Checkbox help please!

[intcon]

Hi all..I've installed form tools last week, no problem. All parts of the form work correctly except the cursed checkboxes. I have 3 items, they can check any of the 3 or all 3. And I am just running myself around in circles trying to figure out the system behind them.
I've read this page
http://docs.formtools.org/userdoc2_1/ind...checkboxes
many many many times...and yet still it isn't clicking.
I go to field>edit field next to the item I want to be a checkbox. The first box is main settings, and i fill in the name I want the field to be, field size one character, field type checkboxes. Then off to checkbox settings...and here's where I think I'm getting lost.
Edit option list, add new option list. I have 3 items, and 3 fields. Is each item A, B, C it's own option? Do I need to make a list? I have about 5 at the moment, trying to figure out what's happening here.
Hellllppppp!!!! I've been at it for days!

=)

thanks in advance!

carrie

[bhotrock]

Hi,

I think there's a bit of confusion in both your question and the terminology that is used in the Option Lists. Maybe that's where you are getting hung up. You (and Form Tools) use the word "field" in relation to both the form setup, and the Option Lists. So I'll be specific and state whether I'm talking about a form (database) field or an Option List field.

You mention having 3 items and 3 fields. Without knowing what you data is, I'll try to run through the option list process.

When setting up an Option List, remember that the Option List MIGHT be very specific and will only be used with one form (database) field. OR it MIGHT be very generic and can be used with multiple form fields. (An Option List with two entries, one Y and one N, would be a good example of an Option List used with multiple form fields.)

So maybe your Option List is named Shirt Sizes Option List. When you create the Option List, you need three fields for the options that you want to select: Small, Medium and Large. In the first line, for Field Value, you probably want to enter: S and for the Display Text you would probably enter: Small. Repeat for the other two lines using M and L for the Field Value and Medium and Large for the Display Text.

The Field Value will be the actual data stored in the database. The Display Text is what will show NEXT TO the checkbox on the View. You might think of that as the "label". In many cases, you might use the same value for both Field Value and Display Text. This would work if you wanted to both display and store the value: Small instead of storing: S in the database.

One other point of clarification: Your Option List needs to have as many lines (fields) in it as you have options for that particular list. Your whole form may need multiple Options Lists to provide the various options that are needed for different form fields. (Shirt Size, Language, Yes-No, Favorite Color, would all require different Option Lists.)

I hope I have this right, and hope it helps answer your questions. If it's still not making sense, it might help to have more specific information about the data you are using for both the form fields and the possible options for each form field. And it would also help to have examples of what you've entered and how it's not working correctly.

[intcon]

Thanks SO much for taking the time to answer me! =)

I have 3 checkboxes, each one for a specific type of download, in this case your choice of subscribing to a newsletter (CEN) and/or downloading a print or pdf file.
1. CENewsletter
2. Show Me Print
3. Show Me PDF
No other options that need to be broken down further.

Currently I've made 3 different database fields for these options...should I instead make one field? Then fill out the options part differently?

When I send myself a test email from the form, it lists the 3 options, but if I put a check in the checkbox, that part never shows on the email...

carrie

[bhotrock]

Thanks for the additional information. The determination about one or three database fields can be somewhat arbitrary and might depend on what the process will be after the person fills out the form.

The first question is can the person select just one option or multiple options. If only one, I would suggest one database field and then you would use radio buttons instead of checkboxes. If they can select multiple options, then you could go both ways. If you choose to use just one database field, it will have all of the selected values included in the field. So the field would have to be large enough to store all of the potential values. (If each Field Value is only one character, you would need the database field size to be at least Tiny and maybe Small. I can't remember if it will add any spaces or commas.)

The other option is to go with a database field for each of the three options (Newsletter, Show Me Print, Show Me PDF). Then I would suggest using an Option List with Yes/No as the two Option Fields. You could assign this same Option List to each of the three database fields. Then your results will give you a Yes or No value for each of the database fields.

Regarding the email, which version of Form Tools are you running? It may be a version problem if you are on 2.2.7. Otherwise, it may be related to how your fields and Option Lists are setup. Keep in mind that if the database field isn't big enough to store all the data, then nothing will be stored. I would suggest setting your database field size larger than you think you might need until you know things are working properly.

[intcon]

The other option is to go with a database field for each of the three options (Newsletter, Show Me Print, Show Me PDF). Then I would suggest using an Option List with Yes/No as the two Option Fields. You could assign this same Option List to each of the three database fields. Then your results will give you a Yes or No value for each of the database fields.

Regarding the email, which version of Form Tools are you running? It may be a version problem if you are on 2.2.7. Otherwise, it may be related to how your fields and Option Lists are setup. Keep in mind that if the database field isn't big enough to store all the data, then nothing will be stored. I would suggest setting your database field size larger than you think you might need until you know things are working properly.

Ok..I have 3 fields in the database. One for each option.

When I click to edit the field CEN I get this dialog box

And I get this under checkbox settings

And this when I click under edit option list

And if I click edit form fields in that box, I end up back at the beginning.
=)

When I go to option lists in the sidebar, I get this


And I'm pretty sure that's where I'm getting tangled up.

And if I click on edit the CEN line I get this


I just go around and around and around in circles.

Can you help? I'm driving myself crazzzzzzzzzzzzzy!!!

[bhotrock]

Thanks for the screenshots! They are very helpful.
Since you are using a separate database field for each choice, you probably want to have just a single checkbox (for each database field) that will record a null value (nothing) if it is not checked, and some other value if it is checked.

For that, you want an Option list with just one line. I would suggest naming the Option List something generic like: Single Checkbox. That way you can easily use it across multiple database fields without getting confused. The Field Value should be something that makes sense for when you print out (or display) the data. I would suggest setting it to something like: "selected" or "yes". You can leave the Display Text blank since it's probably not needed in this case (it would probably just be a duplicate of the database field Display Text).

After saving this Option List, assign this Option List from the drop down that is shown on the Checkboxes Settings tab (your 3rd screenshot) for the three database fields. Use this same Option List for all three of the database fields. I would probably delete all the other Option Lists to avoid confusion. (Note, don't delete any Option Lists that you might need for other parts of your form, or other forms.)

One thing that might help to remember is that Option Lists are independent from any particular database field, or from any form. One single option list can be used for multiple database fields in multiple forms. They are simply a list of choices. So keep them as generic as possible so that you can easily reuse them as needed without confusion.

Using this setup, your form should end up with:
A line that says: CEN with one checkbox next to it
A line that says: ShowmePdf with one checkbox next to it
A line that says: Showme Print with one checkbox next to it.
These labels are based on the Display Text value that you have entered in your database fields as shown in your first screenshot.

If this doesn't end up working for you, here are some additional questions that might point us in the right direction. (Maybe I should have asked these earlier instead of making some assumptions.)

What version of Form Tools are you using?
Is this an Internal, Form Builder, or External form?
At this point, what's not working right?

[intcon]

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you...major family trauma. =)

OK...if I go to options, I created a new option list called selected. Ignore all the others, they don't work either. =)



If I click edit in the selected option it takes me to this page which shows me which database fields I have connected to this option. This is all good.



If I click edit field next to CEN, I get this...



and this



which all seems to look good. but when i get the email, i get this



there's no way of knowing if anything has been checked or not, all fields are blank.

I just downloaded form tools about 2 weeks ago, maybe 3 now, so I'm guessing it's the latest version. It's an external form and I have no checkboxes or anything to show what a customer has checked on the form.


so frustrating....=) it's just not passing the value from the form to the email is how it feels to me!

thank you again for all of your help...it is SO much appreciated!

carrie

[alexh]

Can you see the correct data when you view the submission and it's just not showing up in the email or both?

[intcon]

ohhhhh...good question! =) i thought you had something there....but went and checked the online view and no checks there either...I'm more than happy to send you my username password privately if you think I'm just missing something stupid. =) I just can't find what it is!

[alexh]

Darn it! If be happy to check it out for you. Just PM me your info.

Alex