G. Marston (Your ASP Associate)

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README.HTM for ASP-Disc V1.1

Contents

Requirements
How to setup on your website
Additional setup options
Global variable definitions
Naming Conventions
Creating a child web

Requirements

NT/IIS or Win 2000/IIS on the server
Any web browser software on the client
MS Access on a local computer (optional)

How to setup on your website

1. download the file ASPDISC11.ZIP from the website
2. unzip the file ASPDISC11.ZIP. The following files should be included:

README.HTM
DEFAULT.ASP
INSEMESS.ASP
DISPTHRE.ASP
GLOBVARS.ASP
SUMBSEAR.ASP
COMMFUNC.ASP
ASPDISC.MDB
DISC_BLANK.GIF
DISC_POST.GIF
DISC_REPLY.GIF
DISC_NEW.GIF

3. create a new folder on your website for the discussion .ASP pages (i.e. "/disc")
4. upload all the *.ASP and *.GIF files to this new folder
5. create a child web (see below) using frontpage. This child web will be used to store the discussion database ASPDISC.MDB.
6. upload ASPDISC.MDB to the "_private" folder of this new child web.
7. In Frontpage Explorer go to Tools | Permissions, then go to the "Groups" folder, edit "Everyone" to make the permissions "Author and browse." This is very important. The discussion pages will not run until the database is located in a child website with these permissions.
8. change the "VirtPathName" (GLOBVARS.ASP) variable to reflect where the database is located. (See Global variable definitions below)

Additional Setup Options

1. Place all image files in a separate folder from the .ASP files:

a. upload the *.GIF files to "images" folder or equivalent.
b. change "ImagVirtPath" (GLOBVARS.ASP) to reflect the new location of the image files. (see Global variable definitions below)

2. Change the database password.

a. using Microsoft Access (on local computer) open the database ASPDISC.MDB using the "exclusive" setting (initial password is "aspdisc")
b. using the "Security" option change the password from "aspdisc" to ______. Letter case is important.
c. upload ASPDISC.MDB to the child website "_private" folder you created above.
d. change "DataPassWord" (GLOBVARS.ASP) to _______ (from above).

3. Change the name of the database file ASPDISC.MDB.

a. from the website change the name of ASPDISC.MDB to another name (keeping the extension .MDB).
b. change "VirtPathName" (GLOBVARS.ASP) value to reflect the new database name.

4. Edit GLOBVARS.ASP for other options to change the look of the discussion board (see Global variable definitions below).

5. Get ASP-DataAdmin from my website to allow easy access to add, delete,
and update records to almost any Access database on your website.

Global variable definitions

VirtPathName
"Virtual path and name" details where the discussion database is located in relation to the discussion child web (where .ASP files are located). Examples are "../_private/aspdisc.mdb", "data/_private/aspdisc.mdb"...

ImagVirtPath
"Images virtual path" details where the images files are located in relations to the discussion child web (where .ASP files are located). Examples are "images/", "../images", or "". The last example means the image files are in the same folder as the .ASP files.

DataUserIden
"Database user identification name" is the name used to open a connection to the discussion database. If you change this value via Access be sure to update the GLOBVARS.ASP file.

DataPassWord
"Database password" is the password used to open a conncection to the discussion database. See Additonal Setup Options.

CookFileName
"Cookie file name" is the name, along with the website URL, all cookies are saved for the discussion group. ASP-Disc uses cookies to save names and email addresses for users' convenience.

NumbMessPage
"Number messages per page" represents the numberof "parent" messages (does not include replies) which are displayed on a page. This value can be anything greater than 1.

SaveEmaiAddr
"Save email addresses" denotes whether or not ASP-Disc should save email addresses in the table "emails". Duplicates addresses are not saved.

NumbDaysNew_
"Number of day for new" denotes how long a message should be treated as "new" and get the new image alongside the title. For example, 4 means a message 4 days old or less will have the "new" images.

PareTitlSize
"Parent title size" is the font size for displaying parent message titles (not replies). The larger the number the larger the characters.

PareTitlFace
"Parent title face" is the font face for displaying parent message titles (not replies). This should always be a recognized face name such as "arial", "verdana", "times roman new", "courier new", etc. Use FrontPage to see a complete list of font faces.

ChilTitlSize
"Child title size" is the font size for diaplaying all child or reply message titles. The larger the number the larger the characters.

ChilTitlFace
"Child title face" is the font face for displaying all child or reply message titles. This should always be a recognized face name such as "arial", "verdana", "times roman new", "courier new", etc. Use FrontPage to see a complete list of font faces.

MessTextSize
"Message text size" is the font size for displaying the message body text in the thread pages.

MessTextFace
"Message text face" is the font face for displaying the message body text in the thread pages. This should always be a recognized face name such as "arial", "verdana", "times roman new", "courier new", etc. Use FrontPage to see a complete list of font faces.

NameDateColo
"Name/Date color" is the font color for displaying the name and date of message titles. Some values are:
Blue="#0000FF"; Red="#FF0000"; Green="#008000"; Yellow="#FFFF00"; Black="#0000000"; Teal="#00FFFF"; Gray="#408080"

NameDateSize
"Name/Date size" is the font size for diaplaying all names and dates. The larger the number the larger the characters.

NameDateFace
"Name/Date face" is the font face for displaying all names and dates. This should always be a recognized face name such as "arial", "verdana", "times roman new", "courier new", etc. Use FrontPage to see a complete list of font faces.

Naming Conventions

1. General. I believe the first four characters of most words are usually descriptive enough to remind the reader what a word is when used in variable names. Therefore, I use this "four-character" rule for file, function, and variable names for three reasons. One, it creates a consistent naming convention. Two, it usually gives enough information to suggest to the reader what the name means. Three, it helps reduce the size of .ASP files.

2. File Names. ASP files are named using four-character rule of the most two descriptive words I can come up with for that file. i.e.
insemess.asp is "Insert Message"
dispthre.asp is "Display Thread"
commfunc.asp is "Common Functions.

3. Function Names. Again I use the four-character rule of the 2-3 most descriptive words for the function with a '_' between each word. i.e.
open_data() is "Open Database"
upda_info() is "Update Info Table"
save_emai_addr() is "Save Email Address".

4. Global or Public Variable Names. Global variables use the four-character rule with the first character of each four letters in upper case. i.e.
SearStri is "Search string"
PageNumb is "Page Number"
AutoNumb is "Auto Number"
Conn is "Connection"

5. Local or Function Variable Names. Local variables can and should be treated differently because they are used in a relatively small section of code. Therefore, if they are appropriately defined (or the definition is obvious), then it is not important to have a long descriptive name. As such, all local and function variables are restricted to one or two characters and are always lower case. The letter may signify the beginning of a descriptive word but do not always. Another benefit of this approach is that there should never be a conflict with global and local variables..

Create a child web

1. Open your root web in FrontPage Explorer.
2. Create a new folder using the name you want for you child web.
3. Click on "File, New FrontPage Web".
4. Select from Wizard or Template: "Empty Web."
5. Give it a title with the same name and case of the sub folder you created from 2 above. i.e. "disc", "images"...
6. Make sure server path is correct. i.e. "www.domain.com." This does not include the folder name.
7. Make sure "Add to Existing Web" is unchecked.
8. Click OK.