Is there a particular reason why Flash is being mandated or needs to be used?
If not, it would be just as possible to build using DHTML though that doesn't mean Flash shouldn't be used after all you'll have to deal with cross browser issues with the DHTML approach - however I believe the database interaction would be slightly easier. I would perhaps implement this as a two step process: 1) The user builds up a list of form "elements" - no wysiwyg involved - just normal web application stuff selecting from a pre-defined set. Then they would set properties for each element they add. You could allow the ability of setting maximum and minimum sizes, mandatory/non-mandatory, look up values etc. This list is then persisted - perhaps to a database of some sort. You can also create a table which would be able to hold the contents of the form. 2) Step 2 allows the user to arrange the "elements" they selected in step 1 on the screen via drag and drop techniques. In addition, you could allow the appropriate "styling" of the elements at this stage. Once this is done, the co-ordinates and positioning can be persisted - again perhaps to a database. It should then be feasible to build the form dynamically on-demand - including client-side and server-side validation and also perform the database insert into the newly created table by automatically creating the appropriate SQL provided you captured enough data initially. There doesn't seem to be any reason why this can't be done and indeed it has been done to varying degrees e.g. CommonSpot's simple form builder etc. André -----Original Message----- From: Michael T. Tangorre [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 03 July 2003 15:59 To: CF-Talk Subject: CF & Flash (crazy idea?) Hi everyone. I have an idea and need to know if it is within the capabilities of Flash and CF. What I would like to do is provide an interface for users to come to, where they can create forms and position the form elements and element labels wherever they wish (within a maximum area). How I envision this working would be to provide within the interface an area that contained a list of possible form elements to choose from (text input, text area, radio, check). When a user dragged one of these into the "form area" they could give it a label and fill in the attributes of that element as well as position the element and its label wherever they wanted (within the bounds of course). Now for the crazy part... Would it be possible to take that Flash movie that the user interacted with to create the initial form and process it into an HTML form where the layout was almost identical if not exactly identical to how it was created via the Flash interface (from a positioning and layout standpoint)? I was thinking maybe there are some functions in flash to get element coordinates, etc... The idea would be that this form could be used within an HTML email or website to gather user feedback. The second part would be to build some kind of container on the backend whereas those results/responses could be stored. Obviously this is a complex idea, one in which is beyond the scope of my abilities at this time. Anyone have thoughts, ideas, technologies to look at, etc... ? Mike ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
