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.\"  Copyright (c) 1986,1987 Dave Taylor
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\f3Elm Forms Mode Guide\f1
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\f2What Forms Mode is, how to use it to create
custom forms, how to reply to forms, and how to
use it for AT&T Mail messages\f1
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The Elm Mail System
(Version 2.4)
.sp 2
Syd Weinstein, Elm Coordinator
Datacomp Systems, Inc.
3837 Byron Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006-2320
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email: elm\s-1@\s+1DSI.COM  or  dsinc\s-1!\s+1elm
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\s18\f3\*(ct\f1\s12 Copyright 1986,1987 by Dave Taylor
\s18\f3\*(ct\f1\s12 Copyright 1988-1992 by The USENET Community Trust
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\f3A Guide to Forms Mode in Elm\f1
.ds h0 "Forms Mode Guide
.ds h1
.ds h2 "Version 2.4
.ds f0 "October 1, 1992
.ds f1
.ds f2 "Page %
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(The Elm Mail System, \*(h2)
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\*(f0
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Syd Weinstein
Datacomp Systems, Inc.
3837 Byron Road
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006-2320
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email: elm\s-1@\s+1DSI.COM  or  dsinc\s-1!\s+1elm
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Derived from
\*QThe Elm Mail System, Version 2.0\*U
by
Dave Taylor
Intuitive Systems
Mountain View, California
email: taylor\s-1@\s+1intuitive.com  or  limbo\s-1!\s+1taylor
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.sp 3
While there are a lot of mail systems that allow the transmission
of text and primitive pictures, to send and reply to more complex
forms is simply not possible.  Elm, however, took
the forms mode implemented as part of the AT&T Mail package and has
expanded on it to be a smoothly fit part of the overall mail system.
.sp
Forms mode gives you the ability to send \*Qtemplate\*U files to people
and receive the filled-in replies.\s-2\u1\d\s0
.fn
1. Note that this feature assumes that the person on the other end is
also using the Elm mail system, that both yourself and the person on
the other end have their user levels set to something other than
\f2Beginner\f1 (\f30\f1) and the \f3forms\f1 variable set ON in
their \f2.elm/elmrc\f1 files.
.ef
Let's look at an example right off.
.sp
Say we were going to use computer mail as a way to file defects with
software.  There is a certain amount of information we want to be able
to collect when each report is made, and if it is in a specific format
we can use programs to file the defects upon receipt.
.sp
The form we'll try to emulate starts out looking like:
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.tl ''Defect Reporting Form''
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.tl 'Program:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Program:\ 'u'''Version:\ \l'1.7i-\w'Version:\ 'u''
.tl 'Operating\ System:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Operating\ System:\ 'u'''Version:\ \l'1.7i-\w'Version:\ 'u''
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.tl 'Defect\ Type:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Defect\ Type:\ 'u''''
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.tl 'Date\ Found:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Date\ Found:\ 'u'''By\ Whom:\ \l'2.3i-\w'By\ Whom:\ 'u'\h'.2i''
.tl 'Date\ Reported:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Date\ Reported:\ 'u'''Phone:\ \l'2.3i-\w'Phone:\ 'u'\h'.2i''
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.tl 'Description:\ \l'6.4i-\w'Description:\ 'u''''
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This form can actually be created almost exactly as listed above in
the Elm mail system by using your standard editor and can then
be mailed about as needed.
.sp
Let's say that we want a bit more information, however, especially with
fields like \f2Defect Type\f1, we want to list all the recommended answers.
To create the actual form, we need merely to replace the underlines in
the above form with spaces.  The multi-line comments can simply be
indicated by a \*q:\*u by itself on a line:

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.tl ''Defect Reporting Form''
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.tl 'Program:''Version:\h'1.7i-\w'Version:'u''
.tl 'Operating System:''Version:\h'1.7i-\w'Version:'u''
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.tl '(Valid Defect Types are: user-error, doc-error, fatal, other)'''
.tl 'Defect Type:'''
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.tl 'Date Found:''By\ Whom:\h'2.3i-\w'By\ Whom:'u''
.tl 'Date Reported:''Phone:\h'2.3i-\w'Phone:'u''
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.tl 'Description'''
.tl ':'''
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Thank you for filling in this form.
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As you can see, it is quite simple to create forms!!
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Now that you have an idea what we're talking about, let's actually officially
define the system.
.br
.ne 5
.hu Forms Mode Specification

[Note that this is all taken from the document \f2Standard for Exchanging
Forms on AT&T Mail\f1, Version 1.9 of 6/7/86, from AT&T.]
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The forms mode is really quite simple.  Simple enough that it is amazing
that it hadn't been implemented before AT&T Mail came along!!
.sp
In a nutshell, each field is delimited by a \*q:\*u followed by a number of
blank spaces or tabs that represent the valid size for that field.  That
is, if we have a line in the form like:
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.tl ''Phone (area-code):\0\0\0\0\0Number:\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0''
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The area-code field is limited to three characters and the number to nine
(this is kind of hard to see with the proportionally spaced formatted copy,
alas).
The only exception to the rule is that a \*q:\*u by itself on a line represents
a field that is as large as the user entering the data desires.

The actual form that is transmitted, in AT&T Mail parlance, is a \*QSIMPLE\*U
forms handler message (as opposed to the \*QADVANCED\*U handler).  This means
that it contains three sections:
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The Message Header
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[\&OPTIONS-SECTION]
***
[\&FORMS-IMAGE]
***
[\&RULES-SECTION]\f1
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Elm generates form messages with the \f2OPTIONS-SECTION\f1 filled out,
but ignores it when receiving mail.  The filled out \f2OPTIONS-SECTION\f1 is:
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WIDTH=80
TYPE=SIMPLE
OUTPUT=TEXT\f1
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The \f2FORMS-IMAGE\f1 section is that described above, i.e. prompting
text followed by a \*q:\*u, followed by spaces or tabs.
The \f2RULES-SECTION\f1 can
contain explicit rules about the possible values of each field, but
this is currently ignored by Elm, being a \*QSIMPLE\*U forms mode
mail system.
.sp
Forms also have the header \*QContent-Type: mailform\*U to indicate to the
mail system (either Elm or AT&T Mail) that a form is being sent.
.sp
Elm further indicates that a form has been received by having an
\*qF\*u as the status character in the header display section (instead of
\*qN\*u for new, etc).
.br
.ne 5
.hu Composing and Sending a Form

The first step to enable sending forms is to change the setting of
the variable \f3forms\f1 in your \f2.elm/elmrc\f1 file to ON:
.sp
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.ti .5i
forms = ON
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The next step is to send the message to someone using the \f3m\f1 (\f3mail\f1)
command, which drops you into an editor.  Type in the form as
indicated above, with appropriate colons and comments, and end the entry
by leaving the editor.
.sp
The prompt is now:
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.tl ''Choose: E)dit msg, edit H)eaders, M)ake form, S)end or F)orget : @''
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so we choose \f3m\f1 \(em \f3make form\f1.  Elm then either
rewrites the prompt without the \*QM)ake form\*U option, indicating that
the form has been accepted, or indicates the problem and gives you
a chance to correct it.
.sp
Once it has been accepted, simply use the \f3s\f1 \(em \f3send message\f1 \(em
command and it's off!
.sp
Note that you cannot reply to a message with a form.
.br
.ne 6
.hu Replying to a Form

Let's reply to the form message we generated now.  The header page of the
Elm mail system indicates that the message is a form by having
an \*qF\*u next to it.  So we use \f3r\f1 to reply and the screen is immediately
cleared and we're prompted, field by field, for the data requested.
Each field has underscores in the input area to indicate the size field that
is expected.
.sp
After answering all the questions we'll have a screen that looks like:

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.tl ''Defect Reporting Form''
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 Program:  \f3The Elm Mail System\f1\l'3i-\w'\f3The Elm Mail System'u'
 Version:  \f31.5\f1\l'3i-\w'\f31.5'u'
 Operating System:  \f3HP-UX\f1\l'3i-\w'\f3HP-UX'u'
 Version:  \f35.141 C\f1\l'3i-\w'\f35.141 C'u'
.sp
 (Valid Defect Types are: user-error, doc-error, fatal, other)
 Defect Type:  \f3fatal\f1\l'5i-\w'\f3fatal\f1'u'
.sp
 Date Found:  \f310/9/86\f1\l'3i-\w'\f310/9/86\f1'u'
 By Whom:  \f3Dave Taylor\f1\l'3i-\w'\f3Dave Taylor\f1'u'
 Date Reported:  \f310/9/86\f1\l'3i-\w'\f310/9/86\f1'u'
 Phone:  \f3(415) 857\-6887\f1\l'3i-\w'\f3(415) 857-6887\f1'u'
.sp
 Description
 (Enter as many lines as needed, ending with a \*q.\*u by itself on a line)
   \f3When running it on a CPM system I cannot compile successfully.\f1
   \f3.\f1
 Thank you for filling in this form.
.tl ''Choose: E)dit form, edit H)eaders, S)end or F)orget : @''
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Quite simple.  Notice, however, that the order of prompting is
left-to-right on each line, so the fields, \f2By Whom:\f1 and
\f2Phone:\f1, although placed in what seems like a logical place on the
form, turn out to be confusing when filling in the received form since
it isn't clear what \f2Phone:\f1 is being asked for because of the
intervention of the \f2Date Reported:\f1 field.
.sp
The message that is actually sent out from this has the
fields in a more acceptable format:
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 WIDTH=80
 TYPE=SIMPLE
 OUTPUT=TEXT
 ***
.tl ''Defect Reporting Form''
.sp
.tl ' Program: The Elm Mail System''Version: 1.5\h'1.5i-\w'Version: 1.5'u''
.tl ' Operating System: HP-UX''Version: 5.141 C\h'1.5i-\w'Version: 5.141 C'u''
.sp
.tl ' (Valid Defect Types are: user-error, doc-error, fatal, other)'''
.tl ' Defect Type: fatal'''
.sp
.tl ' Date Found: 10/9/86''By Whom: Dave Taylor\h'2.3i-\w'By Whom: Dave Taylor'u''
.tl ' Date Reported: 10/9/86''Phone: (415) 857-6887\h'2.3i-\w'Phone: (415) 857-6887'u''
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.tl ' Description'''
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    When running it on a CPM system I cannot compile successfully.
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.tl ' Thank you for filling in this form.'''
 ***
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.hu Comments on Forms Mode

As was said at the beginning, this way of sending about forms could
prove to be very helpful and useful in a variety of contexts.  On the
other hand, until a more sophisticated forms language is used for the
forms, this should be sufficient to embody the power of the idea.
.sp
I welcome any comments and thoughts on this system and also welcome
possible enhancements.
.sp
I also gratefully thank Dale DeJager of AT&T Information Systems
for sending me more
information on AT&T Mail than I could possibly digest in any finite
amount of time.
