In order to use forms in the wiki you have to define a connection to a database and specify the form's attributes and design.

Database Connections

Database connections are defined by adding connection attributes to dictionary pages (per default pages ending with Dict).

Connection attribute are definitions in wiki markup having the following syntax:

[<connection_name>].<attribute>:: <value>

If connection_name is omitted the attribute refers to the default connection (the connection without a name). The value may be enclosed by (`) to prevent it from being formatted as wiki text.

Example

 .type:: `sqlite`
 .file:: `attachment:Recipes.db`

The following attributes are allowed:

The other attributes are dependent of the database type used:

SQLite Databases

attribute	description
file	Specifies the location of the database. This may be a path to a file in the file system or an attachment.

ODBC Databases

attribute	description
connection_string	Connection string used to connect to the ODBC database.

MySQL, Oracle Databases

attribute	description
server	Name of the database server
port	Port of the database server (default: 3306 for MySQL and 1521 for Qracle)
database	Name of the database on the server
uid	User Id used to logon to the database server
pwd	Password

Example Connection Parameters

ODBC Connections

Examples providing the full connection information:

 .connection_string:: `driver:{SQL Server}, server:(local), database:HRDB, Trusted_Connection:Yes`
 .connection_string:: `driver:{SQL Server}, server:SQL01, database:HRDB, uid:moinwiki, pwd:moin-odbc`
 .connection_string:: `driver:{Microsoft ODBC for Oracle}, server:ORACLE01, Persist Security Info:False, Trusted_Connection:Yes`
 .connection_string:: `driver:{Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}, dbq:C:\Program Files\TSL\HR\HR.mdb`
 .connection_string:: `driver:{Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)}, dbq:C:\Program Files\TSL\HR\Vacation.xls`
 .connection_string:: `driver:{Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)}, dbq:C:\Program Files\TSL\HR\Locations.txt`

Example on using an ODBC data source name:

 .connection_string:: `dsn:HRDB, uid:moinwiki, pwd:moin-odbc`

Further information on ODBC connection strings can be found at:

• http://pyodbc.sourceforge.net/docs.html

• http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.odbc.odbcconnection.connectionstring.aspx

• http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa177865(SQL.80).aspx

MySQL and Oracle Connections

 .server:: `SQL01`
 .port:: `3306`
 .database:: `hrdb`
 .uid:: `moinwiki`
 .pwd:: `moin-db`

The port value is optional. If it is omitted, the default port value of the connection type is used.

Forms

A form is defined by it's attributes which are specified on a dictionary page (like database connections) and it's design which is build by moin markup.

Form Attributes

Form attributes are definitions in wiki markup having the following syntax:

[<form_name>].<attribute>:: <value>

If form_name is omitted the attribute refers to the default form (the form without a name). The value may be enclosed by (`) to prevent it from being formatted as wiki text.

Example

 .select:: `select * from Recipes order by Name`

The following attributes are allowed:

Query parameter or goto values can be:

• a field of the form or any sub form
• an unbound field
• or any of the following variables:

  PAGE	the current page name
  NOW	the momentan time stamp
  TODAY	the current date
  ME	the current users login name

This allows e.g. filtering the records for the current user or just records with todays date.

Form Design

Forms are designed by putting form macro elements on a page.

<< Form( <element> [, parameters... ] )>>

element

is one of the elements described below.

Example (of a simple form)

<<Form(Start)>>
|| Name       || <<Form(Text, Recipes/FormsDict..Name, 30)>> ||
|| Category   || <<Form(Text, .Category, 30)>>               ||
|| Servings   || <<Form(Text, .Servings, 4)>>                ||
|| Energy     || <<Form(Text, .Energy, 4)>> Cal.             ||
|| Time       || <<Form(Text, .Time, 4)>> minutes            ||
|| Difficulty || <<Form(Text, .Difficulty, 4)>>              ||
|| Procedure  || <<Form(Textarea, .Procedure, 50, 8)>>       ||
||<-2><<Form(Navigation)>>                                   ||
<<Form(End)>>

This displays the following form:

form_key

[[<page_name>][.<form_name>]] Specifies a form named <form_name> defined on the page <page_name> (see section Form Attributes). If page_name is empty, the form must be defined on the current page. If the form name is empty, it refers to the default form on that page (the form without a name).

field_key

[[<page_name>][.<form_name>]].<field_name> Specifies field named <field_name> of form <form_name> defined on page <page_name>. Field names starting with "@" are unbound fields allowing to insert values for filtering.

The form design can also be specified by the forms header, body and footer attributes (see section Form Attributes).