RE: using xForms for business

I will only make a few additions to what Alexandre said.  First is that there are several places to start depending on what your looking for.  For XForms knowledge there is a lot out there online, which you seemed to have already found some.  There are also a few books out about XForms. I know O'Reilly has one, I am sure there are a few more.  Second, there are several different ways to validate a field.  One is through schema validation which states that the field must be of "X" type.  Another is through the constraint attribute of the bind, which gives you the ability to narrow/open the restrictions on the value of that field.  For example:
 
<stock> 
   <item>
      <id>001</id>
      <barcode/>
   <item>
</stock>
 
With the instance above a constraint attribute could state that the barcode value must start with a letter and be at least eight characters long.  The value "V7890236" would be valid.
 
A third way of validation would be with the type attribute of the bind element.  This attribute is similar to schema validation.  Each of these can be used singularly or combined to restrict fields even further.  
 
There are two places to start looking at for the handling of the forms.  One is the FormsPlayer, which is a plug-in for IE.  The other is FormFaces which is a server-side application that creates browser ready markup that handles the XForms.  The markup from FormFaces can be used by any browser.
 
Susan Borgrink
FormFaces Developer

-----Original Message-----
From: Alexandre_Franco@Dell.com [mailto:Alexandre_Franco@Dell.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 08:05
To: www-forms@w3.org
Subject: RE: using xForms for business


Tony,
 
XForms can handle some of these functionalities. Others will need a server side processing in an internet environment.
It can be a little tricky though.
 
You can use a repeat element to allow multiple rows in your form.
 
1. You can use additional instances to handle auxiliary data (description of the goods, avail, vendor) and bind it to the appropriate fields. An event tied to the barcode field can post to an external URI and reload the auxiliary instance data with the new descriptions. As the elements are bound to the instance, the information will appear.
2. The form data is validated during the submission. You can specify in your schema basic validation rules. I'm not sure if this would be enough.
3. I don't see a direct way to do it using XForms. 
4. The event model in XForms is very powerful. You could submit the form data (partially or not) for each filled row, it depends on your validation rules
 
XForms is a complete paradigm change, I suggest you to read Dubinko's XForms Essential book before going deeper into tools.
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: www-forms-request@w3.org [mailto:www-forms-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of Tony Tay
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 3:41 AM
To: www-forms@w3.org
Subject: using xforms for business


hi,
 
I deployed a client/server application for a company to do their daily operations.  A example snapshot is show below.
 
1. when a Barcode value (see highlight in snapshot below) is entered, the description for the goods are picked up from database (using Oracle's Store Procedure) and populated into readonly fields (Goods, Avail, Vendor).
2. each field may need to run it's own validation when needed
3. the toggle buttons at the bottom of screen allows the cursor to move between different fields:
    (a)  When checkbox Barcode/Vendor ID Entity is selected --  the cursor will move from Barcode -> Goods --> Avail --> Gst --> Vendor and then back to Barcode in the next line.
    (b)  The next check box moves the cursor from Buyer --> Sold  --> Sale Amount fields
4. Each row of data is automatically updated to the database when it tabs (or the RETURN key is pressed) out of the current row into the next.  This behaviour is very much like MS Access forms approach.
 
Question:   I would like to know if XForms can handle such processing ?  If it can, i would very much like to upgrade the application to XForms and have everything running via the internet browser.
Also please advice as to what would be a good tool and place to start from.  Thanks.  I have no working knowledge of XForms (other than reading info from the various related websites)
 
 

 
 
Regards,
Tony