MaxLength Circular Reference Issue

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I'm running into an issue with a formula and it should be super simple but I cannot get it to work. I have a text field, TextInput2 and I want to change the MaxLength based on what the text in the field starts with. So, in the MaxLength field I entered this formula:

If(StartsWith(TextInput2.Text,"PEO"),10,8)

Again, pretty simple and it should do exactly what I need it to. Except that "This rule creates a circular reference..." error. Any tips on how to overcome this? The field is an ID number field for two different types of ID numbers and based on the way it starts, we automatically know which type it is. I just want to tell it if it's type A it should be 10 characters and if it's type B it should be 8 characters. Thanks.

[Drrickryp]

Hi Rodi,

A possible solution is to add a Radio Control and set its Items property to ["PEO","###"].

Set the default of the textinput to If(Radio1.Selected.Value="PEO","PEO-","")

Set the MaxLength to If(Radio1.Selected.Value="PEO",10,8)

This avoids the circular reference and helps the users by loading PEO- into the TextInput box and allowing them to use the keypad in both cases.

[v-micsh-msft]

Hi @Anonymous,

I think the message should be clear enough to explain the situation.

As the Maxlength is used to define the actual string entered, it is not allowed to change its value based on the TextInput.Text.

The workaorund that would work should be providing additional reference for the MaxLength to determine the proper value, based on other control, or data has no relationship with the TextInput.Text property.

There is no methods that could change the Maxlength automatically, based on what I know.

Regards,

Michael

[Drrickryp]

Isn't this pretty much what I came up with?

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for the input.