[Technotroll]

Perhaps this is tangential, but I'm always amazed with input forms have a "Go" or "Send" button when it's supposed to do some on-the-fly or local computation or treatment of the input. So, why wait? Why force the user to perform yet another action? Programming allows for the process to start from the first character or number being typed into the form.

The fact that developers still put a "Send" button on most forms these days kind of amazes me. That makes me wonder. Am I wrong? When is it useful to have a "Go" or "Send" button, and demand that extra action from the user?

[mft_]

Because... that's how the user signals that the form is complete and correct, and ready to go, or to be submit -ted?

Maybe I'm not understanding your frustration...?

[Technotroll]

In a lot of applications, there is no need to signal readiness. You can simply start processing the input at once, and display it continuously, from the first character or number that is entered. This is true for most applications that run client side. We're talking everything from small calculators to text processing. In most cases the "OK" button can be completely omitted. It's of course a different matter if you need to digest it remotely.

[lelanthran]

I don't follow.

Are you saying that forms which are not submitted shouldn't have a separate submit button?

If so, I might agree, up to a point.

However any form that has to be submitted to a server absolutely MUST have a submit button, for the case when user input is complete and the user is still reviewing all the fields.

[throwaway290]

As a user, I don't know if it only does local processing, and I prefer to click the button explicitly. Eg. if I accidentally paste a password and it starts loading stuff I would be alarmed.