A webform on a web page allows a user to enter data that is, typically, sent to a server for processing and to mimic the usage of paper forms. Forms can be used to submit data to save on a server (e.g., ordering a product) or can be used to retrieve data (e.g., searching on a search engine). A screenshot of a web page. ... In information technology, a server is an application or device that performs services for connected clients as part of a client-server architecture. ... This article is about the word form meaning a type of document. ... A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. ...

XHTML/HTML forms

Sample form rendered by Mozilla Firefox. (Click on image to find the source HTML code that generated this form.)

A form in XHTML or HTML is by far the most common way to use a form online. Image File history File links Sample_web_form. ... Image File history File links Sample_web_form. ... Firefox redirects here. ... HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ... The Extensible HyperText Markup Language, or XHTML, is a markup language that has the same depth of expression as HTML, but also conforms to XML syntax. ... HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ...

The following elements can make up the user-inputting portion of a form:

• input field
  • text – a simple text box that allows input of a single line of text
  • checkbox – a check box
  • radio – a radio button
  • file – a file select control for uploading a file
  • reset – a reset button that, when activated, tells the browser to restore the values to their initial values.
  • submit – a button that tells the browser to take action on the form (typically to send it to a server)
• textarea – much like the text input field except a textarea allows for multiple rows of data to be shown and entered
• select – a drop-down list that displays a list of items a user can select from

The sample image on the right shows all of these elements: This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Checkboxes in Mac OS X. In computing, a check box is a graphical user interface element (widget) that indicates a two-way choice or state (true/false) which can be edited by the user. ... A group of radio buttons, with one choice selected, in Windows XP A pair of radio buttons in Apples Mac OS X A radio button is a type of graphical user interface widget that allows the user to choose one of a predefined set of options. ... Reset button can also refer to the plot device known as the Reset button technique. ... In computing, a button (sometimes known as a command button or push button) is a widget that provides the user a simple way to trigger an event, like searching for a query at a search engine, or to interact with dialog boxes, like confirming his actions. ... A drop-down list, in the normal inactive state The same drop-down list when activated A drop-down list is a user interface control GUI element similar to a list box which allows the user to choose one value from a list. ...

• a text box asking for your name
• a pair of radio buttons asking you to pick your sex
• a select box giving you a list of eye colors to choose from
• a pair of check boxes to click on if they apply to you
• a text area to describe your athletic ability
• a submit button to send it to the server

These basic elements provide most possible graphical user interface (GUI) elements, but not all. For example, there are no equivalents to a combutcon, combo box, balloon help, tree view, or grid view. A grid view, however, can be mimicked by using a standard HTML table with each cell containing a text input element. A tree view could also be mimicked through nested tables or, more semantically appropriately, nested lists. Many of these are available through JavaScript libraries. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A group of radio buttons, with one choice selected, in Windows XP A pair of radio buttons in Apples Mac OS X A radio button is a type of graphical user interface widget that allows the user to choose one of a predefined set of options. ... A drop-down list, in the normal inactive state The same drop-down list when activated A drop-down list is a user interface control GUI element similar to a list box which allows the user to choose one value from a list. ... Checkboxes in Mac OS X. In computing, a check box is a graphical user interface element (widget) that indicates a two-way choice or state (true/false) which can be edited by the user. ... In computing, a button (sometimes known as a command button or push button) is a widget that provides the user a simple way to trigger an event, like searching for a query at a search engine, or to interact with dialog boxes, like confirming his actions. ... GUI redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A combo box in the Macintosh Finder A combo box is a user interface control GUI element. ... System 7 Balloon Help in Eudora Balloon help was a tooltips-type help system introduced by Apple Computer in their System 7 operating system release. ... A tree view or an outline view is a graphical user interface element (widget) that presents a hierarchial view of information. ... NSTableView is the Mac OS X version of grid view A grid view or a datagrid is a graphical user interface element (widget) that presents a tabular view of data. ... Table is a HTML tag for creating boxes on web pages and to display data in those boxes. ... HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ... In computing, an HTML element indicates structure in an HTML document and a way of hierarchically arranging content. ... A JavaScript library is a library of pre-written JavaScript controls which allow for easier development of JavaScript-based applications, especially for AJAX and other web-centric technologies. ...

Combined with programs

Forms can be combined with various scripting languages to allow developers to create dynamic web sites. This includes both client-side and/or server-side languages. Scripting languages (commonly called script languages) are computer programming languages that are typically interpreted. ... For other uses, see Software developer (disambiguation). ... A website, Web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of webpages, that is, HTML/XHTML documents accessible via HTTP on the Internet; all publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. ...

Client-side

The de facto standard client-side scripting language for web sites is JavaScript. Utilizing JavaScript on the Document Object Model (DOM) leads to the method of Dynamic HTML that allows dynamic creation and modification of a web page within the browser. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... “Standard” redirects here. ... JavaScript is a scripting language most often used for client-side web development. ... Hierarchy of objects in an example HTML DOM - Document Object Model The Document Object Model (DOM) is a platform- and language-independent standard object model for representing HTML or XML and related formats. ... Dynamic HTML or DHTML is a collection of technologies used together to create interactive and animated web sites by using a combination of a static markup language (such as HTML), a client-side scripting language (such as JavaScript), a presentation definition language (Cascading Style Sheets, CSS), and the Document Object...

While client-side languages used in conjunction with forms are limited, they often can serve to do pre-validation of the form data and/or to prepare the form data to send to a server-side program. The word validation has several uses: In general, validation is the process of checking if something satisfies a certain criterion. ...

Server-side

Server-side programs can do a vast assortment of tasks to create dynamic web sites — from authenticating a login through, for example, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol to retrieving and storing data in a database to spell checking to sending e-mail — quite unlike client-side programs. Most server-side program requests must pass through the web server's Common Gateway Interface to execute the program to actually perform the tasks. For other uses of the terms authentication, authentic and authenticity, see authenticity. ... A login (also log in, log on, signon, sign on) is the process of accessing a computer system by identification of the user in order to obtain credentials to permit access. ... The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, or LDAP (IPA: ), is an application protocol for querying and modifying directory services running over TCP/IP.[1] A directory is a set of objects with similar attributes organized in a logical and hierarchical manner. ... This article is about computing. ... In computing terms, a spelling checker (also spell checker) is a software program designed to verify the spelling of words in a file, helping a user ensure his/her spelling is correct. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The inside/front of a Dell PowerEdge web server The term Web server can mean one of two things: A computer program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients, which are known as Web browsers, and serving them HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are... The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard protocol for interfacing external application software with an information server, commonly a web server. ... Execution in computer and software engineering is the process by which a computer or virtual computer carries out the instructions of a computer program. ...

The advantage of server-side over client-side is the concentration of functionality onto one computer (the server) instead of relying on each web browser implementing all of the various functions the same. This very problem is quite evident to any developer who writes JavaScript code for multiple browsers. An example of a Web browser (Mozilla Firefox) A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network. ... JavaScript is a scripting language most often used for client-side web development. ...

Scripting languages are the most common server-side programs used for web sites, but it is also possible to run compiled programs. Scripting languages (commonly called script languages) are computer programming languages that are typically interpreted. ...

Some of the scripting languages commonly used:

• PHP
• Perl
• ASP
• Adobe ColdFusion
• JSP

Some of the compiling languages commonly used: For other uses, see PHP (disambiguation). ... Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Perl Programming Perl is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. ... Active Server Pages (ASP) is Microsofts first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages. ... ColdFusion is an application server and software development framework used for the development of computer software in general, and dynamic web sites in particular. ... // JavaServer Pages (JSP) is a Java technology that allows software developers to dynamically generate HTML, XML or other types of documents in response to a Web client request. ...

• C
• C++
• Java

C is a general-purpose, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. ... C++ (pronounced ) is a general-purpose programming language. ... Java language redirects here. ...

PHP

PHP is one very common language used for server-side languages used and is one of the few languages created specifically for server-side programs. For other uses, see PHP (disambiguation). ...

A PHP script may:

• display the information on another page (ex: asking for a user's name and then displaying it on the web page)
• act as a log on interface
• post the data to a database (ex: mySQL, an ASCII file, etc.)
• store the information on the viewer's computer in an HTTP cookie
• generate an e-mail, either using the data or including said data in the e-mail's contents (possibly as an e-mail attachment)

The HTML form learns where to pass the data from the action attribute of the form's HTML element. The target PHP file then retrieves the data either through POST or GET (see HTTP for more information), depending on the programmer's preference. Here is a basic form handler PHP script that will post the form's contents, in this case "user", to the page using GET: MySQL (pronounced (IPA) , my S-Q-L[1]) is a multithreaded, multi-user SQL database management system (DBMS)[2] which has, according to MySQL AB, more than 10 million installations. ... Image:ASCII fullsvg There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126. ... This article is about the HTTP state mechanism. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... An e-mail attachment (or email attachment) is a computer file which is sent along with an e-mail message. ... In computing, an HTML element indicates structure in an HTML document and a way of hierarchically arranging content. ... HTTP (for HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the primary method used to convey information on the World Wide Web. ... A programmer or software developer is someone who programs computers, that is, one who writes computer software. ...

form.html

 <html> <body> <form action="form_handler.php" method="get"> User Name: <input name="user" type="text" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> </body> </html> 

form_handler.php

 <html> <body> <?php /* * This will print whatever the user put into the form on the form.html page. */ $name = $_GET['user']; echo "Hello, ". $name ."!"; ?> </body> </html> 

In the above script the $_GET[''] and $_POST[''] commands need to be changed, depending on what is used in the form, however $_REQUEST[''] is used for both so it is more efficient to use for form collection.

Perl

Perl is another language often used for web development. Perl scripts are traditionally used as Common Gateway Interface applications (CGIs). In fact, Perl is such a common way to write CGIs that the two are often confused. CGIs may be written in other languages than Perl (compatibility with multiple languages is a design goal of the CGI protocol) and there are other ways to make Perl scripts interoperate with a web server than using CGI (such as FastCGI or Apache's mod perl). Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Perl Programming Perl is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. ... Web development is a broad term for any activities related to developing a web site for the World Wide Web or an intranet. ... The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard protocol for interfacing external application software with an information server, commonly a web server. ... The inside/front of a Dell PowerEdge web server The term Web server can mean one of two things: A computer program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients, which are known as Web browsers, and serving them HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are... FastCGI is a protocol for interfacing interactive programs with a web server. ... The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to simply as Apache, is a web server notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. ... mod_perl is an optional module for the Apache web server. ...

Perl CGIs were once a very common way to write web applications. But not being specifically designed for web development, Perl is now often viewed as less practical (both for developers and users) than specialized languages like PHP or ASP^{[citation needed]}. This is especially true if Perl modules would need to be installed on the web host or if wanting to use a non-CGI environment that might require extra configurations on the web server. Some web hosts also rely on interpreter-level sandboxing, which while possible with the Safe module, wouldn't be very practical and undoubtly break a lot of scripts considering common practices.^{[citation needed]} Similar considerations might apply to other general-purpose scripting languages like Python or Ruby.^{[citation needed]} For these reasons, a lot of cheap web hosts nowadays effectively only support PHP and web developers often seek compatibility with them.^{[citation needed]} In software engineering, a web application is an application delivered to users from a web server over a network such as the World Wide Web or an intranet. ... For other uses, see PHP (disambiguation). ... ASP is a three-letter acronym with numerous meanings in different contexts. ... A Perl module is a discrete component of software for the Perl programming language. ... Web hosting is a service that provides Internet users with online systems for storing information, images, video, or any content accessible via the web. ... In computer security, a sandbox is a is a play item for little kids, suppliers and untrusted users. ... Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language. ... Ruby is a reflective, dynamic, object-oriented programming language. ...

A modern Perl 5 CGI using the standard CGI module with a form similar to the one above might look like:

form_handler.pl

 #!/usr/bin/perl use CGI qw(:standard); $user = param('user'); print header; print html( body( p("Hello, $user!"), ), ); 

Form-to-email scripts

Among the simplest and most commonly needed types of server-side script is that which simply emails the contents of a submitted form. This kind of script is frequently exploited by spammers, however, and many of the most popular form-to-email scripts in use are vulnernable to be hijacked for spamming purposes. One of the most popular scripts of this type was "FormMail.pl" made by Matt's Script Archive. Today, no version of this still frequently used script is considered secure. This article is about spam, the abuse of electronic communications media to send unsolicited bulk messages. ...

To avoid the confusion and difficulty of installing and using scripts, webmasters often use a free service such as FreeFormProcessing to get their forms working.

XForms

Further information: XForms

XForms is two things: 1. ...

External links

• Forms in HTML documents, the W3C's spec page for forms in HTML 4.
• HTML Form Maker