Talk:Forms

<!-- Create a new element in the article's properties for our data -->

<input type="hidden" name="xpath:/properties:example" />

this is really confusing to me. is this a temporary change? when i look at properties for this article, it shows default (none)? Phalseid 08:40, 19 Apr 2006 (NZST)

That's right, the form is embedded and uses an XPath query to populate the properties when the form is submitted, so nothing is needed in the properties article itself - this is also the case for your Div0:Test form. --Nad 08:57, 19 Apr 2006 (NZST)

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Email from aran@organicdesign.co.nz, Gir 09:10, 19 Apr 2006 (NZST)

Some notes from Peder's questions

When a form or query-string name starts with "xpath:" xmlwiki realises that

it is a value that needs to be sent directly into the article's properties

(when I say properties, I'm meaning the same properties as when you click on

the properties button of an article). The portion of the name following

xpath: is a string of the XPath Query language which is kind of like SQL for

XML structures. XPath queries allow you to navigate xml trees and select or

create various elements or attributes etc

And as you know, article properties are XML (at runtime XML is not text, but

an object tree called a DOM object which can be manipulated with XPath

queries and things and then save back to file or db as XML-text again)

So in short the xpath: naming mechanism allows you to manipulate an articles

properties directly from a posted form or query string.

In xmlwiki the life of the properties is:

1. The properties starts as a copy of default-properties.xml

2. Its converted from text into a DOM object

3. Xml:Article is read, DOMificated and merged with properties-DOM

4. query-string and posted data is parsed and all XPath items are merged

with properties-DOM

Xpath answers:

placing "title" with value "foo" in a form posted to index.php is no

fancy XML/Xpath, its just like posting the form to index.php?title=foo

"xpath:/properties:data" with value "foo.php" is like editing the

properties and adding foo.php (making foo.php execute after

$article is filled from db, but before wiki-parsing). <view> event happens

after wikiparsing so $article is html by then not raw-wikitext. (there's

also <save> and <edit> events, but don't worry about them for now)

"xpath:/properties:example" with no value creates a new empty <example/>

element in properties ready to be filled with other stuff specific to the

example (done so the properties root doesn't get messed up with specifics).

The data is obtained at runtime using xwGetProperty which gets it out of

the articles properties DOM object.