Entering Calculations in a Form Field

Word allows you to create all sorts of forms, and even provides form fields that you can add to your documents. Exactly how you add form fields has been covered in past issues of WordTips.

You may want to define a form field to contain a calculation. For instance, you might want a particular form field to contain the sum or the product of two other fields. Let's say you have two fields in your document; one of them is named Principal, and the other is named Interest. If you wanted to create another field that shows the result of the two fields when multiplied by each other, you can follow these steps:

1. Make sure the Forms toolbar is displayed.
2. Insert the result field as you normally would. (You would use a Text Form Field tool.)
3. Select the form field you just entered and click on the Form Field Options tool on the Forms toolbar. Word displays the Text Form Field Options dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Using the Type drop-down list, choose Calculation.
5. In the Expression field of the dialog box, enter the following expression:

=Principal * Interest

6. In the Bookmark field of the dialog box, enter the name for this field (Result).
7. Click on OK.

Now, whenever the form fields are updated, the Result field will contain the result of your principal multiplied by your interest.