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On this page
  • Basic usage
  • Required
  • Function overview
  • Arguments
  • Parameters
  • Shared parameters
  • Select box specific parameters
  • Examples
  • Select box with value-label pairs
  • Select box with custom placeholder
  • Styled select box with custom attributes
  • Conditional display

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  1. Input types

Select box

Create select boxes in your forms.

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Last updated 4 months ago

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Use the selectBox() function to create select boxes in your forms. It uses the HTML <select> element which provides a dropdown list of options.


Basic usage

import { Composer } from "formsmd";

const composer = new Composer({
  id: "my-form"
});

composer.selectBox("country", {
  question: "Which country are you from?",
  options: ["United States", "Canada", "United Kingdom"]
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

#! id = my-form

country = SelectBox(
  | question = Which country are you from?
  | options = United States, Canada, United Kingdom
)

Required

Add the required parameter to make the field mandatory:

composer.selectBox("country", {
  question: "Which country are you from?",
  options: ["United States", "Canada", "United Kingdom"],
  required: true
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

country* = SelectBox(
  | question = Which country are you from?
  | options = United States, Canada, United Kingdom
)

Function overview

The following is the overview of the function:

selectBox(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


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[]

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 }

Select box specific parameters

Name
Type
Description

options (required)

Array<string | { label: string, value?: string }>

Array of options that can be either strings (e.g., ["Option 1", "Option 2"]) or objects with a label for display text and an optional value (e.g., [{ label: "Option 1", value: "opt1" }]). When using objects, if value is not provided, label is used as the value.

selected

string

Pre-selected option value.

placeholder

string

Sets the placeholder option of the select.


Examples

Select box with value-label pairs

Value-label pairs allow different values to be stored than what's shown to users. The label appears in the dropdown 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 selected to work with value-label pairs, it must contain the value, not the label.

composer.selectBox("experience", {
  question: "Years of experience",
  options: [
    { label: "Junior (0-2 years)", value: "junior" },
    { label: "Mid-level (3-5 years)", value: "mid" },
    { label: "Senior (6+ years)", value: "senior" }
  ],
  selected: "mid",
  required: true
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

experience* = SelectBox(
  | question = Years of experience
  | options = "junior" Junior (0-2 years), "mid" Mid-level (3-5 years), "senior" Senior (6+ years)
  | selected = mid
)

Select box with custom placeholder

composer.selectBox("language", {
  question: "What's your preferred programming language?",
  description: "Choose the language you're most comfortable with",
  placeholder: "Select a language",
  options: ["JavaScript", "Python", "Java", "C++"],
  required: true
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

language* = SelectBox(
  | question = What's your preferred programming language?
  | description = Choose the language you're most comfortable with
  | placeholder = Select a language
  | options = JavaScript, Python, Java, C++
)

Styled select box with custom attributes

Add CSS classes and other HTML attributes using the classNames and attrs parameters. Please note, these class names and attributes are added to the <div> or <fieldset> container that contains the actual select field.

composer.selectBox("jobRole", {
  question: "Select your role",
  options: ["Developer", "Designer", "Manager"],
  classNames: ["col-6", "xs:col-6"],
  attrs: [
    { name: "style", value: "font-size: 18px;" }
  ]
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

[.col-6 .xs:col-6 style="font-size: 18px;"]
jobRole = SelectBox(
  | question = Select your role
  | options = Developer, Designer, Manager
)

Conditional display

Conditionally show or hide a select box using the displayCondition parameter. It works as follows:

  • dependencies lists the fields to watch.

For instance, in the example below, the framework select will only show up if the user indicates they are a developer.

composer.selectBox("jobTitle", {
  question: "What is your job title?",
  required: true,
  options: ["Developer", "Designer", "Manager"]
});

composer.selectBox("framework", {
  question: "Which framework do you primarily use?",
  options: ["React", "Vue", "Angular"],
  displayCondition: {
    dependencies: ["jobTitle"],
    condition: "jobTitle == 'Developer'"
  }
});

Generates the following Markdown-like syntax:

jobTitle* = SelectBox(
  | question = What is your job title?
  | options = Developer, Designer, Manager
)

::: [{$ jobTitle $}]
{% if jobTitle == "Developer" %}
framework = SelectBox(
  | question = Which framework do you primarily use?
  | options = React, Vue, Angular
)
{% endif %}
:::

An object containing all the configuration parameters for your select box field (see the below for the full list of options).

*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 , and these values may be removed to prevent DOM clobbering.

The CSS class names of the form field. .

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 expression. .

Please .

condition is the expression that must be true to show the field. This must be a valid expression.

DOMPurify
see the available CSS utility classes
Nunjucks
parameters section
See the available CSS utility classes
Nunjucks
See example
Select box