Re: [XForms] Re: Will Internet Explorer support XForms

In a message dated 10/10/2003 08:56:25 GMT Daylight Time, 
francisco.monteiro01@ntlworld.com writes:

> Hello Andrew
> 
>  You mention this InfoPath (which does more than XForms per se does)
> 
>   
> 
> I do not believe the above.

Hi Francisco,

I think you are misinterpreting what I said. InfoPath does have more 
functionality - database connectivity and digital signatures are two examples.

But I also pointed out that there are deployment issues with InfoPath.

The scenario you mention below is one that Microsoft has excluded itself (via 
InfoPath) from. Why? There is no practical way to get the (paid-for) InfoPath 
client in the hands of what I would view as "casual" form fillers.

> 
>  My company evaluated InfoPath and XForms (FormsPlayer) with a view of 
> providing the Inland Revenue Self Assessment tax return.
> 
>  XForms won hands down. 

Agreed. InfoPath was a non-starter for this scenario because of the 
deployment issues.

> We have a very good demo showing XForms in it gory.

URL?

>  Everybody knows providing any forms which deals with tax issues is 
> complicated, granted that InfoPath has a good IDE but in our situation we use ‘
> reflection’ on the schema and build 80% of the UI dynamic, it could be 100% but 
> laws of ergonomics and ‘real estate’ will never make this achievable.
> 
> 

How do you and the UK tax authorities propose to deal with, for example, the 
issue of repudiation?

When John Smith is accused of fiddling his tax return which seems to show 
that he claimed to earn £10,000 when in fact he earned £50,000. How are you going 
to show that he signed for £10,000? And it isn't a mistake from some other 
cause?

How are you going to deal with the issue of authentication? How do you, and 
the UK tax authorities, know it was actually John Smith who sent the form in?

If you are going to base substantive financial and legal transactions (in the 
broad sense) on electronic forms it seems to me that you need to cover issues 
like these.

Andrew Watt
> 
> 
> The beauty about XForms is the simplicity of its model bindings, a quite 
> readable specification and FormsPlayer.
> 
>   
> 
> Kind Regards
> 
>   
> 
> Francisco Monteiro
> 
>  Director
> 
>  Facile Technology Ltd.
> 
> 
>