The steps below describe how to create a dynamic list of values.

You may need to create a dynamic control that is bound to a parameter. Creating a control with dynamic values and binding the control to a parameter will populate the parameter with the control values.

1. From the Design view of the HTML canvas, select a control from the Controls submenu of the Insert menu. For example, insert a list box or drop-down list.

   The pointer changes into a crosshair.

2. Drag the crosshair to create the control and adjust it to the size you want.
3. Click the Parameters tab.

   The Settings panel opens.

4. Select Dynamic as the Data type.

   The dynamic value options appear.

5. Create the dynamic values for the control.
   1. If you are using a default procedure to supply dynamic values, follow the steps below.
      • Click the browse (...) button adjacent to the Data Source drop-down list.

        The Open File dialog box appears.

      • Select the Master File name and click OK.
      • Click the browse (...) button adjacent to the Value from field.

        The Object Inspector opens with the field names from the selected Master File.

      • Double-click a field name to add it to the Value from field.

        Tip: You may also use the Object Inspector icons to select a field and close the Object Inspector. The green icon is OK, the red icon is Cancel, double-clicking a value will select the value and close the dialog box without using any button, and pressing the Esc key will cancel the dialog box without using any button.

        The selected field is automatically added to the Display field and the source code for the procedure appears.

      • Optionally, you may click the browse (...) button adjacent to the Display from field to select a different field name for the Display field. (You may also use the Object Inspector icons to select a field and close the Object Inspector).

        The //TODO line must remain in the source code in order to resolve filters at run time. One example of this is when filters are based on chains that have conditions. If you want your own filters specified, then delete this line.

   2. If you are using an explicit procedure to supply dynamic values, follow the steps below.
      • Select Explicit (Requests Panel).
      • Select a procedure from the Requests drop-down list.

        The parameter names from the procedure are automatically added to the Value field and Display field, and the source code for the explicit procedure appears.

      • Optionally, you may click the browse (...) button adjacent to the Value from field and Display from field to select different field names.

        Tip: You may also use the Object Inspector icons to select a field and close the Object Inspector. The green icon is OK, the red icon is Cancel, double-clicking a value will select the value and close the dialog box without using any button, and pressing the Esc key will cancel the dialog box without using any button.

        Only the parameter names from the explicit procedure will be available for selection.

6. Optionally, select Add "ALL" option to add the select ALL data source values to the control.
7. Optionally, select Add 'No selection' option to optimize performance by populating a chain one control at a time instead of all the controls when the page initially loads.
8. Optionally, select Cache run time data to cache the run time data for the selected input control.
9. Optionally, select Limit values returned, and select or type the number of field values you want to retrieve from the data source in the box to the right of this option.
10. Optionally, click the Sort option to enable and select the sort order options for displaying values in dynamic list control.
11. Optionally, select Check for duplicate values to remove any duplicate value entries from the input control at run time.
12. Close the Settings panel to create the control with dynamic values.
13. Bind the new control to a parameter. Select the center of the control object and drag the control to the center of the parameter object.
14. To unbind the control, select the arrow head on the line, so that the line is bold, right-click and select Break binding.
15. To change the default type of control, right-click the control object on the Parameters tab or the Design tab and select Set Control Type.

    The options are Calendar, Check box, Drop down list, Hidden, List box, Radio button, Text Area, Edit box, Single source Tree control, and Multi source Tree control.

16. To modify the dynamic value, right-click the control and select Settings to make your edits.