Adding Ajax

External Library Data Effects

Incorporating Ajax effects into an application isn't all that difficult, and as long as the page is created using traditional web functionality first and then has scripting and Ajax requests added, it is also accessible and unobtrusive. Many of the Ajax effects don't even require a great deal of coding if an external library is used. In this final section, we'll explore some of the more popular Ajax/data effects using different Ajax libraries, both to demonstrate the effect and to introduce more libraries for your consideration.

Building and Maintaining Forms

Though Ajax requests have lessened the need for traditional forms, most transactions will continue to be managed through forms. Unfortunately, forms are a lot of work to set up. The qForms API is a specialized API that provides all manner of form validations and constraints. Unlike many other Ajax libraries, it also has excellent documentation (http://pengoworks.com/qforms/docs).

There are also some Ajax-based form-building sites that would be worth examining, just to see how the Ajax is implemented, if no other reason. One is WuFoo, at http://wufoo.com. Others are jotForm at http://www.jotform.com, and BlueForm at http://www.theblueform.com. All three of these sites require registration, and you'll want to check other terms first before using them. None of the sites provides the software for downloading and hosting in your own development environment.

Drag-and-Drop Sorting with script.aculo.us

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