Secondly, on the form, at the place where the field is required, insert the subform as a computed subform, using as the computed formula something close to negation of the hide-when formula. The hide-when says "Hide this text when the formula is true", and the computed subform says "Include here the subform called xxx when the formula is true".

Note that the computed subform formula should return either the subform name or "". Make sure that where the subform is to appear on the form, there is no hide-when formula. Don't hide the subform with a hide-when. Just use a computed subform formula.

Then, the whole Rich Text field will appear, or not, as the subform appears, or not, and the data itself won't get contaminated with hide-when content that you don't expect.

How it works in Notes 8.5
I'll tell you now, that using Notes 8.5, the second scenario -- Dave pasting text from another application with hide-when data in it -- is a good deal less likely to happen. If you paste Rich Text containing a hide-when with 8.5 (and maybe some earlier clients, too), the hide-when formula is retained, but, crucially, the check "Hide paragraph if formula is true" is turned off.

It's even turned off if the text is copied and pasted inside the same Rich Text field.

And if you use the new-in-8.5 text drag-and-drop, not only does the "Hide paragraph" check get turned off, but the formula text goes away as well.

Not that this should make you think that it's safe to hide Rich Text fields with hide-when formulas. It's not.

Consider the first scenario where Eric pastes text -- even if that paste is from the same Notes field, it won't have any hide-when data on it, and Janice will still be able to see it.

Victor Woodward is vice-president of Content Technologies, Inc., a content security company in Kirkland, WA. His web address is http://www.mimesweeper.com, and you can reach him by email at victor@us.mimesweeper.com.