Files for use with Forms
mode are very simple—each record (usually one
line) forms the contents of one form. Each record consists of a
number of fields, which are separated by the value of
the string forms-field-sep, which is
"\t" (a Tab) by default.
If the format
of the data file is not suitable enough you can define the filter
functions forms-read-file-filter and
forms-write-file-filter.
forms-read-file-filter is called when the data file
is read from disk into the data buffer. It operates on the data
buffer, ignoring read-only protections. When the data file is
saved to disk forms-write-file-filter is called to
cancel the effects of forms-read-file-filter. After
being saved, forms-read-file-filter is called again
to prepare the data buffer for further processing.
Fields may contain text
which shows up in the forms in multiple lines. These lines are
separated in the field using a “pseudo-newline”
character which is defined by the value of the string
forms-multi-line. Its default value is
"\^k" (a Control-K character). If it is set to
nil, multiple line fields are prohibited.
If the data file does not exist, it is automatically created.