on 29/01/03 6:35 AM, Petre Agenbag ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > Hi > I have a rather annoying problem regarding forms. > I have built an app that allows the users to fill in a rather large form > (much like a claim form) and then have the data pumped into a mysql db. > The problem is: the users want to be able to "save" their forms on their > systems as a) backup/proof that they have filled it in and b) for their > records for future use and c) the hope is that it would also allow for a > reliable method to complete the form off-line and then submit it when > online again. > > So, I'm not sure what the best way is to tackle this situation. My gutt > says it would need some kind of client stand alone app, but I wouldn't > want to go there unless I am proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is > the only way.
There are different issues here If they want to save a half-completed form, you *could* save that data server side in either a table, temporary table, or file, and have them log-in to continue using it. I have done this many times. You could also save the data client-side with cookies, but there's no guarantee that cookies will work on a specific client. If they want back-up/proof of doing it, then they can print the browser screen as they fill it in, AND, you can give them a confirmation page which prints all the form values back to the browser as a printable HTML page which they can either print or save as TEXT or HTML. Writing something that works offline for completion online later sounds like you're trying to make the web do something it wasn't designed for. The only solution I can think of is client-side javascript saving the form information as a browser cookie, but there's no way I'd bother, because it would require the user to have both javascript and cookies enabled, and I think there's also issues with the issuing domain of the cookie. > The users are mostly in computer limbo, and if they had their way, they > would want to use "Word or Excel" to complete the forms, save it to > their hard drive and "click to send it away"... You can create a form inside a PDF document, and it can POST the completed data to a URL. So they could complete the form offline, print it, whatever, then connect, and hit submit. It would open a browser window with a URL like http://yourdomain.com/parseThePDFForm.php and then you would have your submitted data. Whilst not as a elegant, they COULD fill in an excel file, and upload it via a browser. Same with word. I'm not sure if wither excel or word has any method of POSTing data. With all these client-side options, there's zero hope of getting them to correct missing fields though :) Decide if this is something you want to achieve on the web, or offline. If on the web, keep it basic, with perhaps a save to server option and a printable thankyou/proof page. If offline, I think PDF forms are the best of a bad bunch. Justin French -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
