WD2000: Ampersand Is Displayed Incorrectly in Drop-Down List Box

If you are creating a drop-down list box on a Microsoft Word 2000 form and one of your list items includes an ampersand (&), the resulting item in the list box is missing the ampersand. For example, "AT&T" may appear in the drop-down list box as: If you try to work around this behavior by adding a second ampersand, the drop-down list box correctly displays "AT&T," but when you select AT&T, it still appears on the screen and prints as:

The ampersand is used to designate the shortcut key in drop-down list boxes for quick keyboard access.

In Word 2000, the use of the ampersand in a drop-down list has the following effects:

• Using a single ampersand, as in "AT&T," causes no ampersand to appear in the drop-down list, as in the following:
  ATT
  After you select the item from the drop-down list box, the ampersand does not appear on the screen or in print, as in the following:
  ATT
  In this case, although the character to the right of the ampersand is not underlined, it will behave as though it was. When you press T AT&T is selected from the drop-down list box.
• Using a double ampersand, as in AT&&T, causes a single ampersand to appear in the drop-down list box, as in the following:
  AT&T
  But after you select the item from the drop-down list box, the ampersand will not appear on the screen or in print, as in the following:
  ATT
  In this case, the character to the right of the ampersand is not underlined. But in this case, pressing T does not select AT&T from the drop-down list box.

NOTE: This behavior is different than in earlier versions of Word. For example, in Microsoft Word 97, in the example above, the character to the right of the ampersand is underlined. Pressing T selects AT&T from the drop-down list box.

Drop-Down Lists in Forms

You use the Forms toolbar to insert form fields in a form that users will view and complete in Word or in print.

NOTE: To see the Forms toolbar, click View, point to Toolbars, and then click Forms.

A drop-down list box restricts available choices to those you specify. If needed, a user can scroll through the list to view additional choices.

To add a drop-down list to the form, click in the document where you want to insert the form field, and then click Drop-Down Form Field on the Forms toolbar. NOTE: Before you make a form available to users, protect it by clicking Protect Form on the Forms toolbar. Protection allows users to fill in the form but prevents them from changing the form's layout and its standard elements. When you want to go back to writing or modifying the form, click Protect Form again to unprotect the form.

To add items to a drop-down list form field, follow these steps:

1. Open the document that contains the form you want to change.
2. Remove protection from the form template by clicking Protect Form on the Forms toolbar.
3. Double-click the drop-down form field you want to change.
4. In the drop-down item box, type the name of the item.
5. Click Add, and then click OK.
6. Protect the form by clicking Protect Form on the Forms toolbar.
   
   NOTE: The first item in the Drop-down item list box is the one that appears by default in the drop-down list. To move the most frequently selected item to the first position, use the Move arrow buttons.

For additional information about this behavior in previous versions of Word, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: