How do i make the results of a form look like the form? 1

[jdw105]

I want to make the results of a form look more or less like the original form on the web site. I can specify certain fields to look a little longer and have a little bit of the origianl form but it still comes back looking like the results you know how it looks: name=Joe age=20. So if you have any ideas as to how to make the results of a form look like the web page with the answers incerted please let me know<br><A HREF="mailto:jdwood78@hotmail.com">jdwood78@hotmail.com</A>

 

[philcha]

I'm not quite sure what you're aiming for.&nbsp;&nbsp;Could be any (or some or none) of:<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;redisplay the same form with the latest inputs so that the user can update them.<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;reproduce the exact look of the form (with textboxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, etc.) but read-only.<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;produce the same layout (fonts, position on page, etc.) but presenting the info as plain text rather than textboxes etc.<br><br>In all of these cases I think the key question is, &quot;Where is the information stored between when the user submits the original input and when it is re-output?&quot;<br><br>The 2 most likely answers are:<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;in a cookie, i.e. a file stored by the browser on the user's PC;<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;on the server (in a file or in its memory).<br><br>If the info's stored on the server, you need a server-side scripting language such as ColdFusion or ASP, which can read the stored information and compose the output / reinput page accordingly.<br><br>If it's in a cookie, you have 2 options:<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;some server-side scripting languages can write and read cookies, e.g. ColdFusion.<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;or you can do it all on the client (PC) side with Javascript and DHTML.&nbsp;&nbsp;Javascript can read and write cookies, and DHTML allows Javascript to change the contents of HTML page objects.<br><br>The server-side approach is more reliable as it is much less dependent on the capabilities of the user's browser or on whether the user allows Javascript to run on his / her browser.&nbsp;&nbsp;Websites waste a lot of effort trying to produce client-side code which will run well on both Internet Explorer and Netscape, and most ignore all but the 2nd-latest version of these and ignore all other browsers and the Mac version of Internet Explorer.<br><br>The server-side approach also allows the user (or another user) to log in via a different PC and get back the same information, as cookies are only accessible from the PC on which they were stored.<br><br>Some key questions to ask before deciding:<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;For how many different types of form do you want to do this?&nbsp;&nbsp;If it's a lot, a server-side scripting language (e.g. ColdFusion of ASP) will quickly repay its purchase and installation costs just by making the design and programming simpler, plus you get wider access to the data.<br>*&nbsp;&nbsp;How much control do you have over your users' browsers?&nbsp;&nbsp;A client-side solution is more feasible on an intranet (the intranet operator usually supplies the users' PCs and browsers and controls how they are used) that out in the wilds of the Web.<br><br>