WD97: How to Control the Tabbing Order in a Form

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This article was previously published under Q159896

SUMMARY

By default, when you fill in an online form, Word positions the insertion point in the first form field and moves from one field to the next in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom order when you press TAB. To change the default tabbing order, use the procedure described in the "More Information" section of this article.

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MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs.
If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104 (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104)

Microsoft Advisory Services - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice)

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms) You can use one of the following methods as a workaround.

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Method 1: Create a single exit macro for all Form fields

Create a macro similar to the following example. For each form field, specify this macro as the exit macro for Form field in your document. In the Select Case statement, list each Form field for which you want to change the tabbing order.

Note: Each Case statement below should be in all lower case.

   Sub TabOrder()
      Dim sTabTo As String
      Dim dlgForm As Dialog
      Set dlgForm = Dialogs(wdDialogFormFieldOptions)
      Select Case LCase(dlgForm.Name)
         Case "cc"
            sTabTo = "header"
         Case "header"
            sTabTo = "to"
         Case "to"
            sTabTo = "from"
         Case "from"
            sTabTo = "memo"
         Case "memo"
            sTabTo = "subject"
         Case "subject"
            sTabTo = "cc"
         Case Else
      End Select
      ActiveDocument.Bookmarks(sTabTo).Select
   End Sub

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Method 2: Create a separate macro for each form field

Each macro contains a Selection.GoTo statement that moves the insertion point to the desired Form field.

TIP: To easily identify each macro, give the macro a name that describes its functionality. For example, use the name "GoToSubject" (without the quotation marks) for the Exit macro that moves the insertion point to the Subject Form field.

The following sample exit macro, named "GoToSubject," moves from the current Form field to the Subject Form field:

   Sub GoToSubject()
      Selection.GoTo What:=wdGoToBookmark, Name:="Subject"
   End Sub

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

181058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181058/EN-US/ ) OFF98: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

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REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/163435/EN-US/ ) VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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kbfaq kbhowto kbmacro kbualink97 kbusage KB159896

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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