Home → Using LincDoc 3.0 → Field Attributes → Checkboxes

6.5. Checkboxes

Overview

Checkboxes are represented by two special field types in LincDoc: a checkbox "grouper" field, and 1 or more checkbox items which compose the group. The grouper field type allows LincDoc to logically group the individual checkboxes and present them to the user when completing an eForm. The way in which this is accomplished is by using checkboxes in the source document, and applying a special naming pattern to the checkboxes. The method varies depending on the source document type.

Checkboxes in a Word source doc

Follow these steps to define checkboxes in an MS Word document.

NOTE: there are two types of checkboxes in MS Word, legacy and ActiveX. A legacy check box must be used.

Use the following steps (note: these steps were written using MS Word 2007).

  1. Open MS Word.
  2. Turn on the Developer Ribbon.
  3. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
  4. Click Popular.
  5. Select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box.
  6. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Legacy Tools.
  7. Click the Legacy checkbox form field; ActiveX checkboxes are NOT supported.
  8. Right click on the check box and select Properties.
  9. Enter the name for the checkbox in the Bookmark attribute. A checkbox name should be defined in the format groupname_itemname. The groupname prefix is used by LincDoc to determine related checkbox items so that they can be logically grouped together in the data entry interface. The itemname suffix is an unique identifier that defines the check box item. For example, color_red, is a good name for a checkbox. color is the groupname and red is the checkbox itemname. For additional items you could make more checkboxes named color_blue, color_orange and color_green.

    NOTE: groupname and itemname must NOT contain any underscores.
     
  10. Repeat this step for each checkbox.
  11. Save changes and upload the document (from the Source Docs tab).
  12. Create a new eForm and add in this document.
  13. In the Fields/Sections tab you should now see the groupname as a new field, whose type is checkbox group (and is not changeable). This is sometimes referred to as the grouper field. Also you should see each checkbox as a separate field, and they are all of type checkbox item (and is unchangeable).
  14. In the Fields/Sections tab select the grouper field so that you can see its attributes. Notice it has options to set a minimum and maximum number of checked items. Set these if desired.

Checkboxes in a PDF source doc

Follow these steps to define a group of checkboxes in a PDF document.

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat.
  2. Add a checkbox field to the PDF document.
  3. Right-click on the checkbox and choose to edit the properties.
  4. Enter the name of the checkbox. Use the convention for naming the checkbox as described above for a Word source doc: groupname_itemname format.
  5. Optional: add a label to the Tooltip attribute. LincDoc will copy this value and use it for the Label definition for this field.
  6. Click on the Options tab.
  7. Ensure the Export Value is set to Yes (note: case sensitive). If it is not set to "Yes" then the checkbox will never be checked when the form is generated (regardless if the user checks it or not).
  8. Repeat this step for each checkbox.
  9. Save changes and upload the document; the same steps from here on out apply as described above with Word source docs.

Radio Groups

LincDoc does not have a radio button widget, but radio button functionality can be implemented using a combination of PDF radio buttons in a source document and a drop down list in LincDoc. This will allow the user to select one and only option. Use the following instructions to enable radio button functionality in your form (NOTE: for XFA forms see the section below):

  1. Create a group of radio buttons in your PDF source document. Note: the radio button group name is specified for each radio button (in Adobe Acrobat, under the General tab, "Name").
  2. Login to LincDoc.
  3. Locate the field corresponding to the group of radio buttons, and make this field a list box (in this example, chicken_or_beef) - Note: the use of combo boxes are not allowed for this feature.
  4. Edit/create a code list for the list box.
    • Make sure the label in LincDoc is the same value as the button value (in Acrobat under the Options tab) of the radio button in the PDF document.
    • For example, if the radio button value in your PDF is 'chicken', your label would also be 'chicken'.
      • Note: Case matters - the label and field name must match exactly.
  5. Select OK to save and close.

Your radio button group will now be controlled by the list box that was just created.

 

Radio Buttons in LiveCycle XFA forms

NOTE: XFA forms are only supported in LincDoc 2.2 or higher. As noted above, LincDoc does not currently have a radio button widget, but a drop down list can be used to select a specific radio button in an XFA form. There are a few configuration steps that need to be followed to enable the use of XFA radio buttons.  The first is to create an exclusion group that will contain all the radio buttons for a specific LincDoc field. An exclusion groupis Adobe's term for a group of radio buttons. Only one radio button in the exclusion group can be selected at a time. The exclusion group name will be the name of the field that appears in LincDoc. Create a code list containing the unique values for each radio button in the exclusion group.

  1. Open the Livecycle designer
  2. Add individual radio buttons (see these Adobe instructions)
  3. Using the control key on your keyboard select the individual radio buttons that make up the exclusion group
  4. Right click on the exclusion group and select "Wrap in New Radio Button Group" (You may get an error saying at least 2 radio buttons have the same value)
  5. Select the exclusion group
  6. Check "Specify Item Values" in the exclusion group object configuration box
  7. Select an individual radio button from the exclusion group (the value of that button will be highlighted in the value list in the object configuration box)
  8. Double click the highlighted value and enter the corresponding value that will exist in your LincDoc code list
  9. Save and commit your XFA form to LincDoc
  10. Login to LincDoc
  11. Edit the form, and press the reparse button from the fields tab
  12. Select the exclusion group name in the LincDoc field list
  13. Select list box or combobox
  14. Create a new User Input code list
  15. Enter values for the code and label that match the values entered in step 8
  16. Save the code list
  17. Test the form

In the example below we have an XFA form that has 3 radio buttons, Red, Green and Blue. We have a LincDoc form that will select one of those colors in the PDF when generated. You can download and import this example into your clientID by clicking this link. Follow these instructions to import this test form. Watch this video to see how to prepare your radio buttons in Adobe Livecycle. Watch this video to see how to create the code list in LincDoc and the resulting output.

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