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Troubleshooting: Checkboxes lose focus when a blank column is inserted between the checkbox and its label
Symptom
Your application includes a harness or flow action with check boxes and other UI elements.
During runtime or testing, when a user opens the application and navigates through the user interface, some of the check boxes do not display their focus or lose focus entirely.
This condition occurs erratically for some check boxes, not every check box. Check boxes with lost or concealed focus will confuse users or prevent them from completing their tasks.
Update: This issue does not occur in V6.1.
Explanation
This problem occurs if you insert a blank column into the layout wireframe between the cell containing the checkbox and the cell containing the text label for the checkbox. Typically, you want to keep all required fields denoted by asterisks (*) vertically aligned in the Smart Layout grid. But as a result, the blank column breaks the connection between the checkbox label and the checkbox property. This broken connection causes the checkboxes to be without any visible focus indicator.
Solution (Workaround)
If checkboxes in your application appear to have lost focus due to a blank column inserted between the checkbox element and its label, follow these steps to restore check box focus:
- In the harness, flow action, or section rule, open the Cell properties for the checkbox Label and specify the same value for the check box’s Value and Label For properties.
In this example from a motor vehicle insurance application, the checkbox for Pedestrian has its Value and Label For specified as
Pedestrian.
- In the same field of the column that you inserted in between the checkbox and the text label, set a mock value for the property Label For that doesn't point to any object or element on the harness.
Tip: For consistency across your applications, for the property Label For use the value
blank, as shown in this example screen.
Now the checkbox is reconnected with its text label, ensuring that the checkbox keeps its focus indicators around the checkbox label.
Smart Layout