User Guide

712 Chapter 30: Creating Skinnable XML Forms
Building XML skinnable forms
You build ColdFusion XML skinnable forms using standard ColdFusion forms tags, including
cfformgroup and cfformitem tags. These tags create the elements of the form, the building
blocks of the form.
ColdFusion converts the following tags to XML for processing by the XSLT:
Standard ColdFusion form data control tags The cfgrid, cfinput, cfselect, cfslider,
cftextarea, and tree tags specify the controls that the form displays.
cfformitem tags Add individual items to your form, such as text or rules. The valid types
depend on the skin.
cfformgroup tags Group, organize, and structure the form contents. The valid types depend
on the skin.
These tags are designed so you can develop forms in a hierarchical structure of containers and
children. Using this model, the
cfform tag is the master container, and its contents are children
containers and controls. Each
cfformgroup tag defines a container that organizes its child
elements.
The specific tags and attributes that you use in your form depend on the capabilities of the XSLT
skin. You use only the tag and attribute combinations that the skin supports. If you are using a
skin provided by a third party, make sure that the supplier provides information on the supported
attributes.
Using standard ColdFusion MX form tags
You use standard ColdFusion MX form tags, such as
cfinput or cftree, as you normally do in
standard CFML forms to generate form input elements. ColdFusion MX maps most of these tags
and their subtags (such as
option tags in the cfselect tag) to equivalent XForms elements.
ColdFusion maps applet and Macromedia Flash format
cfgrid and cftree tags to ColdFusion
XML extensions that contain Java applet or Flash objects. It converts XML format
cfgrid and
cftree tags to ColdFusion XML extension.
The specific attributes you can use and their meanings can depend on the skins.
Using ColdFusion MX skins The skins that are supplied with ColdFusion MX 7 support the
attributes that you can use with HTML forms. You can also use
label attributes to provide labels
for the following tags:
• cfinput with type attribute values of text, button, password, and file
• cfselect
• cfslider
• cftextarea
Using other skins If you use any other skin, some attributes might not be supported, or the skin
might support custom attributes. Get the information about the supported attributes from the
XSLT skin developer.