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From: Kathryn Barrett <kathrynb@oreilly.com>
Subject: "XForms Essentials" Released by O'Reilly
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:27:42 GMT

"XForms Essentials": XML Meets Forms So That Web Applications Can
Better Meet Users...and Meet User Needs

Sebastopol, CA--The shortest distance between two points is a straight
line; the simplest and most efficient route to highly sophisticated
user interactions is XForms. In "XForms Essentials" (O'Reilly, US
$29.95), author Micah Dubinko introduces developers to the next
generation of web form standards: XForms--a combination of XML and
forms--which delivers a powerful and more workable and versatile
alternative to clunky, less user-friendly HTML-based forms.

As a general rule, the more interactive a web site, the more heavily
the site's designers rely on web forms (various kinds of technologies
that collect information from users). "Ordinary news sites," reports
Dubinko, "tend to have as many as seven distinct forms on the home
page. Many of these are for search and navigation purposes and appear
on every page." XForms, based on a specification approved by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C), allows developers to create highly flexible,
web-based, user-input forms for a wide variety of platforms, including
desktop computers, handhelds, information appliances, and more.

XForms is changing the way people gather and manage information. It
offers a more straightforward and effective way to handle user input
than the combination of forms written in HTML, JavaScript, or other
controls used on today's typical web pages. XForms also gives
developers greater presentation options and new ways to manage user
interaction, which promises easier-to-build, more dynamic XML
documents. Furthermore, XForms is sure to reduce--if not eliminate
entirely--the browser dependencies that have plagued earlier HTML-based
web forms.

The time to learn about XForms is now: XForms will eventually replace
the HTML forms currently used, and they are already infiltrating both
XML development and high-end HTML development (through toolkits which
allow designers to create XForms and automatically generate HTML forms
with scripts). XForms also impacts new XML vocabularies, which is
welcome news for application developers trying to come to terms with
XML Schema, the predominant--and predominantly difficult--language for
defining the content and structure of XML documents.

And there's no more qualified an expert from whom to learn about
XForms: as an editor of the specification, a member of W3C's XForms
committee, and a frequent spokesperson on XForms, author Micah Dubinko
knows XForms inside and out. The only book currently available devoted
exclusively to XForms technology, his new "XForms Essentials" offers
developers in both the XML and HTML communities general information on
the history and basic construction of forms, a thorough explanation of
the XForms specification, and an invaluable guide to taking full
advantage of its functionality.

Brimming with real-world examples, detailed guidelines, and practical
hints and techniques for working with XForms, "XForms Essentials"
equips developers to:

-Create (or convert existing forms into) XForms files
-Collect XML data from users in a user-friendly way
-Reduce the amount of JavaScript needed within browser interfaces
-Take advantage of XForms without having to write their own code
-Integrate XForms with both HTML and XML vocabularies
-Increase the security and reliability of their current forms system
while simplifying the connection between client-based user input and
server-based processing

Readers will come away with everything they need to integrate this
latest standard technology in order to simplify their work with forms,
HTML, or XML information--and at the same time maximize the ability and
sophistication of their interactive web-based applications.

Additional Resources:

Chapter 2, "XForms Building Blocks," is available free online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/xforms/chapter/index.html

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents,
index, author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/xforms/

For a cover graphic in JPEG format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596003692.jpg

XForms Essentials
Micah Dubinko
ISBN 0-596-00369-2, 240 pages, $29.95 US, $46.95 CA, 20.95 UK
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
http://www.oreilly.com

About O'Reilly
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leading-edge computer technologies. The company's books, conferences,
and web sites bring to light the knowledge of technology innovators.
O'Reilly books, known for the animals on their covers, occupy a
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XML, open source, .NET, Java, and web services, O'Reilly puts
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