Sometimes you want to modify the options for a dropdown box by removing some existing options, however you want to be able to keep these old values for reporting or whatever reasons.
Below is a way to do it by using jQuery and SharepointPlus. It will hide the « Specify your own value » stuff, and add the old value (if any) into the dropdown selection.
For example if you have a Choice field with options « A », « B », « C ». Your item ID #1 has value « B ».
After a while you decide to delete « B » and add « D », but you want to be able to find items with the « B » value.
So you choose « Choice with Fill-In » and apply the below code:
// For flexibility reasons we create them as a Choice with Fill-In option,
// however we hide the free text field and we show only the dropdown
// in case of the fill-in has a value, then we add it into the list of options
$SP().formfields(["My Fist Dropdown", "Another One"]).each(function() {
var $e = this.elem();
// hide all except the dropdown
//$e.not('select').hide().filter(':radio:last').closest('tr').hide(); // SP2010
$e.eq(0).closest('table').find('tr:gt(0)').hide(); // SP2013
// if we have a value into the fill-in box, then:
// - add it into the options
// - when another value is selected we check the first checkbox
var fillValue = $e.last().val();
if (fillValue) {
$e.filter('select').append('<option data-fillin="true">'+fillValue+'</option>').each(function() {
var $this=$(this);
$this.find('option:last').prop("selected", true);
$this.removeAttr("onclick").on('change', function(event) {
var $opt = $(this).find(':selected');
if ($opt.data("fillin")) {
$e.filter(':radio:last').prop("checked", true);
} else {
$e.filter(':radio:first').prop("checked", true);
}
});
});
}
})
So now, if you create a new item you’ll see a dropdown with « A », « C », and « D » only.
But if you edit your item #1, you’ll have a dropdown with « A », « C », « D » and « B ».
(click to enlarge)