| Table of Contents |
Radio Buttons
Overview
Radio button is the name used to describe an input element that individually accepts a simple true or false (boolean) state, but normally operate as a group of radio buttons that accepts the description of the selected Radio button as its value.
To add a Radio button element, go to Base Types > Radio Button and add it to the canvas.
To add a prebuilt Label / Radio Button custom type, go to Custom Types > Common: Radio Buttons with Labels and add it to the canvas.
Considerations
Radio Button Groups can not be unselected
Once a Radio button is selected in a group, it becomes impossible for a user to then go back an unselect all Radio buttons in the group. Because of this, it is a good idea to either create a “None” Radio button in every group that represents having no option selected in a group.
Radio Buttons vs Dropdowns
Radio button groups and Dropdowns represent the same type of saved data and selection restrictions, except a Dropdown can be returned to a “blank” state.
Dropdowns can also properly represent historical data stored in them, should an option be removed or renamed. A dropdown will represent a historical value by floating or sinking the value above the available options. A Radio button group will store the historical value, but will not be able to display it.
Dropdowns take up less space on a form.
Radio buttons can more effectively display a large label associated with individual radio buttons, where the options of a dropdown can only display the value of their options.
Radio Buttons vs Checkboxes with MaxAllowChecked
The behaviour of a Radio button group and a Checkbox group with MaxAllowChecked set to 1 is very similar, however using the Checkboxes does allow a user to click on the checked option to unselect it.
Max limited Checkbox groups have the flexibility of removing or changing the restriction. Radio buttons can only ever support the single behaviour.
Radio button groups are supported in Gridview, where as Checkbox groups are not. In gridview, every checkbox will appear individually and no restriction will be applied.
Type of Data Stored
A Radio button individually stores a stores a true (selected) or blank string (unselected) state.
The parent container of a group of Radio buttons stores the description of the selected Radio button as a value.
A Radio button can only default to unselected.
Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| description | This is the description of the element used by other modules in the clevr platform. For more information on how description is used, please read this article.
The description has more significance for Radio buttons, as the description is also utilized as the value for the Radio button group in reports. A description will have to be provided on the Radio button group container, if the group is intended to be searchable. A description should be placed on all input elements, to allow them to be identifiable in those modules. |
| name | This is the unique identifier used for the Radio button group. Every group within a form must have a unique name, but all Radio buttons within the group must have the same name to work together. |
| disabled |
This will disable the element and prevent modification for all roles, regardless of applied permissions. The disabled attribute should only ever have the value “true” applied. A value of “false” will still make an element disabled. The disabled attribute differs from readonly as it visually greys-out the element to indicate that it is disabled. Utilizing disabled is preferrable to readonly, as it provides visual feedback to the user for why they can’t modify the element. |
| readonly | This will disable the element and prevent modification for all roles, regardless of applied permissions.
The readonly attribute should only ever have the value “true” applied. A value of “false” will still make an element readonly. The readonly attribute differs from disabled as it provides no visual feedback to the user that the element can not be modified. Utilizing disabled is preferrable to readonly, as it provides visual feedback to the user for why they can’t modify the element. |
| shadowId | This attribute will cause this element to be populated with the value of another element, if the current element has never had a value applied in the current record.
Radio buttons should only ever shadow the value of another radio button. Radio buttons in a group should only ever shadow Radio buttons from a single group. This is to prevent a situation where multiple Radio buttons may be shadowed. A value applied to an element, even if blank, will override the value coming from the shadowId. For this reason, we recommend applying the class = “unhook” which will prevent the element from saving its own value. For more details on shadowId, please read this article. |
Other attributes may be applicable to Checkboxes, such as searchable, bulkdataentry, SIS Data Import, and attributes related to Data Tables. Information on the use of those attributes can be found in the applicable lessons.
Import Data
Radio buttons can not be used for Import Data.
For more information about setting up elements for Import Data, please read the lesson called “SIS and GDI Import” in Level 2.
Compatible Common Functions
The following common function are compatible with with Textboxes:
- updateCheck