Only fields/ columns with a data type of Character can be displayed in a drop-down box, the total string length of all entries in the list cannot exceed 800 characters and entries cannot include commas or semi-colons.  

The drop-down settings are located at:

The above gives a list of tree species which will display in the data display dialog as:

Entries can be moved up or down, added or deleted, sorted alphabetically or reverse-alphabetically and renamed.

Renaming adding and deleting entries

If an entry is renamed and the table contains entries that are the same (e.g. Oak is renamed Red-Oak) then the administrator will be asked if they wish to update the data in the MapInfo table.  Similarly if an entry is deleted and an entry exists in the MapInfo table the user will be asked if they wish to change these to a question mark ‘?’.

To add an entry select the point in the list where the entry is to be added, type the entry in the text box and click add.  If the entry already exists it will not be added and this is not case sensitive (i.e. ‘ash’ is the same as ‘Ash’).

Importing drop-down lists

On pressing the import button the user is given the following four options (described below):

From all entries in the column xxxx

- imports all unique within the data table i.e. all locations which are entered in the table

From another dropdown column within xxxx

- imports the drop-down list from another column in the same table:

From entries within another column or another open table's column

- imports the drop down list with all unique entries in another column

From a text file (with entries separated by a carriage return)

- text files need to be saved as ‘.txt’

With all drop-down imports users are prompted if the string length exceeds the file column width or an entry contains semi-colons or commas.