Using HTML forms to process data in web pages can be a complicated
affair due to the different representations of the inputs,
validation, initializing forms, cross-browser.
CFormData is a JavaScript
CFormData provides:
The ability to initialize a Form from a the query string used to load a web page.
The ability to initialize itself from the an existing Form and simplify accessing the values.
Generate a query string which can be used to serialize a Form's contents
or emulate a Form without actually using a Form tag.
Provide a unified means of handing Form processing by tieing the CFormData object to a Form using event handlers and validation functions.
CFormData.js implements
the JavaScript Object CFormData.
Constructs an instance of CFormData.
CFormData manages a set of named values
which can correspond to the input elements of a form
although the named values of the CFormData are not
identical to the input elements of a Form.
mValueHash contains the named values
managed by this instance of CFormData.
mNames is an Array of all of the names
managed by the object.
mValidatorHash contains the validation
functions for each named value.
init() resets the instance of CFormData object to empty.
getValue() returns the value(s) associated with the given
name aName. Note getValue()
will return a single value if the named value has
only a single value or an Array if
multiple values are set.
setValue() sets the value of a named value.
To set a single valued value, pass a
single value in aValue. To set multiple
values pass an array of values.
setValueFromInput() sets the value of the named value
to that of the given input element.
setValidator sets a validation function
aValidator for
the name value aName. aMessage
is a user message designed to inform the user of the
correct values for the input.
The aValidator function has the same signature as
the setValidator method. It returns true if the named
value is valid, and false otherwise.
validate() calls the validation function
for the value named aName returning true
if value passes the validation and false otherwise.
getMessage() returns the validation
message for the named value aName.
getNames() returns an array containing
the names of all values contained in the object.
fromString loads the instance of CFormData from the
query string into the object.
fromForm() loads the inputs from the
specified form into the object.
toString() creates a query string
corresponding to the values contained in the object.
toForm() loads the values in the object
into the specified form.
Example 1 illustrates the basic use of CFormData to manage initializing a form from a query string. Enter values into the form and press submit to see CFormData in action.
Example 2 illustrates a more advanced use of CFormData, including synchronizing the values of the CFormData object with the values entered into a Form, and performing validation.