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Project: Web Dynamic Forms

Concept: Web Dynamic Forms support developers in creating a single, dynamic, scrollable form using a form description language. The virtual form is structured into sections and subsections so that effective organization and navigation of the information are possible.

Features:

• Dynamic visibility of widgets
• Automatic layout of widgets
• Nested forms and built-in checklists
• Variety of field types
• Input verification
• Field procedures and formulae
• Integration with HTML
• Descriptive representation
• Automatic repetition of fields

Implementation: Web Dynamic Forms consists of a set of Java classes, one class for each type of field. Such an object-oriented design supports the introduction of new field types by adding new classes to the hierarchy. A protocol of Java methods describes each field class so that new classes can inherit some of the methods and redefine others.
The form description language is a textual language that describes fields including their types, properties, and relationships. Properties can have simple string values such as the prompt of a field or they can contain expressions with a C-like syntax, for example, to describe the visibility condition of a field. Fields are named and their values can be accessed in expressions just like variables. A precompiler converts the form description language to Java code.

Form Field Types:

• EntryField
• MultilineEntryField
• ReadOnlyText
• MultilineReadOnlyText
• RadioButtons
• CheckBoxes
• ListBox
• PushButton
• Heading
• Prompt
• InvisibleField
• Array

Principals: Done in collaboration with Andreas Girgensohn (FXPal). I spearheaded the port of Dynamic Forms interaction paradigm for the Web and its Java implementation, and applied it in a number of applications.

Publication: Girgensohn and Lee, Sixth International World Wide Web Conference, 1997.

Work Conducted: May 1996 — November 1996.