i want to start with the FORM, not the database...

[Boojer]

all i want to do is create a simple form with very few fields. i know how to make the form. but i can't figure out how to get it back with the info. i'm not completely ignorant in web making. i do know how to make a page and nav bars and rollovers and libraries and css styles and sending it up. why can't i figure out all the right settings and options for getting the the frigging filled in form back?

 

[TheAceMan1]

How are ay Boojer . . . . .

Do you have a [purple]table/s?[/purple]

See Ya! . . . . . .

 

[Boojer]

i know that to really help me there will probably be quite a few questions. i am totally prepared to answer every one the best i can!! and if you lived in az, i'd buy you a beer or two! okay, i know what a table is. what's the slash s for? i have more questions too that will help. how do you determine which application to use? i've got the dreamweaver bible and it's just missing some essential answers. and maybe can you explain in english the difference between server side behavior and client side and which to use there? i think my critical questions are: do i need to use enctype and if so, what? do i need to use cgi-bins? when i try to put that folder (from my local site root) in the action box, it doesn't give me anything. do i link to it on the remote site? for the form properties, do i need to choose a target? in my diligent effort to practice all this, i haven't been. do i use a dns name? do i use ole db? asp.net? asp? how do you determine? those are all options for me. if anybody has got the patience, i've got the drive (no pun, ha!)i truly want and need to learn this. thank you thank you!

 

[timekeepr9]

It sounds like you are trying to figure things out a bit backwards. The first thing you need to do is to decide what database software you are going to use and how you are going to set it up. (It sounds like you don't have a database yet..) Since this is an ms access forum it would make I'll assume you are planning on using that.

Secondly, you need to figure out what information you want to store, and how you are going to set up your tables to store it.

I know you want to start with the form first, but this isn't really very practical. If you are going to enter things into the form and click a button and expect them to be saved somewhere, that somewhere has to exist first. If you give us a better idea of what exactly you are trying to do, we can help you decide the best way to go about it.

 

[Boojer]

i do have a database, that's how i've been able to try practicing all this stuff i've been reading. i've got microsoft access. my form is just a registration form. 10 fields...first name, last name, title, company, address, etc.. and doesn't require anything more from the user once completed and submitted. i would like it to revert back to the previous page after they submit tho. as for setting up the tables, i thought just one table with the 10 fields would work but i'm not even sure about that. and i liked how you explained why i was backwards. now it makes sense...and would explain why i couldn't find the right tutorials! thank you for that.

 

[timekeepr9]

If all your database is keeping track of is customers, or something of the sort where there is only ever one entry per person, then you are right, you only need one table. If you wanted to keep track of say, customers and purchases, then you would want 2 tables, one for the customers and one for the purchases.

It seems like your question has more to do with html than with databases though. I know there is a way to keep forms filled in if you go back properly, but I don't know what it is. One thing you could do is keep track of the user id via a cookie, and then when they go to the page with the form, check if they already have an id, if so fill in the fields by looking up the id in the database, otherwise leave it blank.

 

[Boojer]

i don't want the form to stay filled in when they go back. i want them to go to this page, sign their name up, and then IF they happen to hit the back arrow, or visit the site again, it will go back to the page they were just on but the form part would be empty.

i really don't know if it has more to do with html. i expect about 100 people to submit the form, so i want all those hundred entries directed and sorted into a data base.