This tutorial is for the new, online project designer. The tutorial for the Desktop Designer is available here .

Drop List Point

Learn how the Drop List point can be used and see it in action with the sample projects.

What is the Drop List point?

The Drop List point can be used to display a list of items in a drop down interface. This point is similar to the Selection point but is more suitable for displaying a large list of items. This point is highly customisable and can be configured to allow single or multiple values to be selected and can optionally display an empty item to allow deselection. The list of options can contain values that have a different value to what is displayed and can optionally provide the user with the ability to create new options, while a session is being created.

Key Features

  • Provides a fundamental tool for making a selection from a large list of options.
  • Can be configured to allow selecting single or multiple values from the list.
  • Can be configured to allow deselection.
  • Can provide the ability to create custom entries while a session is being created, on the mobile application.
  • Can be configured to display different values to the values that are stored in a session, using the code-based feature .

Drop list point animation

Configuration and Settings

The Drop List point can be configured in the designer to set the data for the list of items and to choose how the point functions within a session on the mobile application. See below for details on each of this point's properties.


Drop list point web properties

Drop List settings

Items

The items section allows you to create the list of options that will be presented to the user when a session is being created on the mobile application. The items editor window allows you to manually add, edit, delete, re-order items. To easily create multiple items you paste a list of text items or use the import button. When the code-based feature is enabled, the list will provide you with options for each item's value and display text. .


Drop list items editor

Default Item(s)

This allows you to select an item(s) that will be selected by default when a new session is created on a mobile device.

Include Empty Item

When enabled, an empty item will be automatically included as the first entry in the list of items. This is useful for allowing de-selection of entries.

Size

The size of the point can be adjusted to either a set character size or to use the full width of the screen.

Style settings

These options control how the point will function on the mobile application. These can be configured using the list of Preset Style options or by manually toggling the checkboxes for particular features. The Preset Styles are explained below:

Preset Styles

Single Selection

This style will allow the user to choose one item from the list to be saved to the session.

Single Selection, code-based

Similar to the Single Selection option except that the list of items can contain code-based items .

Single Selection, editable

Similar to the Single Selection option with an additional feature to allow a user to tap on the point to type a custom entry. The custom entry will be saved to the session when the session is finished.

Single Selection, edit & save

Similar to the Single Selection, editable option with an additional feature which will save a custom entry to the point's item list so that it can be re-used for other sessions that are created on the same device.

Multiple Selection

This style will allow the user to choose multiple items from the list, to be saved to the session as a delimited list. Each selected item will be appended to the point's value with a ; separator, for example: 

Cow; Horse;
Multiple Selection, code-based

Similar to the Multiple Selection option except that the list of items can contain code-based items .

Allowing Custom Entries

A powerful feature of the Drop List point is that it can provide the user with the ability to add a custom item to the list while creating a session. When this point is configured with either of the style options; Single selection, editable or Single selection, edit & save , the user will be able to tap on the point and type a custom value which will be saved to the session's data when the session is finished. Additionally, when the point is configured to use the edit & save style, the custom entry will be saved to the point's list of items. The item can then be re-used on any new sessions created in the same project, on the same mobile device. Custom entries that are created this way can also be removed from the point's item list by doing the following:

Removing custom entries

Apple iOS Devices When the point is displaying the list of options, swipe the custom item from right to left to reveal the delete button. Tap the delete button to remove this item from the list.
Google Android Devices When the point is displaying the list of options, tap and hold on the custom item to bring up the prompt to delete the item.

Convert to Selection Point

A Drop List point can easily be converted to a Selection point which can be useful for displaying a smaller list of items on screen at the same time. This can be done by clicking the Convert to Selection Point button. Similarly a Selection point can be converted to a Drop List point.


Looking for a more powerful list point?
For a more powerful and comprehensive list point, see the Ultradrop point which provides the same features and much more.
See the Ultradrop Point tutorial

Sample Projects

The Basic Points Sample project contains examples of how to use many of the various points that are available. This project also contains a page that demonstrates some of the ways that this point can be used in your projects.


Sample Projects
You can download the sample project for this tutorial or import the projects directly into your account.
Download the Sample Files Import the Basic Points Sample project