IBM Forms is a suite of products by IBM's

Lotus Software Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was "offloaded" to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1- ...

division that interact to develop and deliver data-driven, XML-based electronic forms (e-forms) to end-users. IBM Forms consists of a server, designer, and client viewer that enable creation, deployment, and streamlining of forms-based processes. IBM Forms originally used

Extensible Forms Description Language Extensible Forms Description Language (XFDL) is a high-level computer language that facilitates defining a form as a single, stand-alone object using elements and attributes from the Extensible Markup Language (XML). Technically, it is a class of ...

(XFDL) as the format for its electronic forms, and it has gradually added

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 ...

to XFDL as that standard has matured. With IBM Forms, organizations can use electronic forms to gather information from users and transmit that information to other systems. IBM Forms can be used as the front-end for business processes such as opening a new account. When a customer enters their information into a form and submits it for processing, their information could pass into a workflow application (such as

FileNet FileNet, a company acquired by IBM, developed software to help enterprises manage their content and business processes. FileNet P8, their flagship offering, is a framework for developing custom enterprise systems, but it can be used as-is. It i ...

or WebSphere Business Integration), a database (such as DB2 Universal Database or DB2 Content Manager), or any other type of application or process. There are four IBM Forms products: * IBM Forms Server serves e-forms to web browsers and provides an API and platform to integrate e-forms with other business processes. * IBM Forms Designer provides a

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...

environment within

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three c ...

for designing e-forms. * IBM Forms Viewer is a

rich client In computer networking, a rich client (also called heavy, fat or thick client) is a computer (a "client" in client–server network architecture) that typically provides rich functionality independent of the central server. This kind of computer w ...

that allows users to interact with e-forms online and offline. * IBM Forms Turbo allows users to create, deploy, fill and perform basic reports on eForms using a Web browser.

History of IBM Forms

IBM Forms was originally a product called PureEdge Forms, developed by PureEdge Solutions based in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. IBM bought PureEdge in 2005 and renamed the technology IBM Workplace Forms. In 2007, it was renamed Lotus Forms, starting with version 3.0. In 2010, it was rebranded IBM Forms, starting with version 4.0.

Previous incarnation of Lotus Forms

In 1994,

Lotus Development Corporation Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was "offloaded" to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1- ...

introduced Lotus Forms, another tool for creating electronic and printed forms. It has no relation to the current IBM Forms product.

Industry Standards

From 1993 to 1998, PureEdge (since acquired by IBM) developed the Universal Forms Description Language (UFDL). XFDL is the result of developing an XML syntax for the UFDL, thereby permitting the expression of forms in a syntax that promotes application interoperability and adherence to worldwide Internet standards. The original version of XFDL was published as a W3C Note in 1998. A number of features of XFDL have since been incorporated into a W3C Recommendation called XForms between 2003 and 2009.XForms 1.1. W3C Recommendation
Boyer, J. (Ed.) 20 OCT 2009

References

External links

IBM Forms home pageIBM Forms blog
by John Boyer on IBM developerWorks {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibm Lotus Forms

Forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...