Introduction to Formatted Outputs

There are two methods of passing form data to email, files and the users's screen: non-formatted output, and formatted output.

For non-formatted output, you have very little control over how the data is formatted. You simply specify a file name, and/or an email address, and all the data in the form is sent to that email address or appended to that file. The only thing you control in non-formatted output is the field separator (typically a newline or comma), the value delimiter (typically a double quote), and whether or not you want field names as well as field values included in the output. All options for non-formatted output are controlled by parameters either in the form's configuration file or as hidden fields in the form itself.

You will want to use formatted output, in addition to or instead of non-formatted output, if any of the following conditions pertain:

• Instead of simple lists of comma delimited, quoted values, you'd like a nicely formatted email message, or perhaps HTML encoded data.
• You need greater control over the email message parameters, such as the subject, from whom the message originates, to whom it's sent, exactly how the message body is formatted, etc. (for example, when implementing a form for subscribing to a mailing list).
• You want to include some of the data from the form in the next screen displayed to the user (their name, for example), or, you want to specify which screen (html document) is displayed next depends on the user's response(s) on the form.

• The Format Statement
• A Format Picture
• A Format Terminator

[an error occurred while processing this directive]