Copyright: Helpfile Generated by VB HelpWriter!


WebForms 1.0

(C)1995 Q&D Software Development

    See below for registration and tech support info.

 Contents:

        Compact Database

        Exporting

        Forms

        Forms List

        Importing

        Release Notes

        Repair Database

        Responses

        Toolbar

        WebForms Tutorial

Registration Benefits:

There are two levels of registration for WebForms; WebForms Standard Edition, and WebForms Professional Edition.

WebForms Standard includes the ability to create HTML  forms which may include text, as well as many different types of controls, such as radio buttons, check boxes, list boxes, etc.  Incidentally, WebForms does not require any knowledge of HTML.  Also included with WebForms Standard Edition is the ability to import individual responses to your forms.  WebForms creates a table for each form you create and stores responses to each form for easy viewing.

WebForms Professional Edition includes all of the features of WebForms Standard.  In addition, the Professional Edition enables you to import all of your responses at one time, no matter which form collected the responses.  If you are expecting a heavy response volume to your forms you should consider WebForms Professional Edition.

The shareware (unregistered) edition of WebForms offers all of the features of WebForms Standard, but for a limited amount of time (approximately 30 days).  After the initial evaluation period, certain features of the program may cease to function.

Users of either of the registered versions will not be subjected to 'nag' screens or any other reminder messages which occur in the unregistered version of WebForms.

In addition to receiving added features, registered users are entitled to FREE UPGRADES to this program as they occur.  (Shipping and handling charges may be incurred in some cases.)

Registered users of software products by Q&D Software Development have come to expect high quality customer service, whether by telephone or electronically.  We encourage suggestions from our registered users.  If you have any questions or suggestions about any of our products, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Ordering Information:

WebForms Standard is available for $19.95, while WebForms Professional can be registered for $29.95.  A shipping and handling charge of $3.95 will also be applied in either case.  (Shipping and handling charges of $4.95 apply for orders outside the U.S.)

To order WebForms by CREDIT CARD, choose one of the following options:

    Visit the On-Line Order Desk section of our WWW  home page  at http://www.intac.com/~dversch/

OR

    E-mail us your name, address, phone number (optional), credit card type, number, and expiration date.  Also, be sure to tell us which program you are ordering; either WebForms Standard or WebForms Professional.  Compuserve users may e-mail credit card orders to 76336,3271.  Internet users can send e-mail orders to 76336.3271@compuserve.com.

OR

    Call the Public (Software) Library at 1-800-242-4775 (1-800-2424-PSL), or 1-713-524-6394. These phone numbers are for CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY.  We accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.  Specify Product Number 14064.  When ordering by credit card, please be prepared to give your name and billing address as it appears on the card.

OR

    Mail us your name, address, phone number (optional), credit card type, credit card number, and expiration date.  Also, be sure to tell us which program you are ordering; either WebForms Standard or WebForms Professional.  Our mailing address is:

Q&D Software Development

10-B Sentinel Court

Chatham, NJ 07928

To order WebForms via Compuserve:

    To order WebForms Standard, GO SWREG and register ID# 6011.  To order WebForms Professional, GO SWREG and register ID# 6013.

To order WebForms by mail:

Send a check or money order, mail to:

Q&D Software Development

10-B Sentinel Court

Chatham, NJ 07928

Be sure to specify your name and shipping address, as well as the program name and version you are registering.

Tech Support:

As of April, 1995 Q&D Software Development now has a support forum on Compuserve!  Feel free to stop in and visit us at GO WINAPD, Library 1.  For free technical support, registered users of WebForms have several options.  You may call us at (201)635-1824, leave e-mail at Compuserve ID# 76336,3271, leave a message in our Compuserve forum (GO WINAPD, Library 1), leave e-mail at Internet address dversch@intac.com, leave e-mail at AOL address DaveV36, or visit our home page on the Internet's World Wide Web at http://www.intac.com/~dversch/.

Users of the unregistered version of WebForms must rely on this help file for support.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Forms

The Forms Window is accessed by choosing File | Forms | New... or File | Forms | Open... from the main menu.

The Forms Window is the place to enter all of the information about each form you create with WebForms.  The first tab in the Forms Window is the General Info tab pictured above.  The General Info tab should contain your form's Title and Heading.  The Title of a form does not actually appear in the form itself, but rather in the URL  area of most browsers.  The Heading of your form will appear in bold type at the top of your form.  The figure below illustrates this concept.  Also included in the General Info tab should be the e-mail address to which responses to this form should be sent.  This e-mail address does not actually appear in your form.  It is used by WebForms to route responses back to you.

The rest of the tabs in the Forms Window are listed below in the order in which they appear.  To read about another tab, just click on its name below.

          Tabs:

Leading Text

Text Inserts

 	Text Fields

Radio Buttons

Check Boxes

List Boxes

Trailing Text

Completion

WebForms automatcially places a 'Submit' button and a 'Reset' button at the bottom of each WebForms form.  Your user clicks the 'Submit' button to send you the information he or she has entered into the form.  The user can clear the form and start over by clicking the 'Reset' button.

Note: It is extremely important that you do not directly modify any form created with WebForms, even if you are knowledgeable in HTML .  Direct modification of a WebForms HTML form will render that form's responses unreadable by WebForms.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Forms List

The Forms List is displayed by clicking File | Forms | Open... or File | Respones | View... or File | Responses | Export... from the main menu.

The Forms List allows you to choose a form in order to perform a particular function.  Functions which involve the Forms List include Forms modification, reading Responses, and Exporting.

To choose a form from the Forms List you can either highlight the form you wish to use and then click the OK button, or you can simply double-click on the appropriate form.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Responses

The Responses Window is accessed by clicking File | Responses | View... from the main menu.

The Responses Window allows you to view responses that have been imported into WebForms.  Although responses to different forms will all have different structures (since each form is different), the Responses Window will adapt automatically to whatever structure your responses take.  (A response's structure is based upon the structure of the form to which it is responding.)

The default behavior of the Responses Window when it is first displayed is to show all responses to the form you selected.  You can control what appears in the list by clicking any one of the 'Old', 'New', or 'All' buttons.  Although each Form's responses have different structures, there will always be a field called '_Read_' and a field called '_Date_'.  The '_Read_' field contains the status of each response; whether or not it has been read or not.  The '_Date_' field will always contain the date that that particular response was actually imported into the WebForms database.

The Data Control at the bottom of the Responses Window allows you to move through different forms in order to view each form's responses.  Clicking the OK button or moving off of a form using the Data Control will automatically change the '_Read_' indicator of each response to that form to 'Yes'.

Note: You should review the responses to any form that contains Check Boxes very carefully.  A Check Box's field in the Responses Window may contain more than one value, since the nature of a Check Box Group is to allow more than one Check Box to be checked.  The first checked value of any Check Box Group will be shown automatically in that field's column in the Responses Window.  To check for additional values, click on the cell in question.  If the user did check multiple Check Boxes in that group, the additional values will then be displayed.  The figure at the beginning of this topic provides an example of this situation.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Exporting

 	The Export functionality can be accessed by clicking File | Responses | Export... from the Main Menu.

WebForms allows you to export your response data to other programs.  Your reasons for wishing to export WebForms response data may vary considerably, however there is one instance when it becomes absolutely necessary to purge response data; WebForms requires that you export a form's response data prior to making any modifications to that form.  Response data that is not exported will be permanently lost after the form to which the data belongs has been modified.

There are two possible formats into which you can export WebForms response data; MS-Access 2.0, or CSV.  (CSV stands for comma separated values.  CSV files are plain ASCII text files which can be imported by many popular commercial software programs.)

If you would like to export to a CSV file, WebForms will ask you for the name of the file you wish to create.  Once the export routine has been completed, you will find a file by the name you specified in the WebForms directory.  Upon examination, you will see that the file contains each of your responses to the table you specified.

If you prefer to export to an MS-Access 2.0 database, WebForms will create a database named WFRESP.MDB, and a table within that database named for the form to which these responses belong.

You may, after a period of time, wish to purge all responses to a particular form permanently.  You may do this by clicking the checkbox labeled 'Purge responses from original table'.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Importing

The Import functionality is accessed by clicking File | Responses | Import... from the main menu.

'Importing' in WebForms refers to the taking of the responses to WebForms forms into the WebForms database.  Responses to a form are automatcally sent to you via e-mail to the address you specified when creating that particular form.  Before importing of a response can occur, the response must be saved as an ASCII text file on your PC's hard disk.  Methods for saving e-mail messages as text vary from browser to browser.  If you don't know how to save an e-mail message as text, consult your browser's documentation.

Once your messages have been saved as text you can import them by clicking File | Responses | Import... from the WebForms main menu.  If you are using WebForms Standard Edition, you will be shown a standard Windows dialog box asking you to indicate the file you wish to import.  Choosing one of the e-mail messages you saved as text will cause WebForms to import that message into the database.  Importing messages one at a time can prove to be time consuming.  However, if you don't get a large volume of responses it should not pose a problem at all.

If you are using WebForms Professional Edition, the screen shown above will be displayed after clicking File | Responses | Import... from the main menu.  The Importing Window in the Professional Edition allows you to import as many saved response files as you like, all at one time.  Just click on each file you wish to import and add it to the list by clicking on the arrow ( > ) button.  Clicking OK will initiate the import.

The default pattern that WebForms expects to see response files take is "*.txt".  You may change this pattern by entering a new pattern in the appropriate field and clicking the Refresh button.  Once a response file has been successfully imported, it is renamed with the extension ".old" and left in its original location.

Both WebForms Standard Edition and WebForms Professional Edition are intelligent enough to deduce which form each message is responding to, thus you will not have to concern yourself over whether the responses are applied correctly.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Compact Database

The Compact Database function is accessed by clicking File | Compact Database... from the main menu.

WebForms, like many other programs, makes use of a database to store its associated data.  The database holds your forms designs as well as the responses that you import into WebForms.

Due to the nature of database design it is sometimes necessary, in order to maintain program speed and responsiveness, to store data in the most convenient spot in the database, rather than searching for the most cost-efficient in terms of disk space.

WebForms provides the Compact Database function as a method for reclaiming that extra disk space.  Depending upon the speed of your computer and the size of your database, the process may take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, after which you may realize a 25-30% reduction in the size of your database.

Note:  It is strongly recommended that you make a backup of your database file prior to attempting to compact it.  (The WebForms database file is named WEBFORMS.MDB.)

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Repair Database

The Repair Database function is accessed by clicking File | Repair Database... from the main menu.

As any experienced computer user can attest to, it is possible for data files to become corrupt.  Causes of data corruption can range anywhere from power outages or fluxes, to turning your PC off in the middle of a program, to exiting a program in ways other than those prescribed by the program's developers.  (Some very knowledgeable computer gurus even attribute data loss and corruption to gremlins.  Fortunately, we are not that knowledgeable.)

Should you experience problems with your WebForms data such as error messages suggesting that your data is somehow corrupt or worse, you may attempt to repair your database using WebForms' Repair Database function.  We make no guarantees, but depending on the extent of the damage it is often possible to repair a damaged database file, restoring it to its former perfect self.

Note: Before attempting to repair your database, we strongly recommend making a backup copy of it.  The WebForms database file is WEBFORMS.MDB.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


WebForms Tutorial

The WebForms Tutorial provides a brief yet informative overview of the WebForms program and how to use it.  Throughout the WebForms Help System it is assumed that you have at least a basic understanding of how the World Wide Web works, and that you are familiar with the terms used.  In fact, it is quite likely that you obtained WebForms by downloading it from our WWW  home page .  We realize that this assumption may not hold true for everyone, so we have included in this tutorial a section on integrating your WebForms forms with the World Wide Web.

Section 1: Creating A Form

Section 2: Integration With The WWW

Section 3: Reading Responses

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


ToolBar

 	The Toolbar is located in the WebForms main menu.  It provides shortcuts to many WebForms functions.

The WebForms toolbar contains the following icon buttons:

    Clicking the New Form icon causes the Forms Window to be displayed in Add mode.  It is the same as clicking File | Forms | New... from the main menu.

   Clicking the Open Form icon causes the Forms Window to be displayed in Modify mode.  It is the same as clicking File | Forms | Open... from the main menu.

       Clicking the Import icon causes the appropriate importing functionality to begin, based on whether you have WebForms Standard or WebForms Professional.  It is the same as clicking File | Responses | Import... from the main menu.

    Clicking the View Responses icon causes the Forms List to be displayed, allowing you to choose a form for which to view responses.  Once a form is chosen, the Responses Window is displayed.  It is the same as clicking File | Responses | View... from the main menu.

       Clicking the Exit icon causes causes WebForms to shut down.  It is the same as clicking File | Exit from the main menu.

      Clicking the Help icon opens the WebForms Help System.  It is the same as clicking Help | Contents from the main menu.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Text Ins
Text Inserts

 	Text Inserts are created from within the Text Inserts tab which is located in the Forms Window.

Text Inserts allow you to place text strings (in addition to the Leading Text and Trailing Text) within your form.  You may place as many Text Inserts into a form as you like.  The order in which Text Inserts are created in the Text Inserts tab is irrelevant.  The order in which Text Inserts appear on your finished form is determined at Form Completion.  Pressing the Enter key saves your Text Insert.  To add another, push the 'down arrow' button on your keyboard.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Text Fields

 	Text Fields are created from within the Text Fields tab which is located in the Forms Window.

Text Fields are simply fields in which your users may enter text from their keyboard.  Typical examples of uses for text fields are Name, Address, Phone Number, or any other information you wish to receive from your users that would require the typing of text.

To create a Text Field in WebForms, simply enter the name of the Text Field along with the maximum number of characters, up to 255.  Unlike many other WebForms controls, a Text Field is not entered as part of a group.  You may enter all of your Text Fields in the Text Fields tab in any order you like.  The order in which they will actually appear on your finished form is decided at Form Completion.  Pressing the Enter key saves your Text Field.  To add another, push the 'down arrow' button on your keyboard.

Note: A text field name may not contain any of the following characters:  *space*, apostrophe or single quote('), double quote ("), plus sign (+), or ampersand (&).  Text Field names are printed to the left of each Text Field on your finished form, followed by a colon (":"), so choose these names especially carefully.  You may cause a *space* character to appear within the Text Field name on your form by substituting an underscore (_) character.  For example, if you would like the text "Last Name" to appear to the left of your Text Field, you should name your Text Field "Last_Name".  Since Text Field names act as labels on your form, there is no need to create a Text Insert as a label for a Text Field unless the label is more than 30 characters.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Check Boxes

Check Boxes are created from the Check Boxes tab, which is located in the Forms Window.

Check boxes are created in groups, much like radio buttons.  The main difference (aside from their appearance), is that users can select more than one item from a check box group.  The picture above shows an example of a check box group being created.  The picture below shows what these check boxes will look like in the form.

To create a check box group containing check boxes, perform the following steps:

1) Enter the name of the group in the Check Box Group text box, located in the upper left corner of the Check Box tab.

2) Click the Add Group button.  This will cause the group name to be added to the Check Box Group list.

3) Click the group name in the Check Box Group list.  This highlights the group name and causes your cursor to move to the Check Box text box.

4) Enter the name of your new Check Box, then click the Add Item button.  This causes the new Check Box to be added to the Check Box Group which should still be highlighted on the left half of the Check Box tab.

5) Repeat Step 4 for each Check Box you wish to have included in the highlighted group.  (To create an additional Check Box Group, perform these same steps beginning with Step 1.)

Note: The order in which you position the Check Boxes within a particular group dictates the order in which those Check Boxes will appear within that group on your finished form.  However, the order in which the Check Box Groups themselves appear in the Check Box Groups list is irrelevant.  The order in which the Check Box Groups actually appear on the form is decided at Form Completion.  The text string "Multiple items may be selected." is included automatically at the bottom of each Check Box Group.

: A Check Box Group name may not contain any of the following characters:  *space*, apostrophe or single quote('), double quote ("), plus sign (+), or ampersand (&).  This will not affect the appearance of your form since Check Box Group names do not actually appear on the form.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Radio Buttons

Radio Buttons are created from the Radio Buttons tab, which is located in the Forms Window.

Radio Buttons are created in groups, much like Check Boxes.  The main difference (aside from their appearance), is that users can select only one item from a Radio Button Group.  The picture above shows an example of a Radio Button Group being created.  The picture below shows what these Radio Buttons will look like in the form.

To create a Radio Button Group containing Radio Buttons, perform the following steps:

1) Enter the name of the group in the Radio Buttons Group text box, located in the upper left corner of the Radio Buttons tab.

2) Click the Add Group button.  This will cause the group name to be added to the Radio Buttons Group list.

3) Click the group name in the Radio Buttons Group list.  This highlights the group name and causes your cursor to move to the Radio Button text box.

) Enter the name of your new Radio Button, then click the Add Item button.  This causes the new Radio Button to be added to the Radio Button Group which should still be highlighted on the left half of the Radio Buttons tab.

5) Repeat Step 4 for each Radio Button you wish to have included in the highlighted group.  (To create an additional Radio Button Group, perform these same steps beginning with Step 1.)

Note: The order in which you position the Radio Buttons within a particular group dictates the order in which those Radio Buttons will appear within that group on your finished form.  However, the order in which the Radio Button Groups themselves appear in the Radio Button Groups list is irrelevant.  The order in which the Radio Button Groups actually appear on the form is decided at Form Completion.  The first Radio Button in each Radio Button Group will be displayed in your finished WebForms form as the default value of that Radio Button Group.  The figure below illustrates this.

Note: A Radio Button Group name may not contain any of the following characters:  *space*, apostrophe or single quote('), double quote ("), plus sign (+), or ampersand (&).  This will not affect the appearance of your form since Radio Button Group names do not actually appear on the form.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Lists
List Boxes

List Boxes are created from the List Boxes tab, which is located in the Forms Window.

List boxes in WebForms are controls which present a list of items from which your users may choose only one.  The picture above shows an example of a List Box being created.  The picture below shows what this List Box will look like in the form.

To create a List Box, perform the following steps:

1) Enter the name of the List Box in the List Box text box, located in the upper left corner of the List Box tab.

2) Click the Add List button.  This will cause the new List Box name to be added to the List Box list.

3) Click on the new List Box name in the List Box list.  This highlights the List Box name and causes your cursor to move to the List Box Item text box.

4) Enter the name of your new List Box Item, then click the Add Item button.  This causes the new List Box Item to be added to the List Box which should still be highlighted on the left half of the List Box tab.

5) Repeat Step 4 for each List Box Item you wish to have included in the highlighted List Box.  (To create an additional List Box, perform these same steps beginning with Step 1.)

Note: The order in which you position the List Box Items within a particular List Box dictates the order in which those List Box Items will appear within that List Box on your finished form.  However, the order in which the List Boxes themselves appear in the List Box list is irrelevant.  The order in which the List Boxes actually appear on the form is decided at Form Completion

: A List Box name may not contain any of the following characters:  *space*, apostrophe or single quote('), double quote ("), plus sign (+), or ampersand (&).  This will not affect the appearance of your form since List Box names do not actually appear on the form.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Trailing Text

Trailing Text is entered via the Trailing Text tab in the Forms Window.

The Trailing Text tab allows you to enter a string of text which will appear at the bottom of your form, just above the 'Submit' and 'Reset' buttons.  It will appear below any Text Inserts or controls you place in your Form.

The figure above shows a good example of the type of information you might wish to include in your Trailing Text.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Form Completion

Completion of a Form is performed in the Completion tab, located in the Forms Window.

The Completion tab is your last stop on your way to completing the creation (or modification) of a form.

If you are creating a new form, the first thing you must do upon entering the Completion tab is to refresh your controls by clicking the Refresh Controls button.  This will cause a list of all the controls you've created to appear in the Controls List on the left hand side of the Completion tab in alphabetical order.  You must then select each control, one at a time, and move it over to the Sequence List on the right side ot the Completion tab.  Do this by clicking the arrow ( > ) button after highlighting a control.  The controls (including Text Inserts) will appear on your form in the exact order that you place them into the Sequence List.

Once you have completed your Sequence List, click the Complete button to tell WebForms to begin creating your form.  WebForms then does several tasks:

1) WebForms creates several tables in the WebForms database which will hold all of the information about your form, including controls names, sequences, etc.

2) WebForms will then ask you to choose a name for the actual HTML  file to be created according to the instructions you entered into the Forms Window.  (The default extension is *.HTM.)  Once you've indicated the file name, WebForms creates the actual HTML file.

3) WebForms then creates a Response Table within the WebForms database which will be used to hold responses to this particular form only.

When WebForms has completed these tasks it notifies you with an appropriate message.  You can then upload your form to your WWW  server and link it to your home page .

If you are modifying an existing form, take the same steps as above.

Note: It is extremely important to note that the modification of an existing form causes all stored responses to that form to be permanently deleted from the WebForms database.  You may export your response data to an Access 2.0 database or a CSV file prior to modifying the form, but at this time it is not possible to re-integrate that old data back into the WebForms database.  For this reason, you should test out your form prior to uploading it to your server to make sure that it is exactly as you wish, thus minimizing the likelihood of future modification.

Note: It is extremely important that you do not directly modify any form created with WebForms, even if you are knowledgeable in HTML.  Direct modification of a WebForms HTML form will render that form's responses unreadable by WebForms.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Lead Text
Leading Text

Leading Text is entered through the Leading Text tab in the Forms Window.

The Leading Text tab allows you to enter a string of text which will appear beneath your Form's heading.  It will appear appear above any Text Inserts or controls you place in your Form.

The figure above shows a good example of the type of information you might wish to include in your Leading Text.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Tutorial - Creating A Form

Welcome to the WebForms Tutorial - Creating A Form section.  In this section we will take you through the creation of a WebForms form, step by step, via hypertext  links to all relevant topics.

General Information

Leading Text

Text Inserts

Text Fields

Check Boxes

Radio Buttons

List Boxes

Trailing Text

Form Completion

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Tutorial - Integration With the WWW

Once you have created and tested your WebForms form, it is time to put it up on your server and link it to your home page  (or link your home page to it, more accurately.)

It would be impossible for us to cover each WWW  browser and each server platform in depth, so we have included general procedures for you to follow.  For help with each procedure, contact your ISP  (Internet Service Provider), network administrator, or browser software vendor.

Procedures:

Using your communications software, upload the WebForms form you've created to your WWW server.  If your server is a UNIX  server, be sure to change the file's extension to HTML , and remember that UNIX is case-sensitive. You should also make sure that you assign the correct rights or permissions to the HTML form file so as to enable users to read the file.  For help with this information, contact your ISP or network administrator.

Using a text or HTML editor, insert a hypertext  link in your home page to your WebForms form.  The syntax for creating a hypertext link is as follows:  <A HREF "{URL}"> {linked text} </A> .  For example, the following code creates a link from a string of text saying "Click here to place your order." in the current HTML document to a form named orders.html:  <A HREF="http://www.intac.com/~dversch/orders.html"> Click here to place your order. </A> .

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Tutorial - Reading Responses

This section of the tutorial deals with receiving, importing, and reading the response you receive to a WebForms form.  Responses to a WebForms form are sent directly to the e-mail address specified in the General Info tab when that form was created.

Performance of the following steps in the order presented below is necessary to read responses.  (Hypertext links are supplied to relevant topics.)

Save each e-mail response as a separate text file in the directory of your choice.  (The default file extension for importing e-mail responses is *.txt.  You may use a different extension if you like.)

Import your responses using WebForms' importing functionality.

View your responses via the Responses Window.

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Release Notes

Important Notice:

    There are a multitude of browsers out there today on the Web.  Some of them may not be capabable of responding to a form properly, even if they can view it.  WebForms now works well with most flavors of Mosaic and Mozilla.  These are by far the most common browsers, making up most of what is in use on the World Wide Web today.  Each WebForms form automatically includes a short paragraph underneath its header notifying your users of this situation.  This short paragraph also includes a link to your form's e-mail address as a secondary method of responding to your form.  You may remove this paragraph from the form by directly deleting it from the HTML  file itself after it has been created.  However, to avoid creating confusion for your users, we recommend leaving it in.

1.0h - (6/15/95):

            Enhancements:

    Provided better explanations of Text Insert and Text Field tab navigation within the tabs themselves.

    Changed CSV export format to be more compatible with other programs' importing expectations, including our own WinBrowse program.

            Fixes:

    Fixed bug in Compact Database function which caused erroneous error message "Can't find file" to be displayed.

    Fixed bug which caused WebForms to miss the response to the very first field on a form that was responded to using the Mozilla browser.

    Fixed bug which caused WebForms to miss checkbox fields in which user didn't check any boxes in responses made using Mozilla browser.  (All Mozilla compatiblity problems are now believed to be taken care of.)

1.0g - (6/12/95):

            Fixes:

    Fixed bug which caused error message "Invalid data type in cmdGen_click" when including a list box in a form.

    Fixed bug that would cause Radio Button Groups that had been deleted to reappear.

    Fixed bug that caused Radio Buttons to sometimes not appear in the order in which they were designated.

    Fixed bug that caused Text Fields to be missed at times when importing responses.  Text Field names now have character restrictions similar (but not identical) to List Boxes, Radio Button Groups, and CheckBox Groups.  See the help topic Text Fields for details.

1.0f - (6/10/95):

            Enhancements:

    Made the grid in the response field somewhat more dynamic.  Up until now, all columns were 50 characters wide, regardless of data.  As of 1.0f, responses to text fields will appear in memo form (as have checkbox responses since the beginning), in order to accomodate the users' unlimited space availability when responding to text fields.  (In plain English, you will now be able to read the entire response whereas before you couldn't if it was more than 50 or so characters long.)  Responses to List Boxes, and Radio Button Groups will be 30 characters wide rather than 50.  Further customization of this grid will take place in version 1.1 of WebForms.

    Added direct access to this Release Notes topic via Help | Release Notes... from the main menu.

            Fixes:

    Fixed bug that could potentially not allow two fields of the same name in different forms.

    Fixed bug that caused assigning values to incorrect fields due to similar field names.

    Fixed bug that allowed the entering of a duplicate form name.

1.0e - (6/8/95):

            Enhancements:

    Modified import routines in both Standard and Professional Editions to rename each response file that has been successfully imported, so as not to cause confusion when importing.  Each file will be renamed "filename.OLD" and left in its original location.

            Fixes:

    Fixed bug which occurred in Mozilla-sent responses which would not allow importing of more than one checked Check Box per Check Box Group.

    Cleaned Mozilla response values (removed those "+" signs).

    Fixed bug which would occur when trying to load a form who's Form Title contained an apostrophe (single quote) or double quote.  These characters will no longer be accepted by the system as part of a Form Title.

    Fixed bug which would occur whenever a List Box name, Radio Button Group name, or CheckBox Group name contained an apostrophe (single quote), a double quote ("), an ampersand (&), a plus sign (+), or a space.  These characters will no longer be accepted by the system as part of any of these group names.  The significance of this is minimal since these three names do not actually appear on the finished form.  The names for the actual Radio Button, Check Box or List Box Item itself can still contain any of these characters.

1.0d - (6/8/95):

            Fixes:

    Added support for responses from Mozilla.

1.0c - (6/8/95):

           Fixes:

    Fixed bug in Professional Edition's import routine which mistakenly caused error message asking user to select a file prior to attempting an import even though they may already have.

    Fixed bug in Professional Edition's import routine which allowed the same file to be selected for importing more than once.

1.0b - (6/7/95):

           Fixes:

    Fixed bug that resulted in error message "System Error" when attempting to import responses.  This bug occurred if any Text Field names, List Box names, Radio Button Group names, or Check Box Group names exceeded 20 characters.  That limit has been extended to 30 characters.  (Text Inserts are not affected by this limitation.)

1.0a - (6/6/95):

           Fixes:

    Fixed bug that would not allow adding radio buttons, check boxes, or list box items.

WebForms 1.0 (released 6/5/95)

WebForms - (C)1995 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Glossary

H

home page

HTML

hypertext

I

ISP

U

UNIX

URL

W

WWW


WWW

The WWW (World Wide Web)  is a multimedia-capable network which is navigated via hypertext  links between pages.  Linked pages can be located on the same computer or on different computers on opposite ends of the world.


ISP

An ISP (Internet Service Provider) is an organization which provides dial up access to the Internet, usually for chargeable by the month or by the hour.


UNIX

UNIX is a computer operating system capable of processing large volumes of information simultaneously.  Most Internet servers are UNIX-based.


HTML

HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) is the language used to create virtually all WWW  pages.


hypertext

Hypertext is "clickable" text which allows you to jump from one document to another.  If you are reading this definition, you just clicked a hypertext link from within the WebForms Help System.


home page

A typical home page is an HTML  document that serves as a point at which other WWW  users can find out information about you or your company.


URL

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is simply a string of text containing instructions as to the type of service requested and, depending on the type of service, the address of a document or program on the Internet.