XForms is being billed as “The next generation of Web forms”, by the
W3C.
Intending to improve on today's HTML forms, XForms seperates presentation from content, splitting traditional web forms into three parts: XForms model, instance data, and user interface.
IBM has embraced XForms with
Workplace Forms 2.6. Today this version is being offered for General Avalialability through IBM's Partner and Customer sites. Look for anouncements later this week and take the time to get up to date on what XForms has to offer.
IBM Workplace Forms 2.6 benefits are delivered in suite of products that interact to develop and deliver data-driven, XML-based electronic forms to end-users:
- IBM Workplace Forms Viewer 2.6 - A rich client viewer that automates multi-person workflows by providing role-based signing authority and access to specific form sections. Role-based wizards enable users to efficiently move through the form- filling process, helping increase accuracy and improve efficiency.
- IBM Workplace Forms Designer 2.6 - An easy-to-use, what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG), e-form design environment, based on the Eclipse open source framework, that promotes team development of form-based applications and enables reuse of business components across forms.
- IBM Workplace Forms Server 2.6 - Delivers a true zero-footprint solution, providing e-forms to external users quickly and efficiently within a browser, without requiring additional downloads or plug-ins. Workplace Forms Server caters to complex forms that may require multiple sessions and people to fill by enabling saving the form's state to the server or local desktop, so it can be continued a later time. It also provides a mechanism to automatically distribute client-side software such as IBM Workplace Forms 2.6 Viewer.