ColdFusion forms tags provide the following features:
Built-in validation support You can validate data in the client browser or on the server. You can specify that a field is required, contains a specific type of data, has a maximum length, or is in a range of values. You can also use data masking to control user input. For more information on validation, see Validating Data.
Note: ColdFusion also provides a method of doing on-server validation of HTML form controls.
Flash format forms and elements You can display a form as Flash, which works identically on a variety of platforms and provides additional display features not available in HTML. These features include accordion-style and multiple-tab form panes and automatic element positioning. You can also display cftree, cfgrid, and cfcalendar form elements as Flash items in an otherwise-HTML form. For more information on Flash forms and form elements, see Creating Forms in Macromedia Flash.
XML Skinable forms ColdFusion MX can generate XML forms and apply XSLT skins to format the forms. XML format forms let you separate the form presentation from the form logic and data field information. They give you detailed control over the appearance of the forms by applying custom skins, and let you create custom controls. For more information on XML skinnable forms, see Creating Skinnable XML Forms.
Direct support for ColdFusion variables You can easily use ColdFusion variables directly to populate your form controls. For example you can specify a query result to populate the cfgrid and cftree tags.
These features make CFML forms tags powerful and flexible, and let you easily develop fully featured, pleasing forms.
This chapter uses CFML tags, but does not describe or use most of their special features. Building Dynamic Forms with cfform Tags describes how to use many of the tags that are specific to ColdFusion, such as cftree and cfgrid. The other chapters listed above cover other CFML form tag features in detail.