Providing a Boolean Input

[TattyDon]

Firstly, apologies if this has been asked before. I’ve searched but it’s difficult to know what to search under!

I have a basic question about layouts. I have a number of fields that require a Boolean answer. I have set them up as Numbers and to format as Boolean. However, I cannot work out the best way to allow the user to enter a Boolean value. At present I have a simple edit box where they enter 0 or 1 (hardly user friendly!)

I have tried a popup or radio buttons using a value list (Yes/No) but can’t see how I can get it to translate that response to a 0,1 result. It seems to translate everything from ther as not 1 (or false).

I guess one approach is to use text and limit the possible values to 'Yes' or 'No' driven from a value list. This is probably safe but doesn't feel right as I've always been told to use numerical values for this sort of thing.

There must be a very simple solution I’m overlooking!

Thanks in advance,

Tatty

Edited November 21, 2008 by Guest

[MetaSys Software]

Create a valuelist with '1' value. Set up field on layout as checkbox & attach the valuelist. Then create a script that toggle the value. Here is the sample file

BooleanInput.zip

[TattyDon]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess the next question then is whether there is anything wrong with storing the values as Yes/No rather than 0/1?

Tatty

[comment]

Not necessarily wrong, but awkward:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/234503/

BTW, with a checkbox using a value list of 1, you don't really need a script - you can simply check it on and off.

An important consideration is whether there should be a distinction between empty and 0. But this applies equally to any method (e.g. should there be a distinction between empty and "No").