Selecting records based on user choice

[Wickerman]

This seems like it should be simple, but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it . . . 

I have a quizzing database where each problem is tagged as Easy, Medium, or Hard.  

On an introductory layout, I want to give users the option of checking one or more tick boxes to determine which of the classes of problems to include in their quiz, and then I want them to be able to choose whether to order those questions in my original sequence, in a random sequence, or in a sequence based on their previous performance .  The 'ordering' option I figure I'll offer by putting three buttons on the layout corresponding to the three modes -- clicking one of the three will launch the quiz.

. . . but I'm less clear how I should go about presenting only the records reflected in their tick box choices.  Should the tick boxes be three separate global fields (Select_easy, Select_medium, Select_hard) and then I take those field states and somehow craft a scripted Find for the 7 different possible box states?  Or should it be one field with a Value List offering the 3 options . . .  in which case I would perform the Find . . . how exactly?

Or is there some other approach for this sort of thing?

 

 

[Ocean West]

Branching logic on surveys can be come difficult.  

If their survey is recorded each question would have a response, and you can create a "score" to help your decision tree.

For example 10 questions:   3 marked easy, 5 marked medium, 2 marked hard. -  the sum of each result may help you on the first past in finding the next set of questions.

for surevy's a list view is really easy to display and its just a matter of found set of records - however I typically would have a master template of questions in a separate table that you would find a subset of questions (sorted however) and then script the creation of these records for the given user. 

[Wickerman]

This really isn't a survey with branching lines -- it's just a single Find based on the user's desire to include 1, 2, or 3 of the available sub-sets of quiz questions.  I maybe complicated the question by bringing up the 'sequence' issue, which will just be a simple sorting step in whatever script I end up with.  The quiz questions will be served up one at a time, from first to last -- no branching depending on answers.  ('Previous Performance' is just referring to how many times they got these questions right on a previous attempt at them).

So say there are 100 question. 20 Easy, 30 Medium, and 50 hard.  I just want the user to indicate which questions they want to attempt

Easy = 20 Q's

Easy Medium & Hard = 80 Q's

Easy, Medium & Hard = 100 Q's

What's the best way to allow them to specify which batches to include, and then turn that input into a found set?

[Lee Smith]

Hi Wickerman,

It might be helpful for you to post a mockup of your thoughts,

You could do a simple ERD, FileMaker file, and additional information such as you gave in your opening post.

Add to this, what you have tried that didn't work.

Take a look at this post by Ocean West, Anatomy of a Good Topic, the steps 5, 6, 7 and 8, they are there to inspire and help our members to think out how to approach explaining their needs to us. 

Lee

[Wickerman]

This is a super-simple parent-child one-to-many structure. 

PARENT: Topic

CHILD: Question

Each Child Question record is characterized in a field as Easy OR Medium OR Hard (each question has only one designation).

I want to start on a layout in Topic Context and allow the user to specify which subsets of Questions they want to encounter: Easy, OR Medium OR Hard . . . or Easy AND Medium, or Easy AND Hard,  or Medium AND Hard or Easy AND Hard, or Easy AND Medium AND Hard. Basically, any combination of these three options:

A

B

C

A+B

A+C

B+C

A+B+C

So, my though was I set up three checkboxes,

INCLUDE A

INCLUDE B

INCLIUDE C

. . . and then depending what the user ticks off, I craft a somewhat complicated IF or CASE sort of script or calculation that performs a FIND on the Question table, for each permutation of checkboxes - - I'm sort of muddy on the process. Do I store the various tick boxes as variables that I then use in a Find?

. . . OR can I use a single checkbox field, where when the user checks off boxes, we get a single field with carriage-return entries like:

Medium

-or-

Easy

Medium

-or-

Medium

Hard

-or-

Easy

Medium

Hard

. . . I don't know how to utilize a single field with carriage-returned values to each on a table to find records that match any of the carriage-returned values.  This seems like what would be ideal.

With regard to the "Anatomy of a Good Topic Link, I'm afraid all I get is this:

 

[Lee Smith]

That's strange, I use that link all of the time. Please try a different approach and try going this way to see if you can see it listed https://fmforums.com/forum/258-site-instructions/

I'm goin to play with the information you have posted and see if I can make a demo.

Lee

[Ocean West]

https://fmforums.com/guidelines/

this is the new permanent link 

[doughemi]

@wickerman:

Try using your checkbox as the primary key in a relationship to the difficulty field in a  TO of your Questions table. A Go To Related Records script step should give you all the records which match the checked  boxes.

 

 

Edited March 11, 2018 by doughemi
Correct link posted by OceanWest

[Lee Smith]

I know now, see OW reply.

 

[Wickerman]

THAT'S IT! 

Thanks to everyone who spent time replying here -- doughemi hit the nail on the head, exactly what I was hoping for.  I think I had done this once a couple years ago but couldn't quite recall the logic of it.