Good point! So if I can allow the user to specify a style sheet, then a lot
more comes from it.
A couple of problems I am having with it:
1) I don't know what format the user wants for the form (ie is it in a table
or not)
2) I can't really say exactly what the defaults should be without a style
sheet
Although this one could be tackled by telling the user to specify a
style for the
form and then parsing the data first.
This has brought a lot of questions up. The Browser generally uses a style
sheet to display the data and most people can't be bothered to change the
default style sheet much. Style sheets effectively say what the defaults
are (specified by the developer) for the given HTML. Effectively all this
kind of system for producing forms would then do is create a table with a
form and a specific style sheet. Not saving much time in my view.
Development has ceased on this for a while. I may come back to it later.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Theobald [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 4:05 PM
To: CF-Talk
Subject: RE: Custom Tag for creating Forms...
It would be helpful to allow as much of the formatting as possible to be
defined by Style Sheets to make the forms customizable.
At 12:30 PM 1/4/01 +0000, Paul Johnston wrote:
>Well, I am enjoying reading your responses. It's very good to get some
kind
>of feedback (I'll have a look at databaseblocks but I haven't a clue what
it
>is!).
>
>The thing I am working on now is to use the database to hold certain
>information, and to let HTML default as much as possible. So (using a CF
>structure as a v. simple db):
>
><!--- create the form structure --->
><cfset tpform = StructNew()>
>
><!--- insert name field --->
><cfset tpform.name = StructNew()>
><cfset tpform.name.position = 1>
><cfset tpform.name.type = "text">
>
>This code would say "Put a text field with the title "Name" (defaults to
>name of structure key) into the form with name "tpform". Let HTML handle
>the defaults (ie size = 40) or give preset defaults that can be changed,
and
>the output is:
>
><table>
><form...>
><tr>
> <td>Name</td>
> <td><input type="text" name="name"></td>
></tr>
><tr>
> <td colspan="2"><input type="submit"></td>
></tr>
></form>
></table>
>
>Simple form with a submit button by default etc... ! May even be sensible
to
>default all the possible attributes to something and allow the defaults to
>be created by the user!
>
>Then if you add any more structure keys to the structure "tpform.name" (ie
>like tpform.name.value) it will insert this to the form as an attribute to
>that field.
>
>Works well for type="text" and type="dropdown" (ie select) and haven't got
>much further.
>
><waffle>
>
>Of course, you can extract the data from a DB or from XML and put it into a
>structure format to output the form and then you have a form stored in a
>database.
>
>If you also allow the user to create the table the form goes in...
>
></waffle>
>
>Don't want to go into detail, but what you can see is that you can produce
a
>very flexible HTML form system that can be created on the fly from a
>database (and therefore produced from a webpage so that a client can create
>their own form...)
>
>Anyway, tell me what you think!
>
>Paul
>
>PS The bare bones are there for this, I just haven't uploaded the files
>anywhere yet!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Adam Phillip Churvis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 8:22 PM
>To: CF-Talk
>Subject: Re: Custom Tag for creating Forms...
>
>
>Take a look at DatabaseBlocks, guys! Download the new Beta we just
>uploaded early this morning, not the commercial release (some bugs).
>
>Enjoy!
>
>At 03:36 PM 1/3/01 +0000, you wrote:
>>This may sound a little bit odd, but I am surprised that I can't find such
>a
>>tool.
>
>--SNIP!--
>
>Respectfully,
>
>Adam Phillip Churvis
>Productivity Enhancement, Inc.
>
>Publishers of the CommerceBlocks line of
>modular ColdFusion development tools
>
>Website: http://www.commerceblocks.com
>E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Phone: 770-446-8866
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at
http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm
Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-talk@houseoffusion.com/
Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
