This question was posted in 2004 under version 7.01:

When using the 'Treat text as URL' and specifying 'Use alternate text', logically, the details of the box written to the form ought to be controlled by the 'Alternative text' and NOT by the URL entered in the text box. URL's are often HUGE, and this makes it very difficult / in some cases impossible to create a good presentation on screen, because a large box is generated by DBTextworks even if the Alternative text is very short. Also, it does not seem to be possible to incluse carriage returns in the alternative text string. Can this be addressed, as it has a significant bearing on the appearance of the screen layout. I guess this may/can be addressed by editing the HTML on screen, but I was hoping to avoid this as far as possible - as it makes revision of forms considerably more labour intensive.

We are now using version 10 and we are experiencing the same problem with the text box being too large because of a long URL. Is there a fix for this or a way around it without HTML coding after upload?

Have you tried making the box really wide? The maximum width is 24" which would hopefully fit your URL all on one line.

Otherwise, the only suggestion I have is to turn CSS off, which will make the page use simple HTML. You can do this either for:

A) The individual form, by adding some Raw HTML in the Form Designer (Tools>Box Properties>HTML, Treat content item as: Raw HTML)

B) The query screen, by adding:

<input name="CS" type="hidden" value="0">

C) WebPublisher in general, by adding the following to the [WebPublisher] section of the DBTWPUB.INI file.

WebCSSOpt=0