[FX.php List] Forms that create new records

Wed Oct 25 20:06:05 MDT 2006

Hmmm.  I like the non-linear idea also. So, with 
a hub system, the user clicking the BACK button 
would be hitting the hub and not a form, thus 
avoiding the error message.    Sounds 
interesting, although I'm not sure how the masses 
will take to the non-linear flow.  Worth a try.

Back to your comment...can you describe your 
preferences for the create-then-edit approach?

Thanks,

jonathan

At 8:43 PM -0500 10/25/06, Dale Bengston wrote:
>Jonathan,
>
>The browser will put up an alert if you are 
>about to re-post the form to the server. The 
>back button will trigger this if you back up 
>over a form submit.
>
>One way to handle this kind of multi-page data 
>collection is to have a landing page or "hub" 
>that aggregates the entire application, showing 
>which pieces have been completed and which have 
>not. You give them the first page (form), and 
>when they submit that, they land on the hub, 
>which allows them to edit that section, or click 
>on a link to complete any other section they 
>choose. If all your form submits land you back 
>on the hub page, then it's easy for your patrons 
>to click links to re-edit a section rather than 
>go for the back button.
>
>Using a hub page allows people to see progress 
>better, and fill out your application sections 
>in any order. When all the sections are 
>complete, your hub page shows a "submit" button. 
>At the point of submitting the application, and 
>all along the process, your patrons can review 
>their work so far.
>
>I would opt for the "create record on first form 
>and edit subsequently" model rather than storing 
>the entire app in session variables.
>
>Dale
>
>On Oct 25, 2006, at 8:01 PM, Jonathan Schwartz wrote:
>
>>That's a good suggestion, Erik.  In this case, 
>>it's Little League (American Baseball for kids) 
>>registration  and I can imagine that there 
>>might be some info that the parent might not 
>>have readily available.
>>
>>I did discover another (apparent) benefit to 
>>using Session variables.  It seems that when 
>>the browser BACK button is used in a regular 
>>form (re-populating the form with an fx.php 
>>call) , the browser issues a warning . No 
>>warning is issued when only Session variables 
>>are used. Does that agree with your experience?
>>
>>J
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 2:08 AM +0200 10/26/06, Erik Andreas Cayré wrote:
>>>Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=sha1; 
>>>boundary=Apple-Mail-5-978021615;
>>>	protocol="application/pkcs7-signature"
>>>
>>>
>>>Den 26/10/2006 kl. 1.40 skrev Jonathan Schwartz:
>>>
>>>>New project.  The process is filling out  a 
>>>>series of form page to generate a single new 
>>>>registration record.  I can think of two ways 
>>>>to approach the process:
>>>
>>>>1) storing the data in session variables 
>>>>until the last page is reached, and then 
>>>>dumping it to FMP with FMNew().  One 
>>>>advantage is that no new records will be 
>>>>created until the process has been completed. 
>>>>It will also be faster because FileMaker will 
>>>>not be involved until the last step.
>>>
>>>Advantage: you won't get orphan records in 
>>>your DB, when users give up (computer crash, 
>>>dinner, whatever...!)
>>>
>>>>2) Create the record on the first page and 
>>>>edit the record's data as the user progresses 
>>>>from page to page.
>>>
>>>Only go with this if the users are provided a 
>>>way to access/edit the record at a later time. 
>>>This would let the user leave the process, and 
>>>complete it later, when they have time or have 
>>>gathered information which they did not at 
>>>first have at hand.
>>>This is a special case, so it's probably not 
>>>what you're looking for, but not having all 
>>>the required info at hand is still a relevant 
>>>issue. It's good practice to present the user 
>>>with an overview of the complete process 
>>>before she begins. It's comforting to know 
>>>where you're going before you start the 
>>>journey...
>>>
>>>just my 2¢
>>>
>>>
>>>---
>>>Erik Andreas Cayré
>>>Spangsbjerg Møllevej 169
>>>DK-6705 Esbjerg Ø
>>>
>>>Home Tel: +45 75150512
>>>Mobile: +45 40161183
>>>
>>>»If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.«
>>>-- Albert Einstein
>>>
>>>»If you don't have time to do it right, when 
>>>will you have time to do it over?«
>>>-- John Wooden, basketball coach
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Attachment converted: PowerBookG4 HD:smime.p7s (    /    ) (001D0051)
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>FX.php_List mailing list
>>>FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>>http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>
>>
>>--
>>
>>Jonathan Schwartz
>>FileMaker 8 Certified  Developer
>>Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance
>>Schwartz & Company
>>jonathan at eschwartz.com
>>http://www.eschwartz.com
>>http://www.exit445.com
>>415-381-1852
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>FX.php_List mailing list
>>FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>
>_______________________________________________
>FX.php_List mailing list
>FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list

-- 

Jonathan Schwartz
FileMaker 8 Certified  Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance
Schwartz & Company
jonathan at eschwartz.com
http://www.eschwartz.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-381-1852