XFORMS : Java Glossary

by Roedy Green ©1996-2009 Canadian Mind Products
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XFORMS

An improvement over regular HTML forms in that data is strongly typed and type checking happens locally. The contents of the form are send as an XML document which does not require a custom parser. Xforms allow you to:

Check data values while the user is typing them in.
Indicate that certain fields are required, and that the form cannot be submitted without them.
Submit forms data as XML.
Integrate with Web services, for instance by using SOAP and XML RPC.
Submit the same form to different servers (for instance a search string to different search engines).
Save and restore values to and from a file.
Use the result of a submit as input to a further form.
Get the initial data for a form from an external document.
Calculate submitted values from other values.
Constrain values in certain ways, such as requiring them to be in a certain range.
Build shopping basket and wizard style forms without resorting to scripting.

It is still pretty primitive for client side data validation, but at least it is a step up from ordinary HTML forms. XFORMs works with ordinary HTTP servers. Unfortunately, none of the browsers support them without some sort of plugin.

Chiba: Ajax implementation
Deng: an open source tool to implement XFORMS in Flash
HTML
Mozillla XFORMS
X-SMILES XML browser
XFORMS FAQ
XFORMS implemenations

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