you have finished creating all of the required fill-in fields, text for the template, and the macro to automatically run, close and save the template. On the File menu, click Close. When prompted to save changes to your template, click Yes.

Using the Template

To create new documents based on the new template, follow these steps.

1. On the File menu, click New.

2. Click to select your template.

3. Click OK.

Word creates a new document, automatically searches for all fill-in fields in the document and begins to prompt the user for input.

Additional Information

For additional information about creating online forms with form fields, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q187864
   TITLE     : WD: How to Create an Online Form Using Form Fields

You can also use SET and ASK fields in conjunction with fill-in fields.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, Chapter 14 Forms

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, pages 480-484

Additional query words: fillin field fields forms auto keyboard merge automatic automatically

Keywords          : kbdta wordnt kbfield ntword word6 word95 
Version           : MACINTOSH:6.0,6.0.1,6.0.1a; WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a; winnt:6.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS winnt
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: April 8, 1999