Can field type be changed once I have set it up?

Question

I am working on a form and one of the fields is supposed to be a drop down menu with about 50 different choices (choose 1). I accidentally set it up as a list box instead of a combo box. Is there any way to change this field to a combo box, keeping all 50 of the options that I already (manually) typed?
Or is there an easier way to import items into a combo box?
I am using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro
Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Depending upon the product. Version 5 and below allowed changing the field type, but many of the properties are lost.
I would use JavaScript to create a list of the entries in your current list box into an array and then use that array to populate the new combo box.
// variable for field name to get data from
var sField = "myList";
// variable for field name to place data in
var sNewField = "myCombo";
// get the field object sField
var oField = this.getField(sField);
// get the number of items in the combo or list box
var nItems = oField.numItems;
// variable to hold an item entry from combo or list box
var aItem;
// define an array for item in combo or list box
var aEntries = new Array(nItems)
// loop through the items in the combo or list box
for(i = 0; i < nItems; i++) {
// get item at index i
aItem = [oField.getItemAt({nIdx: i, bExportValue: false}), oField.getItemAt({nIdx: i, bExportValue: true})];
// insert into entries array
aEntries[i] = aItem;
} // end loop through the items in the combo or list box
// populate the new field
// get the new field object
var oNewField = this.getField(sNewField);
// set the items into the new field
oNewField.setItems(aEntries);
// end of script
With a combo or list box with that number of entries, I would use a document level script to populate the field when the PDF is opened or to populate the field and then comment out the action for the setting of the items. This would make maintenance of the list much easier.