CMS documentation

Working with CMS's customizable forms

CMS's database component comes with a number of options for working with CMS databases. These options, which are presented to you when you fire up CMS, are generic -- they will work with any CMS dataseries, but they aren't particularly pretty.

Sometimes that's okay, as when you (the CMS administrator) add, modify, and otherwise care and feed for a dataseries. However, in many cases the dataseries will support a service offered by a relatively-clueless user. For example, you can use CMS to support a slew of blogs, each one of which may be the pet project of an ordinary person (that is, someone who knows nothing about SREhttp/2, CMS, or software in general).

By careful use of CMS's customizable forms, you can make it relatively easy for this ordinary person to maintain this dataseries (or, from the point of view of this person, to maintain her blog).

Basically, CMS provides a set of templates for several customizable forms. You, the administrator, can then:

  1. Copy these templates.
    Typically, when you define a dataseries for use by an ordinary person, you should specify an output file directory that is strictly for her use.
    Copy the template(s) to this output file directory.
    Hints:
  2. Recommendation: To skip this step, choose the copy sample forms to the output directory option when you define a dataseries. The various sample forms will be copied for you.
  3. You can use the same, or different names, for these sample forms files (within this output file directory).
  4. When you define the dataseries, it is a good idea to tell CMS to create the UPLOADS, COMMENTS, and ARCHIVES subdirectories under the chosen output directory.
  5. Edit the copied templates.
    Each of the templates is heavily commented (using the <!-- a comment --> HTML comment codes). You'll need to change & add a number of fields.
  6. Save this edited copy of the template to an HTML file.
    If you want, you can use the same name (say, overwrite CMS_CMT.HTM with your edited version).
    Remember the name you use -- you can use it in the link creator!
  7. Create a link that uses this HTML file.
    Such as a link to Add a New Record or one to Add a Comment to this Record.

    This step requires carefully specifying some URLs, or CMS elements. Although you could read the comments (in the form files) on how to do this, you might find it easier to let the link creator utility do it for you!

  8. Put this link in an accesible HTML file
    Whether it's from the sample forms, or from the link creator, you'll need to copy these link(s) to an HTML document that is web-accessible. Then, tell your ordinary person where to find this file; say, for use as an easy to use blog maintanance tool.

What are the customizable forms

 As of this writing. CMS provides the following types of customizable forms. Each of them contains replaceable strings; CMS will replace these strings with information on the series, record, etc.
Examples of these files are located in the LIB subdirectory of the CMS directory.
12 September 2006