Binding true / false to radio buttons in Knockout JS

Question

In my view model I have a IsMale value that has the value true or false.

In my UI I wish to bind it to the following radio buttons:

Male         


        

Answer 1

ko.bindingHandlers['radiobuttonyesno'] = {
    'init': function (element, valueAccessor, allBindingsAccessor) {
        var stateHandler = function (property, allBindingsAccessor, key, value, checkIfDifferent) {
            if (!property || !ko.isObservable(property)) {
                var propWriters = allBindingsAccessor()['_ko_property_writers'];
                if (propWriters && propWriters[key])
                    propWriters[key](value);
            } else if (ko.isWriteableObservable(property) && (!checkIfDifferent || property.peek() !== value)) {
                property(value);
            }
        };

        var updateHandler = function () {
            var valueToWrite;

            if ((element.type == "radio") && (element.checked)) {
                valueToWrite = element.value;
            } else {
                return; // "radiobuttonyesno" binding only responds to selected radio buttons
            }

            valueToWrite = (valueToWrite === "True") ? true : false;

            var modelValue = valueAccessor(), unwrappedValue = ko.utils.unwrapObservable(modelValue); //can be true of false

            stateHandler(modelValue, allBindingsAccessor, 'checked', valueToWrite, true);
        };
        ko.utils.registerEventHandler(element, "click", updateHandler);

        // IE 6 won't allow radio buttons to be selected unless they have a name
        if ((element.type == "radio") && !element.name)
            ko.bindingHandlers['uniqueName']['init'](element, function () { return true });
    },
    'update': function (element, valueAccessor) {
        var value = ko.utils.unwrapObservable(valueAccessor());

        value = value ? "True" : "False";

        if (element.type == "radio") {
            element.checked = (element.value == value);
        }
    }
};

Use this binder instead of creating stupid ko computed observables.

Example:

<label>Male
        <input type="radio" name="IsMale" value="True" data-bind="radiobuttonyesno:IsMale"/>
     </label> 
     <label>Female
        <input type="radio" name="IsMale" value="False" data-bind="radiobuttonyesno:IsMale"/>
     </label>

Answer 2

After doing lot of research for older version of knockout prior to 3.0 there are possibly two best options

Create a knockout extender like

ko.extenders["booleanValue"] = function (target) {
    target.formattedValue = ko.computed({
        read: function () {
            if (target() === true) return "True";
            else if (target() === false) return "False";
        },
        write: function (newValue) {
            if (newValue) {
                if (newValue === "False") target(false);
                else if (newValue === "True") target(true);
            }
        }
    });

    target.formattedValue(target());
    return target;
};

To use the extender on your model, you’d do something like the following:

function Order() {
  this.wantsFries= ko.observable(false).extend({ booleanValue: null });
}

<span>Do you want fries with that?</span>
<label>
  <input type="radio" name="question" value="True"
             data-bind="value: wantsFries.formattedValue" /> Yes
</label>
<label>
  <input type="radio" name="question" value="False"
             data-bind="value: wantsFries.formattedValue" /> No
</label>

source:http://www.timlabonne.com/2013/02/building-a-knockout-js-extender-for-boolean-values/