> There are many application in which may want to pass "state"
> information between pages. For instance (based on an app
> someone's written here) I may want to select a database
> from an initial form and be able to bring up a generic
> page that allows you to search on that particular database.
> How do I pass information to this "generic" page?
What kind of information do you want to pass? Is it possible
to express this as selection fields on the initial form?
If you use a script at the server to generate the form for
a particular database, you can then tailor the form according
to info entered in the initial form.
The latest ideas for forms include a new STATE element that
allows servers to store information in forms in a manner
that is opaque to browsers. Other changes on the way will
allow forms to be dynamically updated when a user makes
a selection without the need to resend the entire form.
These ideas will be discussed in the May WWW conference.
Dave Raggett