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Introduction to XForms

XForms are the next generation of Web Forms.

XForms are richer and more flexible than HTML forms.

What you should already know

Before you study XForms, you should have a basic understanding of HTML and how to use HTML Forms.

You should also have a basic understanding of XHTML and XML.

If you want to study these items first, please visit our:

HTML Tutorial, XHTML Tutorial, and XML Tutorial.

What are XForms

• XForms are the next generation of Web forms
• XForms are the successors to HTML forms
• XForms are richer and more flexible than HTML forms
• XForms are designed to handle interactive transactions
• XForms are designed for integration with XHTML
• XForms are platform-, and device independent
• XForms separate user interface from data and logic
• XForms use a data model with defined data types and data logic
• XForms use a user interface with defined data bound controls 
• XForms use XML and Unicode to exchange data

XForms are the successors of HTML Forms

HTML forms are an important part of many Web applications today. HTML forms make it possible for Web applications to interact with Web users. 

With HTML forms, a user can visit a Web page, add information to the page, and submit the page to a Web server. One very common example, taken from e-commerce, is when a user fills in an HTML form to order items from a shopping list.

Today, seven years after HTML forms became a part of the HTML specification, the Web is a place where millions of users are doing complex transactions that are starting to exceed the limitations of HTML forms.

XForms are necessary successors to HTML forms, providing a much richer and presentation independent way of handling interactive Web transactions.

Designed to be integrated with XHTML - the next generation of HTML - we can expect future e-commerce solutions to demand the use of XHTML compliant, XForms enabled browsers.

XForms Separate Data from Presentation

XForms uses XML for data transport and HTML for data display. XForms separate the data and logic of a form from its presentation. This way the form data can be defined independent of how the end-user will interact with the application.

XForms use XML to define forms

With XForms, the rules for describing and validating data are expressed in XML.

XForms use XML to transport data

With XForms, the data that are displayed in a form, and the data that are submitted from the form, are transported over the net using XML. The data content is coded in, and transported as, Unicode bytes.

XForms are device independent

Separating data from presentation also makes XForms device independent, because the data model can be used for all devices. Because the data model is not tied to its presentation, the presentation can be customized for different user interfaces, like mobile phones, handheld devices, and Braille readers for the blind.

Since XForms are device independent and based on XML, it is also possible to add other XML applications like VoiceML (speaking web data), WML (Wireless Markup Language) to XForms.

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