not in xDialog

[Trixie dela Cena]

Hi,

I am trying to accomplish 2 scenarios on the form and NOT in XDialog boxes:

1 - Radio Boxes
Would like to have logical fields to be group and control by a radio box on the form. Is this possible?
Example:
Apple, Orange, Banana are all logical fields
all these logical fields to become radio choices

2 - Check Boxes
Would like to make multiple selection with a selection limit. Is this also possible?
Example:
Apple, Orange, Banana are all logical fields
all these logical fields to become check boxes but with up to 2 checks only

I don't know if I am make it clear but if not, let me know.

Thanks.

[Edward Larrabee]

RE: not in xDialog

Trixie,

The short answers to both questions is yes.

The radio button control will display three buttons for three choices, only one of which can be selected at any one moment.

The check box control always has two values: True or False, Apple or Not-Apple.

See Specifying User Defined Choices and Settings Choices for Checkboxes.

[CALocklin]

RE: not in xDialog

To create your #2 option would require some xbasic programming and a logic decision from you.

The logic question is a matter of what happens when the user tries to press the third checkbox:
1. Does nothing happen? (A note would probably be req'd on the form in this case.)
2. Does the "first" checkbox get unchecked? (Can be done but requires extra logic.)
3. Does a message pop up saying to uncheck something else first? (Can probably be done but, again, requires additional logic.)

The easiest choice is #1 (none of the choices are no-brainers) but you may have problems with new users who often can't be bothered to read the instructions.

The closest I can come to a no-brainer is to create two fields and have each field set to use the same choices. The choices could be done with a radio button so that only one choice could be made per field. The only minor drawback to this method is that it allows the user to choose the same thing for both fields. It could be avoided with additional programming but it's probably not necessary. It may not be necessary to worry about at all and if there is an issue then it might be easier to handle in the part of the script that comes after the choices have been made. In other words, maybe some logic like if a=b then b="" could be added just before the rest of the action is taken.

Cal Locklin
www.aimsdc.net

[Trixie dela Cena]

RE: not in xDialog

Hi Cal,

I don't completely follow you...but correct me if I got it wrong...

1. create 3 logical fields - named: orange, banana, apple
2. put the new fields on the form using a checkbox from the toolbox
***3. this is where I lost you, you said to use the radio button and input orange, banana, apple as choices.

I don't want to use the Xdialog. I want the checkboxes on the form. Where should I control the choices for these checkboxes?

Thanks.

[Finian Lennon]

RE: not in xDialog

If you understand this already, forgive me, but the way you phrase your question makes me thingk that perhaps you don't...

The answer to part one of your question is no. A radio button can have multiple (up to 8, I think) possible selections but the radio button itelf can only be based on a single field or variable. So there is no way to combine the three fields in one button.

You would need to base your radio button on a variable then take the value returned by the radio button and change the value in the appropriate field to match.

Or you can have three separate checkboxes, each based on one of the choice fields. The checked value will therefore change the field value when the box is checked.

Which all begs the question, wouldn't it be easier to have one field (Fruit) and then a list of fruits the use could select that gets written into the field?

Finian

[Trixie dela Cena]

RE: not in xDialog

Thanks Finian!

I know that there is a radio button and by just adding the choices would solve what I am trying to accomplish. I am making the task difficult for me but I am starting from the report design and going back to the database design.

Anyway, I think it will work if I use check boxes but there are some sections that the I need to limit the user's choices. I think I know how to create the logic and probably the script BUT I am having difficulty on where should I put in the logic and script?

So, let's say I have a section called Fruit and check box choices are apple, banana, orange. I want the user to pick only 2 fruit. How and where should set this condition?

Thanks a lot everyone.

[Finian Lennon]

RE: not in xDialog

It's hard to answer your question without knowing more about what you are trying to do in the database.

Although people always say you should study the reports a database needs to produce before you do your design, this is not advice that has ever helped me much.

Obviously you want to make sure that you have fields in your database that can be added to, summarized, grouped and totaled in reports but that's about as far as I go in applying the reports to the database design.

Having said that, it sounds like you are building some sort of survey database. Have you searched the board on "survey" or like words? I'm pretty sure that people have discussed this in the past.

Finian

[Edward Larrabee]

RE: not in xDialog

You could put a script in the CanSave event of the form. It would check the various checkboxes and cancel the save and display a message if more than two were checked.

[Trixie dela Cena]

RE: not in xDialog


Thanks Finian for your responses. You are right! I am doing a survey/questionaire database. I also check the board on "survey" subject but none similar to what I would like to accomplish. I guess that no one had this scenario before.

-----------

Thanks Edward for the post too. I just one comment on this. You said that if I put the script on the CanSave event, "It would check the various checkboxes and cancel the save and display a message if more than two were checked." But I would like an immediate feedback that will tell the user that he/she has reach the number of choices or not permit the user to check anymore fields if they reached the max set limit. It is like a radio button but instead of one choice it could be 2 choices or 3, depending on the set limit I put in.

I guess this is not doable. But I am still hoping that someone had already did this and can point me to the right direction.

Thanks.

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: not in xDialog

Trixie, probably the best solution has already been mentioned.

I'd use two radio buttons, and each would have the same 3 choices. Tell the user they can have one from menu A and one from menu B (so to speak) but no more.

--tom

[Trixie dela Cena]

RE: not in xDialog

Eureka!!!

This is the solution I am looking for. Checkboxes that is being controlled differently. I hope someday it will help someone as it did to me.

My great thanks is to Barry who for the most part resolved this prob.

Attached is the sample database.

[CALocklin]

RE: not in xDialog

I didn't check back on this until today.

As long as you don't want to set a "priority" such as "1st choice, 2nd choice, etc.", the checkboxes as Barry suggested work fine. In case you decide you want to set a priority, use the radio buttons as I suggested earlier. Here's more detail on this method....

If you read my previous message again you will note that I said "The closest I can come to a no-brainer..." My method would have been similar to Barry's solution except that each field would allow the user to choose any one of the possible answers. Thus "Equip 1" in Barry's example could be "1st Choice for Equip".

Then, making sure the user did not choose the same thing for two "levels" would be a bit beyond the "no brainer" status. A script similar to Barry's OnChange script would be required to check the values in the other fields as each field gets updated.

Cal Locklin
www.aimsdc.net

By the way, although it won't make much difference for a simple, one shot, calculation like the one in Barry's example, I wouldn't use the increment_value() function just to add 1 to a number. The increment_value() function takes nearly 7 times longer to do the calculation because it first has to figure out what type of variable it is incrementing. If you use this in a loop you will really start to see the difference and it won't take much of a loop before users begin to notice a delay. Example:

count = 0
'First msg box req'd to get the proper comparison. Esp. w/ lower loop counts.
ui_msg_box( "BEGIN", "Click OK to start the example." )
stime = now()
FOR x = 1 to 10000
count = count + 1
NEXT
ui_msg_box( "TIME", ltrim(str(now()-stime,10,3 )))
count = 0
stime = now()
FOR x = 1 to 10000
count = increment_value(count)
NEXT
ui_msg_box( "TIME", ltrim(str(now()-stime,10,3 )))

Note that even 1000 iterations means about 1/3 of a second - not bad but beginning to be noticeable.