Use the `choiceInput()` function to create choice inputs in your forms. It allows users to select one or more options from a list of choices.
***
## Basic usage
```javascript
import { Composer } from "formsmd";
const composer = new Composer({
id: "my-form"
});
composer.choiceInput("interest", {
question: "What is your interest?",
choices: ["Programming", "Design", "Marketing"]
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
#! id = my-form
interest = ChoiceInput(
| question = What is your interest?
| choices = Programming, Design, Marketing
)
```
### Required
Add the `required` parameter to make the field mandatory:
```javascript
composer.choiceInput("interest", {
question: "What is your interest?",
choices: ["Programming", "Design", "Marketing"],
required: true
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
interest* = ChoiceInput(
| question = What is your interest?
| choices = Programming, Design, Marketing
| required
)
```
***
## Function overview
The following is the overview of the function:
```typescript
choiceInput(name: string, params: object)
```
### Arguments
| Name | Type | Description |
| -------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `name` | `string` | A unique name for your form field that you'll use to identify the user's response.\* |
| `params` | `object` | An object containing all the configuration parameters for your choice input field (see the [parameters section](#parameters) below for the full list of options). |
{% hint style="danger" %} \*Avoid values for the `name` argument which may be the names of HTML attributes, such as `"name"`, `"role"`, `"id"`, etc. This is because by default, the form's template string is first sanitized using [DOMPurify](https://github.com/cure53/DOMPurify), and these values may be removed to prevent DOM clobbering.
{% endhint %}
***
## Parameters
### Shared parameters
These parameters are common to all form fields:
| Name | Type | Description |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `question` (required) | `string` | The main question or label of the form field. |
| `required` | `true` (`boolean`) | When set, the field becomes required. |
| `description` | `string` | Any extra information that the user may need to fill out the form. Appears right below the question. |
| `fieldSize` | `"sm"` | When set to `"sm"`, the font sizes of the question, description, and answer are made smaller. |
| `labelStyle` | `"classic"` | When set to `"classic"`, the question and description of the form field are made smaller. |
| `subfield` | `true` (`boolean`) | When set, the question and description of the form field are made smaller. Functionally the same as setting `labelStyle` to `"classic"`. |
| `disabled` | `true` (`boolean`) | When set, the input is disabled. |
| `autofocus` | `true` (`boolean`) | When set, the input will be automatically focused when the parent slide becomes active, or immediately after page load. |
| `id` | `string` | The `id` attribute of the form field container. |
| `classNames` | `string[]` | The CSS class names of the form field. [See the available CSS utility classes](/content/css-utility-classes.md). |
| `attrs` | `Array<{ name: string, value: string }>` | Other HTML attributes of the form field. Each attribute has a `name` and `value` property. |
| `displayCondition` | `{ dependencies: string[], condition: string }` | Controls when the field is shown. The `dependencies` lists the fields to watch, and `condition` is the expression that must be true to show the field. The `condition` must be a valid [Nunjucks](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/) expression. [See example](#conditional-display). |
### Choice input specific parameters
| Name | Type | Description |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `choices` (required) | `Array` | Array of choices that can be either strings (e.g., `["Choice 1", "Choice 2"]`) or objects with a `label` for display text and an optional `value` (e.g., `[{ label: "Choice 1", value: "c1" }]`). When using objects, if `value` is not provided, `label` is used as the value. |
| `multiple` | `true` (`boolean`) | Allow multiple selections. |
| `horizontal` | `true` (`boolean`) | Display choices horizontally. |
| `hideFormText` | `true` (`boolean`) | For multiple selections, when set, the form text **"Choose as many as you like"** is hidden. |
| `checked` | `string[]` | Array of pre-checked choice values. |
***
## Examples
### Choice input with value-label pairs
Value-label pairs allow different values to be stored than what's shown to users. The `label` appears for users to select, while the `value` is stored in the form data. This pattern is particularly useful for storing concise identifiers in a database while displaying more descriptive text in the interface.\
\
Please note, for `checked` to work with value-label pairs, it must contain the `value`, not the `label`.
```javascript
composer.choiceInput("experience", {
question: "Select levels you've completed",
choices: [
{ label: "Beginner (0-1 years)", value: "beginner" },
{ label: "Intermediate (2-4 years)", value: "intermediate" },
{ label: "Advanced (5+ years)", value: "advanced" }
],
checked: ["beginner", "intermediate"],
multiple: true,
required: true
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
experience* = ChoiceInput(
| question = Select levels you've completed
| choices = "beginner" Beginner (0-1 years), "intermediate" Intermediate (2-4 years), "advanced" Advanced (5+ years)
| checked = begineer, intermediate
| multiple
)
```
### Horizontal choice input
Create a horizontally aligned choice input using the `horizontal` parameter:
```javascript
composer.choiceInput("subscription", {
question: "Choose your subscription plan",
choices: ["Basic", "Pro", "Enterprise"],
horizontal: true
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
subscription = ChoiceInput(
| question = Choose your subscription plan
| choices = Basic, Pro, Enterprise
| horizontal
)
```
### Styled choice input with custom attributes
Add CSS classes and other HTML attributes using the `classNames` and `attrs` parameters:
```javascript
composer.choiceInput("preferences", {
question: "Select your preferences",
choices: ["Email notifications", "SMS alerts", "Push notifications"],
multiple: true,
classNames: ["col-6", "xs:col-6"],
attrs: [
{ name: "style", value: "margin-top: 1rem;" }
]
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
[.col-6 .xs:col-6 style="margin-top: 1rem;"]
preferences = ChoiceInput(
| question = Select your preferences
| choices = Email notifications, SMS alerts, Push notifications
| multiple
)
```
Please [see the available CSS utility classes](/content/css-utility-classes.md).
### Conditional display
Conditionally show or hide a choice input using the `displayCondition` parameter. It works as follows:
* `dependencies` lists the fields to watch.
* `condition` is the expression that must be true to show the field. This must be a valid [Nunjucks](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/) expression.
For instance, in the example below, the programming languages choice will only show up if the user indicates they are a developer.
```javascript
composer.choiceInput("position", {
question: "What is your position?",
choices: ["Developer", "Designer", "Manager"],
required: true
});
composer.choiceInput("languages", {
question: "Which programming languages do you use?",
choices: ["JavaScript", "Python", "Java", "C++"],
multiple: true,
displayCondition: {
dependencies: ["position"],
condition: "position == 'Developer'"
}
});
```
Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:
```
position* = ChoiceInput(
| question = What is your position?
| choices = Developer, Designer, Manager
)
::: [{$ position $}]
{% if position == "Developer" %}
languages = ChoiceInput(
| question = Which programming languages do you use?
| choices = JavaScript, Python, Java, C++
| multiple
)
{% endif %}
:::
```
---
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Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.forms.md/input-types/choice-input.md?ask=
```
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