RE: XForms Editor Review

Hi,
 
If you want to get active in writing an XForms editor, consider first
contributing to the OpenOffice.org 2.0 effort. It includes an
XForms-based form editor, unfortunately the created forms currently only
work with OpenOffice since the export to XHTML is still missing (an XSLT
still missing I guess). A contribution there is far more likely to
create meaningful results than a do-it-yourself effort.
 
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with OpenOffice in any way, but I believe
in concentration of effort.
 
BR,
     --Oskari


________________________________

	From: www-forms-request@w3.org [mailto:www-forms-request@w3.org]
On Behalf Of ext Richard Braman
	Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 2:04 AM
	To: www-forms@w3.org
	Subject: XForms Editor Review
	
	
	I don't know about you guys, but my eyes are cross from
squinting into my current Xforms editor or worse yet, the grid view.  I
have downloaded XPress (which was a chore, the activation key page was
500 broken, but the SQL insert gave me the key) and played around with
it, but I couldn't;t get a good feel for it. 
	 
	Here is my review:
	- I imported an instance from a file, all went well there
	- I drew some various controls on the canvas, no problems.  IN
fact it had some features that would be good for me the ability to align
the controls, make them the same width, etc.
	
	I did like the absolute positioning using XHTML span, as I use
absolute positioning in my taXforms project, (using div tags though) 
	- I tried to do add a bind, this is where the functionality was
lacking, the 'add bind" pulls up a dialog box asking for id, node set,
calculate, relevance, and required.  The nodeset has a button to select
an element in the instance to bind to.  But the tree control it pulls up
doesn't;t let you select the node you want, it simply tells you the path
and you have to cancel out and type the path in.  The calculate box has
a control that launches an expression builder, which lacks one obvious
feature, the ability to select a node in a instance as part of your
XPath expression.
	-One you have to set up the bind you have to go back to the
control and type in the bind id, you should be able to do that from a
tree, or better yet from the bind dialog, which should automatically set
the control to output if there is a calculate function.
	- You can also add actions/events to the control which was nice,
but again you have to type in the ref path or bind from memory, you
cannot select it from a tree.
	-I tried to open some Xforms from Chiba/Orbeon, no go! Throws an
error Type Mismatch?  Even the hello world file.  I think it only opens
files created by it
	-You can view the source , but cannot edit from source.  This
wasn't the end of the world.
	- Xplayer is used as the viewer.
	 
	I also trief XFormation from Focus software,  I haven't dealved
into it, as much, but at first glance it isn't mature.
	 
	 
	I am thinking about writing an editor for my Xforms based tax
forms(taXforms).  Ultimately the goal of the project is to put XForms
technology in the hands of CPAs , Enrolled Agents, and tax attorneys,
who will develop the forms.  These people aren't hardcore XML
programmers, and will need a WSIWIG tool to do their job with minimal
fuss.  They can all program spreadhseets, so I do not forsee XPath
formulas being a huge problem. I would like to extend the features of
XPress so that the editor behaves like it should , keep the code open
source so that the editor would be customized for my use case, and
anyone elses for that mater.
	 
	I did some more research and found a draft spec for an Xforms
editor  on the Isreali W3C web site.  
	http://www.w3c.org.il/XFORMS/documents/xforms_editor_guide.html
	It seems as though XPress may have been based off of it.    
	 
	I think the major thing I have seen in my last couple of months
learning Xforms, is that many of the Forms implementations differ in
what they support, and in some cases how they do things.  For example
Orebon supports.  I havn;t seen alot fo compatability.
	 
	 Reconciling those differences, so that Tax Code is portable is
another one of my goals.  
	 
	 
	 

	Richard Braman
	mailto:rbraman@taxcodesoftware.org
	561.748.4002 (voice) 

	http://www.taxcodesoftware.org <http://www.taxcodesoftware.org/>

	Free Open Source Tax Software