Occasionally it may be useful to display to an enumerator or keyer the possible values for a given field in a data entry application. For example, if a survey is being conducted on a tablet, it may be easier for an enumerator to use a finger or stylus to select a value, rather than to key the value using the screen's touch keyboard. CSPro's capture types allow for such flexibility by allowing the program to specify the capture type associated with a field.
You can specify a capture type while editing a
dictionary item, or while modifying a
field's properties. If a field has a capture type specified, it will override the dictionary item's capture type setting.
When dragging an item to a form to create a field, you can indicate that you want to automatically use capture types by selecting the
Capture Types: CAPI Mode option in the
Drag Options dialog. If this option is selected, CSPro will automatically choose a capture type for the field based on the field's first value set.
You can manually change the capture type for a field by
editing the field's properties. CSPro allows you to select a capture type that is suitable for the item's first value set. A warning will appear if the value set is not suitable. In this case, if the value set is compatible at the time of data entry (because the value set was changed dynamically using the
setvalueset function), it will be used; if not compatible, the field will appear using the base type (generally a Text Box).
The CSPro Designer shows the fields that use capture types by coloring the border of the field in blue. The blue border does not exist when the data entry application is run in CSEntry. The field border will be a lighter blue color when the Number Pad capture type is selected.
- Barcode - Capture contents of a barcode.
- Check Box - Capture a multiple response variable.
- Date - Capture a date.
- Drop Down / Combo Box - Capture a discrete value as a drop down or a numeric range as a combo box.
- Number Pad - Capture a numeric value.
- Radio Button - Capture a discrete value.
- Slider - Capture a numeric range.
- Text Box - Capture numeric or alphanumeric text. The default capture type.
- Toggle Button - Capture a discrete value with two states (selected and not selected)
By default CSEntry displays the label of the value set in the window of the capture type, but this title can be turned off using programmatic logic:
setproperty(dictionary_symbol, "ShowExtendedControlTitle", "No");
Capture Type | Numeric Field | Alphanumeric Field |
Barcode | In value set | In value set |
Check Box | n/a | Comprised of values in the value set |
Combo Box | In value set | In value set (only for fields of length 1) |
Date | In value set and a valid date | In value set and a valid date |
Radio Button / Drop Down | In value set | In value set |
Slider | In value set | n/a |
Text Box / Number Pad | In value set | In value set (only for fields of length 1) |
Toggle Button | In value set or notappl | In value set or blank |