[RESOLVED] Radio buttons _should_ be checked

vikette

This is frustrating. I'm just trying to prefill some radio buttons with data from a database. The switch statement below seems to assign the variables correctly and writes out (what looks to be) correct HTML. However, the radio buttons themselves still look at me with 3 blank little eyes.

$ylva=$row['ylva'];
switch($ylva){
case "NoE": 
	$v1=" checked";$v2="";$v3="";
	break; 
case "XXX": 
	$v1=""; $v2=" checked"; $v3=""; 
	break; 
case "unsure": 
	$v1=""; $v2=""; $v3=" checked"; 
	break; 
default:  

	$v1=""; $v2=""; $v3=""; 
	break;
}
echo $ylva . "<br>"; // retrieves info correctly
echo $v1 . " | " . $v2 . " | " . $v3 ."<br>"; // assigns variables correctly

echo "<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE'" . $v1 . ">NoE<br>"; 
echo "<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'" . $v2 . ">XXX<br>";
echo "<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure'" .  $v3 . ">???<br>";

Under the page's "view source", the following appears to be written correctly:

<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE' checked>
<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'>
<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure'>

Any help appreciated!

halojoy

well, I cant understand

if the source is okay, then the page should show it
if it is within a form and the style is a black dot for checked

here is an example

<form name="myform" action="http://www.mydomain.com/myformhandler.cgi" method="POST">
<div align="center"><br>
<input type="radio" name="group1" value="Milk"> Milk<br>
<input type="radio" name="group1" value="Butter" checked> Butter<br>
<input type="radio" name="group1" value="Cheese"> Cheese
<hr>
<input type="radio" name="group2" value="Water"> Water<br>
<input type="radio" name="group2" value="Beer"> Beer<br>
<input type="radio" name="group2" value="Wine" checked> Wine<br>
</div>
</form>

try the following, making a test of value $ylva

$ylva=$row['ylva'];
// test
echo $ylva;

switch($ylva){
case "NoE":
    $v1=" checked";$v2="";$v3="";
    break;
case "XXX":
    $v1=""; $v2=" checked"; $v3="";
    break;
case "unsure":
    $v1=""; $v2=""; $v3=" checked";
    break;
default:  

    $v1=""; $v2=""; $v3="";
    break;
}

vikette

Thanks for answering Halojoy.

I checked everything you suggested. The code is within a form, there are no interesting form styles, the html validates, it displays the same way on IE and Firefox, and $ylva tests correctly.

I figure that either something is wrong with this syntax,

<input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE' checked>

or there is something in the HTML which is interfering. I'm gonna test the code on it's own page.

endurox

Radio buttons with the same name are grouped. If you insist on having the same name value for the input fields try using check boxes.

And to be anal about your html, to validate the code try using " checked=checked"

vikette

I don't insist... why would you say that?

They should grouped radio buttons, with "ylva" being the name of the group. Are you saying that that's interfering with the variable $ylva being retrieved?

endurox

try setting the default case to have v1 checked. if this always comes bak then u know the data isnt being retrieved

vikette

It doesn't change the display. What's more ... just typing in checked (or checked=checked) instead of the variable doesn't work either!

The data is definitely being retrieved correctly ...

echo $v1 . " - " . $v2 . " -  " . $v3 ."<br>";

echoing $v1-$v3 will produce something like " - - checked".

This is annoying, I have several similar pages which work correctly and the source code looks the same.

halojoy

I must say this is the most puzzling problem I have seen in a long time here.
And I have read many strange things 😃

I guess you are using method="POST"
Probably, I dont know, this is the method for radio button.

Not that I think this will solve it, but it does not hurt to try.
This way of quoting

<?php

echo '<input name="ylva" type="radio" value="NoE"'. $v1 . '>NoE<br>';
echo '<input name="ylva" type="radio" value="XXX"' . $v2 . '>XXX<br>';
echo '<input name="ylva" type="radio" value="unsure"' .  $v3 . '>???<br>';

// we can also try to change the order, put type first
// but this shouldnt change a thing, normally
echo '<input type="radio" name="ylva" value="NoE"'. $v1 . '>NoE<br>';
echo '<input type="radio" name="ylva" value="XXX"' . $v2 . '>XXX<br>';
echo '<input type="radio" name="ylva" value="unsure"' .  $v3 . '>???<br>';

?>

halojoy

this example is from
http://www.w3schools.com/

they use
checked="checked"

<html>
<body>

<form action="">
Male: 
<input type="radio" checked="checked"
name="Sex" value="male">
<br>
Female: 
<input type="radio"
name="Sex" value="female">
</form>

<p>
When a user clicks on a radio-button, 
the button becomes checked, 
and all other buttons with the same name become unchecked
</p>

</body>
</html>

ahundiak

Just for grins, try pasting in the complete html form as shown using view source. It's possible that a simple typo or misplaced bracket is causing the problem and you are just not seeing it.

vikette

Right ... here's the page source for 5 records. As I was doing this, I changed the limit on the SELECT statement so you wouldn't have 300 records to go through. But, ONE was suddenly ticked! I changed the limit several times and a different button was ticked each time. Not the last one, either. And not always XXX or NoE or whatever. Maybe, it's something in the HTML one the database records which is the issue?

Oh, checked="checked" is now the flavour, but is only mandatory in XHTML (this page is ancient HTML 4.x stuff). Tried it anyway with no luck.

<form name="pubs" action="pubsHandling.php" method="post">

<table class='data'summary='publication details'>

<tr><th>PMID</th><th>Details</th><th>NoE?</th></tr>

<tr class='bgLight'><td>17334367</td><td><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17334367">Skok JA, Gisler R, Novatchkova M, Farmer D, de Laat W, Busslinger M.</a> <br>Reversible contraction by looping of the  Tcra and Tcrb loci in rearranging thymocytes.<br> <span title="Nature immunology">Nat Immunol</span>. 2007 Apr;8(4):378-87. Epub 2007 Mar 4. </td><td><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE'>NoE<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'>XXX<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure' checked>???<br></td></tr>

<tr class='trans'><td>17283331</td><td><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17283331">Arai S, Miyake K, Voit R, Nemoto S, Wakeland EK, Grummt I, Miyazaki T.</a> <br>Death-effector domain-containing protein  DEDD is an inhibitor of mitotic Cdk1/cyclin B1.<br> <span title="Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America">Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A</span>. 2007 Feb 13;104(7):2289-94. Epub 2007 Feb 5. </td><td><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE' checked>NoE<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'>XXX<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure'>???<br></td></tr>

<tr class='bgLight'><td>17277772</td><td><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17277772">Wissmann M, Yin N, Muller JM, Greschik H, Fodor BD, Jenuwein T, Vogler C, Schneider R, Gunther T, Buettner R, Metzger E, Schule R.</a> <br>Cooperative demethylation by JMJD2C and  LSD1 promotes androgen receptor-dependent gene expression.<br> <span title="Nature cell biology">Nat Cell Biol</span>. 2007 Mar;9(3):347-53. Epub 2007 Feb 4. </td><td><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE' checked>NoE<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'>XXX<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure'>???<br></td></tr>

<tr class='trans'><td>17274213</td><td><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17274213">Jayadevappa R, Johnson JC, Bloom BS, Nidich S, Desai S, Chhatre S, Raziano DB, Schneider R.</a> <br>Effectiveness of transcendental meditation  on functional capacity and quality of life of African Americans with congestive  heart failure: a randomized control study.<br> <span title="Ethnicity &amp; disease">Ethn Dis</span>. 2007 Winter;17(1):72-7. Summary for patients in: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17278286">Ethn Dis. 2007 Winter;17(1):172-3</a>. </td><td><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE'>NoE<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX' checked>XXX<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure'>???<br></td></tr>

<tr class='bgLight'><td>17272309</td><td><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&amp;Cmd=ShowDetailView&amp;TermToSearch=17272309">Martinez R, Setien F, Voelter C, Casado S, Quesada MP, Schackert G, Esteller M.</a> <br>CpG island promoter hypermethylation of  the pro-apoptotic gene caspase-8 is a common hallmark of relapsed glioblastoma  multiforme.<br> <span title=Carcinogenesis>Carcinogenesis</span>. 2007 Jun;28(6):1264-8. Epub 2007 Feb 1. </td><td><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='NoE'>NoE<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='XXX'>XXX<br><input name='ylva' type='radio' value='unsure' checked>???<br></td></tr>

</table>
</form>

vikette

Attached is a screenshot of the form area ... The user (there's only one, actually) needs to go through and decide whether each record is NoE (ours) XXX (not ours) or ??? (unsure).

NogDog

endurox wrote:
Radio buttons with the same name are grouped. If you insist on having the same name value for the input fields try using check boxes.

And to be anal about your html, to validate the code try using " checked=checked"

checked="checked" is only required if you are using a XHTML doctype, and if so then the value must be quoted (as I did here). If you are using a HTML doctype, then the value assignment is optional, and just using checked should work fine.

In any case, I would recommend running the resulting page output through the [X]HTML validator and see if there is something wrong/missing with your form elements that may be throwing off your browser.

vikette

It's valid "HTML 4.01 Transitional", no warnings, according to the W3C ...

vikette

O.k. - I said it wasn't always the last record that's correctly ticked. In fact, I think I'm going a bit delusional, it is. I keep rearranging them and it seems to be working out consistently that the last one is ticked.

ahundiak

vikette,

Each row of radio buttons in your html table needs to have it's own unique group name. If you bring up exactly what you pasted in a browser you will notice that the very last radio element is indeed checked. If you check any other radio element then the last one is cleared and the one you picked is checked. This happens because as far as the browser is concerned, all the radio elements belong to the same group.

What you need is a unique identifier for each row, perhaps the pmid, and to use this identifier when naming the radio elements.

So you end up with one group of buttons per row.

vikette

Your suggestion works just fine! Normally the "only the last one works" is pretty easy to solve - never had it with the browser rendering though.

Thanks sooo much for all your help, guys! Virtual pints all around.