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                                              685
      SECTION 8.6                                                        Interactive Forms



8.6.3 Field Types

      Interactive forms support the following field types:

      • Button fields represent interactive controls on the screen that the user can
        manipulate with the mouse. They include pushbuttons, check boxes, and radio
        buttons.
      • Text fields are boxes or spaces in which the user can enter text from the key-
        board.
      • Choice fields contain several text items, at most one of which may be selected as
        the field value. They include scrollable list boxes and combo boxes.
      • Signature fields represent electronic signatures for authenticating the identity of
        a user and the validity of the document’s contents.

      The following sections describe each of these field types in detail. Further types
      may be added in the future.


      Button Fields

      A button field (field type Btn) represents an interactive control on the screen that
      the user can manipulate with the mouse. There are three types of button fields:

      • A pushbutton is a purely interactive control that responds immediately to user
        input without retaining a permanent value (see “Pushbuttons” on page 686).
      • A check box toggles between two states, on and off (see “Check Boxes” on page
        686).
      • Radio button fields contain a set of related buttons that can each be on or off.
        Typically, at most one radio button in a set may be on at any given time, and se-
        lecting any one of the buttons automatically deselects all the others. (There are
        exceptions to this rule, as noted in “Radio Buttons” on page 688.)

      The various types of button fields are distinguished by flags in the Ff entry, as
      shown in Table 8.75.

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