showif and skipif

The showif and skipif tags are used to dynamically show or hide questions, tables, or text based on a condition being true. To trigger showif, the condition can reference content on the same page, or elsewhere within the survey. Similarly, skipif may be applied to questions and tables to indicate when to skip (or hide) a question from the respondent.

Syntax

# basic usage
showif: Logical Statement

skipif: Logical Statement

# skipping a question or table when only a single option, row, or column would be displayed based on previous selection
skip if only options: X  #X = element ID

skip if only rows: X

skip if only columns: X

Usage note 

• If a question with a showif tag is on a page with other content, and the other content is visible, there is no requirement to build manual validation. Assuming a global required tag, questions with showif will require a response if displayed, and not require a response if not displayed. 
• If there is no other visible content on a page aside from a widget with a showif tag, the page will automatically skip if the showif condition is not met.
• The showif and skipif tags are essentially opposites. In most cases, to switch from one to the other, Survey Programmers (SPs) can use the opposite of the original condition. For example, suppose question Q2 is to be displayed to respondents if they select '1' at Q1. Although SPs could apply showif: anyChecked($Q1,1) to Q2, they could instead switch to using skipif by doing one of the following:
  
  • use an "opposite" function – e.g., change from showif: anyChecked($Q1,1) to skipif: noneChecked($Q1,1)
  • use the same function, but use the non-qualifying options – e.g., change from showif: anyChecked($Q1,1) to skipif: anyChecked($Q1,2)
  • use a negation of the condition – e.g., change from showif: $Q1==1 to skipif: $Q1 != 1.
• Both showif and skipif can be applied to most widgets and question types, though SPs should note that these should not be applied to blocks, groups, or a new page widget. Instead the condition tag should be applied to these widgets.
• In r8.0+, SPs can use non-Perl expressions with showif to always display or always hide questions, tables, and blocks by including showif: always or showif: never with the widget. SPs should note that applying showif: always will not override other conditions that may be applied to the variable. Similarly SPs can also use skipif: never or skipif: always if they prefer. See below for example.
• The skip if only options/rows/columns tags can be applied to any question or table where, based on a previous selection, only a single option, row, or column would be shown to the respondent. SPs should note that the question or table these tags are applied to is only skipped, and responses are not autocoded. If need be, multiple element IDs can be specified in the tags as well, e.g., skip if only options: 98,99. See below for examples.

Examples

Show follow up question

In the example below, showif is used to show Q2 if the respondent selects option 2, 'Cheese'. Q2 is hidden when the page loads and will only show once the showif condition is true.

See demo See code Restart demo

In the same manner, the showif tag will work with noneChecked, anyChecked, allChecked, and list functions, as well as other programming syntax (logic).

SPs can apply the skipif tag in a similar manner as showif, but by using the "opposite" logic. In this example, if the respondent does not select option 2 ('Cheese'), Q2A will not be shown.

See demo See code Restart demo

On showtext

The showif script can also be used with the showtext widget to dynamically show other content such as text, a div, images, etc. In the following example, the showtext "SW_FAN" will be displayed only if the respondent chooses 'Definitely' or 'Sort of' in Q3.

The skipif tag can also be applied to show text widgets as shown at ST_FAN. The logic used here is the opposite of SW_FAN's logic, and we could use either noneChecked($Q3A,1,2) – the "opposite" function – or anyChecked($Q3A,3,4) – the "opposite" answers.

See demo See code Restart demo

Auto-paging and skip logic

In r8.0+, surveys default to auto-paging (the equivalent of adding ap: y to defaults in previous versions). As a result, Q5 and Q6 will be displayed on separate pages.

See demo See code Restart demo

In order to have questions displayed on the same page, while still maintaining the default auto-paging behavior for the rest of the survey, add ap: n locally to a question so it will appear on the same page as the previous one. In the below example, either Q5A or Q6A will appear on the same page as Q4A, depending on which showif condition is met. 

See demo See code Restart demo

In table rows and columns

Table rows and columns can use dynamic variable references. To show or hide a table row, place a showif tag on that row or column definition. For example, Q7 can be on the same page as T8, or an earlier page. If the value the respondent enters in Q7 is greater than or equal to '5', the text field in the second row of T8 is displayed.

See demo See code Restart demo

The showif tag can also be used to dynamically show and hide table rows and columns in multi-part tables. In such cases, rows or columns may reference other variables, or other parts within the table. The ifnotset: 0 tag is included so that fields for columns that are not displayed are autocoded to '0'.

See demo See code Restart demo

Columns in T11 are hidden depending on the answers to the previous two questions. If the respondent's answer in Q9 is greater than or equal to '5', the first column will be displayed. If the respondent answers 'Yes' to Q10, the third column will be displayed.

Internal dynamic reference for rows and columns

It is possible to reference a different column or row within the same table with a static reference, which would mimic the construction above. However, it is far more common to need a given behavior to be iterative for all table rows or columns. To do that, use __RID__ or __CID__ syntax. When used, it indicates the current row/column. Much like the [id] reference used in the element decorator, it is iterative for all rows of the table. When acting on row 1, the value of __RID__ is '1'. For row 2, it is '2', and so on.

The following example displays the use of CID syntax. For any column where option code '3' ("Both") is selected in the first row, the second row will appear with an active box only for the selection that triggered the row's appearance. The below could also use enablewhen instead of showif.

See demo See code Restart demo

showif always 

The showif tag can accept inputs of 'always' or 'never' in order to always display or hide a question or table from respondents. This would generally be applicable if a client decided to pull a question from their survey mid-field. They would still need to have access to the variable and the data, so switching to showif: never hides the question, allowing the data to be kept, whereas removing the question would remove the data. If the manual switch is planned ahead of time, starting with 'always' would be an indicator for later programmers that the variable may be manually switched off.

In the example below, QPROMO could be switched to showif: never for respondents that do not enter the survey until after the promotion has passed. For those that responded in time, their input is still valuable, and will be kept.

PROMO. What did you think of the promotion that ran this week?
showif: always
1. Liked it a lot
2. Liked it a little
3. Felt neutral
4. Disliked it a little
5. Disliked it a lot 

SPs should note that showif: always does not override other conditions. If a question with showif: always is inside a conditioned group or block, it is possible the question could still be skipped due to the other condition defining the behavior for that group or block.

Skip if only option, row, or column 

The skip if only options/rows/columns tags can be used to skip a question or table based on a lack of selections being piped in from a previous question. For example, if only option '99', an exclusive option, is selected in Q13, then Q14 and T15 would only have one option and one row, respectively. In that case, the client may not want to display Q14 and T15 as a result.

The skip if only tags will then specify which option(s)/element(s), if alone, should dictate that the question or table should be skipped. Since selecting option '99' in Q13 indicates the respondent is not a peanut butter buyer, there is no need to display Q14 or T15.

See demo See code Restart demo

Note that these tags can accept multiple IDs for when to skip the display of a question or table. For example, in this variation, selecting either options '98' or '99' would make showing Q14A or T15A to the respondent unnecessary.

See demo See code Restart demo