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A list of answer options from which the respondent can select the desired answer to the question, is required for all question types except Info and Open questions. Use this tab to define the list of answers, or categories, for a question.
Note: If the Survey is using the Optimized database format (go to Optimized Database Format for more information), then you can link an answer list from a loop into the question (go to Linking a Question to a Loop for more information). For multi questions you can also make the answer list searchable for the respondent - see below.
The main characteristics of an answer are its text, which is what the respondent or interviewer will see on the screen, and its code, which is the underlying code stored in the database (go to Utilizing Answer Codes for more information).
Note: This tab is not available for Info-objects and Open-objects.
The ActiveX answer list will be the default answer list if the user’s browser supports ActiveX. If the user’s browser does not support the ActiveX answer list, a warning will be displayed and the user will have two choices: to download the FlexiGrid component - , or to switch to the DHTML answer list.
Note: ActiveX input mode supports long answer lists. However, if the answer list contains several hundred items, it is recommended to use the Table lookup functionality that Database Designer offers (go to About Database Designer for more information).
Figure 1 - Example of an Answers page in FlexiGrid Component
In DHTML mode, one can also switch between the HTML and the WYSIWYG editors - .
Figure 2 - Example of the Answers page in DHTML input mode
Note: The DHTML input mode does not support long answer lists. The maximum number of items in this mode is 100. An error message will be displayed if you attempt to add more than 100 items to the list.
Note: For all questions where radio buttons or check boxes are normally used, such as single, multi and grid questions, you can replace the normal answer option format of button/box and text with images (go to Using Images as the Answer Options for more information).
If you are using the Optimized Database format (go to Optimized Database Format for more information), and in the event the answer list for a Multi question is very long, for example hundreds of options, you can provide the respondents with the possibility to search the answer list so they can more easily find the answers they wish to use (go to Searchable Answer Lists (Searchable Multis) for more information). To do this, go to the Multi question's Properties > Advanced WI Features tab and check the Searchable answer list box (go to Advanced WI Features for more information).