Display Control Types for Profiler Questions

Display Control Types

When a variable is selected from the Variable Selection dialog box you must select a Display Control Type and specify how the question is to be displayed on the profiler.  The Display Control Type depends on the type of variable selected.  Each Display Control Type may have a number of fields which can be defined by the user to control the type of input that may be made by the panellist.

The container content for either the page or the question can be edited to make the panellist aware of validation rules.  This information could also be provided in a validation or required message and may be particularly useful for date, numeric or text field validation.

(a) Dates

If a date type variable is selected (for example Date of Birth) the only display control available currently is DatePicker.  DatePicker has the following optional fields that may be specified to restrict the dates entered.

  •  Minimum – the earliest date that may be entered by the panellist can either be typed into this field directly or selected from the calendar by clicking on the calendar button .
  •  Maximum – the latest date that may be entered by the panellist can either be typed into the field directly or selected from the calendar by clicking on the calendar button .
  •  Invalid validation message – select a message using the button, or click on to clear it.  If a validation message is not set the default validation message will be used (as defined in Kentico UI Cultures).

Note that if no minimum or maximum validation is entered, the panellist can select any valid date within 100 years before or after the run date.

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

(b) Numeric Fields

If a numeric variable is selected (for example NoInHH) you may select either NumericTextBox or Slider. 

NumericTextBox

NumericTextBox has the following optional fields that may be specified to restrict the value entered.

  • Minimum – this specifies the lowest number that may be entered by the panellist in answer to this question.
  • Maximum – this specifies the largest number that may be entered by the panellist in answer to this question.
  • Maximum Length – this specifies the number of digits that may be entered, e.g. if set to 3, the largest number that could be entered would be 999.
  • Regular Expression – this is used to configure a regular expression or pattern of allowable inputs. This provides a concise and flexible way of matching strings of numbers that are valid inputs.  For example, if the regular expression ^[1-5]*$ is used, the panellist can only enter a number made up of the digits 1 to 5.
  • Invalid validation message – select a message using the (...) button, or click on remove (X) to clear it.  If a validation message is not set the default validation message will be used (as defined in UI Cultures).

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

Slider

Slider has the following optional fields that may be specified to restrict the number entered.

  • Minimum – this specifies the lowest number that may be selected using the slider.  The default value is zero.
  • Maximum – this specifies the largest number that may be selected using the slider.  The default value is 10,000.
  • Length – this specifies the length of the slider control displayed on screen.  The default value is 500.

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

(c)    Text Fields

If a text type question is selected (for example PhoneNumber) the only display control available is TextBox. 

TextBox has the following optional fields that may be specified to restrict the text entered.

  • Text Mode – SingleLine or MultipleLines.  The default text mode is SingleLine.
  • Maximum Length – this specifies the number of characters that may be entered, e.g. if set to 12, up to twelve characters can be entered by the panellist.
  • Note that if the text mode is set to MultipleLines, the line break character will be treated as one character
  • Regular Expression – this is used to configure a regular expression or pattern of allowable inputs. This provides a concise and flexible way of matching strings of characters that are valid inputs.  For example, if the regular expression ^0[0-9][01-9]*$ is used, the panellist can only enter a character string which begins with ‘0’ and continues with a combination of numbers that are valid for UK telephone numbers.
  • Invalid validation message – select a message using the (...) button, or click remove (X) to clear it.  If a validation message is not set the default validation message will be used (as defined in UI Cultures).
  • Invalid length message – select a message using the (...) button, or click on remove (X) to clear it.  If an invalid length message is not set the default validation message will be used (as defined in UI Cultures).

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows for single line text mode:

Or for multiple lines text mode:

(d) Yes/No (Boolean)

If a Boolean type variable is selected (for example InternetUser), the only display control available is CheckBox.  There are no editable properties for this control.

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

(e) Single Values

If a single code type question is selected (such as Annual Salary) you may select either DropDownList or RadioButtonList.

DropDownList

There are no editable properties for this control.

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

RadioButtonList

RadioButtonList has the following optional fields that may be used to change the way possible answers are displayed.

  • Repeat Columns – this specifies the number of columns to use to display the different answers.  The default value is 3.
  • Repeat Direction – this may be set to Horizontal or Vertical to indicate whether the values are listed in columns horizontally or vertically.  The default value is Horizontal.

When the profiler is run, the question and possible answers will be displayed as follows:

If the Repeat Direction is set to Vertical, with Repeat Columns still set to 3, the question will appear as follows:

(f) Multiple Values

If a multiple code type question is selected (such as DailyNews or SundayNewspapersRead) the only display control available is CheckBoxList.

CheckBoxList has the following optional fields that may be used to change the way that possible answers are displayed.

  • Repeat Columns – this specifies the number of columns to use to display the different answers.  The default value is 3.
  • Repeat Direction – this may be set to Horizontal or Vertical to indicate whether the values are listed in columns horizontally or vertically.  The default value is Horizontal.

When the profiler is run, the question will be displayed as follows:

If the Repeat Direction is set to Vertical, with Repeat Columns still set to 3, the question will appear as follows:

Exclusive Answers

For multiple code type questions an exclusive answer may be selected from the drop-down box.  If an exclusive answer is selected then no other answer may be selected at the same time.  If no exclusive answer is set this field will display None.

For example, if we use the multi-code question SundayNewspapersRead, the dropdown list for the question shows all available values.

If “ None of these” is selected as the exclusive answer, the panellist may not select None of these along with any other newspaper.  If None is selected, there is no exclusive answer and the panellist can select one or more newspapers as required.

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