rest/forms-brainstorming

Forms Brainstorming

This page collects ideas from forms-examples how to best encode form data into a microformat

DETH = Dictionaries Encoding/Transmitting HTML

Rules (Strawman)

1. Only use XHTML Basic Forms Module
2. Must use action with appropriate URI (no scripts)
3. Recommend: use a label with every input
4. Make the for of the label match the id of input
5. Group label with input using

6. Always place submit and reset outside grouping

Questions for further research

1. How to specify whether a field is optional or required?

Patterns

Anchor Design Pattern

<a class="deth" href="http//somesite.com/prog/adduser">label</a>

Forms Design Pattern

<form class="deth" action="http://somesite.com/users" method="post">
 <dl>
 <dt><label for="firstname">First name:</label></dt>
  <dd><input type="text" id="firstname" />
</dd><dt>
   <label for="lastname">Last name:</label></dt>
  <dd><input type="text" id="lastname" />
</dd><dt>Sex</dt>
  <dd><input type="radio" name="sex" value="male">Male</input>
  <input type="radio" name="sex" value="female">Female</input>
</dd><dt>Travel</dt>
  <dd>  <input type="checkbox" name="travel" value="car">Car</input>
  <input type="checkbox" name="travel" value="bike">Bicycle</input>
</dd><dt>
 <label for="age">Age:</dt>
  <dd>
 <select>
   <option val=0>< 18</option>
   <option val=18>18-64</option>
   <option val=65>65+</option>
</select>
</dd><dt>
 <label for="description">Description:</label></dt>
  <dd><textarea id="description">Default text</textarea>
</dd>
</dl>
<input type="submit" value="Send" />
<input type="reset" />
</form>

Sample Python Binding

order=[
 "firstname","lastname","sex",'"travel", "age","description"
]
dict={
 "@@tag":"form",
   "@action":"http://somesite.com/users/",
   "@class":"deth",
   "@enctype":"application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
   "@method":"post",
 "@@order":order,
 "firstname":"First name:",
 "lastname":"Last name:",
 "sex":{"@type":"radio", "male":"Male", "female":"Female"},
 "travel":{"@type":"checkbox", "car":"Car", "bike":"Bicycle"},
 "age":{"@@body":"Age:", "@type":"select",
        "0":"< 18", "18":"18-64", "65":"65+"
  },
 "description":{
   "@@body":"Description:",
   "@type":"textarea",
   "@value":"Default text"
  }
}

See Also

• REST self-describing API proposal
• OpenSearch search results standard (REST-like)