Hi

A very urgent question...

I have several Long Free Text fields containing newline/new paragraphs which I cannot convert to a single line using javascript:
var lorem='{LFTextItem.shown}';

Have tried several regex variants like
var lorem='{LFTextItem.shown}'.replace('/\r?\n/g', ' ');

I use splitTextToSize in jsPDF to print several lines of text in a pdf. It requires a single string input.
The script fails as soon as a Free Text field contains any new line characters.

Should I treat the item as a multidimensional array? If I look at the survey reply in the administrator interface, new line characters are automatically removed. How can I obtain the same effect in my javascript?

Can I use a REGEX inside the configuration of the item in Limesurvey to bypass these issues?



/statman13

Think this can be done in PHP (then when click next only) using expression manager and www.limesurvey.org/manual/Expression_Man..._Assignment_Operator

Something like
{QCODE=str_replace("\n"," ",QCODE.NAOK)}

Else : did you try www.limesurvey.org/manual/Question_type_...s_.28display_rows.29 to 1.

I move this topic toi general issue : not a dev issue

Hi Denis

It *is* possible to convert a long free text answer to a short free text answer, using the 'hide' option.
However there are issues updating the answer if the respondent types in a new answer in the long free text box.

The php function you suggested will not give the desired result using an equation type hidden question.
I also tried javascript in vain. Since referenced long free text fields come up without carriage return or newline characters in question text, but not in default answer texts, there must be a way to get around this problem, using either PHP or javascript...

... by the way ... converting a long free text answer to a short free text answer is possible on a platform using MySQL only due to 256 character limitations in Postgres / MS SQL!

/statman13

Use of the php function addslashes({FreeTextItemName}) in a hidden Equation Item under Advanced Options is a solution if you want to coerce the inputted text from a Free Text item to a string.
Use the processed expression in a question group separate from the original free text item, and put the equation item at the end of the question group of the original free text item.
The coercion is a basic consequence of the use of a PHP call just like echoing the content of a variable to a html body text.