Form Calculation: Dynamically Display Selected Multiple Choice Items in Short Text Field

Regarding the following form: https://form.jotform.com/261164320461043

There is a multiple choice selection (question 7), where the names of the selected items (horse names) are displayed in question 19 (Selected Horses), with a comma-separated list that is automatically updated with the selected horse names. When I asked how that was accomplished, it responded with: Question 19 is set up as a ShortTextQuestion with a formula that references question 7 directly: {7}. That means it mirrors the current selections from the horse checkbox question, so when a horse is deselected or a different one is chosen, the displayed value refreshes to show only the currently selected names and does not keep old selections. 

I tried the form but the horse names selected were not being displayed - so it didn't seem to be working as requested. When I indicated there was an issue of the selected entry names in question 7 not being displayed in the short text field (question 19), the Copilot AI agent responded with the following response: Question 19 is a ShortTextQuestion labeled “Selected Horses,” and it has a live formula configured to pull values from question 7 as comma-separated text. Based on the form data, the main things to watch are that the source field 7 is a multi-select question and that question 19 is a regular short text field; if the live value still doesn’t appear, the issue is more likely to be a rendering or formula-binding limitation rather than a missing field setup.

I'm not sure what live formula the AI agent is talking about, I don't see where that exists?

That all said, is there a way to create a list of the horse names that are selected from the multiple choice field? If so, what would be the best approach? It should work dynamically such that if the user selects and deselects items from the multiple choice list, it will automatically update the selected horse display accordingly (in question 19 - Selected Horses)

Thanks

Hi joe,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. I'm an AI assistant here to assist you.

From the information I have, there is no reference to a special “live formula” feature inside a Short Text field that would automatically mirror a Multiple Choice field’s selections just by typing something like {7} into the Short Text field settings. The knowledge base I can access also does not describe any built-in method to dynamically display the selected options from a Multiple Choice field into another field as a comma-separated list in real time.

Because of that, I don’t have documented steps or a confirmed best-practice pattern (such as a specific condition setup, widget configuration, or calculation formula) that I can reliably share for your exact requirement of keeping question 19 in sync with the selections from question 7. The materials available to me only cover general Multiple Choice settings (like entry limits) and other widgets, but not this particular dynamic mirroring behavior between fields.

Given these limits, I’m not able to confirm how the AI’s earlier description (about a live formula in a Short Text field) would be implemented in your form, nor can I provide a supported configuration that I know will work as you described.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

how about displaying the selected items separated by a space?

Hi joe,

From the information I have access to, there is no documented option in Jotform that lets you control how selected items from a Multiple Choice field are joined (for example, changing commas to spaces) when displaying them in another field. The available materials also don’t describe any built-in, dynamic way to mirror the live selections from a Multiple Choice field into a Short Text field (or similar) with a custom separator such as a single space.

Because of that, I don’t have a supported configuration I can point you to that would reliably display the selected items from your Multiple Choice field in question 7 into question 19 separated by spaces and update automatically as the user selects or deselects options.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

can't it be accomplished with a condition update/calculate field approach?

Hi joe,

From the information I have, there is no documented example or guide that confirms you can use an Update/Calculate Field condition to dynamically take all selected options from a Multiple Choice field and display them together in another field (like a Short Text field), whether separated by commas or spaces, and have that list continuously update as the user selects or deselects options.

Because this specific setup is not covered in the materials available to me, I cannot confirm a supported way to achieve your requirement using Update/Calculate Field conditions, and I would not want to suggest a configuration that may not work reliably in your form.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Hi Joe,

You can solve this issue using the workaround I describe below.

1. Remove the "Selected Horses" short text field.
2. Delete the conditions. We don’t need to use conditions in this solution.
3. Replace the short text field you deleted with a form calculation widget and name it "Selected Horses."
4. Click on the calculation widget settings.
5. In the calculation field, click Add Field
6. Select "Select Your Horses" multiple-choice option.
7. Then convert the calculated value to a string (click on 0-9 and convert it to A-Z).
8. Click on the "Properties" of the multiple-choice element where the horse selection is made.
9. Click "Options" section
10. Find the "Calculation Vaues" field.
11. Modify the values in this field so that they contain only the horse name and the odds multiplier. For example:
    Albus40-1 odds -> Albus 1

Important Note: In this solution, you should not include the numbers of the horses in the calculation values section. Otherwise, it multiplies the amount by the number in the field.

Give it a try and let us know if you need any other help.

Emre, thanks so much for your suggestion. I modified you approach slightly but it works as designed now. I actually created a clone while implementing your steps (just in case), but it worked so well I kept the clone and deleted the original. Here's the link to the updated form: https://form.jotform.com/261174156699165

Thanks again for your help!

Joe

Hi joe klen,

Your request has been answered and the thread is closed.

If you have another question or need more help, feel free to reply here and we'll assist you right away.