1. NetSuite CPQ
  2. NetSuite CPQ Configurator
  3. NetSuite CPQ Configurator Products
  4. Working with the Product User Interface
  5. Gathering Information with Questions and Answers
  6. Working with Specific Question and Answer Types

Working with Specific Question and Answer Types

NetSuite CPQ Configurator provides a variety of question types that you can use depending on the number of answers, how many answers users can select, and how you want to display the answers. For more information about when and why you should use one question type rather than another, see Gathering Information with Questions and Answers.

When creating question types and their answers, you may need to complete or enable more fields and options than the basic ones. The following help topics support you in this task:

For more information about the basic steps to create questions and answers, see Working with Questions and Working with Answers.

Checkbox and Radio Button Questions

Checkboxes let users choose multiple answers in response to a question. Radio buttons are more restrictive and let users choose only one answer from multiple choices.

You can add a text field or text box below a checkbox or radio button option to gather additional information from users, such as comments or feedback. The choice between a text field or a text box depends on the additional information required. Use a text field for short answers, and a text box if you need more detailed information. The text field is hidden by default until a user selects an answer, but you can choose to always show the field onscreen.

To create a checkbox or radio button question with answers:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select Checkbox/Radio Button.

  3. In the Answer Selection Type field, select one of the following options:

    • Single Choice – Creates a radio button question.

    • Multiple Choice – Creates a checkbox question.

  4. In the Sort Answers By field, choose to sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  5. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question can occupy on the user interface.

  6. Click the Appearance subtab.

  7. In the Answer Layout dropdown list, choose if you want answers in one column (vertically) or multiple columns (horizontally). For more information, see Changing the Question Look and Feel.

  8. Click Save.

  9. On the Answers subtab, click Edit.

  10. To add a text field below the checkbox or radio button option, check one of the following boxes:

    • Add text field – Adds a single-line text field.

    • Add text box – Adds a multi-line text area.

  11. To always show the text field or box even if users haven't selected an answer, check the Always show text field or box option.

  12. Click Save.

Dropdown List Questions

Dropdown list questions let users select an answer from a predefined list when they click the arrow.

To create a dropdown list question:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select Dropdown List.

  3. In the Sort Answers By field, choose to sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  4. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question can occupy on the user interface.

  5. Click Save.

To create dropdown list answers, follow the basic steps to create answers. For more information, see Working with Answers.

Tile and Tile Dropdown List Questions

Tile questions let you assign images to answers, and tile dropdown questions include an image next to each list option.

Screen readers use the value of the Name field as an alternate text and read it aloud to describe the image.

To save space on the user interface the interface, you can collapse tile answers. Users can then click the arrow to expand and view the options.

To create a tile or tile dropdown question with answers:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select Tiles or Tiles Dropdown List.

  3. In the Answer Selection Type field, select one of the following options:

    • Single Choice – Lets users select only one answer.

    • Multiple Choice – Lets users select more than one answer.

  4. In the Sort Answers By field, choose to sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  5. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question occupies on the user interface.

  6. Click the Appearance subtab.

  7. In the Answer Layout dropdown list, choose to display the answers in one column (vertically) or across multiple columns (horizontally). For more information, see Changing the Question Look and Feel.

  8. To collapse the answers in a tile question, check the Collapse tiles box.

  9. Click Save.

  10. On the Answers subtab, click New CPQC Answer.

  11. On the Appearance subtab, two options are available to add an image:

    • In the Image field, select an image from the File Cabinet.

    • In the Image URL field, enter the URL of the image.

    If you select an image and also provide a URL, only the image from the URL is displayed on the user interface.

  12. Click Save.

Custom HTML Questions

With custom HTML questions, you can add HTML code to the Label field of the answers. For example, you can add an image or a link.

Note:

Script tags aren't supported.

To create a Custom HTML question:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select Custom HTML.

  3. In the Sort Answers By field, choose to sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  4. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question occupies on the user interface.

  5. Click the Appearance subtab.

  6. In the Answer Layout dropdown list, choose to display the answers in one column (vertically) or across several columns (horizontally). For more information, see Changing the Question Look and Feel.

  7. Click Save.

Input Box Questions

Input box questions let you create various fields where users can enter data directly or select options from a popup table or a popup list (formerly called a picklist and picklist dropbox).

You can create the following types of input box answers:

  • Text field (formerly called a free-form text) – Lets users enter text to provide a short open-ended response.

  • Text box (formerly called a text area) – Lets users enter text in a multiline field to provide a long open-ended response.

  • Date and time field – Lets users select date and time. Users can also enter the date and time directly in the field.

  • Input group – Lets users enter text and provides information with an additional label on the side of your choice.

  • Popup table and popup list (formerly called a picklist and a picklist dropbox) – Let users select one or multiple options from a popup table or a popup list when they click the input box button or arrow. Popup tables and lists source options from product tables. For more information, see Working with Popup Table and Popup List Answers and Storing Answer Options in Tables.

You can also show placeholder text in the input box. Users view this placeholder text before entering data or clicking the input box button or arrow. The placeholder text is the same as the label.

To create an input box question with answers:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select Input box.

  3. In the Sort Answers By field, choose whether sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  4. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question occupies on the user interface.

  5. Click the Appearance subtab.

  6. In the Answer Layout dropdown list, choose to display the answers in one column (vertically) or across multiple columns (horizontally). For more information, see Changing the Question Look and Feel.

  7. Click Save.

  8. On the Answers subtab, click New CPQC Answer.

  9. In the Input Box Answer Type field, select the type of the input box answer.

  10. To create a date and time field, enter the date and time formats.

  11. To create an input group, enter the label you want to display on the side of the input box in the Input Group Label field.

    The label is added on the left by default. If you want the label on the right, check the Show input group label on the right box.

  12. To display the content of the Label field as placeholder text in the input box, click the Appearance subtab and check the Show label as placeholder box.

  13. Click Save.

QTable Questions

Note:

QTables are different from product tables, which store the answer options for popup tables and popup lists. For more information, see Storing Answer Options in Tables and Working with Popup Table and Popup List Answers.

A qTable is a question presented as a table with each column corresponding to an answer. You can assign a different answer type to each column, and a column can only store cells of the same answer type.

You can use this question type to save time when your product includes a considerable amount of question and answer combinations. Instead of remembering thousands of codes for rules, a number preceded by an underscore is automatically assigned to each column code for each cell. For example, if your qTable has the question code QTABLE and an column with code CHECKBOX, the cell rules will be QTABLE/CHEKBOX_1, QTABLE/CHEKBOX_2, and so on.

The following answer/column types are available for qTable questions:

  • Text field (formerly called text input) – Lets users enter short open-ended responses in each cell.

  • Checkbox – Lets users check a box in each cell.

  • Dropdown list – Lets users select a single option from a dropdown list in each cell by clicking the arrow.

  • Date and time field – Lets users select date and time in each cell.

  • Custom HTML – Lets users view the HTML code you've added to the answer/column in each cell. For example, you can add an image or a link. This answer/column type is read-only, and script tags aren't supported.

  • Popup list (formerly called a picklist dropbox) – Let users select an option from a popup list when they click the input box arrow in each cell. Popup lists source options from product tables. For more information, see Working with Popup Table and Popup List Answers and Storing Answer Options in Tables.

In addition to fields common to all questions and answers, complete the fields specific to the qTable question type and its answers.

To create a qTable question:

  1. On the Questions subtab, click New CPQC Question.

  2. In the Type field, select QTable.

  3. In the Sort Answers By field, choose to sort the answers by name or by sequence number.

  4. In the UI Columns field, enter a number between 1 and 12 to determine how many columns the question occupies on the user interface.

  5. Click the QTable subtab.

  6. In the Initial Rows field, enter the initial number of rows for the qTable.

  7. In the Maximum Visible Rows field, enter the maximum number of rows for the qTable.

    If the number of rows exceeds this limit, a scroll bar appears to let view the rest of the qTable on the product interface.

  8. To allow users to insert or delete rows, check the Allow row number editing box.

    If checked, users can right-click the numbered column in the qTable, and a menu with the following options opens:

    • Insert – Adds a row at the bottom of the qTable.

    • Delete – Deletes the last row of the qTable.

  9. To allow users to edit data in the qTable, check the Allow cell editing box.

    Clear this box to make the entire qTable read-only.

    If you only want certain columns to be read-only, check the Allow cell editing box and set a read-only rule for the non-editable answers/columns. If those columns should always be read-only, you can enter the operator */* in the read-only rule. For more information, see Activating Building Blocks with Rules.

  10. Click Save.

  11. On the Answers subtab, click New CPQC Answer.

  12. In the QTable Column Type dropdown list, select the qTable answer type.

  13. To add a date and time column, enter the date and time formats.

  14. To add a custom HTML column, enter the HTML code in the QTable Custom HTML Content field on the QTable Cells subtab.

  15. To add a dropdown list column, click the QTable Cells subtab and click the open icon next to the QTable Dropdown List Options field.

    In the popup window:

    1. Double-click the text field and enter the first option.

    2. Click the plus icon and create as many options as required.

    3. To save the options, click OK.

    The options are automatically copied to the QTable Dropdown List Options field in JSON format. The syntax is:

                      ["option 1","option 2","option 3"]

  16. Click Save.

Related Topics

General Notices