- Create XForms files in a text or XML editor
- Convert existing forms (electronic or paper) to XForms
- Collect XML data from users in a user-friendly way
- Reduce the amount of JavaScript needed within browser interfaces
- Increase the security and reliability of your current information system by combining client-side and server-side checks into a common code base
- Understand how to create interactive web sites using the latest standard technology
This book is organized into three divisions. The first gives a general introduction to web forms, including information on the history and basic construction of forms. The second section serves as a kind of reference manual to the XForms specification. The third section offers additional hints, guidelines, and techniques for working with XForms.
If you simply want to fill out a form, you need only acquire the appropriate software or browser plug-in. There's no need for you to know what's going on behind the scenes unless you wish to satisfy your commendable intellectual curiosity.
If you wish to create forms with a designer program that has XForms export capability, just read that program's documentation to learn how to use that program feature. XForms goes to great lengths to make the fill-out experience intuitive; reading instructions is not required.