Check mark functionality is ....well wonky

[polska2180]

So here is what I got...

what i mean by wonky is that the boxes sometimes check or uncheck on select and often require multiple taps or clicks.  

It works a lot beter where OnSelect I have UpdateContext({ShowCard: "Do"}) but then it throws me into a bit of a loop because it remains selected even when I uncheck thus rechecking the box, so that doesn't work.

It would be nice if there was a place for unselect but I am not sure if that makes sense.  One other option would be using the above where OnSelect it shows the card but I would need a command for uncheck to unselect, not sure how to do that.

Anybody have a better way?...thanks for the help.

[tommyly]

 Here is what I'm following from your Action setup:

• When I check the checkbox:
  • OnSelect triggers
    • ShowCard is NOT equal to "Do", so I get a return value of false; however, since this false value is NOT in the context of an evaluation or variable assignment, it essentially does nothing
  • OnCheck triggers:
    • ShowCard is assigned to "Do"
    • Dynamically at the same time, the CheckMark.Reset property is evaluated as true
      • A true CheckMark.Reset value executes a reset
        
        • The checkbox reassigns itself to its default value.
          • Showcard continues to be equal to "Do", so the default value is conditionally (at that moment in time) equal to true
          • So the checkbox assigns itself--per its (conditional) default value--to true

In laymen terms, when you check your box, ShowCard = "Do". When ShowCard = "Do", your checkbox resets itself to true. So that would explain why your checkbox is wonky.

I think what you are trying to accomplish is made complicated by your attempts to assign a variable to reflect the inherent value of the checkbox. You're essentially trying to make the "ShowCard" variable equal (or correlated) to the trueness or falseness of CheckBox.Value. You don't have to do that. CheckBox.Value = true when checked and false when not checked.

For example, if I want to make TextBox1.Value = "Hello" when CheckBox1.Value is true and "Goodbye" when CheckBox1.Value = false, this is sort of my interpretation of what you are doing:

CheckBox1.OnCheck =
  UpdateContext({UserStatus: "Here"})

CheckBox1.OnUnCheck =
  UpdateContext({UserStatus: "Not Here"})

TextBox1.Value = 
  If(UserStatus = "Here", "Hello",
    If(UserStatus = "Not Here", GoodBye")
  )

This could be made simple by saying (no variable involved; CheckBox.value is the only value that needs to be evaluated):

CheckBox.OnCheck = [no syntax]
CheckBox.OnUnCheck = [no syntax]

TextBox1.Value =
  If(CheckBox.Value = True, "Hello", "Goodbye")

[polska2180]

Maybe I'm just dense and not seeing it but what would be a better way of going about it?

[tommyly]

I updated my previous response.

[tommyly]

If you can provide a practical example, then I can try to give you some practical ideas how to approach this checkbox.

[polska2180]

So I read again and again what you wrote and am having a little hard time following it because I don't understand how to disconnect the show card from the action of the checkbox...so can we use the example I have provided?

Again what you see in the image is how things are currently setup.  The goal is that there are 3 cards showing, when I press one of the checkboxes that card associated with the box only shows when I uncheck all 3 cards show again.  If I don't first uncheck and just click on a different checkbox, the first checkbox gets unchecked the checkbox I just pressed is active and checked and the card associated with that checkbox only shows.

Thanks.

[tommyly]

---

@polska2180 wrote:

Again what you see in the image is how things are currently setup.  The goal is that there are 3 cards showing, when I press one of the checkboxes that card associated with the box only shows when I uncheck all 3 cards show again.  If I don't first uncheck and just click on a different checkbox, the first checkbox gets unchecked the checkbox I just pressed is active and checked and the card associated with that checkbox only shows. 

With that information, I now more clearly see what you are doing. And I presume a gallery is involved. And you are correct (and I am wrong) that you will need to use a variable. This is because when a parent object (the gallery) tries to evaluate itself (e.g. filter its displayed records) based on its child (card's checkbox), it creates a circular reference. The child's existence is dependent on the parent. And now the checkbox makes the parent's existence dependent on the child. It's like when some married couples try to decide where to eat out. Wife wants to go where husband wants to go. Husband will go where wife wants to go. And so they end up not going out at all.

That said, you would go about it slightly differently. Consider gallery1:

I would set the checkbox (henceforth referred to as CheckBox1) with the following syntax. Bear in mind that we refer to these records as "Do", "See", "Think" for example-sake, but for real records, you would probably be referring to a unique ID.

CheckBox1.OnCheck =
  UpdateContext({ShowCard: thisItem.ColumnValue})

CheckBox1.OnUncheck=
  UpdateContext({ShowCard: Blank()})

So now, when you check the checkbox for {Do} (I'm using curly-braces to show it's a record), it correctly sets ShowCard to value "Do". And when you uncheck the checkbox for {Do}, it correctly blanks out the value of ShowCard. The problem is that if I check {Do} and then check {See} (and even if I check {Think}), it will correctly set ShowCard to the lastest checked item, but it will not uncheck the previous ones. Here's how we fix that:

CheckBox1.Default =
  ThisItem.ColumnValue = ShowCard

Don't ask me why, but for some reason when CheckBox1.Default = true or CheckBox1.Default = false, it acts like an out-of-the-box checkbox; but when you set it up with a unique evaluation like above, it will start automating itself. So now, when you check {Do}, it will do the following: it will assign ShowCard to "Do" and the checkboxes for {See} and {Think} now will be set to their default; and since each card (who selfishly refer to themselves as ThisItem) no longer have their ColumnValue equal to ShowCard (which now equals "Do"), they become false (which means unchecked). Note that if you click really fast, the checkboxes for {Do}, {See}, and {Think} may still appear a bit wonky--as you've mentioned; however, this will be less of an issue after the next step.

gallery1.Items =
  Filter(myList,
    If(IsBlank(ShowCard),
      true,
      ColumnValue = ShowCard
    )
  )

Now you are filtering the parent gallery (gallery1) based on ShowCard. It's important to put the If-Statement because if you omit it, you may find yourself with a blank gallery that has no checkboxes to check.

I opted to be a bit longwinded because I thought it would be to your benefit to see how the events and variables behaved in relationship with each other. Let me know if this answers your question.

In the screenshots, my bottom textbox is used for debugging purposes and is set to:

TextBox2.Text =
  "Currently Selected Record: " & ShowCard

Check {Do}

Uncheck {Do}

Check {See}

Uncheck {See} (same as two screenshots above)... and then Check {Think}

[polska2180]

Thanks I will try that when I get home. I'm actually working with cards so pressing the checkbox shows just that one "do" card unchecking shows 4 cards actually or checking a different box shows the card corresponding to that card

[polska2180]

So I'm trying to follow along but probably due to my newness in powerapps about a month I'm struggling too. I have 3 cards do think and see they are called that and really I'm looking into suggesions in what I should put into each box for onselect or on unsellect default etc. Conceptual references don't seem to click because I just don't know it that well.

[polska2180 · Accepted solution]

So I got some help to help me figure out what you actually said and was able to get the solution which is. OnCheck: False OnUcheck: False OnSelect: False Default: I set it to SetCheckbox to allow me to control when I want the box to be checked by default or not then in the card(s) OnVisible: I set the for Do card End_Checkbox.value for See See_Checkbox.value and so on.