Forms and Database Entries

hcweb · June 4th, 2004, 09:00 AM

When using forms to enter information into a database, what do you have to do to have the info entered exactly as you typed it in the form, such as pagebreaks, carriage returns, and the like.

Currently, if I enter info into a form such as:
Hi world,
I love p2p.wrox.com.
Chris

It enters into the database and when I pull it out for display it comes out as:
Hi world, I love p2p.wrox.com. Chris

I want it to store and return out exactly as I originally entered it.

happygv · June 4th, 2004, 09:23 AM

OK, before writing the data into the table, replace all VBCRLF with "<br>" in that Form variable. That should produce what you wanted.

Code:

Replace(Request.Form("txtField"),vbCRLF,"<br>")

Cheers!

_________________________
-Vijay G

Strive for Perfection

Imar · June 4th, 2004, 10:01 AM

Alternatively, you could use this code when you display the information, instead of when you save it in the database.

By transforming it when you display it, you can keep the data in the database application independent, so it's easier to reuse in other type of applications (export to Word, Excel, for example).

However, doing the transformation when you display the data means a performance hit, as you have to do it every time you retrieve and display the info. If you're really sure you're never going to reuse the information in another application, you could transform the data when you save it; in all other cases I think it's better to do it when you display it.

Cheers,

Imar
---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.

hcweb · June 4th, 2004, 10:11 AM

Thanks guys! That's exactly what I was looking for. As far as saving the formatted data, under normal circumstances I won't have to worry about it. There are times that I can see that I may not want to pre-format the data so thanks for bringing that up. Thanks again!