Making Radio Buttons 1

[TaiChi56]

Alright, I am pretty literate on computers but I am having a major problem with this. I went to Barnes and Nobles and only found one book and that did not help.

I need to make up to 23 radio buttons and the user has to be able to pick more than one. Here is my problem.

1. I made the fields in the define value list.
2. I checked the radio button in Field Format using the value list I made. I clicked OK. Now what?

Do I need to make the radio buttons on the layout first? If so how do I associate the button with the field and be able to click on it to have it show that it is picked?

I know a lot of questions. Hope someone can help me. Thank you.

The secret in education lies in respecting the student. {Ralph Waldo Emerson}.

 

[marty1452]

Radio buttons will always only allow one selection. A check box will allow multiple options. Think of it this way. A radio button is one field in a database. If you could check off multiple fields, what would the answer in the field look like? A radio button is one field in the database designed to accept predefined input.

To create a radio button you first create a field, usually a test field. Then drag the field onto your layout. Then right click the field, choose field format, click the popup list down arrow, select radio buttons. You will need to assigne a value list next. The program will ask you do you want to use an existing list or create a new one. A new list is most often the right answer here. The list is created when you input you text list and then press enter. i.e.

one
two
three
four

This would create a radio button that looked like this:

O one O two O three O four

This field can be formated to also look like this by change the size and shape of the field. Make it taller or longer to have it look the way you want on screen.

O one O two
O three O four

One other item to take notice of is the Allow Entry option when you are formating the field. You have to allow entry in order for the user to be able to select the field.

I guess it doesn't matter, you can't do multiple inputs for one field. If you like the look of radio buttons, create a field for each answer possible, then format them as individual radio buttons on your layout. Now you can select all of them you wish. The other problem here will be unselecting. If you have only one answer one a radio button, how does the user select not to select it. You could default the field to have no answer by default, but once they click on it, how do they change their mind and deselect it? For the user this will makes your solution confusing. The answer here is control key and click to un-check a radio field though not many users will know this.

The answer here is individual fields or check boxes. Check boxes will be much more intuitive because of the ability to click in on and click it again to turn it off.

I hope this helps.

Marty

 

[TaiChi56]

Thanks. I am finally able to move ahead with my project. You were a big help. Have a good Thanksgiving.

The secret in education lies in respecting the student. {Ralph Waldo Emerson}.