Mozilla tries out next-generation Web forms

• Tags:
• XPath,
• XML,
• W3C,
• XForms

Jonathan Bennett Builder UK

Published: 16 Feb 2005 17:40 GMT

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The Mozilla Foundation has released the first beta of its XForms plug-in for its family of browsers. XForms is the W3C standard for next-generation web forms, which is supposed to supersede HTML forms once it has broad support. While the extension doesn't run on production versions of Mozilla or Firefox -- it needs a recent Alpha build of either package -- the Mozilla foundation says it's good enough for developers to start testing and using while creating forms. The inclusion of XForms support in future versions of Firefox and Mozilla could bring wider adoption of the rather neglected standard.

XForms uses XML and other W3C technologies such as XML Schema, XML Events and XPath to create interactive forms. It separates form structure from presentation and the data entered into the form. CSS is used to create the form layout.

While XForms is XML-based, it needs more than just an XML parser to work, since XForms documents describe workflow as well as form structure. This is to cut down, and possibly even eliminate, the amount of scripting needed in forms to validate user-entered data before submission. It also allows multi-stage forms in a single document. While much of what XForms does is possible in current browsers, it generally requires large amounts of JavaScript, and often requires multiple round-trips to complete a series of forms.

The XForms standard has been available for some time now, having been ratified on 14 October, 2003, but still lacks widespread adoption. Most implementations of the standard are still in beta, and no stable browser release has native XForms support. Many XForms implementations take native XForms and turn it into HTML, which makes development of forms-based applications easier, but doesn't have all the benefits of native XForms support. Version 1.1 of XForms is already in draft, which addresses some of the issues with the original standard.

Not all parts of the XForms standard have been implemented in the Mozilla plug-in, but work is continuing on the missing parts. One crucial component of the extension is the Extensible Tag Framework (XTF), which itself is still in testing. This should be included in Firefox 1.1 and Mozilla 1.8 when they are released.

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