Confusion about sliding fields

[Mandu]

Sorry for the cross-post but I just noticed that sliding issues are discussed in this forum rather than in Layouts.

There is something real basic I'm not getting about sliding. In this case I want to produce a name and address list. One row per person, and three columns: the first for the person's name, the second for his address, and the third for his various telephone numbers and email.

When there is not an "Address Line 2", or a Mobile Phone number, or a Work Phone number, etc., I want that space to be eliminated. Furthermore, I want each row to shrink vertically to consume any space left by the upward sliding of address or phone number fields.

My layout consists of a narrow body, just tall enough to accommodate the fields. I have set the Sliding/Printing characteristics for each field to be

-- sliding based on only what's directly above

-- Also reduce size of the enclosing part

Finally, the layout is set up to only display in List mode.

Well, at least it prints as a multi-row list. But *nothing* slides.

There are not any field borders, nor is there a field background color. The fields are all text, and if there's no data, it contains the null string ("").

So why aren't the fields sliding upwards to close the space left by an empty field?

Thanks,

Chap

[Vaughan]

Just in case you don't know: sliding/printing does not work in Browse mode; it only works in Preview mode or when the layout is printed.

Graphic elements line horizontal lines also need to be formatted to slide up. Vertical lines cannot be formatted to resize themselves so they tend to stuff up sliding/printing. Use left/right field borders to get vertical lines instead.

Sliding/Printing does not remove blank lines (paragraphs). Addresses like this are usually best done with a calculation field that concatenates the fields, adding paragraphs and spaces only when they are needed.

My recommendation is to start off with a new list layout with no graphic elements on it. Get the sliding/printing working first, then start adding stuff to make it look nice.