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What FormMail Does
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FormMail takes information sent in CGI-protocol format and performs simple
manipulations for you. Since CGI format is not necessarily easy for humans
to read, this can be a great help.
| Example: |
Raw CGI |
| Explanation: |
We'll start with an example of "raw" CGI - sent directly
to an email addres without using FormMail.
The example is from W26c, and uses
the Stony Creek Historical Museum site to illustrate how it works. |
| Example code: |
<html>
<head>
<title>Stony Creek Historical Museum: Volunteer Today!</title>
</head> <body>
<h3>Stony Creek Historical Museum</h3>
<form method=POST action="mailto:krieg@stu.wccnet.edu">
<table border=0 cellpadding=4 align=center>
<tr>
<td align="right">First name:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="FirstName"
size=20></td>
<td align="right">Last name:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="LastName"
size=20></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>What school district do you live in?</strong></td>
<td>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="L" CHECKED> Lincoln<br>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="A"> Ann Arbor<br>
</td>
<td>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="M"> Milan<br>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="S"> Saline<br>
</td>
<td>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="Y"> Ypsilanti<br>
<input type="radio" name="SchoolDistrict"
value="o"> <em>other</em><br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div align="right"><input type="submit"
value="Send"></div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
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| Browser View: |
Stony Creek Historical Museum
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| Example email: |
FirstName=Sarah&LastName=Strong&SchoolDistrict=Y |
Here are some of the more useful things FormMail does, and how to do
them.
| Action: |
~ |
| Explanation: |
|
| Hidden Field: |
~~~ |
| Example code: |
~~~ |
| Example email: |
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| Action: |
Send Data as Email |
| Explanation: |
There is the one essential thing you must tell
FormMail: where to send the information! That takes the form of an
email address. |
| Hidden Field: |
recipient |
| Example code: |
<FORM ACTION = "/cgi-sys/formmail.pl"
METHOD = "POST">
<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="ssw101@stu.wccnet.edu">
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| Example email: |
|
| Action: |
Add a Subject to your Email |
| Explanation: |
Depending on the browser the user is in, you may get a blank subject,
or something meaningless. You can set the email subject to something
useful this way. |
| Hidden Field: |
subject |
| Example code: |
<input type=hidden name="subject"
value="Another Volunteer for SCHM!"> |
| Example email: |
|
| Action: |
Let the User Add a Subject to your Email |
| Explanation: |
If you would like the user to enter a subject of their own - for
example, if you're having them send you email from your Web page -
you can do it simply by allowing the subject field
to be visible. |
| Visible Field: |
subject |
| Example code: |
<input type=text name="subject"> |
| Example email: |
|
| Action: |
Send the User to Another Page |
| Explanation: |
Users will get a default response after sending in their information.
But if you prefer, you can have FormMail redirect them to a different
Web page. |
| Hidden Field: |
redirect |
| Example code: |
<input type=hidden name="redirect"
value="http://yourdomain.com/to/ file.html"> |
| Example email: |
|
| Action: |
Require the User to Fill In Certain Fields |
| Explanation: |
In many forms, some fields are optional and others are required.
You can get FormMail to reject the user's submission if they didn't
fill in the required fields. |
| Hidden Field: |
required |
| Example code: |
<input type=hidden name="required"
value="FirstName,LastName"> |
| Example email: |
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| Action: |
Send you Info about User's Environment |
| Explanation: |
The user's "environment" is the software and domain
they are running in. You can get FormMail to send you this information:
- Browser brand and version
- Domain name of user's ISP
- IP address of user's ISP
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| Hidden Field: |
env_report |
| Example code: |
<input type=hidden name="env_report"
value="REMOTE_HOST,REMOTE_ADDR,HTTP_USER_AGENT"> |
| Example email: |
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| Action: |
Sort the Fields |
| Explanation: |
You can get the data fields in three orders:
- Same order as in the HTML page. This is the default, so you
don't need to do anything for this.
- Alphabetical order, by the name of the field (not
in order by what the user typed in).
- Arbitrary order: any order you specify.
Why would you want to have the fields in a different order than
they appear in the HTML page? Possibly to make it easier for you
to create a report, or process the information with a program. |
| Hidden Field: |
sort |
| Example code: |
<!-- Sort alphabetically by field name
-->
<input type=hidden name="sort" value="alphabetic">
<!-- Sort in arbitrary order -->
<input type=hidden name="sort" value="order:SchoolDistrict,LastName,FirstName">
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| Example email: |
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More Information
In addition to the capabilities listed here, FormMail can do a few other
things with the data. Full information, including how to set up FormMail
on a server, is available at ScriptArchive:
http://www.scriptarchive.com/readme/formmail.html
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