- In design mode, double-click the control whose default value you want to set.
- In the Default value box on the Data tab in the Properties dialog box, type the default value.
Set the default value for a list box or drop-down list box
- In design mode, double-click the list box or drop-down list box whose default value you want to set.
- Under List box entries on the Data tab in the Properties dialog box, select the list entry you want to set as the default value, and then click Set Default.
Note The default value that will be stored in the form is specified in the Value column; the Display Name column specifies the value that will appear on the form.
Set the default value and default state for a check box
The default value of a check box is a combination of its default state (checked or cleared) and the value associated with that state.
- In design mode, double-click the check box whose default value you want to set.
- To change the default state of the check box (that is, the state the check box is in when the form is first opened), click Cleared or Checked on the Data tab in the Check Box Properties dialog box.
- To change the value stored in the data source when the check box is cleared or checked, click the value you want in the Value when cleared list and the Value when checked list.
Note By default, the check box's field contains the value "FALSE" when the check box is cleared and "TRUE" when the check box is checked.
Set the default value and default state for a group of option buttons
To set the default value for a group of option buttons, you must specify the default option button and the value of that option button.
- In design mode, double-click the option button that you want to set as the default button.
- In the Value when selected box on the Data tab in the Option Button Properties dialog box, enter the value of the option button when it is selected.
- Select the This button is selected by default check box.
Note In a group of option buttons, only one can be selected by default.
Note To set the default values for an optional section, repeating section, or repeating table, you can use the procedures above for the individual controls that appear in the section or table.