The Tridion Docs implementation of XForms brings additional configuration and steps to the forms process. XForms are a standard for defining the user interface and data model for a form object, and Tridion Docs wraps this in a configuration defining how and where the form should appear in the application, who should have access to it, and how it should be localized.
About this task
ContentDelivery_home refers to
ContentDelivery_InstallDir\WEB-INF on Windows and
ContentDelivery_InstallDir/WEB-INF on Linux.
Procedure
- A form is based on its definition, which is created in the Developer's Workbench. The definition gives the form a localized name, assigns it an icon, and defines its various permissions or capabilities including whether it can have statuses assigned, whether other users can reply to it, and whether it is a document-attached form or a floating form. Finally, the form definition selects an XForm HTML template from the ContentDelivery_home/db/LiveContent/ui/skins/<your skin>/xforms/ folder.
- The XForm HTML template which, is assigned to the form definition, determines which HTML page will be loaded when a new form is created. This XForm HTML template contains the
<xf:model> element (which defines the XForm data model) and other normal HTML elements and <xf:*> elements, which define the HTML interface through which the form is completed.
- When a new form is created, the XForm HTML template is transformed first by the ContentDelivery_home/db/LiveContent/ui/skins/<your skin>/xsl/ui/xforms.xsl, which localizes the content and prepares it to be handed to the XSLTforms plugin. This enables you to use normal HTML template techniques, as described in Modifying HTML Templates.
The user is presented with a rendered, interactive form as defined by the XForm HTML template.
- The user completes the form and saves it.
The form instance, which matches the data model defined in the <xf:model> element is stored within the Tridion Docs XML database. The form's metadata, permissions, and location within the database are all defined by the form definition and the circumstances under which it was created. For example, document-attached forms are stored in a database path indicating the document to which they are associated.