Radio Button Set

[pkfilesan]

Hi,

 

I have a Radio Button Set connected to a field in a table.

 

In some situations, more than one radio button may be enabled. I noticed this places multiple values in the field. This appears to be the Repeating feature and I don't want to go there.

 

Is there an easy solution (I haven't found) where multiple values (from the radio button set) are entered as separate records?

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

[mfif]

Hi,

 

this is not a repeating feature. You get multiple values in a single field. It's extremely useful if you understand how it works and use it appropriately: for instance, any of the values can be matched to any value in another field in a relationship.

 

The better you can explain what you want, the better the help you can get here. You could script the creation of separate records based on value list entries, but it's probably not a very good idea; better explain what you're trying to achieve.

 

P.S: If you want the radio button to allow only one value, set up the field with an Auto-Enter calc of RightValues ( Self ; 1 ) and uncheck the "do not replace field content".

[pkfilesan]

Hi,

 

Thank you for responding.

 

I want the Radio Button Set to contain three values:

 

AAA

BBB

CCC

 

In some cases a profile is going to have more than one Radio Button Set value.

 

I would like the Radio Button Set to record the entries into a separate table something like this:

 

Profile1 AAA

Profile1 BBB

Profile2 AAA

Profile3 CCC

 

I want to avoid this (from the Help):

 

You can store more than one value in a text, number, date, time, container, calculation, or global field by making the field a repeating field .... Note: Instead of using a repeating field, it is often easier to use a related table and a portal to sort or insert data, or create a summary report.

 

Thank you,

 

Kevin

[mfif]

As I pointed out before, this is not a repeating field. What you have is a field with multiple values, which is far more valuable (forgive the lousy pun) than a repeating field. Unfortunately, FileMaker doesn't exactly explain this feature very well. This is the first info I've found about it in Help:

You can increase the number of possible matching values by entering multiple values in the match field, separated by carriage returns. You can access related data by matching any single line of your match field, according to your relationship criteria. This is sometimes called a multi-key field or complex key field.

 

 

For example, you have a simple relationship joining records in TableA to TableB based on the contents of a single field in each table, and the match field in TableA contains the values:

 

red

green

blue

 

separated by carriage returns. FileMaker Pro will match any record in TableB where the corresponding match field contains the single value red, green, or blue. However, FileMaker Pro will not return records where the match field contains the value red green blue. The carriage returns tell FileMaker Pro to treat each line as a separate value.

 

This is a very useful feature, but it can also cause problems with searching and in relational design if you're not aware of it.

 

Now, I'll go back to my question. What do you want to achieve? In other words, what do you want to see on the screen, or what do you want printed output to look like?

 

And we will understand those requests much better if we understand what the profile and value list are all about. If you can't be overt about it, find a parallel situation. What are AAA BBB and CCC - primary colors? buildings? computer programs with a number of features that need to be linked separately to each profile? hairstyles that require different kinds of hairspray and gel?

 

The more specific you can be about what you're doing, the better. The most important help you will get here, IMHO, has to do with the design of your database relationships.

 

Imagine you were a visitor from the nineteenth century asking, How do I fly a balloon from the street in front of the Empire State Building? I might be able to explain how to rent a balloon and fly it, including all the procedures and permits required from City Hall, but if it eventually turns out that what you actually want to do is get to the top of the building without walking, it would've been easier and shorter - and more helpful to you - to explain about elevators.

 

Right now, from my vantage point, it sounds as though you're asking about ballast specifications because you want a balloon to get to the top of the building, so I'll keep asking until I understand what you really want. If it turns out you're a circus act and the balloon is exactly what you need, then maybe someone can help you with ballast specifications and others can kick in with tips on which official to address for permits.

 

Apologies for the extended metaphor.

[pkfilesan]

Hi,

 

What little I know about databases (I use MS Access more than FileMaker), I want to stay with one value one field. I don't want multiple values in one field.

 

I was hoping a Radio Button Set would be able to create x-amount of records in a table depending on the x-amount of enabled buttons.

 

My main table contains Software Profiles.

 

Fields:

 

SoftwareID Software Version

 

The Radio Button Set would represent another table and would contain the computers using the software.

 

Fields:

 

CompSWID SoftwareID ComputerID

 

(There is another table with ComputerID and other fields related to the computers.)

 

The match field between the tables would be Software ID.

 

The user would go to Software Profiles and enter data and click on the buttons (representing different computers) using the software.

 

Is it possible for the Radio Button Set to create individual records for each enabled button, if 2 or more buttons are enabled?

 

I was hoping the Radio Button Set would be a nifty workaround:

 

Directly on layouts: Place related fields directly on a layout to display data from the first related record, even when there are more than one related record that match the criteria of the relationship. (The first related record that is displayed is determined by whether the relationship specifies a sort order.)

 

In portals: Place related fields within a portal on a layout to display data from all related records that match the criteria of the relationship.

 

So you would have the Radio Button Set directly on the layout - and you would see all the related records - and each record would actually be a separate record and not multiple values in one field.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

[mfif]

A more typical FileMaker way of doing this is to have a portal of your join table (CompSWID) on a layout based on Software Profiles. You can then add and remove computers in the portal; I would use a dropdown list for that because it uses less space. If you want a radio button field for overall display, you can have that, too, and simply not allow the user to enter that field in browse mode. Just create a calc field InstalledComputers = List (ComputerID) (or, instead of ComputerID, a more meaningful name in the Computers table, which is related to Software via the join table).

 

The alternative that I can think of is to script join table record creation based on what you do in the radio button field, but this is far less reliable, as any accidental creation of join table records or unscripted tinkering with the field would mess up the display. Your script would loop through the ID values in the field, check whether they are present in the join table, and create a new record in the join table if for each value that is not present.

 

And once again, multi-value fields are a feature, not a bug, in FileMaker. smiley-smile

[Jack Rodgers]

Checkboxes and radio buttons are formatted to text fields that are NOT repeating. Checkboxes and radio buttons do not create additional records. They are applied to one field in the database and reflect what is in that field if the value list contains values that equal what is in the field. Data in the field not in the value list will not be shown in the checkbox or radio button.

 

A radio button will only produce one value in a text field.

 

A checkbox will produce multiple values in a text field.

 

Will a radio button show multiple values if multiple values exist in the field?

 

Here's a test:

 

Create a text field.

Create a list: Dog, Cat, Wolf, Bear

Duplicate the text field twice and apply the radio button format to one duplicate and the checkbox format to the other.

 

Add a new record.

 

Now you see the plain text field (expanded to show all values) and the radio button and the checkbox.

 

Check each value in the checkbox and Filemaker will show each in the radio button. This is the result causing the inquiry in this post.

 

Add data to the text field that is not in the value list and it will not show up in the radio button or checkbox display.

 

Add a new record.

 

Check each value in the radio button. Notice that only one value can be entered and each will replace the previous. This is the way radio buttons are supposed to work.

 

Return to the first record and click any of the buttons and only that value will be inserted in the field.

 

The multiple value radio buttons are caused by having multiple values in the field. This is a design error on the part of the developer who did not check for multiple values before applying the radio button.

 

A design decision must be made: is this field to contain multiple values or one value. If multiple, use a checkbox. If one, use a radio button.

 

 

Note: if you make the value list display the contents of the field, then any value in the field will be displayed. If you make it a manually entered list, it is possible to have values in the field that do not display.

 

You can have the value list point at the contents of another field in another table thus creating a potential linking field for a portal. A radio button would give one link while a checkbox could form multiple links.

[pkfilesan]

Thank you very much. The replies have been extremely helpful.

 

Kevin