IBM Lotus Forms

IBM Forms is a suite of products by IBM's Lotus Software 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 (XFDL) as the format for its electronic forms, and it has gradually added XForms 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 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 environment within Eclipse for designing e-forms.
• IBM Forms Viewer is a rich client 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.