Please note, new blog at http://www.acheron.org/darryl/

Wednesday, February 23, 2005CFMX 7 & XML Forms @ Brisbane CFUG

Last night Tim Buntel gave the Brisbane CF User Group an informal presentation on Coldfusion MX 7. One of the features that impressed me the most was XML forms.

As I understand it, the new XML format takes advantage of the XFORMS specification to create XML that is then translated directly into HTML. You do this by using a "type" attribute of "XML".

<cfform type="XML"> <cfinput type="text" name="fname" /> <cfinput type="submit" /> </cfform>

You can create your own XSLT (stylesheets) to transform the generated XML into what ever you like, using the "skin" attribute.

<cfform type="XML" skin="myXSLT"> <cfinput type="text" name="fname" /> <cfinput type="submit" /> </cfform>

For example, Tim showed us a CFFORM with a bunch hierarchical CFTREE tags within it. The stylesheet he used did not create a form, but a DHTML menu! You can essentially create whatever you want using custom stylesheets -- tabbed DHTML forms, multi-step wizards, etc.

<cfform type="XML" skin="menu"> <cftree name="menu1" /> <cftreeitem value="foo" display="Menu Item 1"/> <cftreeitem value="foo2" display="Menu Item 2"/> ... </cftree> </cfform>

I look forward to playing with this new functionality... How about you guys?

More: About XML skinnable forms (macromedia.com)

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/06/2005 06:27:00 am  

I've been trying to find good resources regarding XML forms for CF7 on the web. I would have thought custom xslt files (like the DHTML menu one you mention here) would have started appearing on the web.

Do you know of any good resource sites?



By Blogger Darryl Lyons, at 5/06/2005 08:24:00 pm  

Try cfform.com



By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/16/2006 11:20:00 pm  

This stuff has been around for over a year, it is all old tech and I am surprised that you didn't know about it, most develors shun cfform, you have been opposed to it in the past and it has taken you a long time to come around, I see how you work now. If joe blogs had mentioned this to you you would have dismissed it, because you think you are far superior, but in fact it is your arrogance and ignorance that is your downfall. Most people are limited like this



By Blogger Darryl Lyons, at 8/17/2006 07:13:00 pm  

To tell you truth, I didn't touch it since. You're right, I've shunned them in the past, and I still don't use them. The point of the post was that at least they are now offering a rendering format that does make some sense.

BTW, at least put your name to a post - do I know you?



» Post a Comment