forms (documents)

General term referring to formulary documents having an established arrangement of different parts and often a fixed order of words. Forms are used for acquiring particular information or for presenting particular information in a prescribed sequence and format. Forms may be handwritten, printed, typed, or online. Forms for acquiring information typically have titles for each type of data accompanied by blank spaces or lines, check boxes, pull-down lists, data entry fields, or other methods to prompt for the insertion of the requested information for each data type; they may also include instructions for how to fill out the form. Forms that present information do so in a standardized sequence and format, typically with a sequence of titles naming the types of data followed by the values of information related to that type of data.