Oracle Forms Developer – Form Builder Reference, Volume 1

there is no element corresponding to the initial value
the item does not allow other values
For compatibility with prior releases, a reference to a form item or to a sequence may be specified with a
leading ampersand (&) instead of a leading colon (:).
To specify a raw value that begins with a leading ampersand (‘&’) or a leading colon (‘:’), specify two of
them (that is, ‘&&’ or ‘::’). (This is a change in Forms behavior, beginning with Release 6.5.)
Initial Value (Item) property restrictions
• For a text item, the value cannot be outside the range defined by the Lowest Allowed Value and
Highest Allowed Value properties.
• For a radio group, the default value must be either the name (not the label) of one of the radio
buttons, or the value associated with one of the radio buttons. Form Builder checks first for a radio
button name.
• For a list item, the default value must be either the name of one of the list elements, or the value
associated with one of the list elements. Form Builder checks first for a list element name.
49