How do I get OpenOffice Writer Combo boxes to display multi-line text?

I am developing an OpenOffice Writer template that can be used to fill in reports for a child-care centre.

There are some standard outcomes, comprising long sentences, and I want the user to be able to select the appropriate sentence from a combo box. I have entered the sentences into a table in Openoffice Base database, which is then connected to a series of combo boxes in a Writer template. However, when the user choose an option that contains a very long sentence, only the text up to the length of the combo box is visible.

What I want to do is have the selected value of the combo-box wrap over several lines when selected so that all the (very long) text appears in the selected box when the user chooses a long sentence from the combo.

I have been looking through the properties of the combo box control, but have yet to identify one that will allow the selected value in the combo box to word-wrap (so that I could make the combo-box several lines in height such that the entire sentence would fit into the box).

Any pointers on how I could do this would be much appreciated.

thanks,

David.

Solution

Thanks Jim K, that was helpful. In the end, what I wound up doing was creating a textbox which I named "selectedOutcomeATextBox" immediately below my combo box which was named "OutcomeCombo".

I then attached the following macro code to the textModified event associated with the "selectedOutcomeATextBox":

Sub UpdateOutcomeA

    Dim Doc As Object
    Dim Form As Object
    Dim Ctl As Object
    Dim newCtl as Object

    Doc = ThisComponent
    Form = Doc.DrawPage.Forms.GetByIndex(0)
    Ctl = Form.getByName("OutcomeCombo")
    newCtl = Form.getByName("selectedOutcomeATextBox")

    newCtl.Text = Ctl.Text

End Sub

I also set the "Printable" property of the "OutcomeCombo" to "No", so that when the document prints, the combo box itself does not appear on the printed page, but the "selectedOutcomeATextBox" textbox which has had its value set by the macro when I choose a value from the combo box does appear with the desired text. I also set the "TextType" property of the selectedOutcomeATextBox" text box to "Multi-Line", so that extra long text will wrap to the next line, thereby showing the very long strings that are stored there.

Thanks heaps Jim K.

cheers,

David Buddrige