Have check box as field type

[Amishra]

Currently PPM has different types of fields like Drop downs, ACL's, text etc. Can we add another field type as 'check box'?

[Etienne_Canaud]

So far the way to "workaround" the checkbox is to use "Yes/No Button" validation, which displays two Radio Buttons with Yes/No, saving the field value as "Y" or "N". 

This is equivalent to a checkbox, but I agree that a "real" checkbox would be more user friendly in some case, so let's open this idea for votes.

Thanks for your input as always!

[Amishra]

Appreciate it Etienne, yes that is what we do, Drop down list or even ACL as work-around. 

It was more around user-friendliness. 

Thanks

[Etienne_Canaud]

Quick question: Why do you use ACL or DDL to replace a checkbox? Why not use the Yes/No Radio Buttons? It's much better as a replacement of checkbox as it only takes one mouse click to set the field value:

As a bonus it also supports NULL field value as no radio button will be selected in that situation - but feel free to set a Constant default value to it if you don't like null values.

[Amishra]

Well not saying that we dont use radio buttons, but checkboxes are something that would be handy as well in PPM. 

See example below - checkboxes would have been better; check this is done, check this is done..  as i mentioned it is just a user experience thing. 

[Etienne_Canaud]

I get that Checkbox would be the best option here, but yes/no button would also be better than DDL on your screenshot, so in the meantime you might want to leverage them for immediate usability improvement.

Adding a new validation type is a significant & impactful change, so the votes bar before we consider it for implementation is pretty high - in other words, it may not be available any time soon and anything already available it worth considering.

[Amishra]

Absolutely get that and therefore parked it here; lets see how much of traction we get here.

with re: to screenshots it is just an example, the Yes/No radio button only has options like yes and no.. the dropdowns above has Yes and N/A (so only reason the business preferred a checkbox is if they dont select anything it means N/A according to them)

Anyways this is one use-case but the underlying fact is check box will be useful and impactful when it comes to user experience - that is my take. 

[Etienne_Canaud]

We've started working on this feature - however the implementation is closer from an ACL than it is from a Yes/No Radio Button.

The way it's implemented is by creating a new validation field type (CheckBox) which is validated by a List (same way as a DDL or an ACL would be). Then all options from the list will be displayed in the field, and checking the checkbox next to each value will result in that value from the list being selected for the field, just like if they were selected in an ACL.

This also means that converting a "Yes/No Radio Button" to this new checkbox may not be completely straightforward: You can create a single List value with whatever text you'll want to display next to the checkbox as the Meaning, and "Y" as the Code. This will behave like the "Yes/No Radio Button" when it's selected, but if it's not checked, the field will be empty, and won't hold the "N" value like a Radio Button would.  This may require some change to your logic if you make the distinction between "N" and "null" in the field value.

Like all other "Accepted" ideas, the current plan - which is always subject to changes - is to deliver this in next PPM version (9.63), tentatively planned for late November/early December.

Comments and further feedback are welcome.

[Amishra]

Thanks for the update Etienne - i am happy with the logic MicroFocus is going with. 

Hoping to see this come out soon 🙂 

Ajay

[Etienne_Canaud]

FYI, since this feature was very impactful, we've decided to defer it to PPM 9.64. It should be available very soon for testing on PPM Beta for anyone participating in our Design Review program.