HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

COST-EFFECTIVE IT: WEB FORMS
By Richard Sonnier

Houston Business Show Commentator Richard Sonnier, of the Information Technology Services firm Nimble Services, provides weekly information on our show about information technology issues. Mr. Sonnier can be reached at 281.445.4800 x 250 or via email.

This week I will discuss web forms.

What is a Web Form?

Web forms provide the mechanism for receiving data or user input. For a web site or a web application the web form asks the user to fill out various fields and then submit the form back to the web site. Conceptually, a web form implements a paper form on line. A basic web form consists of a set of labels with blank boxes. Complex forms can use pulldown select list, check boxes, and radio buttons.

After the user submits the form, the web site processes it. This processing often places the form data into a database and always generates a results page to display back to the user. In simple forms this processing checks the integrity of the submitted information for errors. However, with modern web browsers like Internet Explorer 6 or Mozilla FireFox the form can check itself for errors while the user enters the information and before it is submitted. This is much faster and nicer for the users.

Advanced Web Forms

Standard web forms look simple and they do not print very well. Depending on your objective, there are several technologies to have more advanced web forms. The advancements are mainly in the look and feel of the forms. The following technologies can be used to implement advanced forms: CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and Adobe FDF.

CCS: Cascading Style Sheets

CCS is a major enhancement to HTML to address the look and feel of web sites. Most modern web browsers support CCS. By adding CCS to web forms, you get nice looking forms.

JavaScript

JavaScript is the programming language of modern web browsers. By adding JavaScript to web forms, you can build very interactive web forms. In fact, at Nimble Services we have used JavaScript and CCS to create web forms that look like a Windows application.

Macromedia Flash

With Macromedia Flash you can build Flash forms that are even more interactive with exacting control of the look and feel. At Nimble Services we have built Flash-based web applications and Flash is the closest web technology to a Windows application. However, Flash development is more work than JavaScript and CSS, and it requires special software tools.

Adobe FDF

To create a web form that matches a paper form exactly and that prints like a paper form, you can use Adobe's FDF technology. Form Data Format (FDF) is an extension to Adobe's PDF and, like PDF, is portable. With FDF on a web site the user's Acrobat Reader takes over the job of displaying a PDF form, submitting the form and displaying the results in a merged PDF. It is simply best way to bring an existing set of paper forms on line. For example, the IRS uses this technology to make tax forms available on line.

Summary All of the these web form technologies use the web form processing described above so you can mix and match the user presentation to meet your requirements while keeping the web server side consistent. You can also start with the simpler forms and then convert to more advanced forms as needed.

Next week I will discuss Compiere , a free and complete business application.