Building a Form

To open Cosmo Create's form-building tool, choose Tools > Form... This tool lets you add components that are commonly found on forms: fill-in text fields, lists, and options. No matter what type of component you add, you follow the same basic procedure. The procedure is outlined below; it's followed by step-by-step instructions for each component.

  1. Open the Form tool by choosing Tools > Form... or click the Create forms button in the Entry palette.

  2. Click a button to select which type of item you want to add to the form.

  3. Identify the item by typing a unique name in the Field Name field.

    This name does not appear on the form; it's stored in the HTML file. The cgi-bin program uses this name to identify the information collected from that field.

  4. Specify any other attributes, such as the width of the text field, the commands on the menu, or the label on the button.

  5. Click the Apply button.

    If this is the first item you've added, you'll notice that a thin line appears along the left edge of the page. This shows you which region of the page is designated as a form.

By default, when you start creating a form, you see a thin bracket along the left edge of the page. The bracket identifies that portion of the page as a form area. When you're finished creating the form, you can close the form area by pressing the <Enter> key twice. You create a new, empty paragraph after the form that's not a part of the form.

Similarly, if you want to create a paragraph before the form that's not part of the form, put the cursor at the beginning of the form and press <Enter> twice.

You do not need to exit a form area before exiting Cosmo Create; Cosmo Create saves your form regardless.

For further information...

See the Form Tool reference card for complete information on the form tool dialog.