User Guide

Table Of Contents
688 Chapter 29: Creating Forms in Macromedia Flash
In addition to creating Flash forms, ColdFusion MX lets you specify Flash format for
cfcalendar, cftree, and cfgrid tags. Use these tags to embed Flash calendar choosers, trees,
and grids in HTML forms, to eliminate the need to use Java applets. This chapter does not
specifically discuss using Flash grids and trees in HTML forms; however, the information in this
chapter about grids and trees also applies to these elements.
A Flash form example
Flash forms provide many features that help you quickly create easy-to-use, professional-looking,
complex forms. The following figure contains a two-tab form that shows many of these features:
This form includes the following features:
Each tab contains a different section of the overall form, and users can enter data on both tabs
before submitting the form. This technique can eliminate the need for multiple forms on
multiple HTML pages.
The first and last names are required fields, indicated by the red asterisks.
The Flash form automatically fills the e-mail field with data from the name fields, but the user
can override this information.
When the user selects the date field, a calendar automatically opens for picking the date.
Flash form CFML differences from HTML forms
Because ColdFusion MX sends a Flash form to the client in SWF format, everything inside a
Flash form is rendered by Flash. Rendering the form in Flash has several effects:
Plain text and HTML tags in the body of a Flash Form have no effect.
You must specify all form content inside CFML tags that support Flash forms.