Amal Nagm

• Assigning a specific value to a control, which is automatically populated when the user opens the form to fill it out.
• Using a rule (rule: A condition or action, or a set of conditions or actions, that automatically performs tasks based on events and values in the form.) to set a default value for a control, based on data that the user enters into another control on the form.
• Setting all of the default values for your form template at once.

Set the default value for a control

1. If the Data Source task pane is not visible, click Data Source on the View menu.
2. In the Data Source task pane, right-click the field whose default value you want to set, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
3. Click the Data tab.
4. Do one of the following:
   • To use a specific value as the default value, type the default value in the Value box.
   • To use an XPath expression to create the default value, click Insert Formula , and then in the Insert Formula dialog box, create the XPath expression. Tip To automatically update the value in the selected field each time the formula is calculated, select the Update this value when the result of the formula is recalculated check box in the Field or Group Properties dialog box.
     
5. To test your changes, click Preview on the Standard toolbar, or press CTRL+SHIFT+B.

Technical details

Set the default value using a rule

1. Double-click the control that the control with the default value will be based on. For example, in the case of the State and ZIP Code controls, you would double-click the ZIP Code control.
   
2. Click the Data tab.
3. Under Validation and Rules, click Rules.
4. In the Rules dialog box, click Add.
5. In the Name box, type a name for the rule.
6. To specify when the rule should run, click Set Condition.
7. In the Condition dialog box, enter the condition, and then click OK. For example, if you want a default value to be added to a control when the user enters data into another control, in the first box, click the field that the user will enter data into, click is equal to in the second box, and in the last box, enter the data the user will enter into the control.
   
8. In the Rule dialog box, click Add Action.
9. In the Action list, click Set a field's value.
10. Click next to the Field box, and then in the Select a Field or Group dialog box, click the control whose default value you want to set.
11. Do one of the following:
    • To use a specified value as the default value, type the value in the Value box, and then click OK.
    • To use an XPath expression to create the default value, click Insert Formula , enter the formula in the Insert Formula dialog box, and then click OK.
12. To test your changes, click Preview on the Standard toolbar, or press CTRL+SHIFT+B.

Set all of the default values for a form

1. On the Tools menu, click Form Options.
2. Click Advanced in the Category list, and then click Edit Default Values.
3. In the Edit Default Values dialog box, select the field whose default value you want to set.
4. Do one of the following:
   • To use a specified value as the default value, type the default value for the field in the Default value box, and then click OK.
   • To use an XPath expression to create the default value, click Insert Formula , and then in the Insert Formula dialog box, create the XPath expression. Tip To automatically update the value in the selected field each time the formula is calculated, select the Update this value when the result of the formula is recalculated check box in the Edit Default Values dialog box.
     
5. Repeat step 3 and step 4 for each field whose default value you want to set.
6. To test your changes, click Preview on the Standard toolbar, or press CTRL+SHIFT+B.