The user adds some stuff to a form, then we want to send the form contents to the backend ...
I don't want to have a form to post ...
What's wrong with this:
\n<html>\n<head>\n <script language="javascript">\n<!-- \n function update_page(){\n // do stuff to the page to indicate submission\n }\n// -->\n </script>\n<body>\n<form name="nullform" action="submit_handler.cgi" method="POST">\n <input name="foo">\n <a href="javascript:document.nullform.submit(); update_page()">Link text</a>\n</form>\n</body>\n</html>\n
As long as 'submit_handler.cgi doesn't generate a return, the browser doesn't reload anything. The 'update_page' function handles user feedback, unless there is a problem with the submission that javascript can't handle in which case there is a return that reloads the page.