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Checkbox Component

Function

a!checkboxField( label, instructions, required, disabled, choiceLabels, choiceValues, value, validations, saveInto, validationGroup, requiredMessage, align, labelPosition, helpTooltip, choiceLayout, accessibilityText, showWhen, choiceStyle )

Displays a limited set of choices from which the user may select none, one, or many items and saves the values of the selected choices. To save the index of the choice instead of a value, use checkboxes by index.

If the choice is exclusive, then consider using radio buttons or a dropdown.

If there are many choices, the component grows as large as necessary to display all the options. If a more compact presentation is desirable, consider using a multiple dropdown.

Parameters

Name Keyword Types Description

Label

label

Text

Text to display as the field label.

Instructions

instructions

Text

Supplemental text about this field.

Required

required

Boolean

Determines if a value is required to submit the form. Default: false.

Disabled

disabled

Boolean

Determines if the field should display as potentially editable but grayed out. Default: false.

Choice Labels

choiceLabels

List of Text String

Array of options for the user to select.

Choice Values

choiceValues

List of Variant

Array of values associated with the available choices.

Display Value

value

List of Variant

Values of choices to display as selected.

Validations

validations

List of Text String

Validation errors to display below the field when the value is not null.

Save Input To

saveInto

List of Save

One or more variables that are updated with the choice values when the user changes the selections. Use a!save() to save a modified or alternative value to a variable.

Validation Group

validationGroup

Text

When present, the requiredness of the field is only evaluated when a button in the same validation group is pressed. The value for this parameter cannot contain spaces. For example, “validation group” is not a valid value. You need to add an underscore between words: “validation_group”. See the following recipes for more information:

Required Message

requiredMessage

Text

Custom message to display when the field's value is required and not provided.

Alignment

align

Text

Determines alignment of choice labels. Appian recommends this setting only be used inside the Grid Layout component. Valid values: "LEFT", "CENTER", "RIGHT".

Label Position

labelPosition

Text

Determines where the label appears. Valid values:

  • "ABOVE" (default) Displays the label above the component.
  • "ADJACENT" Displays the label to the left of the component.
  • "COLLAPSED" Hides the label. The label will still be read by screen readers; see accessibility considerations for more information.
  • "JUSTIFIED" Aligns the label alongside the component starting at the edge of the page.

Help Tooltip

helpTooltip

Text

Displays a help icon with the specified text as a tooltip. The tooltip displays a maximum of 500 characters. The help icon does not show when the label position is "COLLAPSED".

Choice Layout

choiceLayout

Text

Determines the layout. Valid values: "STACKED" (default), "COMPACT".

Accessibility Text

accessibilityText

Text

Additional text to be announced by screen readers. Used only for accessibility; produces no visible change.

Visibility

showWhen

Boolean

Determines whether the component is displayed on the interface. When set to false, the component is hidden and is not evaluated. Default: true.

Choice Style

choiceStyle

Text

Determines how the choices should be displayed on the interface. Valid values: "STANDARD" (default), "CARDS".

Usage considerations

Saving values

  • If a single item is selected, the system saves a single-item array.
  • If no selection is made, the system saves a null value into the component's saveInto field.

Using the choiceLayout parameter

  • The "COMPACT" option for choiceLayout should only be used for checkboxes with short choice labels, such as "Yes", "No", or "Maybe". When using the "COMPACT" option, labels with text longer than two lines will be truncated.
  • For long labels, use the "STACKED" option for choiceLayout.

Using the choiceLabels and choiceValue parameters

  • Choices display in the order defined in the choiceLabels parameter.
  • The choiceLabels argument cannot be null.
  • choiceLabels and choiceValues must be the same length.
  • choiceValues cannot contain nulls or duplicate values.

Examples

Use the interactive editor below to test out your code:

Checkbox with first and third values checked

Use the interactive editor below to test out your code:

Checkbox with no default values checked

Use the interactive editor below to test out your code:

Checkbox with cards style

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this component's compatibility with various features in Appian.
Feature Compatibility Note
Portals Compatible
Offline Mobile Compatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields Incompatible
Real-Time Custom Record Fields Incompatible
Process Reports Incompatible

You cannot use this function to configure a process report.
Process Events Incompatible

You cannot use this function to configure a process event node, such as a start event or timer event.

The following patterns include usage of the Checkbox Component.

  • Configure a Boolean Checkbox (Choice Components): Configure a checkbox that saves a boolean (true/false) value, and validate that the user selects the checkbox before submitting a form.

  • Dual Picklist Pattern (Choice Components, Cards, Checkboxes, Buttons): Use this pattern to view side-by-side lists and move items from one list to the other. The dual picklist is great for moving items from one state to another, like from active to inactive.

  • Inline Survey (Radio Buttons, Checkboxes, Buttons): Use this pattern to create a clean and easy to navigate survey.

  • Make a Component Required Based on a User Selection (Validation): Make a paragraph component conditionally required based on the user selection.

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