Form and Survey Processing System (FSPS)

At Baruch, there has been a growing need to be able to use web-based forms and surveys to collect information over the Internet. The common process of collecting information through the Internet requires two steps. The first step requires making a web-based form or survey available to people to complete and submit. The second step requires a system on a server to receive the submitted information and process it for some kind of output.

The creation of a web-based form or survey requires some understanding of HTML or software to help you create Web pages. While some technical skill is required, most people can easily obtain these skills. On the other hand, the creation of a system to process submitted information might require a significant understanding of various programming languages, knowledge of the server operating systems, other higher-level technical skills and substantial development time. Due to the technical and time requirements that this type of development involves, it is not an option for most people who want to put a form or survey online. BCTC has created the Form and Processing System (FSPS) to handle the second step--the processing of submitted information.

How it Works

A person who wants to post a web-based form or survey will create a web page using standard HTML, written by hand or using a web page editing software. The web page will include the form or survey questions and hidden fields that specify how the Form and Survey Processing System (FSPS) processes information submitted from the form or survey. The FSPS processes information (data) submitted through a web-based form or survey and either stores it in the system as a tab separated text (.txt) or Excel (.xls) file, or e-mails it to a specified recipient. In addition, the system returns a “receipt” web page to the person who submitted the form or survey that includes all of the information they have submitted. The data stored on the server is accessed through an administrative area on the Baruch Web site using the appropriate account username and password. Use of the system is limited to faculty and administrators and requires the creation of an account username and password.

Creating an Account to use the Form and Survey Processing System

You must create an account to use the Form and Survey Processing System. This account will allow the data from the form or survey you create to be processed, stored and retrieved through the system. You can request an account by going to http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/survey/admin/signup.jsp Once your account is set up you will receive an e-mail with your account username and password and the address (URL) of the administrative area on the Baruch Web site where you can access your data files.

NOTE – This account is not for the hosting of your form or survey. More information about the storage of your form or survey is included in “Creating Your Form or Survey” below.

Creating Your Form or Survey (Guidelines)

The form or survey that you create can be written with standard HTML markup. You will include all of the questions and “input” fields in the HTML file, as you normally would. You will then need to include a specific form action and some hidden fields to determine where the data should be sent and how it should be processed by the system.

The form or survey must be stored on a Web server within the “baruch.cuny.edu” domain (“faculty.baruch.cuny.edu”, “www.baruch.cuny.edu”, “aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu”, etc.). You will need to arrange a location for the storage of your form or survey on the Web. Contact your school’s technical support staff or BCTC for information on where to store your form or survey.

When writing the form or survey the required “form” tag needs to be written as shown below:

<form method="post" action="http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/survey/formread2">

Below is a list of the hidden fields that can be used in your form. Each field name is followed by a description of its function, whether the field is required, and how it is to be written in your HTML file.

• account - The account value is the username for your account. A value is required.
  <input type="hidden" name="account" value="">

• logfile - The logfile value determines what the saved file will be named. Do not include any spaces in the logfile name. A value is required if you will be storing data in a file on the server (more about this in “Accessing Data” section below).
  <input type="hidden" name="logfile" value="">

• EmailTo – The EmailTo value determines to whom the form data should be e-mailed. The application will only send email to a valid address within the Baruch domain (name@baruch.cuny.edu). A value is required if you will be e-mailing the data (more about this in “Accessing Data” section below).
  <input type="hidden" name="EmailTo" value="">

• FromEmail – The FromEmail value determines what text will show up in the 'from' line of the email. If the form data is being emailed, a value is optional.
  <input type="hidden" name="FromEmail" value="">

• subject – The subject value determines the subject line of the email. If the form data is being emailed, a value is optional.
  <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="">

• text – The text value appends a message to the data being sent in the e-mail. The text will be included after the input data. If the form data is being emailed, a value is optional.
  <input type="hidden" name="text" value="">

• order - The order value determines the question responses that are to be written to the e-mail or data file and configures their order. The field names for ALL questions must be typed exactly as they are in the field name of each questions’  input tag. A value is required.
  <input type="hidden" name="order" value="">

• reply – The reply value determines the message that will appear in the “receipt” page above the users input. A value is optional.
  <input type="hidden" name="reply" value="">

• redirect - The redirect value determines the URL that the browser should go to once the form has been submitted. If no value is indicated, the browser will show the submitted data with the value from the “reply” field. A value is optional.
  <input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="">

• date - The date value adds the form’s submission date and time to the log file or e-mail message. This form field is required.
  <input type="hidden" name="date" value="MM/dd/yy '-' h:mm:ss:S a">

NOTE – The input name values are case sensitive. They must be written exactly as shown above. When writing your own name values for questions in your form you can use any combination of characters, including spaces and multiple words. For example:

<input type="text" name="Question 1">

Example of form tag and hidden fields

Below is an example of a web-based form that could be used to collect contact information. The form and hidden fields in the HTML file determine that the submitted information from this form would  be sent to the server, saved it to a file, and be accessible by the account owner. The “form” tag is set up to send the data to the server (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/survey/formread2). The data that is sent would be written to a file on the server named “responseform”, and be available for download using the “bernardbaruch” account.

rendered in a browser, the HTML code above looks like this:

Form/Survey Templates

You can download form and survey templates that include the required and optional hidden fields and form tag for sending data via e-mail, to a logfile, or both. All you need to do is insert your form or survey questions and add values to the fields that are required for your particular form.

• Form that sends data via e-mail
• Form that writes data to a log file
• Form that sends data via e-mail and writes it to a log file

For more help on creating your forms, contact webadmin@baruch.cuny.edu

Accessing Data

The form data can be e-mailed to a specified person and/or downloaded through an administrative area on the Baruch Web site.

Form or Survey Submission “Receipt”

When using the FSPS to collect information via a Web-based form or survey, the system will automatically return a “receipt” to the person who has submitted their information. The receipt Web page appears in the browser and contains all of the information that was submitted, as well as any message that the form or survey author included in the hidden field “reply” (see information about this field in “Creating Your Form or Survey”). In your reply message you may want to tell people to print out this receipt page for reference, depending on the nature of the form or survey.

Security of Form/Survey Data

The submission and retrieval of information when using the FSPS occurs via the Internet. During the submission and retrieval process, the information is not encrypted and it is possible that it could be intercepted as it is passed across the Internet. Transmission of information occurs when a person submits the form or survey, and receives a “receipt” of the information they submitted. It also occurs when the owner retrieves the data from the server, either via e-mail or through the administrative area on the Web site. (see the diagram below)

The data is stored on the server and is only accessible by the person who set up the form or survey “account owner”, and the system administrators of the server. The data will remain on the server until the account owner deletes it.

NOTE - Because the information sent to and retrieved from the FSPS is not encrypted, you should not be requesting Social Security #’s or other personal identification numbers.