The radio button is a common tool used to select a single option among multiple choices within a dialog box. In part two of this series, we will be covering the radio button and taking the mystery out of the “group box” and the operation of automatic radio buttons. In addition, the combo box will also be examined as an alternative.

For user selection controls within dialog boxes, there are three conventional options: checkboxes, radio buttons and list/combo boxes. Each has its application since each has its strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes developers make poor choices concerning which of the three to use on their on dialogs or web pages. Bad implementations may still work, but they provide a less intuitive user experience, and these uses may not be in the spirit for which the controls were designed. Hopefully this article will help improve your knowledge and therefore ability to choose a selection control through providing information on how each type works.

In this discussion of dialog boxes, I will continue to explore the data control by looking at how we can manipulate the content and retrieve data. As mentioned in Part V, the Data Control and Data View share many of the same functions as well as the same base, the Data Sheet. If you would like to review part 1, it is available here.