Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Eric Ladd
ISBN: 078971759x
Publication Date: 11/01/98

FrontPage 98

The FrontPage Editor helps you compose forms in a couple of ways. The most obvious is the Form Toolbar, which contains buttons for placing single-line text fields, multiline text boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down menus, and action buttons. When you click any of these, the desired control appears on the page, along with Submit and Reset buttons (if you haven’t started a form yet). The form is contained by a box with a dashed rule, and any other controls you place in the box are part of that form (see Figure 8.8).

FIGURE 8.8  Forms in FrontPage are delineated from the rest of the document by a dashed line.

After you have at least one form field on a page, you can access different properties menus to specify the field’s details. In particular, right-clicking a form control and then selecting Form Field Properties opens a properties dialog box for that control where you can type in the values for the attributes in the tag that creates the control. Additionally, you can choose Form Properties to specify attributes of the <FORM> tag, or you can choose Form Field Validation to set up some script code behind the form to do basic error-checking on the user’s input (see Fig-ure 8.9).

FIGURE 8.9  Each form control has a Properties box where you can specify values for attributes of the corresponding HTML tag.

The other way FrontPage can assist you with form composition is through the Insert, Form Field option. Choosing this option reveals a pop-up list of available form fields, including a few that aren’t on the Forms Toolbar, such as Image and Label. After you select a field, FrontPage places the field on the page, and you can modify its properties in the same way you would for a field placed by using the toolbar.

Allaire HomeSite

Like FrontPage, Allaire’s HomeSite also has a Forms Toolbar with buttons that place the most popular form controls. The Form button lives at the left end of the toolbar and is used to set up the <FORM> and </FORM> tags for the form. As the dialog box in Figure 8.10 shows, you can set up the form’s ACTION, METHOD, ENCTYPE, and TARGET attributes all in one shot.

FIGURE 8.10  The Form tab on the HomeSite toolbar has buttons that enable you to set up the form as well as individual form controls.

The other buttons in the toolbar call up a dialog box with appropriate fields that enable you to specify the attributes of the tag you’re setting up. Figure 8.11 shows the dialog box you get when placing a text field. Note how the dialog box has fields corresponding to the NAME, VALUE, SIZE, and MAXLENGTH attributes of the <INPUT> tag.

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NOTE:  HomeSite’s Forms Toolbar does not include a button for password fields.

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FIGURE 8.11  HomeSite provides a tabbed dialog box that enables you to configure every type of form control.

Adobe PageMill

Like the preceding products, forms are easily created in PageMill with the toolbar buttons shown in Figure 8.12.

FIGURE 8.12  You use the form-related toolbar buttons together with the Attribute Inspector to create forms in PageMill.

Creating forms with PageMill is simple. Click any of the toolbar buttons shown in Figure 8.12 to create a form element. For check boxes and radio buttons, enter the accompanying text by clicking to the right of the elements. Elements such as text areas, buttons, and pop-up menus can be selected and resized.

You can edit your form elements using the PageMill Attributes Inspector. As described in previous chapters, the Attributes Inspector is a utility that enables you to specify the attributes for objects (such as tables, graphics, and forms), as well as frames, pages, and so on. Each attribute set is arranged on a different tab. To access the Inspector, select Show Inspector from the View menu. The Object tab is one of the four major tabs available in the Attributes Inspector. The versatility of the Inspector becomes apparent when you’re using forms. Select a form while the Inspector is active and you’ll see the form’s attributes displayed in the Object tab, as shown in Figure 8.12. Notice that the attributes change as you click different form elements. Because these different elements have different attributes, you can modify them individually with the Inspector.