Creating Check Boxes

Creating Check Boxes

The Check Box Creation Tool allows you to place a check box on a form that can be used to display/edit the value of a form variable or an integer field in the Job Manager database.

When a check box is placed on a form, you specify the database field or form variable to which it refers and the label that will be displayed on the form next to the check box. You may, for example, wish to use a check box to allow operators to indicate whether an image has been color corrected. Check box fields can only be assigned to integer fields (the value stored in the integer field in the database is 0 if the check box is "unchecked" and 1 if the check box is "checked").

To create a check box on a form:

1. Select the Check Box Field Tool from the Tools Palette.
2. Move the cursor to the appropriate position, then click and drag to draw a check box on the form.
3. Select the new checkbox on the form. The Control Palette is used to specify the database field that should be associated with the check box and to specify additional field options.

4. Click the Field expander button and select the appropriate database field. The database fields available will depend on the record type on which the form is based*.* The Field expander button also allows you to define the value of the check box as a form variable which may be used in performing calculations on the form. For details on defining and using variables, please refer to the "Creating Form Variables" section.
5. Enable the Allow Editing checkbox if you want users to be able to interact with the checkbox. If enabled, users will be able to check and uncheck the checkbox and the Default Value control will be displayed in the palette. If it is not enabled, users will not be able to interact with the checkbox and the Calculate As control will be displayed in the palette.
6. In the Default value/Calculate As field, specify a default value for the check box by using a single MetaScript expression or writing multiple lines of code. For details on using MetaScript with check boxes, please refer to the "Writing MetaScript for Database Fields and Variables" section.

If you want the value of the check box to take on the value of a database field, click the MetaScript editor button and select the appropriate database field by using the Database Field button ( ) in the MetaScript editor window. If a non-editable database field was selected in the previous step, the default value field will not be available.

7. Specify the appropriate additional options for the check box. The following options may be specified:

Visibility---indicates whether the check box will be always shown, always hidden, shown in print (only when the form is printed), or shown in display (only when the form is viewed in the Job Manager Print Form desktop client).

8. Type the label you want use for the check box in the Label field. The label will be displayed on the form next to the check box.

TIP: Depending on the format and design of the form you are creating, it may be advantageous to label the check box using the Text Tool. This allows you to apply attributes to the check box label that differ from those of the actual check box itself (e.g. font, size, style, color, etc.). For details on using the Text Tool, refer to the "Creating Static Text" section.

9. Apply the appropriate attributes (style, size, font, color) to the new check box field.
10. Select Save Form from the Form menu to save the changes you have made to the form.

At this point, a new check box has been added to the form. You can now continue drawing check boxes or move on to the next type of form object you want to place on the form. For details on moving, resizing, copying, or pasting check boxes, please refer to the "Working with Form Objects: Supported Actions" section.


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