Sample Form

Forms are collections of fields that you can use to get information or feedback from users visiting your page. Forms are the key to making your web page interactive. They let your users "talk back" to you. Along with fields, forms can contain text in all paragraph styles, tables, images, and most objects that can be inserted on a page.

A form has an assigned form handler, which is a program on the Web server that takes the data from the form's fields and processes it in some way. When a user submits a form, the name and contents of each field in the form are sent to the form handler as a series of name-value pairs. The form handler process the form and usually returns an HTML page back to the browser reflecting the results of the processing.

How a form handler processes a form depends on the form handler's design. Some form handlers enter form field data into a database. Others do some processing and generate HTML that the Web browser displays. For example, a mathematical calculator form could accept numbers from a user and send them to a form handler which calculates a result, formats it in HTML, and passes it back to the Web browser for display.

Text Box Fields	Text box fields give users a way to enter text in your form. There are two types of text box fields: One-line text boxes and scrolling text boxes. One-line text boxes are single-line form fields in which users can type text, such as user's name, address, password, etc. Scrolling text boxes are multiple-line form fields in which users can type many many lines of text, such as general comments or questions about your product or organization.
Radio Button Fields	Radio button fields present the user with a selection that can be chosen by clicking on a button. Radio buttons are displayed in a set, one of which is selected by default. Selecting a new button deselects the currently selected button. When you configure a radio button field, you assign it a name, a value, and its initial state: Selected or not selected. All radio button fields in a group must share a group name.
Check Box Fields	Check box fields present the user with a selection that can be chosen by clicking on a check box. You can use a set of check boxes in a form to represent a set of choices, one or more of which can be selected. For example, in an order form, a set of check boxes could represent a group of products. A user can order a product by clicking its check box. There are no validation rules that you can assign to a check box field.
Drop Down Menu Fields	A drop-down menu presents the user with a list of choices in drop-down menu style. You use a drop-down menu to present a set of choices, each represented by a single menu option. You can configure a drop-down menu field to let the user select many options. This configuration is an alternative method to using a set of check box form fields. If you configure a drop-down menu field to allow multiple selections, you can set a validation rules that requires at least one item to be selected when the user submits the form. You can further limit the use of a drop down menu by specifying either a minimum or maximum number of allowable choices or both. Different Web browsers may use different methods for displaying a drop-down menu. The display of a drop down menu is affected by its height and the number of selections a user can make.
Push Button Fields	A push button field submits a form to its form handler or resets a form to its initial state. When you configure a push button field, you can optionally supply a label, which is displayed on the button and sent to the form handler as the value portion of the field's name-value pair. You can also optionally supply a name, which is sent to the form handler as the name part of the name-value pair. Naming and labeling push button fields is useful if you are using your own form handler and want to process the form based on which button is selected. There are no validation rules that you can assign to a push button field.
Image Fields	An image form field submits the form to its form handler. Along with submitting the form, the Web browser sends the form handler the x and y coordinates of the point in the image where the user clicked. Using this coordinate information, a custom form handler could process the form using these coordinates.

To see an example of how forms are used visit the Quest link below and while you are there you can complete our survey form.

RainForest Forms Samples