Can you have a field become required based on a previous field selection?

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Hi

I have a ‘new starter’ type form created in Word 2013 using form fields. Currently I have a field called ‘Employee Type’ which is a drop down list. What I would like to happen is that if somebody chooses ‘Contractor’ that the next field, called ‘End Date’, becomes a required field. I am almost certain this cannot be done through the native commands, but am wondering if this is something that can be programmed via VBA. Does anybody know if it can be done and how?

Thanks, Laurie

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Yes, you could use a macro to make a field ‘required’. There are two ways this could be implemented:
1. Use an on-exit macro attached to the ‘Employee Type’ field, coded such that, if ‘Contractor’ is chosen, the ‘End Date’ field is selected and use an on-exit macro attached to that field also, to test whether the ‘Employee Type’ field displays ‘Contractor’ and, if so, re-select itself if a valid date isn’t input; or
2. Use a Document_Close macro to test whether the ‘Employee Type’ field displays ‘Contractor’ and, if so, reload the document if the ‘End Date’ field lacks a valid date.
Either approach, of course, requires the user to allow macros in the document to run.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Hi

Thanks for this, that’s really useful. I will investigate further and see how I get on.

Thanks again.

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Hi LaurieW
The attached word document has an example form that demonstrates activating a text box control based on the contents of a combobox.

This is not a complete solution, merely a demonstration. You would need error checking and validation. For example check for valid dates
You might find a need to capture other events than those I show here.
I hope it helps.

Geof

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Geoff, your attachment is based on the assumption the OP has a userform. However, the OP says in post #1 that he is using formfields, which are entirely different.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Geoff, your attachment is based on the assumption the OP has a userform. However, the OP says in post #1 that he is using formfields, which are entirely different.

Hi Paul
Oops, a critical misread of the original post.
I will delete the post.
Geof

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As I said in post #2 regarding formfields, you might one might use a Document_Close macro. Such a macro might be coded along the lines of:

Code:

Private Sub Document_Close()
With ThisDocument
  If .FormFields("Employee_Type").Result = "Contractor" Then
    If .FormFields("End_Date").Result = "" Then
      MsgBox "Please Input the Contractor's End Date", vbCritical
      If .Saved = True Then .Reload
      Exit Sub
    End If
  End If
End With
End Sub

This is the simpler of the two implementations, but might not meet the OP’s needs. Since the ‘End_Date’ formfield can be formatted to accept only date inputs, that’s one aspect of validation the macro wouldn’t need do, though one still might want to test whether an out-of-bounds date has been input.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Brilliant looks perfect thanks. I am not an expert in VBA, I am requesting this on behalf of someone else so let me see how they get on with that.

Thanks again.

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