I generated the form the hard way using forms api. Inside my_form() function I used brutal sql select to retrieve the nodes, filled in all form variables.

I didn't see where I can use hook_form_alter() function. I suspect I didn't do it right.

In my case, I have a new content type, added new cck fields. Then I added a table view with these fields. It looks something like:

col1 col2 col3
*************
V11 V12 V13
V21 V22 V23
...
Vn1 Vn2 Vn3

The form basically looks identical as the view, except one more column of check boxes and a submit button. It should look like

id col1 col2 col3
****************
x V11 V12 V13
x V21 V22 V23
...
x Vn1 Vn2 Vn3
"submit button"

where 'x' stands for a check box.

I felt like there got be a better way to take advantage of the view , which already contains all the contents for the form, except the check boxes and a submit button. I am playing with theme_views_view_table(), so far, it has not got me anywhere.