Interactive Web Forms

Web forms allow users to interact and send feedback to a Web site creator. The users do not need anything except their browsers. Web forms are a highly versatile tool, commonly used for such tasks as surveys, tests, automated response, and user questions.

Creating a Web form requires two files:

1. The form itself, which is an HTML file.
2. The program that processes the data from the form, which is a CGI file most commonly written in the Perl programming language.

Forms have been used in a number of different ways at UMM:

• To receive and publish proposals for student technology projects each year. The form requires the user to submit name, email address, proposal information, and budget. The script that processes the form sends copies of all submitted proposals to me, and also adds each new submitted proposal to an information page where they can be viewed publicly. See: http://www.morris.umn.edu/cs/cgi-bin/techfeeform/form.shtml

• To apply for ResNet connections, system accounts, inter-library loans, and similar student and faculty needs. The forms collect data from the user, and the script formats the data into an email message and sends it to the appropriate staff person for action. For example, see: http://www.morris.umn.edu/library/article-request.shtml

• To conduct various surveys of students. The user responds to the survey via the Web form. The script processes the data from the form by adding each response into a data file, which can then be statistically analyzed. For an example, see: http://www.morris.umn.edu/mecsurv.shtml

• To collect and publish calendar information. A user who wants to reserve a room fills out a form to request the reservation. Then the script processes the reservation information and publishes it in calendar format. For example, see: http://www.morris.umn.edu/cs/cgi-bin/Camden/

It is beyond the scope of this class to teach the use of CGI scripts for form processing. You will need to consult with somebody in Computing Services (there are a number of staff that can help you). CGI scripts can:

• Take data entered onto a form and email it to you in a standard format.
• Format entered data into a new Web page.
• Collect data into a file for statistical analysis.