How to set up forms?

[Ron_Solo]

I just started using the trial version of AutoPlay Media and would like to know what would be the best way of creating a form? The form would be filled out by the user and submitted.

How can I submit the data via email? and/or to a database?

Also...is it possible to have a form run more than one page in an AutoPlay project? If so, will the variables be passed along? How would this be done?

I checked the KnowledgeBase articles, but didn't see an article on forms.

Thanks for your help.

Ron

[Corey]

Hi, let me go point by point here:

I just started using the trial version of AutoPlay Media and would like to know what would be the best way of creating a form? The form would be filled out by the user and submitted.

Cool, glad to have you joining us here Ron! There is no "best" way to do anything as you know, there are several options open to you, some may work better than others in different scenarios. For example you can create a form right in AMS, or in a web page, or in a Flash .SWF, etc. Offhand I would say that using an HTML form is generally the easiest and most reliable method, and also offers you the option of using a remote and/or secure server directly from your applications. This is my favorite way usually.

How can I submit the data via email? and/or to a database?

These are both server activites so you would need a server, it's very easy to submit data to a server from AMS using the action HTTP.Submit(); as seen here: CLICK HERE

Also...is it possible to have a form run more than one page in an AutoPlay project? If so, will the variables be passed along? How would this be done?

I'm not sure what you mean by "run more than one page" I'll assume you mean "span more than one page" for the purposes of answering, please feel free to re-ask if I miss the mark here. Yes it's very simple to set variables in AMS and they are automatically retained from page to page. This would apply to forms you create right in AMS using input objects to retrieve data from the users. In AMS setting a variable is as simple as saying:

fruit = "apple";

More on that here: CLICK HERE

I checked the KnowledgeBase articles, but didn't see an article on forms.

Thanks for the heads up! Hopefully one of us will get a chance to wedge one in, that would certainly be worth having. We'll definitely put this on the "to do" list.

Hope that helps. And Ron, don't get discouraged if scripting seems a little tricky at first, we're here for you and I guarantee you that you'll be scripting like a pro before you know it. AMS is very powerful and you will be shocked at the things you can build with it once you get rolling. Also note that we have a bunch of free resources coming online next week specifically aimed at getting you going including some "getting started with AMS" video tutorials. These are free but they are also very basic, so you might also want to take a look at the free video tutorial samples at http://www.speedytraining.com and see if that CD also might be helpful to you in addition. Free vids are on the project page, and are in Quicktime format.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[Corey]

P.S. you can also send emails from within AMS using the mailto command such as you would in a web page as seen here:

http://www.indigorose.com/forums/sho...?threadid=3480

but note that results will vary depending on which email client is installed on your end users' machines so this is generally not a reliable method of transferring important data. Preferred method is to put an email form on your web site (i.e. PHP, we can help you do this if you need help) and just bounce data off that. Same goes for database unless you are using the new SQLite plug-in for AMS in which case your database is local. You can get a free trial of that plug-in here if you'd like to se it http://www.autoplay.org

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[Ron_Solo]

Corey,
Thanks very much. That's a lot of information and I appreciate your taking the time to answer.

I've set up HTML forms before, for websites, and use CGI (ie. formmail) to process data to be sent via email. It's just that I find HTML forms to be a bit limited, in terms of design, but I'll give it a shot. I'm also familiar with using Flash, so maybe I'll try using a Flash form. I was just hoping that AMS 5 offered a better way of handling forms and data submission.

Also, you mentioned using PHP for submitting data via email to the server...do you find PHP better than CGI? Can you point me in a direction for more info on using PHP for this purpose?

The reason why I'm asking all of this is because I have a client who is interested in developing a "digital catalog" for their products. They don't want a "web catalog" that's functional only online; but, they want to be able to publish to and distribute via CD-rom. And, I was thinking of creating it in AMS 5.

-- Do you know of anyone who has created a "product catalog" in AMS 5?
-- Can you think of any limitations in AMS 5 for this kind of project?
-- Is it possible to have "shopping cart" functionality in AMS 5 for this project?

Thanks, Corey.
Best regards,
Ron

[Corey]

Hi.

1) Well you can easily make your own forms in AMS. "Better" is subjective, as long as you can achieve what you need to achieve, that's the main thing...

2) PHP is CGI. CGI comes in many forms. I have no specific links but Google is chock full of tons of great PHP resources... Try searching for "PHP mail" to get info on the mail function.

3) I have created catalogs in the past, I'm sure others have too.

4) All tools have limitations. Again, it's just a matter of being able to do what you need to do. I tend to design the task first and then bend the tool to meet it rather than the other way around in my case...

5) Yes you can set up shopping carts in AMS. At some point you'll have to connect it to the net to make it work though.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software