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Online
Forms
Web
Forms using HTML
| Adobe Acrobat Forms | Microsoft
Word Forms
Online forms
can be web pages that are filled out online, or they can be other types
of documents that are downloaded and completed with other software, such
as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat, or printed and completed by hand.
The type of form you choose depends on how you want the data collected,
what you want to do with the form after it is completed, whether it needs
to be printed and signed, etc. The examples below illustrate various types
of online forms. If you need more assistance with creating forms and
collecting data online, contact WITS.
| NOTE:
The form processing scripts used in these examples will work only if your form is stored on the Willamette University web server. |
Web
Forms using HTML
Creating
forms for the web requires experience with software that can create web
forms (e.g., Dreamweaver or FrontPage), or else you have to know how to
code the form tags in HTML. Forms that collect data online require use
of a form processing (CGI) script. This is a program that operates on
the data collected by the form. WITS has prepared some form processing
scripts that can be used with web forms. Study the HTML code for the sample
forms to see how to enter the code for the form action and other hidden
fields.
Print-only
Form (no CGI or other processing)
Click
here to view a sample form
Requires only a web browser, but format can be difficult to control,
especially with long forms or forms that require fill-in, checkboxes,
etc. Users cannot enter information with their computer; they have to
print the form, then complete it by hand or with a typewriter.
E-mail
Response
Click
here to view a sample form
Returns unformatted e-mail to a designated e-mail address. For some
information on using this script: http://www.willamette.edu/bin/generic.pl/?help
Print-ready
Web Page
Click
here to view a sample form
Uses one form to gather the data and a companion form (which may or
may not be identical) that can be printed. In addition, the form is
mailed to a specified e-mail address as an attachment. For some information
on using this script: http://www.willamette.edu/bin/mailhtml.cgi?help
Datastore
Click
here to view a sample form
You can enter some data on a real form, then read about how a datastore
works and view the current collection of sample data.
A "datastore"
saves the data collected from the form in a file on the web server.
Each submission becomes a row in an HTML table. You can also view
this file in a browser window, then save it locally using the Save
As command on the File menu in your web
browser. The file can be opened as an Excel spreadsheet (Excel
will automatically convert the HTML table into a spreadsheet).
Once the file is saved as a spreadsheet, you can import the data
into a database, such as FileMaker Pro or Microsoft Access.
To create
your "datastore": https://secure.willamette.edu/services/datacreate.cgi
Be
sure to make a record of your passwords! Also, you should
print or save the information that appears after you submit your "DataStore
Create" form:
DataStore datastorename has been created.
The following URLs can be used with this store:
To save a form to it <FORM method=post action="https://secure.willamette.edu/cgi-bin/datastore.cgi/datastorename">
To view or download values from it: https://secure.willamette.edu/cgi-bin/dataview.cgi/datastorename
To edit it: https://secure.willamette.edu/cgi-bin/dataedit.cgi/datastorename |
Add the FORM method HTML tag to your form to implement
the datastore feature. The view and edit URLs shown above can be used
to manage your data (substitute your datastore name for datastorename in
each URL. When you create your datastore, you assign two passwords:
A viewing password and an editing password. Make sure you keep a record
of your passwords!
Multi-page
Form
Click
here to view a sample form
This script allows you to chain a series of forms together, gather all
the data, then submit it to any CGI script you wish. This simplified
example sends the data to the e-mail response script (see above). For
some information on using this script: http://www.willamette.edu/bin/multipageform.cgi?help
Adobe
Acrobat Forms
Creation
of Adobe Acrobat forms require the full version of Adobe Acrobat (Acrobat
Reader can be used to view the forms, but it cannot be used to create
or save them). Detailed knowledge of Adobe Acrobat is required to create
interactive forms.
Click
here to view a sample form
Requires a free browser plug-in to view and print. Allows complete control
of document formatting. PDF forms can be completed online and are compatible
with the form processing scripts referred to above, however implementation
requires detailed knowledge of Adobe Acrobat's form tools. You can also
create simple PDF forms that are "print only" and must completed
by hand or with a typewriter.
Microsoft
Word Forms
Microsoft
Word includes some utilities for creating "fill in the blank"
forms. Creating these forms requires detailed knowledge of Microsoft Word.
Also, anyone who intends to use the form must have a compatible version
of Word installed. Microsoft Word forms should only be used if you're
sure the intended users have a compatible version of Word.
Use Normal
Word Documents as Forms
Click
here to download a sample form
Requires Microsoft Word (or other compatible word processing program)
to open the file after downloading. Since users have access to the complete
file in Word, you cannot control the format of the document.
If potential
users have various word processors, you have to make the files available
in a variety of formats (Word for Windows, Word for Macintosh, WordPerfect,
etc.) or else choose a document format that all word processors can
use (WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS or Rich Text Format).
Use Word's
Form Tools with Document Protection
Click
here to download a sample form
Word 6 (and later) supports password protected, fill-in forms, which
allow more control of the page layout by restricting where users can
type. These forms may not be fully compatible across all versions
of Word.
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