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(forms)Forms Example

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Forms Example
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   Let's illustrate Forms mode with an example.  Suppose you are
looking at the `/etc/passwd' file, and the screen looks like this:

     ====== /etc/passwd ======
     
     User : root   Uid: 0   Gid: 1
     
     Name : Super User
     
     Home : /
     
     Shell: /bin/sh

   As you can see, the familiar fields from the entry for the super user
are all there, but instead of being colon-separated on one single line,
they make up a forms.

   The contents of the forms consist of the contents of the fields of
the record (e.g. `root', `0', `1', `Super User') interspersed with
normal text (e.g `User : ', `Uid: ').

   If you modify the contents of the fields, Forms mode will analyze
your changes and update the file appropriately.  You cannot modify the
interspersed explanatory text (unless you go to some trouble about it),
because that is marked read-only (Note: Text Properties.
).

   The Forms mode control file specifies the relationship between the
format of `/etc/passwd' and what appears on the screen in Forms mode.
Note: Control File Format.