ChooseFromRDBList – XpressDox

Present a list of choices to the user on the XpressDox interview in the form of ‘Radio Buttons’.

 

Command structure:

«ChooseFromRDBList(style,free,formal,semi-formal)»

Inserting a ChooseFromRDBList command into your template does not necessarily place the control onto the interview. If the value is not needed anywhere then the list will not be presented to the user.

Should you need the result of the data capture somewhere on the assembled document place the data element «style» in the correct position on the document.

Another common use for Choose commands is in the context of Document Logic i.e. including or excluding pieces of text and/or data elements in the document depending on a condition. For example:


«ChooseFromRDBList(Deposit_due,,Yes,No)»
«If(Deposit_Due = 'Yes')»
«FormatNumber(Deposit_Amount)»
«End()»

 

Verbose text

The above radio button control would result in the following being added to the interview:

XpressDox document automation software. Add radio buttons to your interview or questionnaire

 

However, with the following syntax, it is possible to make the options appear more descriptive to the user on the interview, yet still use the shorter value i.e. the value before the ~~ in any document logic conditions.


«ChooseFromRDBList(Deposit_due,,Yes~~Yes~!, a deposit is due,No~~No!, no deposit is due)»
«If(Deposit_Due = 'Yes')»
«FormatNumber(Deposit_Amount)»
«End()»

XpressDox document automation software. Add radio buttons to your interview or questionnaire

 

Note:

The escape character before the comma (!) indicating that the comma is part of the text and not separating the text into another value.

 

Vertical or horizontal lists? Radio buttons or drop down lists?

Radio buttons can be presented vertically (ChooseFromRDBList) or horizontally (ChooseFromHzRDBList), and the number of questions in the list as well as the number of questions on the interview might influence your decision on deciding whether to present the options vertically or horizontally.

When making use of verbose text, a vertical list would likely be best suited. But when presenting shorter options then the horizontal option might be a viable choice. Consider however, a situation of presenting a list of US states to the user. The best way of doing that would be in a drop down list – it would take up too much space on the interview to show that list in the form of a radio button control.

 

The Question command in v14:

The concept of Low Code authoring was introduced in v14, and with that the Question command. It is now possible to insert a List Question into the template without the need for ChooseFromList and a separate fillpoint. Inside the Question command, select List and enter your options. You can state whether the result is to be inserted into the document, or if it is for capture purposes only (as it usually would be in the case of document logic).