Hi,

> Has anyone had a chance to look at the spec for XForms (part of
> XHTML 2.0)?

Yes, in some detail.

> *If* it is adopted, from what I understand from a simpleton level (I don't
> go any deeper than that), it'll potentially provide another method of
> maintaining state over requests other than cookies or url vars...
> XForms in XHTML 2.0 do not contain <input type=hidden> inputs.
> any data not
> given a visible control on the page is stored in memory. Therefore secure
> data could be held in form non-visible controls, such as yer CFIDs and
> CFTOKENs or your record IDs.

Yes that chould be done, though I think there is no "hidden field" in
xForms, rather an instance of data, left unbound.
One of the main things with xForms is that an instance of XML is submitted
to the server rather than form data.

> Other cool (christ, I'm sounding like an IBM ad) things about it:
> -possibility of creating multi-page forms that don't need to contact the
> server when switching pages.
> -File uploads can now capture from multimedia devices eg
> microphones/cameras/scanners
> -Most validation self-contained
> -Combining form controls
> -Full CSS styling
> -device independent

There are lot more cool things too..

For example you chould create two related dropdowns, where the second one
gets the data via xPath from the server (or locally) depending on the value
in the first dropdown etc...

Unfortunately , there are several things *wrong* with Xforms as it stands.

* Not really device independent! (well the data is, but its bound to a form
so...).
* Too much cross-over with XML schema.
* Security, signed forms etc, this might belong in another area, but it
makes a big difference. If you chould sign an XForms so it chould access
local files etc,...
* Many other technical issues..

One of the things I think would be great about XForms, would be the
possibilities of validation. It would be nice if you chould _just_ allow
xForm scripts to interact with elements on the xForm, so you chould disable
JavaScript, but client side validation would still work.

But its a start in the right direction. It will be a while b4 they make it
into the clients. It was meant to be in Mozilla 1.2 but I think it's been
delayed , as the new draft has just come out. God (ie B.Gates) knows when it
will makes its way into IE.
There is a java based browser that supports [most of] xForms, also, here are
some xForm -> [x]html + dhtml + JavaScript solutions out there. I believe
there is also a flash XForms client in development.

Having said that, have a look at it. And if you have opinions, let them be
known to the w3c XForms group. That's what it is there for.

regards,
Justin






-- 
** Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/dev%40lists.cfdeveloper.co.uk/

To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For human help, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reply via email to