\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [January 2, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759 "2009-01-02T15:49:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/1 "2009-01-02T15:49:27Z")
if you are offended by HTML questions on this list, please feel free to
flame me off list.
I would like to display a boolean value in my #index view as a checkbox
that
is checked when true and blank when not true. Is there some markup that
can
do this? Is it “legal” to embed an tag outside
the
context of a form? Even if it’s “legal”, is it considered bad practice?
I’ve poked around a little looking to see what others have done, and I
could
embed a checkmark image in my page, or I could embed the proper Unicode
code
for a checkmark, and hope that the browser has a font installed with
that
character, but it seems to me that the browser must already know how to
display a checkmark, and in the principle of DRY, I should be able to
reuse
it 🙂
–wpd
---
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/2 "2009-01-02T16:01:10Z")
On 2 Jan 2009, at 14:48, Patrick D. wrote:
> if you are offended by HTML questions on this list, please feel free
> to flame me off list.
>
> I would like to display a boolean value in my #index view as a
> checkbox that is checked when true and blank when not true. Is
> there some markup that can do this? Is it “legal” to embed an
> tag outside the context of a form? Even if
> it’s “legal”, is it considered bad practice?
w3c validator doesn’t seem to mind.
Fred
---
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/3 "2009-01-02T16:08:13Z")
Frederick C. wrote:
> > I would like to display a boolean value in my #index view as a
> > checkbox that is checked when true and blank when not true. Is
> > there some markup that can do this? Is it “legal” to embed an
> > tag outside the context of a form? Even if
> > it’s “legal”, is it considered bad practice?
>
> w3c validator doesn’t seem to mind.
Under what DOCTYPEs?
(BTW I am building a webpage for a new project - non Rails - with
generated
source. The very first time I ran it thru [http://validator.w3.org/](http://validator.w3.org/) , it
passed
without even a warning. Beat that, Rails!!)
–
Phlip
---
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/4 "2009-01-02T16:39:16Z")
> > character, but it seems to me that the browser must already know how to
Thanks Michael, Philp, & Fred. I should have thought of just trying it
and
running it through the validator before asking. Next time, I’ll try
that
first.
FWIW, when I mentioned “DRY” I was referring to reusing the code in the
browser that displays a checkmark, not to any code that I might have
written
in my application. It was supposed to be a joke, but I guess it died.
Sigh.
Thanks again folks. I appreciate the tips and opinions. Please keep
them
coming.
–wpd
---
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/5 "2009-01-02T16:18:11Z")
On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Patrick D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> if you are offended by HTML questions on this list, please feel free to
> flame me off list.
>
> I would like to display a boolean value in my #index view as a checkbox that
> is checked when true and blank when not true. Is there some markup that can
> do this? Is it “legal” to embed an tag outside the
> context of a form? Even if it’s “legal”, is it considered bad practice?
I was able to get formless inputs to pass validation (as XHTML 1.0
strict or 1.1) at [w3.org](http://w3.org) by putting them inside block elements like
div or table.
> I’ve poked around a little looking to see what others have done, and I could
> embed a checkmark image in my page, or I could embed the proper Unicode code
> for a checkmark, and hope that the browser has a font installed with that
> character, but it seems to me that the browser must already know how to
> display a checkmark, and in the principle of DRY, I should be able to reuse
> it 🙂
While it may not be invalid HTML, I would personally want more control
over the display of this element. I’d much prefer an image or some
other indicator (+ or - characters, for instance). Also the checkbox
control is going to potentially allow the user to select/deselect the
checkbox, whereas an image will not. And what if you later decide
you’d rather have happy/sad face icons? 😉
DRY doesn’t really apply here. I suppose you could apply DRY by
writing a helper function to generate a link to the correct image
based on the boolean value. But reusing standard elements in ways they
weren’t really designed to be used… just muddles the semantics.
-Michael
–
Michael C. Libby
[www.mikelibby.com](http://www.mikelibby.com)
---
**Author:**  [@oldbug](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/oldbug)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/html-question/156759/6 "2009-01-02T17:58:34Z")
Hmm, I’d advocate that you use images in this place so that people
know it’s not something that you can interact with. From a usability
standpoint, if you provide a checkbox that looks like they can
interact with, they might try. Keep it simple and obvious to the
end-user.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 6:48 AM, Patrick D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> for a checkmark, and hope that the browser has a font installed with that
> character, but it seems to me that the browser must already know how to
> display a checkmark, and in the principle of DRY, I should be able to reuse
> it 🙂
>
> –wpd
>
> >
–
Robby R.
Chief Evangelist, Partner
PLANET ARGON, LLC
design // development // hosting w/Ruby on Rails
> **[Planet Argon](https://www.planetargon.com/)**
>
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