Updating hidden input in HTML Form with Javascript

Question

I have an HTML form with a series of questions in 3 groups (A, B and C) and users can only answer the questions from either group. I have a script that validates their input to check that they have answered all the questions in one group only.

I would like to capture which group of questions they answered and send that as a hidden input. I've setup a hidden input like this:

<input type="hidden" name="type" value="" id="type">

and ideally I would like to replace this on submit withe something like:

<input type="hidden" name="type" value="groupA" id="type">

I've setup a fiddle showing the form/script:

http://jsfiddle.net/fmdataweb/CGp8X/

and here's my current validation script:

$('#editRecord').on('submit', validate);
$('input.sectionclear').on('click', function() {
    $(this).next().find('input').attr('checked', false);
});
function validate(ev) {
    var sectionsTouched = $('tbody').has(':checked'),
       inputs = {},
       errorMessage = '';

    if (sectionsTouched.length === 0) {
        errorMessage = 'Please check something before submitting.';
    } else if (sectionsTouched.length > 1) {
        errorMessage = 'Please complete A or B or C only';
    } else {
        sectionsTouched.find('input').each(function(i, e) {
            var me = $(e), name = me.attr('name');
            inputs[name] = !!inputs[name] || me.is(':checked');
        });
        $.each(inputs, function(k, v) {
            if (!v) {
                errorMessage = 'It appears you have not completed all questions.';
            }
            return v;
        });            
    }
    if (errorMessage !== '') {
        $('#error').html(errorMessage);
        ev.preventDefault();
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}


function seriesNames() {
    var names = [];
    $('h3').each(function(i, e) {
        names.push($(e).text());
    });
    return names;
}

function namesCommaDelimited(namesArr, conjunction) {
    var retval = '', i, l = namesArr.length - 1, delimiter = '';
    if (l === 0) {
       return retval;
    }
    for (i = 0; i < l; i += 1) {
        retval += delimiter;
        retval += namesArr[i];
        delimiter = ', ';
    }
    retval += delimiter;
    retval += conjunction;
    retval += ' ';
    retval += namesArr[l];
    return retval;
}

Is it possible to extend this in some way to capture which group of questions they answered? The HTML table has 3 tags to identify each of the groups:

<tbody class="groupA">

Tim Hobbs · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-21 23:59:51Z

I hope you aren't married to your code :)

It was a bit difficult to follow, so I just whipped up a prototype that hopefully you can follow and should allow you to do what you are looking for: restrict answers to a particular form. I also put some simple validation in to make sure the form is filled out completely and toggle the button off if the form is invalid. Now for the code:

HTML

<h2>Table A</h2>
<table id="tableA" border="1">
    <tr>
        <td>
            A1
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="a1" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="a1" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            A2
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="a2" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="a2" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            A3
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="a3" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="a3" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

<h2>Table B</h2>
<table id="tableB" border="1">
    <tr>
        <td>
            B1
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="b1" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="b1" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            B2
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="b2" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="b2" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            B3
        </td>
        <td>
            <input type="radio" name="b3" value="1" /> Yes
            <input type="radio" name="b3" value="0" /> No
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

<p>
    <button id="submit">Submit</button>
    <button id="reset">Reset</button>
</p>

<input type="hidden" id="activeTable" />

JS

window.ns = {};
ns.activeTable = null;
ns.validate = function() {
    // Simple validation
    // If we don't have 3 checked radio buttons, it is invalid
    var checked = $("#" + ns.activeTable).find("input[type=radio]:checked");
    var valid = (checked || []).length === 3;
    $("#submit").prop("disabled", !valid);
    return valid;
};

ns.validate();

$("#submit").click(function() {
    var valid = ns.validate;
    if (valid == false) {
        alert("You must complete the form!");
        return;
    }

    var results = $("#" + ns.activeTable).find("input[type=radio]:checked");
    var output = ns.activeTable + " Results\n";
    $.each(results, function(idx, data) {
        output += "\t" + $(this).prop("name") + 
            " - " + $(this).val() + "\n";
    });
    alert(output);
    $("#activeTable").val(ns.activeTable);
});

$("#reset").click(function() {
    $("input[type=radio]").prop("checked", false);
    ns.activeTable = null;
    ns.validate();
});

$("input[type=radio]").click(function() {
    var selectedTable = $(this).closest("table");
    if (ns.activeTable != null && 
        selectedTable.prop("id") != ns.activeTable) {
        alert("Invalid form selection. Onlye selections from " + 
              ns.activeTable + " are allowed");
        $(this).prop("checked", false);
    } else {
        ns.activeTable = selectedTable.prop("id");
    }
    ns.validate();
});

CSS

Not required, just wanted to make it look nice :)

html { margin: 10px; }
table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: 20px; }
table td { border: 3px solid #CCC; padding: 5px; }
table td:nth-child(1) { width: 75%; }
table td:nth-child(2) { text-align: center; }
h2 { font-size: 1.8em; font-weight; bold }
button { padding: 5px; border-radius: 15px; background-color: #CCC; 
         width: 100px; }

Finally, see it in action: jsFiddle

I am using the table id to determine which form is "active" and storing that value. This is how I can restrict which form the user must use.

The validation is simple: it just makes sure 3 checkboxes are checked for the current form. This works for the example, but you'd want something more robust unless every form was the same number of questions.

The validation also control when the submit button is enabled. There is also a reset button to clear the radio button values so you can try it again.

Hope this proves useful If not, I still had fun :)

EDIT

Boy, am I a dope. I totally didn't put in the hidden field and set the value which is the question that was asked! This "oversight" has been corrected. Aslo, just to show that the value is set on submit:

Hidden field value is set

Trent Earl · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-30 01:18:26Z

1

You can generate them by checking if the amount of checked inputs is half the number of the inputs.

$('tbody[class^=group]').each(function (i, val) {
  if ($('input:checked', val).length == $('input', val).length / 2) {
    console.log($(val).attr('class'));
  }
});

answered Nov 30, 2012 at 1:18

Trent Earl

3,6671 gold badge18 silver badges20 bronze badges

Comments

arieljuod · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-30 01:24:22Z

0

I can suggest a few changes to make it more readable, first, what does "namesComaDelimited" do? can't you just use javascript's join method? http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_join.asp

for your question, this gives to the class of the section touched:

$(sectionsTouched[0]).attr('class')

for the validation about the inputs being checked I would just compare the :checked length against the inputs length

sectionTouched = $(sectionsTouched[0]);
if (sectionTouched.find('input').length/2 != sectionTouched.find('input:checked')) {
  errorMessage = 'It appears you have not completed all questions.';
}

just a few, you can do a more optimizations

answered Nov 30, 2012 at 1:24

arieljuod

15.9k2 gold badges27 silver badges37 bronze badges

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