Disable or set a control as read-only by using conditional formatting
Applies To
In Microsoft Office InfoPath, you can use conditional formatting to specify different formatting options for a control that is based on conditions that occur on the form. If the specified conditions are true when a user fills out a form that is based on your form template, the conditional formatting is applied.
Click Insert Formula
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This article explains how to use conditional formatting to disable or set a control as read-only, based on the value of another control on your form template. For example, to ensure that a user reads a user agreement section before clicking a Submit button, you can use conditional formatting to disable the Submit button unless the user selects a check box indicating that he or she has read the user agreement. Alternatively, to make sure that a user doesn't change a previous response to a survey question, you can use conditional formatting to ensure that a text box is set to read-only after a user enters information into another control.
In this article
Before you begin
In order to complete this procedure, you must have at least two controls on your form template — one control that you want to disable or set as read-only and a second control whose value will determine the state of the first control.
Compatibility considerations
When you design a form template in InfoPath, you can choose a specific compatibility mode to design a browser-compatible form template. When a browser-compatible form template is published to a server running InfoPath Forms Services, and then browser-enabled, forms based on the form template can be viewed in a Web browser. When you design a browser-compatible form template, some controls are unavailable in the Controls task pane because they cannot be displayed in a Web browser.
List of controls that can be disabled or set to read-only by using conditional formatting
The following table lists the Office InfoPath 2007 controls that can be disabled or set to read-only by using conditional formatting and whether the controls are available for browser-compatible form templates.
| Control | Option | Available for browser-compatible form templates? |
|---|---|---|
| Check box | Disable | Yes |
| Date picker | Read-only | Yes |
| Drop-down list box | Disable | Yes |
| List box | Disable | Yes |
| Option button | Disable | Yes |
| Rich text box | Read-only | Yes |
| Text box | Read-only | Yes |
| Bulleted, numbered, or plain list | Read-only | No |
| Combo box | Disable | No |
| File attachment | Disable | No |
| Ink picture | Disable | No |
| Multiple-selection list box | Disable | No |
| Picture | Disable | No |
Disable or set a control as read-only
On the form template, click the control that you want to disable or set as read-only.
On the Format menu, click Conditional Formatting.
In the Conditional Formatting dialog box, click Add.
Under If this condition is true, set the condition that you want. For example, to apply conditional formatting to the control that you selected in step 1 when a certain value is entered into another control on the form template, select that second control in the first box, and then specify the value that will determine the conditional formatting for the control you selected in step 1.
Under Then apply this formatting, do one of the following:
- If the control can be disabled, click Disable this control.
- If the control can be set to read-only, click Read-only.
To save the condition and return to the form template, click OK twice.
To test your changes, click Preview on the Standard toolbar, or press CTRL+SHIFT+B.