Tricky asp/sql problem

cedwards · June 8th, 2005, 08:55 PM

Hi all,

Working on a smaple tracking system - yoiu don't really have to know that - but here is the dilema:

I Have the following fields
Freezer
Tower
Box
location
ID#

Based on the first three fields I can have 100 different locations
Each one of those can be or is filled with data.

The problem I have is in order to update the "location" field users have to be able to know if there is data in it. The method I am working on displays 100 buttons (each button is associated with a form) I need to figure out a way to have the button display the "ID#" (or lack there of) based on its "location" (001 through 100) I thought I could do a dynamic field based off of a recordset query - and I can sort of - to get an "ID#" in it - but it isn't an "ID#" associated specifically with the "location"

Anyway - not sure how clear this is - but any help would be appreciated.

ps. I have seen something very similiar done with PHP and My SQL

I am using asp and access + Dreamweaver MX

Imar · June 9th, 2005, 01:14 PM

Hi Chris,

Can you elaborate a bit about what you're trying to accomplish as I not clear on what you want.

Also, 100 (!!) buttons on a screen is way too much from a UI design perspective. Users will get lost with such screens. Isn't there another way to present your data?

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

cedwards · June 9th, 2005, 02:30 PM

Hi Imar,

I sent you a brief email with the site info - I shoudl have told you to select freezer cryo-3, tower 1 and box a on the main page.

I hope you can figure out what I am trying to do - the buttons (while there are a ton) are not to confusing - mostly the user is going to look for the next open record and click that to add a record to it. As far as showing the UPN# in the button - if they need to edit a record - it makes it easier for them to find it.

Thanks for your time!

Chris

Imar · June 9th, 2005, 03:09 PM

Right, I took a quick peek. (I also tried to hack the site using Sql injection but that didn't work ;) )

Anyway, I am still not sure what you want. IMO, there is no need for all those forms; they basically repeat itself so you could wrap all the 100 buttons in one form. But then what? What's the idea behind this?

Are you trying to find out *which* of the 100 buttons was clicked?

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

cedwards · June 9th, 2005, 08:57 PM

Hi Imar,

The idea is that the buttons are a visable representation of the location within the box, which is in the tower, which is in the freezer.

The idea is - I couild click box any box and it would allow me to add/edit/update the information for that location.

I thought about doing it as one big form - but couldn't figure out how to have the button value = the UPN# - it is all kind of confusing - it makes sense on this side, but only because I work with the people who need this.

Essentially - what happens is - you click the button and the edit page comes up - the button transfers it value (001-100) - which I then use to edit that specific location.

Thanks for looking - I know it is really odd! I am happy you weren't able to hack the site!!

Chris

Imar · June 11th, 2005, 06:17 AM

Maybe I am thick, but this doesn't make a lot of sense to me:

Quote:

quote:The idea is that the buttons are a visable representation of the location within the box, which is in the tower, which is in the freezer.

The idea is - I couild click box any box and it would allow me to add/edit/update the information for that location.

Box, tower, freezer.... Sounds like a lot of jargon to me.

Anyway, what you could do is create one form, give each button the same name and a different value. The following short example shows you what I mean:

Code:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<%
  Response.Write("That is " & Request.Form("btnSubmit"))
%>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
  <title>Untitled Document</title> 
</head>
<body>
<form method="post">
  <input type="submit" name="btnSubmit" value="1" />
  <input type="submit" name="btnSubmit" value="2" />
  <input type="submit" name="btnSubmit" value="3" />
</form>
</body>
</html>

Is this what you're after? If not, can you explain what exactly you need to do?

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

cedwards · June 13th, 2005, 09:12 AM

Hi Imar,

Thanks for looking at the problem - I have discovered a solution -if you still have the link you can take a look - if you submit the default layout - you will see the buttons with populated data - the blank buttons do not have any data. If you switch over to box b - you will see there is hardly any data. Basically - the button value is dynamic.

Chris

Imar · June 13th, 2005, 01:07 PM

Aha, I see now. I agree it makes more sense now, having 100 buttons on one screen....

So how did you fix it? By adding a hidden field to each of the buttons?

Imar
---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.
While typing this post, I was listening to: Frantic by Metallica (Track 1 from the album: St.Anger) What's This?

cedwards · June 13th, 2005, 04:02 PM

Hi Imar,

The fix was awful - yes there is a hidden field for each form/button. Additionally, there is a seperate recordset for each button so I could pull the actual value I needed - I know that this isn't the best way to do it - but couldn't come up with any other method - I do CLOSE the recordsets immediately after I pull the data though - and the speed seems pretty good.

I am sure I will have a few more questions before I am done!

Thanks,

Chris