XLIFF and Xforms

[Andrzej Zydron <azydron@xml-intl.com>]

Hi,

In response to the request from Tony to take a look at XForms and its 
potential representation in XLIFF:

1) XForms is an official W3C recommendation. The full details of the 
standard can be viewed at the following URL:

http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-xforms-20031014/

2) Design goals
XForms was designed to make the coding of HTML/XHTML forms easier and to 
be output independent. A well designed XForm is capable of being 
rendered in VoiceXML as well as HTML, XHTML or as a valid/well formed 
XML document.

In addition validating constraints can be specified for input values - 
something which requires extensive scripting in HTML.

The goal of XForms is to provide the 20% of necessary functionality in 
order to eliminate 80% of the need for scripting.

An XForm processor is needed to render an XForm into an instance.

3) Controls

XForms contain the following controls (HTML equivalents described 
alongside):

3.1) <input> (HTML equivalent: <input type="text">) - For entry of small 
amounts of text
3.2) <textarea> (HTML equivalent: <textarea>) - For entry of large 
amounts of text
3.3) <secret> (HTML equivalent: <input type="password">) - For entry of 
sensitive information
3.4) <output> (HTML equivalent: N/A) - For inline display of any 
instance data
3.5) <range> (HTML equivalent: N/A) - For smooth "volume control" 
selection of a value
3.6) <upload> (HTML equivalent: <input type="file">) - For upload of 
file or device data
3.7) <trigger> (HTML equivalent: <button>) - For activation of form events
3.8) <submit> (HTML equivalent: <input type="submit">) - For submission 
of form data
3.9) <select> (HTML equivalent: <select multiple="multiple"> or multiple
<input type="checkbox">) - For selection of zero, one, or many options
3.10) <select1> (HTML equivalent: <select> or multiple
<input type="radio">) - For selection of just one option among several

4) Structure

Each instance of a form is always preceded by a <model> element which 
defines the submission action and method e.g.:

<model>
    <submission action="http://example.com/search";
                method="get"
                id="s"/>
</model>

The actual instance must refer back to the submission model via the 
"submission" attribute e.g.:

<input ref="q"><label>Find</label></input>
<submit submission="s"><label>Go</label></submit>

5) Translatable text.
The good news is that all translatable text within an XForm is always 
contained in only one element: <label> e.g.:

<input ref="firstname"><label>First name:</label></input>

The <label> element is always a direct child of a control element.

6) Sources:

a. Three very good articles on XForms from xml.com: 
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/09/05/xforms.htm
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2003/09/10/xforms.html
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2003/12/30/xforms.html

b. The official w3c.org pages for Xforms:
http://www.w3c.org/MarkUp/Forms

c. O'Reilly book:
XForms Essentials ISBN: 0-596-00369-2


I am not sure if I can submit email directly to the XLIFF list so I have 
cc'ed Tony just in case.

Regards,

AZ


-- 


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