The address for this web page is: http://fishcaro.crosswinds.net/day_20_intro_to_forms_nse.htm

On to the next lesson! Back to the COURSE SYLLABUS

20. INTRODUCTION TO FORMS

Forms provide interaction between the creator of a web site and people visiting the web site. They can be used for guestbooks, surveys, and more. To really make a form work, you'll need to know a programming language, like PERL (Practical Extraction and Report Language). Some things can be done with JavaScript. Or, you can modify a free script that will take the contents of a form and send it to a specified email address. We'll talk about some of these options later on in this course.

For now, you'll learn to create beautiful, completely non-functioning forms!

INDEX CARD #20:

INTRODUCTION TO FORMS (20a)

What is a form? A form is a formatted document containing blank fields that users can fill in with data. (Think: job application forms; applications for credit; college application forms; etc.) On the web, you get an "electronic form" instead of an old-fashioned "paper-and-pencil" form, like this (non-functioning) form:

NAME:          
EMAIL ADDRESS:

HTML tags merely describe how the form should look, and where the collected information should be sent. The processing of the information is done somewhere else.
What happens to the information that gets put into the form? Usually, it's processed by a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program.
What is a "CGI program"? A CGI program is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification. On Unix, the most common CGI programming language is PERL; other languages used are C/C++, Java, Visual Basic, and AppleScript.

OTHER WAYS TO INTERACT (20b)

Processing forms using CGI programs (also called "CGI scripts") involves the web server: it's a "server-side" solution to achieving interactivity. There are also "client-side" solutions that are executed by your browser: one such client-side solution is JavaScript.
What is JavaScript? JavaScript is a language developed by Netscape used to design interactive sites. It shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, but was developed independently. (So: Java and JavaScript are different!) HTML editors often offer lots of JavaScripts that you can tailor to your needs. Here's a sample of what you can do with JavaScript:

Printable version of Index Card 20a

Printable version of Index Card 20b

WORKSHEET #20:

(W20.1) Please continue with the online tutorial located at: http://www.cwru.edu/help/interHTML/toc.html Read Chapter 4 (FORMS THEORY) and do the exercises at the end of Chapter 4.

ASSIGNMENT #20:

(A20.1) In the Weasel Book, please do the following: read page 226 (opening paragraph); quickly skim the "Summary of Form Tags" on pages 226–233 to get a taste of what's involved in forms; then read pages 233–234 (on "Introduction to Forms").
(A20.2) See if your HTML editor has some JavaScripts for you to use. Experiment!
(A20.3) If you haven't already checked out Dynamic Drive to see what JavaScript can do for you, do it now!