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These are opinions of J. Paul Schmidt, MBA.
No warranties are either expressed or implied.
To Use Paul's Services:
Paul@Bullschmidt.com
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Fill a listbox
possibly with multiple columns with data from a database.
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Use
dependent listboxes
for example to let a user choose a rep in a reps listbox and then have only the customers for that rep be shown in the customers listbox.
(More...)
For a Delete button or link use a JavaScript confirm box to ask
"Are you sure you want to delete?"
(More...)
When many hyperlinked records are shown on the same page, put the unique ID field into a
querystring
within each link.
(More...)
And dealing with
checkboxes
can be a little tricky either from a posted form or from a field in a database.
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Make calculated
read-only fields
have inverted colors (white text on a dark background). Example: <input type="text" name="InvSubtotal" size="13" readonly="true" style="color:white; background-color:gray" value="<%= InvSubtotal %>">
Perhaps have Web pages
"post back"
to themselves and then handle further processing from there.
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If you use a
login page
, store the user level in a session variable and have each page check for the appropriate level.
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Sometimes you might need a
shopping cart
.
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Perhaps create a way for certain users to
upload files
such as images.
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For dates show all
four year digits
such as 1/1/2008. And if the site is global in nature perhaps spell out the first three letters of the month and put the day part before the month part such as 01-Jan-2008.
Keep Web page
field and variable names
the same as the field names in the database. Example: <input type="text" name="InvID" value="<%= InvID %>">
Add an initial
blank row
to most listboxes so that the initial default value can be blank. Example: <option value="">
Generally use a
rounding function
when multiplying or dividing. Example using 2 decimal places: MyVar3 = Round(MyVar1 / MyVar2, 2)
Use
tabindex
within input tags so that users can tab through the fields in the desired order. Actually this is only necessary if the default order is not correct. Example: <input type="text" name="InvID" size="10" maxlength="10" value="<%= InvID %>" tabindex="1">
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Update
cumulative variables
after each row in a report. Then at the end of the report show these variables as the totals. The same concept can also be used for group totals by setting the cumulative variables back to 0 after each group. Example: InvSubtotalCum = InvSubtotalCum + InvSubtotal
Your report can
group data
such as showing a category name and then all the items within that category.
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Sometimes you may want a recordset to display
multiple records in each row
.
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Perhaps allow
searching criteria
on multiple fields.
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Sometimes a
barchart
can tell the story better than regular text ever could.
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Perhaps make it so that if a user prints a page that some things such as the top title portion, the left menu portion (as this can really expand the width of a printed page), and the bottom footer portion
do not print
.
(More...)
In reports show rows with
alternating background colors
of white <tr style="background-color:#FFFFFF"> and very light gray <tr style="background-color:#EEEEEE">. And perhaps show the header in a little darker gray <tr style="background-color:#DDDDDD">.
Make
column headings
have vertical alignment of bottom. In this way long headings that take up two rows of space don't force the short headings to have a row of space below the words. Example: <td valign="bottom">My Column Header</td>
Right align
number columns
so that the decimals generally line up. Example: <td align="right"><%= FormatCurrency(objRS("Price"), 2) %></td>
At the top show what
criteria
were used to open a page that shows many records. Example output: Inv. Date = 1/1/2008 to 5/26/2008, Customer = API
Have
checkbox
fields appear as "Yes" or "No" when shown in a report. Example: <% If CBool(objRS("MyField")) Then Response.Write "Yes" Else Response.Write "No" %>
You might wish to have a listbox that allows the user to
sort the records
shown on the page by things like the Name, City, or Zip.
(More...)
In the footer of each data-related page show a
copyright notice
with a serious sounding warning.
Use a 1 pixel high by 1 pixel wide
black image
for creating variable length lines. Example: <img src="black.gif" height="1" width="20"> or <img src="black.gif" height="1" width="100%">
Use a 1 pixel high by 1 pixel wide
invisible image
for spacing purposes when needed. Example: <img src="invisible.gif" height="10" width="1">
If needed allow
searching for keywords
on multiple fields.
(More...)
Add a
page break
(in case the user decides to print) between "big, chunky items" such as separate invoices in a report. Example: <tr style="page-break-before:always"></tr>
Be careful with
e-mail addresses
in columns. Since they have no spaces, long e-mail addresses may force columns to be wider than anticipated.
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A
sample Web database
can give you ideas about tying everything together and can even be used as a starting point for a Web project.
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Perhaps give the database a
password
such as within Access: Tools | Security | Set Database Password. And use that password in the connection string such as "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & Server.MapPath("/mydbdir/mydb.asp") & ";Jet OLEDB:Database Password=mypassword;"
During development copy and paste a complicated SQL statement into the
query builder
within Access to help create and debug it. Simple example: SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE CustID='API'
Have a way to
lock out users
from data-related pages when doing maintenance such as FTPing the database.
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If you don't have the database located in a folder outside of the www area, then give the database an
.asp extension
instead of .mdb so that users can't download the database directly (but change to a non-text-based extension when FTPing). And there are other ways to achieve this same objective if you have complete access to the server.
Give the anonymous Internet user
change permission
on the folder containing the database. Otherwise database records can be read but not added or edited.
Writing data
stresses a database
much more than simply reading data.
For a
"quick and dirty" generic ASP
open source solution to putting databases on the Web that just requires setting up a configuration page for each table or query and uploading the database to the Web as long as each table has a field with a unique autonumber for each record (and you'll probably also separately want to create login capabilities), perhaps try something like this:
GenericDB
by Eli Robillard
www.GenericDB.com
And for a
live GenericDB sample
for an employees table:
www.erobillard.com/devel/gdb/demos/tblEmployees.asp
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Sometimes you might need capabilities of showing a Web site in
multiple languages
.
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Since an organization and its Web host may not reside in the same
time zone
(much less the same country) create a way to adjust the Web host's date/time to be the same as the organization's.
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Ideally do any long, complicated maintenance on a Web site
late at night
when there are less users.
To help reuse code, perhaps create an included
configuration file
called something like config.asp with variables set such as mvarVersionDt, mstrSiteTitle, mstrColorMain, and mintSessionTimeoutMin. Then these variables could be used on the other Web pages.
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On each page use functions such as
ShowTitle(), ShowMenu(), and ShowFooter()
, and have these functions stored in an included file perhaps called menu.asp.
Don't let the browser cache data-related pages. This is so that the
latest data changes
will show up each time a page is loaded. Example toward the top of a page: <% Response.Expires = -1000 %>
Buffer content
for performance and so that the database (if there is one) only gets hit with requests from one Web page at a time. Example toward the top of a page: <% Response.Buffer = True %>
But also
flush the buffer
perhaps just after the top part of the page which shows the site name and logo. This lets the user see that indeed a new page (or perhaps the same page of a self posting form) is being processed instead of continually seeing the old page until all of the new page has been dished up by the server. Example: <% Response.Flush %>
Generally use client-side code such as
JavaScript somewhat sparingly
as it is dependent upon browser versions and settings.
And don't even think about using
VBScript for client-side script
because it would only work in Microsoft browsers. Instead generally use JavaScript for client-side script and VBScript for server-side script.
If using secure sockets layer (SSL) on sensitive pages, have the ability in an included configuration file to
"turn this off"
for when doing work on the development machine.
Keep
image sizes small
on non-cached, data-related pages since the images have to be downladed from the server each time a page is loaded.
Generally check that Web pages look and work alright on
both IE and Firefox
browsers.
Occasionally check the
VBScript language reference
for help with specific syntax.
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When using
animated images
keep the animation speed fairly slow so that they are not too annoying.
Of course
too many
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can be a little distracting.
And finally make sure that text is
easily readable
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To Use Paul's Services:
Paul@Bullschmidt.com
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J. Paul Schmidt, MBA
Freelance Web and Database Developer
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