XSLTForms, eXist-db and XForms
XForms 2.0 Specifications (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Forms/wiki/XForms_2.0) will include major improvements such as XPath 2.0, AVT and JSON support. For XForms 3.0, a sub-form mechanism and the use of XQuery/XQuery Update Facility will be considered. There are some remaining questions: how to define UI components, how to add non-present elements/attributes, is a schema-driven approach interesting and what about HTML5 Forms?XSLTForms 1.0 will be released soon. It is closer to XForms 1.1 full support. Its performance has been improved. An embedded profiler/debugger is available. As extensions, it allows sub-forms, TinyMCE RTE integration, XSLT transformation as a function and a processing-instruction to associate a form to an instance.
There are many potential improvements in XSLTForms that might help eXist-db users to develop web applications. For example, XQuery and XProc in actions, Search Engine Optimization, specific processing for mobile phones, more CSS possibilities, JS Framework(s) integration, macro definitions for repetitive processing, obfuscated validation/actions, server-side validation, new functionalities for Profiler/Debugger, Developer Mode vs. RunTime Mode, integrated Test Runner, strong schema-driven controls, SVG+XForms,...
Suggestions and wishes from eXist-db users are welcome.
Biography:
Alain Couthures is the project leader of XSLTForms, the client-side implementation of XForms based on XSLT to produce HTML+Javascript. AgenceXML (http://www.agencexml.com) proposes commercial support contracts for XSLTForms. Custom extensions development and courses are also proposed.