RadioButtonList

A RadioButtonList is a Control Class in NetForum. RadioButtonList can be added to Forms and are set up similarly to DropDownLists.

Be aware that designed NetForum forms do not automatically expand or contract depending on the number of options in a RadioButtonList. Therefore, use this control class only in cases where the number of options in the list is known and fixed and is unlikely to grow or contract, because you'll need to set a fixed display area on the Form for the RadioButtonList control.

If the number of options exceeds the fixed design area, then scrollers will be added automatically. From a visual perspective this is unattractive and difficult for a user to work with, especially if the user chooses an option that is "hidden" beyond the visible view.

Usage

Generally, any control that can be a DropDownList can be converted to a RadioButtonList. The options in the RadioButtonList are configured the same way as in a DropDownList.

To add a RadioButtonList to a Form, in the Form Designer, place the control on the Form and change the Control Class to RadioButtonList.

After you do this, the Form Designer will create an extra control that will have the same name as the main control but with a suffix of _0, for example if the RadioButtonList control is gft_prc_key then the extra control will be gft_prc_key_0. This control represents the first radio button option. This control is placed inside its main control.

Next, add to the URL/Image Path/Data of the main form control the following settings:

[horizontal|vertical] [alwaysupdatepanel]

In the first setting, choose either horizontal or vertical for the direction you want the options in the button list to go.

Next, size the control appropriately. Be sure allow enough room on the Form for all the options, or else there will be scrollers.

Note: It can be hard to get the mouse focus on the RadioButtonList control. You might want to use your tab key to tab through the various controls on the form until you get to it.

Where Used

NetForum rarely uses RadioButtonLists because you cannot always depend on the size of the list if there are more values than anticipated, as described above. For this reason, DropDownLists are the preferred control class. Nonetheless, there are some forms where a RadioButtonList is ideal because the user can see all the values easily. One example is the online donation form (FormKey: 6fa02c04-9e1d-48bc-bae2-f3a794dd57c5).