When a FrontPage form is produced the HTML tags denoting the form change depending on where the form is (server, disc-based web), its current state (saved, being edited etc.), and which program (FrontPage, Expression Web, Notepad) the code is viewed with.
For this example a simple form has been produced in a disc based web, and published to a Windows server running FrontPage 2002 extensions. The images below show how the <form> tag evolves during the creation and publishing process. The method of adding the form fields to the page is not described, but the form property sheets are shown here.
The completed form in design View, before any configuration.
The text boxes, buttons and text area retain Expression Web's default field names.
Code View for the completed form (before any form properties have been applied).
The <form> tag is: <form method="post">
Right click anywhere in the form in Design pane, and choose Form Properties. This dialogue appears.
FP Form Configuration shows the property sheets and how they were completed for this form.
When the properties have been completed, the <form> code changes to:
<form method="post" action="--WEBBOT SELF--">
<!--webbot B-Email-Label-Fields="TRUE"
B-Email-ReplyTo-From-Field="TRUE"
B-Email-Subject-From-Field="FALSE"
B-Reverse-Chronology="FALSE"
bot="SaveResults"
S-Builtin-Fields=""
S-Email-Address="user@example.com"
S-Email-Format="TEXT/PRE"
S-Email-ReplyTo="Text2"
S-Email-Subject="Simple Form results"
S-Form-Fields="Text1 Text2 TextArea1 "
S-Format="TEXT/CSV"
S-Label-Fields="TRUE"
U-Confirmation-Url="confirm.html"
U-File="../../../_private/form_results.csv" -->
Now, save the page and there is another change: Use Notepad (or preview in browser [not using the development Server] and view source) to see the <form> code change again, and an extra line or two added:
<form method="post"
action="../../../_derived/nortbots.htm"
onSubmit="location.href='../../../_derived/nortbots.htm';
return false;"
webbot-action="--WEBBOT-SELF--"
webbot-onSubmit="">
<!--webbot B-Email-Label-Fields="TRUE"
B-Email-ReplyTo-From-Field="TRUE"
B-Email-Subject-From-Field="FALSE"
B-Reverse-Chronology="FALSE"
bot="SaveResults" S-Builtin-Fields=""
S-Email-Address="user@example.com"
S-Email-Format="TEXT/PRE"
S-Email-ReplyTo="Text2"
S-Email-Subject="Simple Form results"
S-Form-Fields="Text1 Text2 TextArea1 "
S-Format="TEXT/CSV"
S-Label-Fields="TRUE"
U-Confirmation-Url="confirm.html"
U-File="../../../_private/form_results.csv"
startspan -->
<input NAME="VTI-GROUP" TYPE="hidden" VALUE="0">
<!--webbot bot="SaveResults"
endspan i-checksum="37496" -->
More changes. Close the page and open it again. Once more the code has changed as shown in Expression Web (though not the copy on disc).
<form method="post" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--"
onSubmit="location.href='../../../_derived/nortbots.htm';
return false;" webbot-onSubmit="">
<input NAME="VTI-GROUP" TYPE="hidden" VALUE="0">
<!--webbot bot="SaveResults" endspan i-checksum="37496" -->
One last change - Publish the file (using HTTP since the server has FrontPage extensions installed.
The form tag is now:
<form method="post"
action="../../../_vti_bin/shtml.dll/fp/articles/fp-forms/simple-form.html"
onSubmit="" webbot-action="--WEBBOT-SELF--">
<!--webbot B-Email-Label-Fields="TRUE"
B-Email-ReplyTo-From-Field="TRUE"
B-Email-Subject-From-Field="FALSE"
B-Reverse-Chronology="FALSE"
bot="SaveResults"
S-Builtin-Fields=""
S-Email-Address="user@example.com"
S-Email-Format="TEXT/PRE"
S-Email-ReplyTo="Text2"
S-Email-Subject="Simple Form results"
S-Form-Fields="Text1 Text2 TextArea1 "
S-Format="TEXT/CSV"
S-Label-Fields="TRUE"
U-Confirmation-Url="confirm.html"
U-File="../../../_private/form_results.csv"
startspan -->
<input TYPE="hidden" NAME="VTI-GROUP" VALUE="0">
<!--webbot bot="SaveResults" endspan i-checksum="43374" -->
If the server is running on Linux then shtml.dll will be replaced by shtml.exe. The extensions know which to use.
Also, note that the email address is in plain sight (in View Source), ready to be picked up by any would be spammers who might stumble on the page.