Set a dotted underline by character, not by field length

[Rich S]

(I wasn't exactly sure where to post this but since it has to do more with appearances than anything else, I hope I chose the correct forum; if not, my apologies.)

 

I have a calc field that's a record counter for portal records, e.g., "1 / 9". In my style sheet for the solution, field labels that have scripts tied to their respective field have a dotted underline so users can see that there's a something special about that field label.

 

The problem is, fields are static in length but the record counter can vary its width based on the number of records: 1 / 9 is markedly shorter than say, 138 / 385. What I'd like users to see is the dotted underline appear the length of the text/number string only, not the entire field width that's set to accommodate "### / ###" records.

 

Example:

 

Want:     1 / 9

 

Don't want: ___1 / 9

 

(There's no dotted line choice for posts here so I used the native solid underline character.)

 

As you can see, it looks a little funky to have the underline extend beyond the counter when there aren't enough characters to take up the whole width of the field. Is there a way of doing what I want? TIA for your help!

[LaRetta]

One possibility is to put a merge field on the layout and format its Inspector > Appearance > Text > Style as 'word underline'.

You don't get the dotted but you get solid line per word.

[comment]

What I'd like users to see is the dotted underline appear the length of the text/number string only

 

That's not possible, because "dotted underline" is not a text style.