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Graphical user interface control element From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A radio button or option button[citation needed] is a graphical control element that allows the user to choose only one of a predefined set of mutually exclusive options.[1] The singular property of a radio button makes it distinct from checkboxes, where the user can select and unselect any number of items.
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Radio buttons are arranged in groups of two or more and displayed on screen as, for example, a list of circular holes that can contain white space (for unselected) or a dot (for selected). Each radio button is normally accompanied by a label describing the choice that the radio button represents. The choices are mutually exclusive; when the user selects a radio button, any previously selected radio button in the same group becomes deselected (making it so only one can be selected). Selecting a radio button is done by clicking the mouse on (or touching the screen over) the button, or the caption, or by using a keyboard shortcut.
Radio buttons were named after the physical buttons used on older radios to select preset stations[2][1] – when one of the buttons was pressed, other buttons would pop out, leaving the pressed button the only button in the "pushed in" position.
In web forms, the HTML element <input type="radio">
is used to display a radio button. Example:
<form>
<input type="radio" name="season" value="winter" id="winter" checked>
<label for="winter">Winter</label>
<input type="radio" name="season" value="spring" id="spring">
<label for="spring">Spring</label>
<input type="radio" name="season" value="summer" id="summer">
<label for="summer">Summer</label>
<input type="radio" name="season" value="autumn" id="autumn">
<label for="autumn">Autumn</label>
</form>
A group of attributes is defined by name. In one group, only one radio button can be chosen.
Version 6 of the Unicode standard includes a character designated to represent a radio button, (🔘) at code point 128,280 (U+1F518), found in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs section. Similar characters are the mathematical operator U+2299 ⊙ CIRCLED DOT OPERATOR as well as U+25C9 ◉ FISHEYE and U+25CE ◎ BULLSEYE.
The font Wingdings 2 contains at position 153 and 158 glyphs that look like radio buttons.