You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
590 lines
35 KiB
590 lines
35 KiB
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
|
|
<html lang="EN"><head><META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"><title>XForms Requirements </title><style type="text/css">
|
|
code { font-family: monospace; }
|
|
|
|
div.constraint,
|
|
div.issue,
|
|
div.note,
|
|
div.notice { margin-left: 2em; }
|
|
|
|
dt.label { display: run-in; }
|
|
|
|
li p { margin-top: 0.3em;
|
|
margin-bottom: 0.3em; }
|
|
</style><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD.css"></head><body>
|
|
<div class="head"><p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img width="72" height="48" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"></a></p>
|
|
<h1>XForms Requirements </h1>
|
|
<h2>W3C Working Draft 04 April 2001</h2><dl><dt>This version:</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xhtml-forms-req-20010404">http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xhtml-forms-req-20010404</a>
|
|
</dd><dt>Latest version:</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-forms-req">
|
|
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-forms-req</a>
|
|
</dd><dt>Previous versions:</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml-forms-req-20000821">
|
|
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml-forms-req-20000821</a>
|
|
</dd><dt>Editors:</dt>
|
|
<dd>Micah Dubinko, Cardiff <a href="mailto:mdubinko@Cardiff.com"><mdubinko@Cardiff.com></a></dd>
|
|
<dd>Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, Mozquito Technologies <a href="mailto:schnitz@mozquito.com"><schintz@mozquito.com></a></dd>
|
|
<dd>Malte Wedel, Mozquito Technologies <a href="mailto:malte@mozquito.com"><malte@mozquito.com></a></dd>
|
|
<dd>Dave Raggett, W3C <a href="mailto:dsr@w3.org"><dsr@w3.org></a></dd>
|
|
</dl><p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#Copyright"> Copyright</a> ©2001 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><abbr title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</abbr></a><sup>®</sup> (<a href="http://www.lcs.mit.edu/"><abbr title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</abbr></a>, <a href="http://www.inria.fr/"><abbr lang="fr" title="Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique">INRIA</abbr></a>, <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents-19990405">document use</a> and <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-software-19980720">software licensing</a> rules apply.</p></div><hr><div>
|
|
<h2><a name="abstract">Abstract</a></h2>
|
|
<p> Forms were introduced into HTML in 1993. Since then they have gone on
|
|
to become a critical part of the Web. The existing mechanisms in HTML for forms
|
|
are now outdated, and W3C has started work on developing an effective
|
|
replacement. This document outlines the requirements for "XForms", W3C's name
|
|
for the next generation of Web forms.</p>
|
|
</div><div>
|
|
<h2><a name="status">Status of this Document</a></h2>
|
|
<p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time
|
|
of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest
|
|
status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.</em></p>
|
|
<p>This requirements document incorporates changes made at the recent meeting of the XForms Working Group. This document is a W3C Working Draft for review by W3C members and
|
|
other interested parties. It is a draft document and may be updated, replaced,
|
|
or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C
|
|
Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in
|
|
progress". A list of current public W3C Working Drafts can be found at
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">http://www.w3.org/TR</a>.</p>
|
|
<p>This specification describes requirements for the next generation of
|
|
Web forms. This document has been produced as part of the
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms">W3C work on XForms</a>,
|
|
following the procedures set out for the
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process">W3C Process</a>. The
|
|
authors of this document are members of the
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/Group/"> W3C XForms working
|
|
group</a> (W3C Members only). This document is for public review, and
|
|
comments and discussion are welcomed on the public mailing list <<a href="mailto:www-forms@w3.org">www-forms@w3.org</a>>. To
|
|
subscribe, send an email to <<a href="mailto:www-forms-request@w3.org">www-forms-request@w3.org</a>> with
|
|
the word <em>subscribe</em> in the subject line (include the word
|
|
<em>unsubscribe</em> if you want to unsubscribe). The
|
|
<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-forms/">archive</a> for the
|
|
list is accessible online.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="toc">
|
|
<h2><a name="contents">Table of Contents</a></h2><p class="toc">1 <a href="#reqintro">Introduction (Non-Normative)</a><br> 1.1 <a href="#reqintro-rationale">Rationale</a><br> 1.2 <a href="#reqintro-audience">Target Audience</a><br>2 <a href="#charter-req">Charter and Basic Requirements (Normative)</a><br> 2.1 <a href="#in-xml">Defined in XML, Usable in XML</a><br> 2.2 <a href="#w3c-integration">W3C Integration</a><br> 2.2.1 <a href="#w3c-integration-p3p">P3P</a><br> 2.2.2 <a href="#w3c-integration-schema">XML Schema</a><br> 2.3 <a href="#from-html4">Migration from HTML 4</a><br> 2.4 <a href="#ease-of-authoring">Ease of Authoring</a><br> 2.5 <a href="#separate-p-from-p">Separate Purpose from Presentation</a><br> 2.6 <a href="#device-independence">Device Independence</a><br> 2.7 <a href="#scripting-interfaces">Scripting Interfaces</a><br> 2.8 <a href="#unicode-i18n">Unicode and Internationalization</a><br>3 <a href="#model-req">XForms Model Requirements (Normative)</a><br> 3.1 <a href="#datatypes">Data Types</a><br> 3.2 <a href="#identifiers">Data Type Identifiers</a><br> 3.3 <a href="#input-validations">Input Validations</a><br> 3.4 <a href="#send-xml">Send XML to Server</a><br> 3.5 <a href="#calculations">Calculations and Expressions</a><br> 3.6 <a href="#dependencies">Data Value and Form Control Dependencies</a><br> 3.7 <a href="#arrays">Expandable Form Control Groups (Arrays)</a><br> 3.8 <a href="#security">Security Features</a><br> 3.9 <a href="#confidence-instance">Confidence Scores</a><br>4 <a href="#ui-reqs">User Interface Requirements (Normative)</a><br> 4.1 <a href="#backwards-features">Provide Functional Equivalents of HTML 4 Form Controls</a><br> 4.2 <a href="#forwards-features">New Form Controls</a><br> 4.3 <a href="#multi-page-form">Support Multiple Pages per Form, and Multiple Forms per
|
|
Page</a><br> 4.4 <a href="#input-devices">Support More Input Devices</a><br> 4.5 <a href="#layout-alignment">Layout/Alignment</a><br>5 <a href="#future-req">Future Considerations (Non-Normative)</a><br> 5.1 <a href="#custom-controls">Custom Defined Controls</a><br> 5.2 <a href="#gui-enhancement">Further GUI Enhancements</a><br> 5.3 <a href="#voice-enhancement">Voice Enhancements</a><br> 5.4 <a href="#paper-enhancement">Paper Enhancements</a><br> 5.5 <a href="#ambiguities">Representing Ambiguities</a><br> 5.6 <a href="#dsig">Digital Signatures</a><br> 5.7 <a href="#locale">Region Independence</a><br> 5.8 <a href="#http-auth">HTTP Authentication Front-end</a><br> 5.9 <a href="#save-resume">Saving and Resuming</a><br></p>
|
|
<h3>Appendices</h3><p class="toc">A <a href="#acknowledgments">Acknowledgements</a> (Non-Normative)<br>B <a href="#biblio">References</a> (Non-Normative)<br></p></div><hr><div class="body">
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="reqintro"></a>1 Introduction (Non-Normative)</h2>
|
|
<p> After careful consideration, the HTML Working Group decided that the
|
|
goals for the next generation of forms are incompatible with preserving full
|
|
backwards compatibility with browsers designed for earlier versions of HTML. A
|
|
forms sub-group was formed within the HTML Working Group, later becoming the
|
|
XForms Working Group. It is our objective to provide a clean new forms model
|
|
("XForms") based on a set of well-defined requirements. The requirements
|
|
described in this document are based on experience with a broad spectrum of
|
|
form applications.</p>
|
|
<p> This document provides a comprehensive set of requirements for the
|
|
W3C's work on XForms. We envisage this work being conducted in several steps,
|
|
starting with the development of a core forms module, followed by work on
|
|
additional modules for specific features. The Modularization of XHTML provides
|
|
a mechanism for defining modules which can be recombined as appropriate for the
|
|
capabilities of different platforms.</p>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="reqintro-rationale"></a>1.1 Rationale</h3>
|
|
<p> Web forms are being used in various contexts as a standardized
|
|
mechanism for bidirectional data exchange over the Web. In many occasions, it
|
|
is desirable to enable an open data dialog between the recipient of a hypertext
|
|
document and the sender. Forms need to provide effective support for various
|
|
kinds of data exchange. The design of XForms focuses on the increasing demands
|
|
for improved human-computer interaction as well as the interaction mechanisms
|
|
between user agents (e.g. browsers) and servers.</p>
|
|
<p>The design of XForms focuses on the increasing demands for improved
|
|
human-computer interaction as well as the interaction mechanisms between the
|
|
browser (user agent) and the server.</p>
|
|
<p>To enable Web content developers to meet these challenges XForms
|
|
will be designed to cleanly distinguish between form <em>instance
|
|
data</em>, form description (called the <em>XForms Model</em>), and form
|
|
presentation (called the <em>XForms User Interface</em>). The same form
|
|
will be accessible on a full screen display, as a sheet of paper or using a
|
|
handheld computer resting on your palm.</p>
|
|
<p>To meet the goals for richer presentation XForms will be designed
|
|
for integration with other XML tag sets, such as XHTML, SVG for graphics and
|
|
SMIL for multimedia forms. You will be able to use style sheet languages such
|
|
as CSS and XSL to finely tune the presentation.</p>
|
|
<p>As the cost and size of Web servers continues to shrink, single chip
|
|
implementations are now practical, and we can soon expect to see all kinds of
|
|
devices with embedded servers. XHTML will be used for controlling such devices,
|
|
reducing the need for custom device drivers. XForms will be designed to provide
|
|
the richer user interface these applications will need.</p>
|
|
<p>It is generally best to catch input errors early. This can be
|
|
achieved with form logic that works with the user to ensure that the form data
|
|
values satisfy the appropriate consistency checks. For phone numbers and
|
|
addresses, the checks will vary from one part of the world to another.</p>
|
|
<p>Complex forms are best presented as a sequence of sections, one
|
|
section at a time. The ability to download the entire sequence in a single file
|
|
makes it easy to fill out the form without a real-time connection to the Web
|
|
server, and avoids the inevitable delays in reestablishing a connection to the
|
|
server for each section.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="reqintro-audience"></a>1.2 Target Audience</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms provide considerable benefits compared with classic XHTML
|
|
forms. In particular the separation of the purpose from the presentation of a
|
|
form enables a separation of concerns such that differing skills can be applied
|
|
to the design of a form. These skills may be embodied in a single person or
|
|
many depending on both the sophistication of the Form being designed as well as
|
|
the skills of individuals involved in the design process.</p>
|
|
<p>Individuals familiar with HTML 4 Forms will find XForms both more
|
|
powerful as well as simpler. Specifically, XForms will make it simpler to build
|
|
forms including the business logic, calculations, and form processing that in
|
|
many cases prior to XForms has been done with scripting. The two primary roles
|
|
associated with XForms authoring are the design of the purpose of the form as
|
|
expressed in an XForms model as well as the design of the user interface and user
|
|
interaction.</p>
|
|
<p>Server-side programmers are also part of the target audience. In the
|
|
past, deploying forms on a Web site involved complex server-side scripting to
|
|
accept, validate, and process incoming data. XForms will make this easier by
|
|
providing a consistent, XML-based format for incoming data, as well as by
|
|
providing a rich validation framework.</p>
|
|
<p>Finally, application vendors that produce products that interact
|
|
with forms are part of the target audience. A vendor-neutral XForms model will
|
|
provide an avenue for interoperability between various forms
|
|
implementations.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="charter-req"></a>2 Charter and Basic Requirements (Normative)</h2>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="in-xml"></a>2.1 Defined in XML, Usable in XML</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms will be an application of XML 1.0 plus Namespaces. It will be
|
|
possible to define a rich form, including validations, dependencies, and basic
|
|
calculations without the use of a scripting language. As an application of XML,
|
|
it will be possible to combine XForms with other XML based languages such as
|
|
XHTML.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="w3c-integration"></a>2.2 W3C Integration</h3>
|
|
<p>The development of XForms will require interaction with many other
|
|
W3C Working Groups. In particular, close coordination will be required with the
|
|
following two Working Groups:</p>
|
|
<div class="div3">
|
|
<h4><a name="w3c-integration-p3p"></a>2.2.1 P3P</h4>
|
|
<p>The XForms Working Group will work with members of the P3P
|
|
Specification Working Group to define functional requirements for integration
|
|
of P3P and XForms. Close integration is important to assure that forms designed
|
|
with XForms for the purpose of collection of personally-identifiable data allow
|
|
the seamless association of privacy policies and preferences with the data
|
|
being collected. The P3P specification Working Group will be asked to review
|
|
the XForms Requirements and XForms Model specification.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div3">
|
|
<h4><a name="w3c-integration-schema"></a>2.2.2 XML Schema</h4>
|
|
<p>To meet the needs for expressing the XForms Model, the XForms
|
|
Working Group will utilize functionality from XML Schema in addition to
|
|
developing additional form-specific properties. The XML Schema Working Group
|
|
will be asked to review the XForms Requirements and XForms Model
|
|
specification.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="from-html4"></a>2.3 Migration from HTML 4</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should be designed in such a way as to encourage users to
|
|
make use of the new capabilities, rather than lingering on existing form
|
|
technologies. Likewise, the design should encourage implementors to deploy user
|
|
agents that implement XForms.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="ease-of-authoring"></a>2.4 Ease of Authoring</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should be straightforward to author by hand with a simple
|
|
text editor, in order to encourage migration from existing HTML forms.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="separate-p-from-p"></a>2.5 Separate Purpose from Presentation</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms data values should not be bound to a particular interface
|
|
representation. Instead the XForms Model should represent the nature of the
|
|
tasks the user is being asked to perform. The "purpose" of a form control may
|
|
be the same on various devices, whereas the rendering may vary based on
|
|
different capabilities.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="device-independence"></a>2.6 Device Independence</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should express the navigation paths within a form without
|
|
implying specific user interface devices such as a mouse or keyboard. The
|
|
navigation shouldn't rely on device-specific methods such as use of the
|
|
"tab"-key.</p>
|
|
<p>It should be possible to express forms event handling for a broad
|
|
range of devices. In previous versions of HTML some events were
|
|
device-independent (e.g. onfocus, onblur, onchange), while others implied the
|
|
availability of device-specific features (e.g. onmouseover, ondblclick). Within
|
|
a single form, it should be possible to exploit events specific to different
|
|
kinds of Web enabled devices, including conventional browsers, TV sets, set top
|
|
boxes, palmtops and mobile phones.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="scripting-interfaces"></a>2.7 Scripting Interfaces</h3>
|
|
<p>It should be possible to access and manipulate forms via a scripting
|
|
interface. This is needed to allow the construction of specialized forms with
|
|
behaviors going beyond the limits of the forms language itself. XForms should
|
|
be accessible as part of an XML document, insensitive to changes in the
|
|
enclosing document. Additional scripting interfaces specific to forms will be
|
|
added.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="unicode-i18n"></a>2.8 Unicode and Internationalization</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should be fit for usage with non-western character sets,
|
|
languages, and writing systems, including support for Unicode. It is required
|
|
that nonwestern characters be preserved from their initial entry in a form
|
|
control until their final destination and vice versa. It should be possible to
|
|
provide for entry of data formats that do not force international users to
|
|
adapt to western data formats if the corresponding data format is substantially
|
|
different in other regions. </p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="model-req"></a>3 XForms Model Requirements (Normative)</h2>
|
|
<p>XML Forms should be compatible with, build on, and extend (where
|
|
necessary) the basic concepts, data structures, and data types defined by XML
|
|
Schemas. XForms should address the needs of HTML authors as well as people who
|
|
wish to use XForms with data schemas defined in XML Schema.</p>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="datatypes"></a>3.1 Data Types</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms will provide a set of common data types, and may facilitate
|
|
the construction of custom data types.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="identifiers"></a>3.2 Data Type Identifiers</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should include the means to provide globally unique
|
|
identifiers for types which can be used to establish that a given type is the
|
|
same as used in other forms.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="input-validations"></a>3.3 Input Validations</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should be able to express restrictions on user-entered data,
|
|
with enough sophistication to handle common cases, like "telephone number".
|
|
XForms should define how the user agent should behave when the user-entered
|
|
data conflicts with the restrictions defined by a data type.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="send-xml"></a>3.4 Send XML to Server</h3>
|
|
<p>In addition to legacy formats, XForms will be able to send the
|
|
submitted form instance data to the server as an XML document.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="calculations"></a>3.5 Calculations and Expressions</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should include simple calculations and expressions based on
|
|
form data values. Common tasks like summing multiple data values and
|
|
calculating sales tax should be possible. The expression syntax needs to be
|
|
simple enough to be easily parsed and processed by a wide variety of user
|
|
agents. It should be possible to escape out to a scripting language for
|
|
advanced processing.</p>
|
|
<p>The XForms Working Group is aware of potential overlap with the XML
|
|
Query Working Group in this area, and will review the documents produced by the
|
|
XML Query Working Group. The XML Query Group will be asked to review the XForms
|
|
Requirements and XForms Model specification.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="dependencies"></a>3.6 Data Value and Form Control Dependencies</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should be able to express dependencies between data values.
|
|
It should be possible to constrain a form control so that it can only accept
|
|
input if another specific data value has been filled. It should be possible to
|
|
bind two or more form controls to the same data value, so that if the data
|
|
value is updated, then the related form controls indicate that value.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="arrays"></a>3.7 Expandable Form Control Groups (Arrays)</h3>
|
|
<p>For form control groups that support multiple entries, such as a
|
|
line item on an order form, it should be possible for the form control to
|
|
dynamically expand and contract to permit the addition or removal of further
|
|
items. It should be possible to specify the initial, minimum, and maximum
|
|
number of entries.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="security"></a>3.8 Security Features</h3>
|
|
<p>It should be possible to perform secure, protocol-independent form
|
|
transactions.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="confidence-instance"></a>3.9 Confidence Scores</h3>
|
|
<p>Some input modalities (for example, speech recognition, handwriting
|
|
recognition and optical character recognition) naturally result in
|
|
uncertainties. Recognition engines may provide a measure of how confident the
|
|
engine was that a given value was correctly recognized. It should be possible to provide a
|
|
means for such confidence scores to be included with form instance data. The representation of
|
|
ambiguities is something that is potentially harder to deal with and falls
|
|
under the section <a href="#future-req"><b>5 Future Considerations (Non-Normative)</b></a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="ui-reqs"></a>4 User Interface Requirements (Normative)</h2>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="backwards-features"></a>4.1 Provide Functional Equivalents of HTML 4 Form Controls</h3>
|
|
<p>Every form of user interaction defined and commonly implemented in HTML 4 forms should be
|
|
possible with XForms.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="forwards-features"></a>4.2 New Form Controls</h3>
|
|
<p>Compared to current Web form technology, XForms should define richer
|
|
form controls to match the expectations of designers, and to provide richer
|
|
functionality for data acquisition. Designers should be given greater control
|
|
over the visual appearance of form controls.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="multi-page-form"></a>4.3 Support Multiple Pages per Form, and Multiple Forms per
|
|
Page</h3>
|
|
<p>It should be possible for a form to be presented as two or more
|
|
pages. This requirement permits the form to be treated as a single unit or as
|
|
several parts. The form's logic should apply regardless of how it is split
|
|
up.</p>
|
|
<p>Multiple independent forms should be able to exist within the same
|
|
Web page.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="input-devices"></a>4.4 Support More Input Devices</h3>
|
|
<p>Forms need to support a wide range of data acquisition techniques in
|
|
addition to plain text. For instance, to enable the input of files, such as
|
|
audio files, and the input of data streams from devices such as cameras,
|
|
microphones and scanners. Also under consideration are pen-based inputs, which
|
|
would allow signatures and other simple drawings to be entered directly into a
|
|
form equipped with a suitable drawing canvas.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="layout-alignment"></a>4.5 Layout/Alignment</h3>
|
|
<p>XForms should have no dependency on a particular presentation
|
|
technology, for example XHTML tables.</p>
|
|
<p>We will investigate ways of achieving richer form layout and
|
|
alignment on a wide variety of devices.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="future-req"></a>5 Future Considerations (Non-Normative)</h2>
|
|
<p>XForms will be designed with the following features in mind, however
|
|
these areas will not be addressed in the first release.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="custom-controls"></a>5.1 Custom Defined Controls</h3>
|
|
<p>There should be a way to define new form controls (perhaps using
|
|
other markup languages such as SVG, perhaps with bitmap images) offering a
|
|
custom look and feel but integrated into the forms model so that they
|
|
internally behave and react like a standard form control.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="gui-enhancement"></a>5.2 Further GUI Enhancements</h3>
|
|
<p>Further research into various additional graphical elements that
|
|
will be useful as a part of XForms.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="voice-enhancement"></a>5.3 Voice Enhancements</h3>
|
|
<p>Further research into ways to make XForms more useful to aural user
|
|
agents.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="paper-enhancement"></a>5.4 Paper Enhancements</h3>
|
|
<p>Further research into ways to make XForms more useful to paper
|
|
processing and OCR user agents.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="ambiguities"></a>5.5 Representing Ambiguities</h3>
|
|
<p>Some input modalities (for example, speech recognition, handwriting
|
|
recognition and optical character recognition) naturally result in
|
|
uncertainties and ambiguities. Did the user say "Boston" or "Austin" for the
|
|
destination city? Study is needed into ways to represent such ambiguities in
|
|
form instance data, and to make this available to servers when processing the
|
|
form data.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="dsig"></a>5.6 Digital Signatures</h3>
|
|
<p>Further research into what is needed to apply digital signatures to
|
|
form presentation and data, possibly including the preservation of the form
|
|
presentation exactly as the user experienced it.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="locale"></a>5.7 Region Independence</h3>
|
|
<p>Forms designed for international access should to
|
|
be able validate such data values taking the user's locale into account.
|
|
Additionally, in forms designed for international access, labels, sizes and
|
|
input constraints for data values should be able to adapt to the locale.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="http-auth"></a>5.8 HTTP Authentication Front-end</h3>
|
|
<p>Current user agents typically implement HTTP authentication with
|
|
a pop-up window requesting name and password. It should be possible for XForms
|
|
to be used as a front end for HTTP authentication.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="div2">
|
|
<h3><a name="save-resume"></a>5.9 Saving and Resuming</h3>
|
|
<p>There needs to be a generalized way of preserving the changes the
|
|
user has made to a form. This will make it possible for a user to save the
|
|
form, and at a later time, to resume filling it out, perhaps from a different
|
|
machine and perhaps with a different user interface. The ability to treat forms
|
|
as persistent objects encapsulating state and behavior is needed for workflow
|
|
applications where forms are passed from one user to another. It should be
|
|
possible to merge independent updates to persistent forms in ways specific to
|
|
individual applications.</p>
|
|
</div></div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="back">
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="acknowledgments"></a>A Acknowledgements (Non-Normative)</h2>
|
|
<p>This document was written with the participation of the XForms Working
|
|
Group:</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Steven Pemberton
|
|
, CWI
|
|
(<i>co-chair</i>)
|
|
</li><li>
|
|
Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer
|
|
, Mozquito Technologies
|
|
(<i>co-chair</i>)
|
|
</li><li>
|
|
Micah Dubinko
|
|
, Cardiff
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Driss Eddaifi
|
|
, Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>Najib Tounsi
|
|
, Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>Michalis Petropoulos
|
|
, Enosys Markets, Inc.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Peter Stark
|
|
, Ericsson
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Frank Boumphrey
|
|
, HTML Writer's Guild
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Dave Raggett
|
|
, W3C
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Roland Merrick
|
|
, IBM
|
|
</li><li>
|
|
T. V. Raman
|
|
, IBM
|
|
</li><li>Linda Bucksay Welsh
|
|
, Intel</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Gavin McKenzie
|
|
, JetForm Corporation
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Rob McDougall
|
|
, JetForm Corporation
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Ray Waldin
|
|
, Lexica, LLC
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Tantek Çelik
|
|
, Microsoft
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Alex Hopmann
|
|
, Microsoft
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>Dave Hyatt
|
|
, Netscape/AOL
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Eric Pollmann
|
|
, Netscape/AOL
|
|
</li><li>Tom Butcher
|
|
, OpenDesign
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
K. P. Lee
|
|
, Phillips
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Roli Wendorf
|
|
, Phillips
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Ted Wugofski
|
|
, Openwave
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
David Cleary
|
|
, Progress Software
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Mike Mansell
|
|
, PureEdge
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Dave Manning
|
|
, PureEdge
|
|
</li><li>Josef Dietl
|
|
, Mozquito Technologies
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>Michael Fergusson
|
|
, Softquad
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Zoe Lacroix
|
|
, SurroMed, Inc.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Leigh Klotz
|
|
, Xerox
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<p>The XForms Working Group has benefited in its work from the
|
|
participation and contributions of Invited Experts:</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Tom Schnetlage
|
|
, University of Berkeley
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Dan Gillman
|
|
, Federal Bureau of Labor Stastistics
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Eliot Christian
|
|
, U.S. Geological Survey
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Ashok Malhotra
|
|
, XML Schema and XML Query Working Groups (and
|
|
IBM)
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="div1">
|
|
<h2><a name="biblio"></a>B References (Non-Normative)</h2>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-authform"></a>AUTHFORM</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://standards.ieee.org/reading/ieee/std_public/description/busarch/754-1985_desc.html"><cite>User
|
|
Agent Authentication Form Elements</cite></a>, Scott Lawrence, Jim Gettys, Paul
|
|
Leach, 3 September 1998. Available at:
|
|
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Group/Contrib/Lawrence/authform-980903.html</dd>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-FML"></a>FML</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.mozquito.com/documentation/spec_xhtml-fml.html"><cite>Forms Markup
|
|
Language (FML) 1.0</cite></a>, Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, Malte Wedel, Muditha
|
|
Gunatilake, Josef Dietl, 9 September 1999. Available at:
|
|
http://www.mozquito.com/documentation/spec_xhtml-fml.html</dd>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-FORMSHEET"></a>FORMSHEET</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.hpl.hp.co.uk/people/ak/doc/XForm.html"><cite>Formsheets
|
|
and the XML Forms Language</cite></a>, Anders Kristensen, 11 May 1999.
|
|
Available at: http://www.hpl.hp.co.uk/people/ak/doc/XForm.html</dd>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-FUTUREFORMS"></a>FUTUREFORMS</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Group/WD-forms-ng.html"><cite>The Future of
|
|
HTML Forms</cite></a>, Dave Raggett, 16 January 1999. Available at:
|
|
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Group/WD-forms-ng.html</dd>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-XFA"></a>XFA</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/1999/05/XFA/xfa-formcalc.html"><cite>XFA-Template
|
|
Version 1.0</cite></a>, Gavin McKenzie, 14 June 1999. Available at:
|
|
http://www.w3.org/1999/05/XFA/xfa-formcalc.html</dd>
|
|
<dt class="label"><a name="ref-XFDL"></a>XFDL</dt><dd>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-XFDL"><cite>Extensible Forms Description
|
|
Language (XFDL) 4.0</cite></a>, John Boyer, Tim Bray, Maureen Gordon, 2
|
|
September 1998. Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-XFDL</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</body></html>
|