Hide a control based on values on the form
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.
This article explains how to use conditional formatting to hide a control that is based on the value of another control on your form template. For example, you can add conditional formatting to ensure that a text box for a driver's license number is hidden unless the user enters an appropriate age into another control on the form.
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 hide 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 hidden by using conditional formatting
The following table lists the Office InfoPath 2007 controls that can be hidden by using conditional formatting and whether they are available for browser-compatible form templates.
| Controls that can be hidden | Available for browser-compatible form templates? |
|---|---|
| Combo box | No |
| Horizontal repeating table | No |
| Multiple-selection list box | No |
| Ink picture | No |
| Picture | No |
| Vertical label | No |
| Choice section | No |
| Repeating recursive section | No |
| Master/Detail | No |
| File attachment | Yes |
| Text box | Yes |
| Expression box | Yes |
| Section | Yes |
| Optional section | Yes |
| Repeating section | Yes |
| Repeating table | Yes |
| Rich text box | Yes |
| Button | Yes |
| Option button | Yes |
| Drop-down list box | Yes |
| List box | Yes |
| Check box | Yes |
Hide a control based on values on the form
- On the form template, click the control that you want to hide.
- 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 hide the control that you selected in step 1 only 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 whether to hide the control that you selected in step 1.
- Under Then apply this formatting, click Hide this control.
- 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.