CS 486 Presentation Zi Zhuang March 19 2001 XForms The Next Generation of Web Forms Presentation Contents Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter 1 What are XForms 2 What is the XForms Model 3 What is the XForms User Interface 4 What is the XForms Submit Protocol 5 Binding 6 XForms Processing 7 Key goals of XForms Terminology binding binding expression Facet Form control Instance data Instance data item Lexical space Model item Value space Chapter 1 What are XForms Contents Concept What Are XForms XForms based application Presentation Options Main aspects of XForms Concept What Are XForms 1 XForms are the successors to HTML forms XForms are richer and more flexible than HTML forms XForms are designed to handle interactive transactions XForms are designed for integration with XHTML XForms are platform and device independent Concept What Are XForms 2 XForms separate user interface from data and logic XForms use a data model with defined data types and data logic XForms use a user interface with defined data bound controls XForms use XML and Unicode to exchange data XForms based applications 1 XForms based applications 2 Presentation Options A single deviceindependent XML form definition XForms Model has the capability to work with a variety of standard or proprietary user interfaces Main aspects of XForms Chapter 2 What is the XForms Model Contents Concept What is the XForms Model XForms Model Components Model Item Properties Using Datatypes Combining XForms and Schema What is the XForms Model It defines the model items that make up the XForms Model It describes the structure of the associated XML instance data It defines types that apply to model items and can be reused in the same or different XForms Model It defines limits and restrictions that apply to model items when the form is being filled It defines relationships and dependencies between model items XForms Model Components Data Structures and XForms Extentions Model Item Properties name readOnly required relevant calculate priority validate Using Datatypes Atomic Datatype Enumerated Datatype Group Union Array Switch Combining XForms and Schema XForms namespaced datatypes can be used within XML Schema Model item properties can be used as namespaced attributes within XML Schema Using compound structures group array union switch etc require further discussion Chapter 3 What is XForms User Interface Contents Concept What is XForms User Interface Abstract Form Controls Core Form Controls Custom Form Controls Multiple Pages Layout What is XForms User Interface A set of graphical form controls designed to provide a higher quality user experience when compared to conventional XHTML forms Abstract Form Controls anyControl An abstract form control anyControl is the basis for all XForms form control Common Style Properties Common Child Elements anyNavControl Abstract Form Control anyControl XML Representation abstract form control anyControl xmlns namespace identifier xml lang xml language identifier id xsd ID class TBD style TBD ref binding expression xform context node selector Content caption help hint onevent anyControl Abstract Form Control Common Style Properties display used to hide or display the form control width the width of the form control height the height of the form control border and related longhand properties the style of the form control s border caption style Style for the form control label Abstract Form Control Common Child Elements The caption element This element labels the form control with a descriptive summary The help element This element provides a longer description that will help users to understand how to fill out this form control The hint element This optional element provides a short hint for the user typically represented as a tool tip by graphical XForms Processors The onevent element This element can be used to bind event handlers to form controls Abstract Form Control anyNavControl XML Representation abstract navigable form control anyNavControl all attributes from anyControl accesskey xsd string navindex xsd integer Content same as anyControl anyNavControl Core Form Controls Hidden Output Text Entry Checkbox Single Select radio buttons drop down menus and list boxes Multiple Select Lists Buttons Submit Custom Form Controls Custom pickers allow us to create reusable user interface components As with any component framework this has two basic requirements Components need to declare what aspects of the component are parameterizable by the caller The caller needs to be able to override the default values of the parameters declared in the component Multiple Pages Subpages provide a means to present XForms one bit at a time breaking a complex task into smaller simpler parts Presentation of a subpage can occupy the entire page or just part of a page Different presentations are possible e g a stack of pages with visible name tags or as a set of buttons for flipping through the stack or navigating directly to a particular subpage One possible representation is a formset element enclosing one or more subpage elements each of which starts with a caption element Layout Grouping The groupbox element is used as a container for defining a hierarchy of form controls Additional Style Properties Grid Layout Text and graphics Layout Additional Style Properties Layout Grid Layout Layout Text and graphics Chapter 4 What is the XForms Submit Protocol Submitting Data the ability to include multipart mime encoded data was added to support file upload Remotely serialize the instance data suspending a form filling session later resuming it Chapter 5 Binding Contents Concept What is Binding Binding Attributes Direct Binding Indirect Binding Multiple Forms per Page Concept What is Binding Binding is the glue that connects the separate pieces of XForms the XForms Model instance data and form controls Binding is specified through the use of binding expressions Binding Attributes XForms User Interface Markup with Binding Attributes xform textbox ref binding expression xform caption Your first name xform caption xform textbox Direct Binding Binding Expression with an XForms Dynamic Constraint xform textbox ref orderForm shipTo firstName Instance Data orderForm shipTo firstName value firstName shipTo orderForm Direct Binding special case Binding Expression with XPath id Syntax xform textbox ref id myfirstname Instance Data a b id myfirstname value b a Indirect Binding Binding Expression Using Indirection