holch wrote: But depending on the length of the list, these nested ifs could get quite tedious.

The Limesurvey user likes it tedious. The demand for more functions in EM seems to be low. I wonder if a function was added since TMSWhite left the show.

You meant the em-code to set a hidden question, which I stated in the quota thread?
That would mean the equation has to look like this "question2code=answercodeofquestion1"

Why was arrayfilter no option?

Thomassie wrote: {stristr(q1.shown, ' ', 'true')}

Take a look at what the Equation Question Type is all about
www.limesurvey.org/manual/Question_type_-_Equation

Next you create a Equation Question after your Name drop down selection question. You name the question e.g "fstname"
You put {stristr(q1.shown, ' ', 'true')} in the question text of the Equation question. But switch the editor to the source mode when you paste "{stristr(q1.shown, ' ', 'true')}".
The q1 has to be changed to the questioncode of your Name drop down selection question.

When now a proband selects a name the equation question will extract all characters till the first space.
Now you can insert {fstname} in questiontexts to get the choosen first name displayed.
Tonys method only works if no firstnames are containing a space.

Because the arrayfilter doesn't automatically mark the question?

Yes, forgot to mention that this works only if the first space is between first name and last name, thank you Jelo for pointing this out.

One question: Shouldn't that expression work directly in the question code already, so you could skip the additional equation question?

I think I will make a little test.

"The Limesurvey user likes it tedious." Don't be so sarcastic.

I actually think we need some kind of expression manager for creating reports. Something like questioncode.mean, questioncode.max, questioncode.min, questioncode.median (also for subquestions). That would allow to create great custom reports. Then there would have to be a section of Limesurvey where you can provide those custom reports/dashboards to the client, with nice graphics (plenty of them out there)...

Thanks guys i'll give it a try. But it wont be till monday.

Your help was much appreciated !!

Gave it a try, works like a charm. Doesn't require the step of the equation question. But if you use the string a lot, it probably makes sense to go for the equation question, because EM doesn't have to process the expression each time. But then, I guess it is not too heavy of a function and I am not sure if there is much difference in performance between calling {stristr(q1.shown, ' ', 'true')} or {fstname}.

One thing: if you use it directly, and the name question hasn't been answered yet (e.g. because they are on the same page), then you get a 'false' instead of the name.

holch wrote: Doesn't require the step of the equation question.

The extra steps saves the displayed value inside the results. If there is a bug or a problem, you always know what was choosen by the routine.
It also helps for debugging. If you made a mistake you don't need to change it in every questionstext. Just at one place.

@Jelo: Makes sense. Good advice, especially for debugging just in one place, not in the whole survey.

Hello,

with a slight delay (became father last week) I could try it and indeed, it works perfect. Thanks a million.


[SOLVED]

Well congratulations on both then: the baby and the working example...