MySQL and Perl for the Web

Form Anatomy

Forms simplify the process of collecting information by offering a structured mechanism for visitors to interact with your site. To a limited extent, you can solicit information from users by having them make choices from lists of hyperlinks, but that quickly turns into the Web equivalent of automated telephone answering-system menus. Forms are more effective.

For structured types of information, such as a list of choices, forms enable you to spell out the options explicitly for the user and provide a convenient way for the user to make a selection. Form elements such as check boxes, radio buttons, pop-up menus, and scrolling lists make it easy to display lists or sets such as colors, sizes, age or salary ranges, number of people ...