XP

Tutorial 6: Creating Web Page Forms

 XP
An Example of a Form
 XP
The Interaction between a
Web Page Form and a CGI Script

This figure shows

how a Web page
form interacts
with a CGI script.
 XP
Working with CGI Scripts

• HTML supports tags for creating forms, however, it does

not process the information.
• Use CGI (Common Gateway Interface) script to process
form information.
• CGI script runs on the Web server and receives data from
a form and uses it to perform a set of tasks.
• Web page designers may not be able to create or edit CGI
scripts.
– Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and universities may provide
CGI scripts that their customers and student can use on their Web
sites, but which they cannot directly access or modify
 XP
CGI Scripts and Computer Languages

• CGI scripts can be written in a variety of different computer

languages. Some of the most commonly used languages are:
– AppleScript
– ASP
– C/C++
– Perl
– TCL
– The UNIX shell
– Visual Basic
• The computer language used depends on the Web server.
 XP
Form Components and Elements
Input box
First Name Last Name
Address #1
Address #2

City State Zip

Country

Item Purchased Purchase Date

drop-down Serial Number
group
list box box
Used For (check one) Network Operating System (check all that apply)
Netware
Home
Banyan Vines
Business
radio Religious or Charitable Institution Windows
IBM Lan Server check
buttons Government
Educational Institution PC/NFS
boxes
text
Comments?:
area

form Send
SendRegistration
Registration Cancel
Cancel
button
 XP
Form Control Elements

• Control elements :
– text boxes for text and numerical entries
– selection lists for long lists of options, usually appearing in a
drop-down list box
– radio buttons, also called option buttons, to select a single
option from a predefined list
– check boxes to specify an item as either present or absent
– groups boxes to organize form elements
– text areas for extended entries that can include several lines of
text
– buttons that can be clicked to start processing the form
• Each control element in which the user can enter information is called a
field.
 XP
The <form> Tag

• A single page can include several different forms, but you

cannot nest one form inside another.
• The general syntax of the <form> tag is:
<form attributes>
form elements and layout tags
</form>
• A single Web page can contain multiple forms, the
<form> tag includes the name attribute.
• The name attribute identifies each form on the page.
• The name attribute is also needed for programs that
retrieve values from the form.
 XP
Adding the <form> Tag

The <form> tag

includes attributes
that control how the
form is processed,
including
information on what
CGI script to use,
how the data is to be
transferred to the
script, and so forth.

This figure shows the

form name “reg.”
 XP
Completed Registration Form

contact information

product information

usage information

comments

buttons
 XP
Input Types

Type Description
type=”button” Display a button which can be clicked to
perform an action from a script
type=”checkbox” Display a check box
type=”file” Display a browse button to locate and select a
file
type=”hidden” Create a hidden field, not viewable on the form
type=”image” Display an inline image which can be clicked to
perform an action from a script
type=”password” Display a text box in which hides text entered
by the user
type=”radio” Display a radio (option) button
type=”reset” Display a button which resets the form when
clicked
type=”submit” Display a button which submits the form when
clicked
type=”text” Display a text box in which displays text
entered by the user
 XP
Working with Text Boxes

• Text boxes are created using the <input> tag.

• The general syntax is:
<input type=“type” name=“name”
id=“id”>
– type specifies the type of input field
– name and id attributes identifies the input field for
the CGI script
• To create a text box, you would enter the tag:
<input type=“text”>
 XP
Creating a Text Box

• To create a text box, use the following HTML code:

<input name=“name” id=“id” value=“value”
size=“value” maxlength=“value”>
– name and id attributes identify the field
– value - a default value to the text box
– size - the width of the text box in number of characters
– maxlength - the maximum number of characters allowed
in the field
 XP
Name/Value Pairs sent from
the Web Form to the CGI Script
This figure shows
when form data is
sent to the CGI
script, the script
receives the name
or id of each field
in the form
paired with
whatever value
the user entered
in the field. The
script then
processes the data
according to each
name/value pair.
 XP
Text Boxes on the Form

Text boxes are text description

blank and do text box
not contain any
accompanying
text, a text
description
needs to be
inserted, such as
“Last Name”,
adjacent to each
box so that the
user knows what
to enter.
 XP
Setting the Width of Text Boxes
 XP
Specify the Maximum Length
for a Field
This figure shows an example of limiting the width of the zip code field to five characters.

no more than 5
characters are
allowed in this text
box
 XP
Setting a Default Value for a Field

• When the same value is entered into a field, it may

make sense to define a default value for a field.
• Default values can save time and increase
accuracy for users of a Web site.
• To define a default value, use the following
syntax:
<input value=“value”>
– value is the default text or number that is displayed in
the field
 XP
Defining a Default Value for a Field

If customers from countries other than the United States use this Web form,
they can remove the default value by selecting the text and pressing the Delete key.

default value
 XP

Value =“United States”

 XP
Creating a Password Field

• A password field is a text box in which the characters

typed by the user are displayed as bullets or asterisks i.e.
****.
• The syntax for creating a Password field is:
<input type=“password”>
• Using a password field should not be confused with having
a secure connection.
• The password itself is not encrypted.
• The password field only acts as a mask for a field entry as
it is entered.
 XP
Form Labels & selection lists

• HTML allows you to formally link a label with an

associated text element for scripting purposes.
• The syntax for creating a form label is:
<label for=“id”>label text</label>
– id is the value of the id attribute for a field on the form
– label text is the text of the label
– you must bind the label to the id attribute of the field and not
the name attribute
 XP
Creating a Label for the fname Field

This figure shows

a label for the
fname field.

value of the id
attribute for the first
name field
 XP
Using a Selection List

Your selection
list might look
slightly different
depending on the
browser and
browser version.
 XP
Creating a Selection List

• A selection list is a list box from which a user selects a

particular value or set of values.
• Selection lists are good to use when there is a fixed set of
possible responses.
• Selection lists help prevent spelling mistakes and
erroneous entries.
• A selection list is created using the <select> tag.
• The <option> tag is used to specify individual selection
items.
 XP
Creating a Selection List

selection list field

name

items in the selection

list
 XP
Selection Lists with
Different Size Values

size = "1" size = "4"

size = "7" size = "9"

 XP
Working with Option Values

• By default, a form sends the values that are displayed

in the selection list to the CGI script.
• Instead of sending an entire text string, an
abbreviation or code can be sent to the CGI script.
• Specify the value that is sent to the CGI script with the
value attribute.
• Use the selected attribute to specify which item in the
selection is selected, or highlighted, when the form is
displayed.
 XP
Working with Option Groups

• The most recent releases of HTML allows you to

organize selection lists into distinct groups called
option groups.
• The syntax for creating an option group is:
<optgroup label=“label”>
– label is the label assigned to the option group
– the text for the label appears in the selection list above
each group of items but is not a selectable item from
the list
 XP
Option Groups

Internet Explorer and Netscape versions prior to 6.0 display

the selection list without the group labels.
option group
label

option
a single group label
option
group a single option
group
 XP
Radio Buttons

• Radio buttons display a list of choices from which a user

makes a selection.
– Only one radio button can be selected at a time.
• The syntax to create a radio button is:
<input type=“radio” name=“name” id=“id”
value=“value”>
– name - the field containing the radio button (required)
– id - the specific option. Only required if you intend to use a
field label with the radio button
– value - the value sent to the CGI script, if that radio button is
selected by the user
 XP
Creating Radio Buttons

In this sample code, the value sent to the CGI script does not match the field label.
If the user selects the Republican radio button, the value “gop”
is sent to the CGI script paired with the field name “party.”
 XP
Creating a Group Box

• A group box labels an entire collection of radio

buttons.
• A group box is a box placed around a set of fields
that indicates that they belong to a common group.
• The syntax for creating a group box is:
<fieldset>
<legend align=“align”>legend
text</legend>
collection of fields
</fieldset>
 XP
Group Boxes for Radio Buttons
and Check Boxes
 XP
Creating a Field Set

• HTML and XHML allow you to organize option

buttons into a group of fields called field sets.
– Most browsers place a group box around a field set to
indicate that the fields belong to a common group.

<fieldset>
fields
</fieldset>
Where fields are the individual fields within a set.

• the <legend> tag is used to display a legend on the

group box
 XP
Creating a Group Box and Legend

start of group box

group box legend

resulting radio buttons and group box

 XP
Group Box Size

• There is no attribute to control the size of a group box.

• The box’s height will be large enough to accommodate the
fields and labels in the field set.
• The width is the width of whatever space remains on the
Web page.
• To set the width to a specific value use a table cell to place
the group box and set the width of the cell.
– group boxes cannot extend across table cells; all of the fields
in the field set must be placed within a single cell
 XP
Working with Check Boxes

• A check box is either selected or not

• Check boxes are created using the following syntax:
<input type=“checkbox” name=“name”
id=“id” value=“value”>
– name and id - the check box
– the value - the value that is sent to the CGI script when
the check box is selected
• Check boxes are not selected by default.
– to do this, add the checked attribute to the <input> tag
– <input type =“checkbox” checked = “checked”>
 XP
Group Boxes for Radio Buttons
and Check Boxes
 XP
Creating a Text Area

default text
area text dimensions
of text area

resulting text area

 XP
Comment Text Area
 XP
Creating a Form Button
 XP
Creating a Push Button

• One type of button, called a push button, is

created using the <input> tag as follows:
<input type=“button” value=“text”>
– text is the text that appears on the button
• By themselves, push buttons perform no actions in
the Web page.
• To create an action, write a script or program that
runs automatically when the button is clicked.
 XP
Creating Submit and Reset Buttons

• A submit button is a button that submits the form

to the CGI script for processing.
• A reset button resets the form to its original
(default) values.
• The syntax for creating these two buttons is:
<input type=“submit” value=“text”>
<input type=“reset” value=“text”>
– value attribute defines the text that appears on the
button
 XP
Creating a Form Button

The figure shows HTML tags for buttons that download a program,
retrieves information, and resets the form to its original values.
 XP
Creating a File Button

The figure shows

an example of
using the file 1. User clicks the Browse button
button to return
the location of a
file named
2. Selects a file from the
“report.doc.” Choose File dialog box

3. The filename and location

are automatically placed in
the text box
 XP
Working with Hidden Fields

• A hidden field is added to the form but not displayed in the

Web page.
• Because the field is hidden, it can be placed anywhere
between the opening and closing <form> tags.
• The syntax for creating a hidden field is:
<input type=“hidden” name=“name”
value=“value>
• Place all hidden fields in one location to make it easier to
read and interpret the HTML code.
• Include a comment describing the purpose of the field.
 XP
Adding a Hidden Field

This figure shows

an example of the
hidden field code.
 XP
Working with Form Attributes

• After adding the elements to your form, you’ll need to specify

where to send the form data and how to send it. Use the
following attributes:

<form action=“url”method=“type”enctype=“type”>… </form>

– URL - the filename and location of the CGI script that process the form
– Method - how your Web browser sends data to the CGI script
– enctype - the format of the data stored in the form’s field
 XP
Working with Form Attributes

• The method attribute can have one of two values:

– Post
– Get

• The get method is the default;

– get appends the form data to the end of the URL specified in the
action attribute.
• The post method sends form data in a separate data stream,
allowing the Web server to receive the data through “standard
input”.
– the “post” method is considered the preferred way of sending data to
a Web server
 XP
Specifying Where and How
to Send Form Data

This figure shows the CGI script that processes the form is located at the URL
http://www.langear.com/cgi/mailer (a fictional address) and uses the “post” method.
 XP
Form Values

The Web browser

presents a page, an
example of which is
shown in this figure,
displaying the name
of each field in the
form and the value
assigned to it. At the
same time, the CGI
script formats a mail
message to be sent to
the address you
entered.
 XP
Using the “mailto” Action

• Use the “mailto” action to send form information via e-

mail without using a CGI script.
• This action accesses the user’s own e-mail program and uses
it to mail form information to a specified e-mail address,
bypassing the need for using CGI scripts on a Web server.
• The syntax of the “mailto” action is:
<form action=“mailto:e-mail_address”
method=“post” enctype=“text/plain”>
– e-mail_address is the e-mail address of the recipient of
the form
 XP
Using the “mailto”
Action Continued

• Not all browsers support the “mailto” action.

– for example, versions of Internet Explorer earlier than
4.0 and Netscape Navigator 3.0 do not
• Another concern is that messages sent via the
“mailto” action are not encrypted for privacy.
• The recipient’s email address is revealed to the user.
 XP
Mail Message Created Using
the “mailto” Action

This figure shows an

e-mail message that
the “mailto” action
generated for a
registration form.

The format of the

mail message may
look different
depending on the
browser or e-mail
software.
 XP
Specifying the Tab Order

• Users navigate through a Web form using the Tab key.

– the Tab key moves the cursor from one field to another in the
order that the field tags are entered.
• Add the tabindex attribute to any control element in the
form to specify the tab order.
• With each element assigned a tab index number, the cursor
moves through the fields from the lowest index number to
the highest.
– for example, to assign the tab index number “1” to the fname field,
enter the code: <input name=“fname” tabindex=“1”>
 XP
Specifying an Access Key

• An access key is a single key that you type in conjunction

with the Alt key for Windows users or the Command key for
Macintosh users, to jump to one of the control elements in the
form.
• Add the accesskey attribute to any of the control elements to
create an access key.
• To create an access key for the lname field, enter the
following code: <input name=“lname”
accesskey=“1”>
– if a user types Alt+l (or Command+1 for Macintosh users), the control
element for the lname field is selected
 XP

7 rows
 XP
<form> tag needed after <body>

Three <Fieldset> with <legend>

for group box

<textarea> for “street field”

Default value as “United States”

needed for “Country”

Checkbox for “Ship to Billing

Address” field

Radio button for Credit Card field

“password” as input type” for

card number field

<select> and <option> for

“expiration date” field

Three form buttons at the bottom