ASP -> How to use ??

[yonibensimon]

I have some ASP code I would like to use in my HTML/JavaScript Website. How can I include the ASP code to my website ? Do i need to download a program or something ?

[yonibensimon]

Thanks Dave.

Well i just started working for a company and i have to build a website for it. I don't know much about Websites, but the company is pretty big, so i guess you can figure out what they have....

Thank you !

[Bullschmidt]

Here is a little something I put together about ASP.

Here is something I put together about ASP that hopefully might help somehow.

You and others can have access to a database hosted on the Web from any location that has a browser with an Internet connection.

The Web database concept makes sense if you and your people want to do work in various locations in or outside the office and still be "plugged" in.

For example you could have employees enter timesheets or have sales reps log their contacts. Or perhaps you'd like customers to be able to check the status of their orders online without having to call the company.

If you want a Web database, typically what would happen is that a database such as Access or MySQL (basically just consisting of tables) would be put on the Web.

Then "dynamic" Web pages (actually ASP pages which include VBScript, HTML, and/or JavaScript) would be created acting like the old desktop database's queries, forms, and reports to access the database - all hosted on a Web Server.

Dynamic Web pages are similar in many ways to regular HTML pages. But they are "live" because the user can read from and write to information in the database. An example where you can login and add, edit, or view fictional customers and invoices is at http://www.bullschmidt.com/login.asp

Not all Web hosts will handle dynamic Web pages but many do. The Web hosts that can handle ASP pages usually have a Windows 2000 operating system running an IIS Web server.

Here are a few good ASP sites:
o ASP101 (See the Samples Section) - http://www.asp101.com
o 4GuysFromRolla - http://www.4guysfromrolla.com
o Microsoft VBScript Language Reference - http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/default.htm?/scripting/VBScript/doc/vbscripttoc.htm

And the following newsgroup is good:
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general

Or for a "quick and dirty" generic ASP solution to putting database tables 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 you have an autonumber field in each table (and as a more advanced issue you'll probably sometime in the future want to create login capabilities), perhaps try something like this:
GenericDB by Eli Robillard
http://www.genericdb.com

[yonibensimon]

Thanks again Dave.

The company wants me to build sort of an intranet . They have some documents they want to share with the department. So they want me to build a site putting these documents on it and that users will have the option of leaving a comment to a document(sort of a reply) and also users can upload their own document, you understand ?

Now I'm new at websites..., can you tell me the best way to do that?

[yonibensimon]

I've found something very similar to what i have to do, this one is in PHP. Here's the site:

http://www.mozillazine.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=bdfa52b71d025940e51be6d9d86c0151


Do you have any idea on how to guide me ?

Thank you.

[cmelnick]

To see if you have asp installed and working correctly, save the attached file to your web directory, then open it from your browser through your intranet. For example, the URL in your browser should NOT look like "file:///C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\asptest.asp", but rather something like "http://localhost/asptest.asp" where localhost is the actual intranet web server.

As far as the "best way" to implement your task, that all depends on what you have available where you are working. The way I would implement that task, is with a database with tables that contain document ids, any other information you would want about a specific document, and then a comments table referencing document ids etc.

My best advice, however, is if you really are new to websites, then you are probably new to HTML, vbScript, ASP, ODBC, and databases. You are going to end up needing more help than would be feasable to deal with in a forum like this. I would recommend seeing if your company will foot the bill for a couple of books for you. I would recommend:

Beginning ASP Databases (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861002726/ref=pd_sim_books_5/104-3192294-1083108?v=glance&s=books) or Beginning Active Server Pages (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861003382/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/104-3192294-1083108?v=glance&s=books). The first book is great, and walks you through setting up ODBC and all of that. In addition, get yourself any number of good HTML tutorial books, and start crackin'!

I can't stress enough how important it is to figure out at least a little bit how to do something before you start. If you don't, you can end up starting in the wrong direction, then 6 months down the road, realizing you have to start from scratch.

Cheers!

Chris