HTML Forms

Form basics

Forms are HTML forms and contain all required data for processing the process. These forms are attached to a process definition. In a started instance, a form can be viewed at any time and data can be entered and changed. 

HTML

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the standard markup language for creating websites. In combination with other languages like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript, HTML is the basis of web development. Therefore, HTML is used to determine the structure of websites. HTML is not a programming but a markup language and is thus easy to learn. 

In the following, some useful HTML elements for form building are presented. Detailed documentation as well as various tutorials can be found under w3schools.

Please find here a detailed description of how to implement a form with HTML: Create a form

CSS

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are used to affect the design or presentation of websites created with HTML. CSS is designed to separate structure and presentation of a website. Normally, the styles are defined in separate .css files. 

The user experience besides the functionality heavily influenced by an appealing design. The visual editing with CSS is an important part of the form design. 

A detailed documentation as well as various tutorials can be found under w3schools.

Please find here a detailed description about how to add style attributes to a form with CSS: Create a form

Section Handling

Which user may see specific parts (so-called sections) within the form is determined by the Section Handling. These restrictions can either apply in a whole process or at a certain level in the course of the process. The following permissions can be granted or revoked:

• write permission

• read permission

Please find here a detailed description about how to implement a Section Handling.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a client-side programming language, which is executed in the browser. While HTML and CSS represent the website's static content, user interaction can be reacted with JavaScript. Furthermore functionalities like calculation or auto completes can be implemented. 

A detailed documentation as well as various tutorials can be found under w3schools.

Please find here a detailed description about how to integrate JavaScript in a form: Integrate JavaScript.

Planning 

Before implementing a form, its structure, design, and functionalities should be planned carefully. forms provide a process with necessary information. A good starting point for planning is which information is needed at which point in the process sequence. These are functional requirements. 

When the functional requirements are clear, they have to be implemented in a user-friendly design. It should be noted which users have to work with the form. An appealing user interface really makes working with the form easier. However, the functionalities should always come before the aesthetics. 

When planning a smartfrom using a paper prototype or mockups can be useful. Drafts can be discussed with end users and can also be modified. For creating a mockup or a prototype there are many helpful tools like balsamiq or Sketch.

Using Frameworks 

To make web development more comfortable, various HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks have been developed. We regularly use Bootstrap or Kube. Both frameworks offer predefined CSS classes, that enable the development of an appealing and responsive form design. Besides Bootstrap and Kube libraries like Polymer gain in popularity.

Additionally, the JavaScript library jQuery is an important component of form development. The extensive API offers various functions, like to catch user input. 

For very complex form with complicated calculations or requests the framework AngularJS, developed by Google, is very useful. 

Of course, it is possible to integrate the own frameworks within the HTML code of the form as well as within the custom.js file.

Editor

A form can be created in a simple text editor. However, editors for programmers have a lot of advantages, like line indentation, code highlighting or autocompletes.

Popular editors are e.g. Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, Brackets or Sublime Text.