]> XForms resources C. M. Sperberg-McQueen

Unpublished and confidential.

Created in electronic form.

 XForms resources XForms for XML Users &date.last.touched;

This document lists resources with useful information about XForms, for the use of participants in the BMT course Introduction to XForms for XML users.

The XForms specification

XForms 1.1, W3C Recommendation 20 October 2001, ed. John M. Boyer ([Cambridge, Sophia-Antipolis, Tokyo]: World Wide Web Consortium, 2001). Latest version always at http://www.w3.org/TR/xforms/.

The spec itself; quite readable as technical specifications go but not intended as a tutorial.
Crib sheets, quick reference

For XForms:

Steven Pemberton, <xref href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/2010/xforms11-qr.html">XForms 1.1 Quick Reference</xref> ([Cambridge, Sophia-Antipolis, Tokyo]: World Wide Web Consortium, 2010).

Extremely helpful. You will want to have it open in a tab of your browser whenever you are developing a form. Entries are linked to the XForms 1.1 spec, so fuller information is readily available. There is also a version for XForms 1.0.

Joern Turner and Lars Windauer, <xref href="http://www.betterform.de/forms/reference/XFormsFeatureExplorer.xhtml" >XForms Feature Explorer</xref> (Berlin: betterFORM Project, 2010).

Reference material on XForms controls (description, sample, markup) and control structures (group, repeat, switch). Nice XForms application in its own right.Reference material on XForms controls and control structures.

For related technologies:

Mulberry Technologies, <xref href="http://www.mulberrytech.com/quickref/XSLT_1quickref-v2.pdf">XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0 Quick Reference</xref> (Rockville, Maryland: Mulberrry Technologies, Inc., 2000).

Julia Flanders and Syd Bauman, Text Encoding Fundamentals: CSS Crib Sheet (Providence: Brown University Women Writers Project, 2007). Available in both styled TEI source and derived XHTML.Linked from http://www.wwp.brown.edu/encoding/current/handouts/.

Julia Flanders, Syd Bauman, and C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, oXygen crib sheet (Española: Black Mesa Technologies LLC, 2011).

Based on earlier crib sheet by Flanders and Bauman for the Brown University Women Writers Project, 2007.

Alain Couthures, <xref href="http://www.agencexml.com/xsltforms/xpath.xml" >XPath functions</xref> (Eysines, France: AgenceXML, 2009).

Rather terse list; hover over the icons for longer descriptions.
Detailed tutorials

Steven Pemberton, <xref href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/2010/xforms11-for-html-authors/">XForms 1.1 tutorial for HTML authors</xref> and <xref href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/2010/xforms11-for-html-authors/part2.html" >XForms for HTML Authors, Part 2</xref> ([Cambridge, Sophia-Antipolis, Tokyo]: World Wide Web Consortium, 2010).

Very helpful, brisk introduction to the main constructs of XForms; working examples use XSLTForms. There is also a version for XForms 1.0.

Kurt Cagle, Understanding XForms (six-part series), ([n.p.]: XML.com, 2006). <xref href="http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/03/why_xforms_matter_revisited.html" >Why XForms Matter, Revisited</xref>, 19 March 2006. <xref href = "http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/03/understanding_xforms_the_model.html" >The Model</xref>, 26 March 2006. <xref href = "http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/06/understanding_xforms_component.html" >Components</xref>, 23 June 2006. <xref href = "http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/07/understanding_xforms_customiza.html" >Customization</xref>, 4 July 2006. <xref href = "http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/08/understanding_xforms_events_an.html" >Events and Actions</xref>, 2 August 2006. <xref href = "http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/08/understanding_xforms_ajax_xbl.html" >AJAX, XBL and XForms.org</xref>, 9 August 2006.

W3 Schools, XForms Tutorial.

Workmanlike introduction with some interactive examples.
High-level introductions

Micah Dubinko, <xref href="http://xformsinstitute.com/">XForms Institute</xref> ([n.p.]: Brain Attic, L.L.C., 2005, 2009).

An interactive tutorial using Mozquito Deng and Flash. Covers basics only; describes 1.0, but all of what is described still works in 1.1.

John Boyer, <xref href="http://www.drdobbs.com/184406031" >XForms & Cause-and-Effect Programming</xref>, Dr. Dobb's Journal, April 2005.

Mostly high level but with several listings.

W3C XForms Working Group, <xref href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/2003/xforms-faq.html" >XForms 1.0 FAQ</xref> ([Cambridge, Sophia-Antipolis, Tokyo]: World Wide Web Consortium, 2003).

Mostly high-level Do I need to wait for browser support? kinds of questions.
Books

Alain Couthures et al., <xref href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/XSLTForms">XSLTForms</xref> ([n.p.]: Wikibooks, 2010).

Currently very uneven in the parts that exist; much is just an empty outline. But some parts are very useful: How to style XForms using CSS, in XSLTForms lists the CSS classes used by XSLTForms. XSLTForms-only extensions lists extensions to the spec and describes how to supply user-written functions in Javascript. Known restrictions lists gaps in coverage of the spec and other restrictions.

Micah Dubinko, <xref href="http://xformsinstitute.com/essentials/browse/">XForms essentials</xref> (Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2003). xiv, 215 pp.; index pp. 203-215.

Browsable version online.

Dan McCreary, ed., <xref href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/XForms">XForms Tutorial and Cookbook: Your quick start to the web revolution</xref> ([n.p.]; Wikibooks, 2010.

Very uneven. Many of the examples are helpful or thought-provoking, but the explanation and commentary are sometimes terse or misleading. In addition to a large number of examples, the book has potentially useful sections on configuring Apache to accept HTTP PUT requests using WebDAV, configuring Apache and Subversion to provide auto-versioned WebDAV directories, and using eXist with XForms. In addition to many examples, the book has potentially useful sections on configuring Apache, WebDAV, Subversion, and eXist.

T. V. Raman, XForms: XML Powered Web Forms (Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2004). xxvii, 239 pp.; index pp. 229-239.

Systematic survey of XForms, construct by construct. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the text of the book in HTML form and all examples from the book as free-standing XML documents.
Link collections and gallimaufries W3C XForms page. Generic, a bit bland, but some useful pointers. Planet XForms. Federated blogs, links to slide decks, etc. XForms:dz, the XForms developer zone. A bit stale just now but some items retain interest.
Implementation sites This list is not complete; it includes implementations I have actually used or which have shown definite signs of life in the last year or so. For a fuller list see the W3C XForms implementations list.
In-client implementations EMC Documentum XForms Engine (Formula), EMC2. Javascript-based client written using Google Web Toolkit. Integrates easily into EMC dynamic document delivery system. Mozilla plug-in, Allan Beaufour et al. Native client as Firefox plugin. Current version (0.8.7, 26 May 2010) requires Firefox 3.6. The detailed 1.1 feature list and status are useful for troubleshooting. The MDN / XForms page links to generic documentation and reference documentation specific to the Mozilla plug-in. Ubiquity XForms, Mark Birbeck et al. Ajax-based implementation; Apache v2.0 license. Widely considered worth watching, but probably not yet ready for use by people not involved in developing the product. Project site seems quiet lately; last updates February 2010. XSLTForms home page, Alain Couthures. XSLT- and Ajax-based implementation: uses the browser's XSLT engine to translate XHTML+XForms documents into HTML + HTML forms + Ajax. Commercial support available. See also Wikibook listed above.
Servlet-based implementations

Several Java-based implementations run as servlets in a servlet container; Tomcat, Jetty, or some other servlet container will be needed. In general, they translate the form into a combination of HTML, HTML Forms, and Ajax-style Javascript code which divides processing between the client and the server.

Orbeon Forms, Orbeon, Inc. Open-source XForms implementation with commercial support and commercial version with extended functionality. Active user support list. Accompanying Form Builder tool intended to ease form design. Integrates well into Orbeon's pipeline-based document management. betterFORM, Joern Turner and Lars Windauer. Uses the Dojo Javascript toolkit. Multiple installation options: .war file for container deployment, stand-alone version packaged with Jetty and eXist, source code, or standalone jar file for integration in larger Java applications.
Host languages other than XHTML IBM Forms 4.0. A suite of interrelated software: form designer, form server, form viewer. Open Office, OpenOffice.org. XForms can be embedded in Open Office Writer documents. See the Open Office wiki for documentation.
Other resources W3C XForms test suites Browsable versions of the 1.0 and 1.1 test suites. The test cases try to be self-describing, so if you are using a native implementation of XForms you can see when looking at the test whether the implementation passes or not. XForms test Hosts test suite pages and scripts for XForms.