Select multiple entries from input list in Writer

I am creating a document to use as a template for medical notes. I want to be able to tab from input field to input field and make appropriate selections. In some cases it is possible that I would need to select more than one item from a list. Is there any way to make this happen? Thanks in advance.

Yes, this is possible. The easiest way is to insert a ListBox and enable the “MultiSelect” option:

  • After inserting the ListBox, right-click on it to open the Context Menu:

  • Select “Control” to open the ListBox properties and set “Multiselect” to “Yes”:

Alternatively, you could use a set of checkboxes, but this works only if there only a few values to display and to select. For a longer list of values, you should choose a ListBox.

EDIT:

To populate the ListBox with Data, you will have to bind it to a Data Source. LibreOffice will ask for the DataSource when inserting the control. You can still add the required information using the “Data” tab of the control’s properties:

In this example, i’ve selected the “Bibliography” datasource (a LO Base Database that ships with LO) when i inserted the first form control. Then, i selected the “Author” field from the “biblio” table.

If you didn’t select a datasource yet, you can set the datasource later by selecting “´Form" from the control's context menu, tab "data`”:

That’s exactly what I’m looking for, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work. When I add the ListBox and turn design mode off, I just get an empty rectangle with a non-functioning drop down triangle button. Any suggestions?

@Matt1: I’ve emended my answer and added some info how to bind the control to a data source.

Thanks, that probably has gotten it to doe what it is supposed to do, but not exactly what I want it to do. I can select multiple entries from a list (although the ListBox must be big enough to see all entries, it doesn’t make a true dropdown) but it just leaves those entries highlighted.

What I want to do is select entries and have only the selected entries displayed.

@Matt1: So, if your list has entries A, B, C - you select A and C - then B should “disappear” from the list? I fear this isn’t possible - maybe using a macro to modify the data source, but this would be quite complicated (what if the user wants to revise his selection?).

I am beginning to realize it is not possible in LibreOffice. Thanks for your help. Just to clarify though, theoretically the “list object” would exist in the document independent of what is displayed/printed. Thus selecting items from the list displays them but does not alter the list.

That would make revisions relatively easy. I have seen this functionality in software such as EPIC, but was not aware just how complex it must be. Thanks again for your assistance.