Form fill - overwrite fields when the values are blank | Community
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Håkon_Rød
Håkon_Rød
New Participant
March 2, 2021
Question

Form fill - overwrite fields when the values are blank

  • March 2, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 4893 views

In some forms we want the open text field to be overwritten when the values are blank.

How can we achieve that?

3 replies

SanfordWhiteman
SanfordWhiteman
New Participant
March 2, 2021

The problem with simply setting the value to NULL using JS (and it's even more obvious if you set a default value) is the user sees the word NULL, which looks unprofessional IMO.

 

I have a blog post coming out next week where I show how to set the value to NULL while the field still looks empty to the end user (and no, it doesn't use a hidden field!).

 

In other words, instead of this confusing experience:

 

 

This smoother one:

 

    Jay_Jiang
    Jay_Jiang
    New Participant
    March 2, 2021

    Ah yes, I admit I forgot that the form field is still visible for a split second when you change values that way.

     

    I would then probably just use js to add hidden fields for the fields that are empty and set the values of those to NULL. It might be hacky but I think it should work.

    SanfordWhiteman
    SanfordWhiteman
    New Participant
    March 3, 2021
    That'll work fine, though requires a proxy for every field that might be blank-able. I think you'll like my technique when it comes out.
      Vinay_Kumar
      Vinay_Kumar
      Community Manager
      March 2, 2021

      To achieve this:

      you can set default values.

      or 

      you can use JS

        Jay_Jiang
        Jay_Jiang
        New Participant
        March 2, 2021

        with some mktoForm js you could change the field values to be "NULL" on submit if the field value is empty

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