Orlando Andico writes:
> hello all,
>
> i'm pretty sick of writing html forms (big form, updates or inserts into
> database table). so i've decided to write a dynamic form generator: you
> give it some input (an XML file describing the form [title, colors,
> fonts], DBI connection DSN, input attributes [type, validation rule, LOV
> source if it's multiple choice, etc] etc) and it spits out the HTML if
> there's no input, and processes the input if there is.
Hehe, I wouldn't even bother with an XML file.
Since you already have a database at your disposal, why not store the
display and input options (if they're not "default") in database tables?
That way, you don't have to struggle with an XML parser and end users don't
have to write XML. That way the specs for the display (color, font,
visibility, widget placement, etc.) and input options (digits only,
multiple choice options, pick list SELECT DISTINCT somefield FROM
someothertable, etc.) would be available to other client applications
connecting to the database directly (e.g. those that would not have access
to the XML file), and use that information to render the data entry screens
correctly.
Then you could use the form generator to generate a form to modify the
display options for the form generator. :-)
> it will be able to process multi-page forms (with Prev, Next buttons) via
> a <Page></Page> tag, and do basic DBI error recovery. I've done a cursory
> search of freshmeat and found nothing that has this functionality.
You could then extend this by defining a couple of tables to store state
machines describing the logic for your supported transactions, and you'd
have a fully customizable web-based DB application builder.
> However, I'd like to know if anyone of the list is aware of a similar
> product (Oracle WebDB has a similar philosophy but different
> implementation and is far more general). because i dont want to reinvent
> the wheel.
I believe there are a couple of commercial products that work as I
described. If I'm not mistaken, that's how Oracle's WebDB works too.
AOLserver 2.3.3 has a quick-and-dirty DB form template that works like
that.
Then, if you wanted to pad your resume with another industry buzzword, you
could just add options to export the various datamodels into XML DTDs.
> anyway below is a sample config file that describes a form (dont worry
> there is no code or parser yet, im just writing out the config so i know
> what features i must implement..)
Just some ideas and abstractions you might want to consider. And, yes, I
have built (and helped others build) quite similar systems before, so it is
a workable model.
Well, I should stop before I take all the fun out of it for you. The easy
first part should be doable within a day or two if you're using a scripting
language, but the logic really is no different whether you're using Perl or
Java.
Happy coding! :-)
Brian
--
Brian Baquiran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://www.baquiran.com/ AIM: bbaquiran
Work: +63(2)7182222 Home: +63(2) 9227123
I'm smarter than average. Therefore, average, to me, seems kind of stupid.
People weren't purposely being stupid. It just came naturally.
-- Bruce "Tog" Toganazzini
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