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Create ColdFusion forms

You can use a number of Insert panel buttons, menu items, and Property inspectors to rapidly create ColdFusion forms and set their properties in Dreamweaver.

Note: These enhancements are available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
  1. Open a ColdFusion page and place the insertion point where you want the ColdFusion form to appear.
  2. Select Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm > CFForm, or select the CFForm category from the Insert panel and click the CF Form icon.

    Dreamweaver inserts an empty ColdFusion form. In Design view, the form is indicated by a dotted red outline. If you don’t see this outline, make sure that View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements is selected.

  3. Ensure that the form is still selected, and then use the Property inspector to set any of the following form properties.
    CFForm
    Sets the name of the form.

    Action
    Lets you specify the name of the ColdFusion page to be processed when the form is submitted.

    Method
    Lets you define the method that the browser uses to send the form data to the server:
    POST
    Sends the data using the HTTP post method; this method sends the data in a separate message to the server.

    GET
    Sends the data using the HTTP get method, placing the form field contents in the URL query string.

    Target
    Lets you to modify the value of the target attribute of the cfform tag.

    Encoding Type
    Specifies the encoding method used for transmitting the form data.
    Note: Encoding type does not refer to character encoding. This attribute specifies the content type used to submit the form to the server (when the value of method is post). The default value for this attribute is application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

    Format
    Determines what kind of form is created:
    HTML
    Generates an HTML form and sends it to the client. The cfgrid and cftree child controls can be in Flash or applet format.

    Flash
    Generates a Flash form and sends it to the client. All controls are in Flash format.

    XML
    Generates XForms XML and puts the results in a variable with the ColdFusion form name. Does not send anything to the client. The cfgrid and cftree child controls can be in Flash or applet format.

    Style
    Lets you specify a style for the form. For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.

    Flash/XML Skin
    Lets you specify a halo color to stylize the output. The theme determines the color used for highlighted and selected elements.

    Preserve Data
    Determines whether to override the initial control values with submitted values when the form posts to itself.

    • If False, values specified in the control tag attributes are used.

    • If True, submitted values are used.

    Scripts src
    Specifies the URL, relative to the web root, of the JavaScript file that contains client-side code used by the tag and its child tags. This attribute is useful if the file is not in the default location. This attribute may be required in some hosting environments and configurations that block access to the /CFIDE directory. The default location is set in the ColdFusion Administrator; by default, it is /CFIDE/scripts/cfform.js.

    Archive
    Specifies the URL of downloadable Java classes for cfgrid, cfslider, and cftree applet controls. The default location is /CFIDE/classes/cfapplets.jar.

    Height
    Specifies the height of the form.

    Width
    Specifies the width of the form.

    Display Tag Editor for cfform
    Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.

  4. Insert ColdFusion form controls.

    Place the insertion point where you want the ColdFusion form control to appear in the ColdFusion form, and then select the control from the Insert menu (Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm), or from the CFForm category in the Insert panel.

  5. If required, set the properties of the control with the Property inspector.

    Make sure the control is selected in Design view and then set the properties in the Property inspector. For more information on the properties, click the Help icon in the Property inspector.

  6. Adjust the layout of the ColdFusion form.

    If you’re creating an HTML-based form, you can use line breaks, paragraph breaks, preformatted text, or tables to format your forms. You cannot insert a ColdFusion form in another ColdFusion form (that is, you cannot overlap tags), but you can include more than one ColdFusion form in a page.

    If you’re creating a Flash-based form, use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) styles to lay out your form. ColdFusion ignores any HTML in the form.

    Remember to label the ColdFusion form fields with descriptive text to let users know what they are responding to. For example, create a “Type your name label” to request name information.