Subforms that position content

Objects in the subform are positioned according to their individual X and Y coordinates. When the form is rendered, the subforms are placed in an order determined by their positions in the Hierarchy palette.

All subforms except the root subform (form1) are set to position content by default. When a subform is set to position content, the subform can still expand to fit any amount of merged data, but none of the objects within the subform can move from their anchor points. As a result, if a subform is configured to position content, you must frequently test your form design to make sure that any objects within the subform that you expect to expand in response to data merging do not interfere with other objects in the form design. Remember that any objects you configure to expand, such as text field objects, can possibly overlap other objects when the form is rendered. To avoid this design concern, you can set the subform to flow and expand to fit the content. (See Subforms that flow content.)

Designer automatically sets the default page subform to position content to make it easier to create forms that have a fixed layout and are interactive forms. For more information, see About subforms.

However, when designing a form whose layout will adjust to accommodate data, you will need to reset the default page subform to flow content after you complete the form design. It is a good idea to do this last so that the subform remains visible and the objects you place within the subform remain in the intended position on the page.

You use the Position Content option in the Type list in the Subform tab to position content in a subform. When you select the Position Content option, the X and Y coordinates of each object within the subform are maintained. The objects are placed at their X and Y coordinates relative to the position of the subform.

When designing nested subforms to emulate tables, the header subform has to be "positioned" content. Otherwise, the field elements are not positioned properly on subsequent pages.

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