In
component-based programming (
Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to:
* Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET
* Visual Basic (c ...
,
.NET WinForms,
Gambas
Gambas is the name of an object-oriented dialect of the BASIC programming language, as well as the integrated development environment that accompanies it. Designed to run on Linux and other Unix-like computer operating systems, its name is a re ...
,
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracl ...
,
Lazarus etc.), a form is a representation of a
GUI window. A form contains components and
controls typically including "OK" and "Cancel" buttons, these objects provide a high-level abstraction of standard or custom widgets which are typically much easier to manipulate than the GUI's underlying API.
At design time, visual controls (buttons, text boxes, and the like) and non-visual components (timers,
database connections, layout aids and so on) are placed on the form. These controls and components are positioned and sized interactively, and their properties and
event handler
In programming and software design, an event is an action or occurrence recognized by software, often originating asynchronously from the external environment, that may be handled by the software. Computer events can be generated or triggered ...
s are set with a special editor typically laid out as a grid.
At runtime, automatically generated code creates instances of these controls and components, and sets their properties.
Historically, forms were often implemented as screens on a
block-oriented terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. The teletype was an example of an early-day hard-copy terminal an ...
connected to a mainframe computer.
HTML forms are conceptually very similar.
See also
*
Form (document)
A form is a document with spaces (also named ''fields'' or ''placeholders'') in which to write or select, for a series of documents with similar contents. The documents usually have the printed parts in common, except, possibly, for a serial num ...
*
Form (HTML)
A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing. Forms can resemble paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text field ...
*
FormEngine
*
Master-detail
*
Oracle Forms
Oracle Forms is a software product for creating screens that interact with an Oracle database. It has an IDE that includes an object navigator, property sheet, and code editor that uses PL/SQL. It was originally developed to run server-side in c ...
*
Windows Forms
Windows Forms (WinForms) is a free and open-source graphical (GUI) class library included as a part of Microsoft .NET, .NET Framework or Mono Framework, providing a platform to write client applications for desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs. Wh ...
*
Windows_Presentation_Foundation
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a free and open-source graphical subsystem (similar to WinForms) originally developed by Microsoft for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was init ...
*
Xamarin#Xamarin.Forms
*
XForms
XForms is an XML format used for collecting inputs from web forms. XForms was designed to be the next generation of HTML / XHTML forms, but is generic enough that it can also be used in a standalone manner or with presentation languages other th ...
Graphical control elements
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