Form action and XML as source

[Yogi_Bear_79]

I need to change the below format from hard coded e-mail addresses to
retrive them from an XML source doc.

Can someone help with the syntax? I have used my XML elsewhere in this
project I am just stuck on this one



<form action="mailto:[email protected]?&[email protected]&subject=Help
Ticket" method="post" enctype="text/plain" >

 

[Oli Filth]

I need to change the below format from hard coded e-mail addresses to
retrive them from an XML source doc.

Can someone help with the syntax? I have used my XML elsewhere in this
project I am just stuck on this one



<form action="mailto:[email protected]?&[email protected]&subject=Help
Ticket" method="post" enctype="text/plain" >

mailto in forms is a Bad Thing. Use a server-based solution instead.
Google for "mailto form" for why.

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

I'm building a stand alone (chm) file and this was the only way I could find
to make this work..Being a stand alone, there is no server side. Now another
idea would be a javascript or VBS. I made a simple form that I wish to send
the results via e-mail.

Being stand alone, I know every user will mave Outlook setup

 

[Gazza]

Yogi_Bear_79 mumbled the following on 16/05/2005 19:11:

I'm building a stand alone (chm) file and this was the only way I could find
to make this work..Being a stand alone, there is no server side. Now another
idea would be a javascript or VBS. I made a simple form that I wish to send
the results via e-mail.

Being stand alone, I know every user will mave Outlook setup

Assuming you meant Outlook Express, you'd still be grossly wrong.

And don't top-post.

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

Yogi_Bear_79 mumbled the following on 16/05/2005 19:11:

Assuming you meant Outlook Express, you'd still be grossly wrong.

And don't top-post.

--
Gazza
Mobile Number Network Checker - http://mnnc.net/
Creative writing & Poems - http://garyjones.co.uk/
Leovanna Leonbergers - http://leovanna.co.uk/

Would it be possible for anyone to give an answer in addition to their
criticism? I don't mind being corrected about "top posting" or being told
that MAILTO might not be the best idea. However I do not se the need to
reply solely to tell me not to top post. Further, although MAILTO might not
be acceptable in most cases, in this one I feel that it is.

Why would you assume Outlook Express? Mailto: works with Outlook as well. I
understand the caveats of using MAILTO: however since this is a stand alone
..chm help file, I really do not see any other alternatives at this point.
This is not a web page on a server, therefore, no server side to support.


The original question is still at hand, what syntax is used to use XML as a
source in place of the hard coded e-mail addresses in a MAILTO statement

<form
action="mailto:[email protected]?&[email protected]&subject=HelpTicket"
method="post" enctype="text/plain" >

 

[Oli Filth]

Why would you assume Outlook Express? Mailto: works with Outlook as well. I
understand the caveats of using MAILTO: however since this is a stand alone
.chm help file, I really do not see any other alternatives at this point.
This is not a web page on a server, therefore, no server side to support.

You can still use a server to do this.

e.g. in a page in your .chm file (assuming .chm format deals with forms,
I don't know anything about it):

<FORM action="http://example.com/your_script.php" method="POST">
<INPUT type="hidden" name="address" value="(e-mail address removed)">
...
</FORM>

Then your_script.php can sit on your server and deal with incoming form
details, sending out e-mails as necessary.

The original question is still at hand, what syntax is used to use XML as a
source in place of the hard coded e-mail addresses in a MAILTO statement

<form
action="mailto:[email protected]?&[email protected]&subject=HelpTicket"
method="post" enctype="text/plain" >

What do you mean by "using XML as a source"? What is this XML source?
There is no HTML syntax to "retrieve" data from somewhere, that's not
something that HTML does. You could probably do this with Javascript.

 

[Gazza]

Yogi_Bear_79 mumbled the following on 17/05/2005 19:59:

I don't mind being ... told
that MAILTO might not be the best idea. ... Further, although MAILTO might not
be acceptable in most cases, in this one I feel that it is.

I never questioned your assumption that mailto is the way to proceed in
this case, only your assumption that "every user will [h]ave Outlook
setup". I, for one don't have it, and so have proved your assumption
wrong from the outset.

Why would you assume Outlook Express? Mailto: works with Outlook as well.

Of course it does, as do many other mail clients. OE is far more likely
to be setup on a general Windows machine however, compared to Outlook.

I
understand the caveats of using MAILTO: however since this is a stand alone
.chm help file, I really do not see any other alternatives at this point.
This is not a web page on a server, therefore, no server side to support.

I cannot help with your original question, but am I right in thinking
this .chm will be used on your internal network only (for which the
setup of machines could very well be consistent) ? Otherwise, and with
respect, for someone creating .chm's with XML, the assumption regarding
Outlook is somewhat of a "newbie" statement.

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

What do you mean by "using XML as a source"? What is this XML source?
There is no HTML syntax to "retrieve" data from somewhere, that's not
something that HTML does. You could probably do this with Javascript.
Oli

Inside the <head> tag I reference my XML source

<xml id="Main" src="../../xml/Main.xml"></xml>

Here I call the Office tag I created in the XML source

<table width="90%" cellpadding="5" align="center" datasrc="#Main">
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2><span class="celltext"
datafld="Office"></span>&nbsp;Computer Trouble Ticket</h2></td>
</tr>

I'd like to replace the e-mail addresses in the following line of HTML with
references to the XML
<form
action="mailto:[email protected]?&[email protected]&subject=Computer Help
Ticket" method="post" enctype="text/plain" >

My users are on stand alone systems on .com broadband connections in 1 man
offices over several states. There is no server for them to use. A stand
alone .chm help file is capable of supporting just about any Web Page
feature. Do a search on your PC (if Windows) and you will find many examples
of .chm files. My users will have my companys .chm file on their desktop,
and one of the options is an HTML form that they use to submit trouble
tickets. The feature works fine, however it has become neccesary to make it
more generic. So we have have moved all direct references to our divison to
an XML file, so that other System Admins only have to edit one file (the
..XML) to customize the CHM to their division. I understand fully that IF i
was hosting a web page then I wouldn't want to use MAILTO, but please that
is not the question. I am looking for help with an XML data island and the
subsequent HTML syntax

 

[Andy Dingley]

<table width="90%" cellpadding="5" align="center" datasrc="#Main">
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2><span class="celltext"
datafld="Office"></span>&nbsp;Computer Trouble Ticket</h2></td>
</tr>

Don't use DSO, it never worked.

If you have to do XML, then use XSLT. Use it client-side if you don't
care about compatibility, or server-side if you do.

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

Yogi_Bear_79 mumbled the following on 17/05/2005 19:59:

I don't mind being ... told
that MAILTO might not be the best idea. ... Further, although MAILTO might not
be acceptable in most cases, in this one I feel that it is.

I never questioned your assumption that mailto is the way to proceed in
this case, only your assumption that "every user will [h]ave Outlook
setup". I, for one don't have it, and so have proved your assumption
wrong from the outset.

You are not my intended audience! This project is for employees of my
company. It is a stand alone help file to answer their FAQ. This is not a
web site.

well.

Of course it does, as do many other mail clients. OE is far more likely
to be setup on a general Windows machine however, compared to Outlook.

Once again, you assumed. I personally built every one of these machines
and maintain them, I am fully aware of their configurations.

support.

I cannot help with your original question, but am I right in thinking
this .chm will be used on your internal network only (for which the
setup of machines could very well be consistent) ? Otherwise, and with
respect, for someone creating .chm's with XML, the assumption regarding
Outlook is somewhat of a "newbie" statement.

Since you couldn't help with the original question, you really didn't have a
need to provide any input. I stated clearly several times that these
machines are STAND ALONE.

I quote from your above statement "Otherwise, and with respect, for someone
creating .chm's with XML, the assumption regarding Outlook is somewhat of a
"newbie" statement." Your statement makes no sense. It appears that you are
making two statements, the second about Outlook being configured. I have
already addressed that the previous two times you mentioned it. The first
part of your statement doesn't making any sense, as I belive you are
unfamiler with .CHM files or .XML files.

 

[Oli Filth]

Inside the <head> tag I reference my XML source

<xml id="Main" src="../../xml/Main.xml"></xml>

Here I call the Office tag I created in the XML source

<table width="90%" cellpadding="5" align="center" datasrc="#Main">
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2><span class="celltext"
datafld="Office"></span>&nbsp;Computer Trouble Ticket</h2></td>
</tr>

Ah, you're talking about Microsoft's non-standards-compliant
data-binding additions to HTML.

In that case, I'm afraid I don't know the answer. This is not part of
the official HTML spec. I'm guessing that most people in this newsgroup
write HTML for the WWW and so need to support multiple browsers using
standard compliant HTML, hence will not rely on (or have learnt about)
proprietary things like Microsoft's data-binding, which will only work
in IE.

Although I guess that the non-compliance issue isn't an issue for you,
because you'll be using .chm files which will be browsed via a Microsoft
engine anyway.

My users are on stand alone systems on .com broadband connections in 1 man
offices over several states. There is no server for them to use.

In my earlier suggestion, I didn't mean that *they* would need to have a
server. I meant that *you* would be running the server which would
receive the form details. But it sounds as if you fully understand the
implications of mailto form links, so I'll say no more on this!!

I am looking for help with an XML data island and the
subsequent HTML syntax

Please bear in mind that what you're asking about is *not* part of the
W3C-compliant HTML syntax, so most people here wouldn't refer to it as
"HTML syntax" at all.

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

Ah, you're talking about Microsoft's non-standards-compliant
data-binding additions to HTML.

In that case, I'm afraid I don't know the answer. This is not part of
the official HTML spec. I'm guessing that most people in this newsgroup
write HTML for the WWW and so need to support multiple browsers using
standard compliant HTML, hence will not rely on (or have learnt about)
proprietary things like Microsoft's data-binding, which will only work
in IE.

Although I guess that the non-compliance issue isn't an issue for you,
because you'll be using .chm files which will be browsed via a Microsoft
engine anyway.


In my earlier suggestion, I didn't mean that *they* would need to have a
server. I meant that *you* would be running the server which would
receive the form details. But it sounds as if you fully understand the
implications of mailto form links, so I'll say no more on this!!


Please bear in mind that what you're asking about is *not* part of the
W3C-compliant HTML syntax, so most people here wouldn't refer to it as
"HTML syntax" at all.

Oli,

Thanks for you explanation. I had hoped someone would have had experience
in this area, and thought that this would be a good newsgroup since part of
the problem is HTML syntax, at least for me. But I do see you point, and
thank you for your time. Another person sugested XLST instead, so I will
look into that. Thanks again for your time

 

[Yogi_Bear_79]

Ah, you're talking about Microsoft's non-standards-compliant
data-binding additions to HTML.

Since XML was developed by the W3C, maybe it still falls under the pervue of
this NG? Since I was attempting to use Microsofts DSO, that may have been
where I went astray. Is there a better way to data bind to the XML, that
would be considered compliant?