OTHER Checkbox Option: I Need Help Tweaking It, Please.

[jdanniel]

Hello.

I'm using FM 9 and need some help with check boxes and radio buttons.

I've created a very basic, simple flat-file database for my movie collection.

There are three sets of checkboxes, each linked to the GENRE field.

(Some movies belong in more than one genre, hence the use of checkboxes instead of radio buttons.)

I'm trying to create a fourth checkbox set, also linked to GENRE, but this one will have only the OTHER field.

There are two problems:

1. Whenever I click one or more checkboxes in the other checkbox sets, the OTHER checkbox is automatically marked. I don't want this.

2. When the entry box for the OTHER checkbox pops up, it displays all of the genres I marked in the other checkbox sets. I don't want this, either.

What steps should I take to prevent these things from happening? Is it even possible to prevent these problems from arising? Or is this what's supposed to happen?

I've figured out a workaround for the first problem. I simply select the OTHER checkbox first, and then fill in the popup box. Then, I can select the other checkboxes.

In case anyone needs to know the layout in more detail, here is what I've done:

Genre Checkbox 1:

[color:blue]Action Animation Comedy Concert Documentary

Genre Checkbox 2:

[color:red]Drama Film Noir Horror How-To Musical

Genre Checkbox 3:

[color:green]Mystery Science Fiction Silent Western

Genre Checkbox 4:

[color:brown]Other

For the OTHER checkbox set, I created a new checkbox. Of course, I selected the Include OTHER option.

In SETUP, I chose Display Values From, selected Manage Value Lists, and created a new Value List. I named it Genre 4, selected Use Custom Values, and left that box blank. So, the checkbox set has one checkbox, named OTHER.

Did I do this correctly?

Thanks for any help you can give me. Jd

[comment]

Well, if you look at it from the point-of-view of your Genre Checkbox 4, any values you have selected in the other three instances of the field ARE "Other" - because they are not values from the Genre 4 value list.

What is the purpose of splitting the choice into 4 separate selections?

[jdanniel]

Right before reading your message, I went ahead and made one set with all the genres in it, including Other.

That helped greatly. I'm still confused about why all of the genres appear in the OTHER popup window, though.

And now that I have one set with all the genres, I have other questions, but I'll post them in a separate topic.

Edited March 5, 2008 by Guest

[comment]

I could try making one big value set, and include OTHER in it. If that solves the first problem I listed

I believe it will. In order to understand what's happening "behind the scenes", place yet another instance of the field on the layout, format it as edit box, and make it tall enough to display multiple values separated by carriage returns. Observe the contents of the edit box as you select/deselect values in the other instances of the field.

As you can see, there is only one field, and it doesn't care about checkboxes or value lists (you can add a value by typing into it). But the other three instances of the field can only enter and display values that are members of the associated value list. It's a purely cosmetic thing, a user-interface device.

[jdanniel]

I think I'm going to use one set for each category.

That's probably the simplest way for me to deal with things. I can easily manage the look of the layout, no matter what. After dabbling with this for a while, I think I can handle arranging things in one set.

Thanks for the follow-up.

Jd

[mr_vodka]

If you are using the 'Other' option in the value list, anything that is bsically not part of your value list will come up as an Other. Perhaps you should have an item on your value list called "Other" instead of using the option for the value list.