I have begun using the "Display as" option of "Checkbox List" for reference objects that allow multiples when I need to keep track of which are selected from a list of choices.
While this basically works, there is a problem, but first a brief introduction. The idea is that a user will revisit the page several times as a process develops and check (or uncheck) more of the choices. They are not necessarily checked off in a top to bottom sequence or even in the same order from instance to instance. The list of options must be data driven based on lists that are maintained elsewhere. This works great except for one problem.
If users exclusively click in the checkbox area, all is well, but if they click in the row to the right of the checkbox, the behavior is to leave only that line checked and uncheck any previously checked items. Users may not notice this until they return later or something goes wrong elsewhere. This also makes it hopeless to add any other operations that can be applied to the items in the list, since clicking "View" or "Edit" for example would deselect all other choices.
Is there a way to prevent this behavior? While I realize this is typical behavior seen in interfaces such as a file explorer, it is not very desirable in a database-type application. There is always the checkbox in the header area to deselect everything if that is desred. The fact that one can recall all the saved settings (checked/unchecked nature of each choice) is great, but it should be more durable.
If there is no way to adjust this behavior, I'll likely end up using a Swap select, which is not elegant for this particular interface nor wide enough for the content.
Thanks
Roy Gerber
Using 5.1(a) 1441 (yes, still...)
