Double
click the file access2asp40.mde to open the program
in ms access.
Create a folder called contactDb ( or a name of your
choice )
*this folder should be
a folder enabled by IIS or personal web server
Select
the folder that you lovingly created above...

select the database you want to convert... (for the
purposes of our tutorial
we are going to use a simple contact database which
is included in the support
material at the end of this tutorial.)
select how many records per page you want to see on
your list screens...
Choose wether you want to include the function to makeUrlsLive
on memo fields.
(full version only.)
(click here for a fuller explanation
of this function)
Choose wether you want to have order by links on list
screens - this means the titles
of the columns that you choose for your list screens
will be clickable... clicking one
will reload the page and order it ascending ( eg from
a-z or 1-1000....).
Choose wether to create an image library in the administration
area - for a full explanation / tutorial on the asp
image library that access2asp can create for you
then click here.
Choose wether you want to have drop down paging ( e.g
hotmail ) on your list screens.
Choose wether you want to display scripts/html on the
front end detail screens
(click here for a more in
depth explanation).
Choose wether you want to alternate row colors on list
screens.
Choose wether you would like a WYSIWYG editor for your
memo fields
( currently asp only ) - for more information on the
WYSIWYG editor click here
Choose wether you would like header and footer includes.
Checking this option - will create the files header.asp
and footer.asp in the root folder and your admin folder
- at the top of each screen you will have
<!-- #include file=header.asp -->
and at the bottom
<!-- #include file=footer.asp -->
This can be useful for having say your menu system in
the header file and contact info at the bottom of each
page ....
Choose wether you want the option to download the current
recordset as an excel spreadsheet.
Choose which css style you would like for your site.
( uncheck the css style checkbox for no css )
click here for more on css with access2asp
Now choose which tables you want to convert ( hold the
Ctrl key to select individual tables )
(All tables are selected by default) * free trial
version converts first 2 tables automatically
Choose the username and password for the administration
area
Choose which language you would like to generate.
Click 'generate asp'
Now for each table choose which fields you would like
to appear on your list screen
Now ( if you have checked 'I want a search box at the
top of this list screen') choose the fields you would
like to search by and the search operator. For an explanation
of the search function click
here
If you checked 'WYSIWYG for memo fields' then choose
which fields you would like the editor for.

Next you will see the 'Default order by field for [your_table]'
Screen ...
( currently 'classic' asp only )

Choose which field you would like to order by for instance
if you wanted to order with cities going from A-Z then
select City.
If you would like to order simply by the last record
added then you can check the box below the list of fields.
( your unique id has to be an autonumber for this to
work )
Thats
it!
The above dialogs will be repeated for each table.
If you have chosen to generate asp.net then make sure
that the folder you chose ( and the admin folder if
you chose password protection ) is configured in IIS
as an application click here
to read how to do this.
Make sure the folder 'db' has write permissions for
IUSR_[MACHINENAME]
Do'nt use IIS to do this.
open windows explorer
right click the db folder
click properties
click on security
click add
click on IUSR_[MACHINENAME]
make sure this has write / modify permissions
click OK
Browse to http://localhost/contactDemo/default.asp
( if you generated asp)
Browse to http://localhost/contactDemo/default.aspx
( if you generated asp.net)
If you dont see the menu then make sure pws\iis is
started and the folder
you created the asp files in has permission to run
scripts!
click on contacts you should see something like this...

now
go to
http://localhost/contactDb/admin/default.asp ( if
you generated asp )
http://localhost/contactDb/admin/default.aspx ( if
you generated asp.net )
Click
on one of the table's and go to the list screen -
click on one of the links and
you should see something like this...
see
it here! (
note! - this has had NO html modifications to it at
all - this took 3 minutes to get this demo from being
an access db to being fully online!)
Have a play with the admin section - try adding,editing
and deleting records.
See
the 'front end' change to reflect your changes
what
you have now is the backbone of a dynamic site which
would have
taken many hours or even days to hand code!!!
next
step - change fonts,colors plug your own graphics\html
in etc etc
next
step - buy the full version! - and convert as many
tables as you like at the
click of a button , the full
version has many other features such as WYSIWYG
editing for memo fields.
click here
to see how you can use the access2asp image Library
to upload and easily display pictures on your site
- with no serverside components required!
HAPPY
CODING!
*************************************************************
explanation of the function
makeUrlsLive on memo fields
heres an example...
ArticleDescription
say you enter the above text in the admin section
for a news database.
when this appears on the 'front end' it will appear
like this ..
I found a great tool
you can check it out at http://www.access2asp.com
- pretty cool!
the link will be 'live' or clickable due to the function
makeUrlsLive.
classic asp generation converts hyperlinks , asp.net
generation will make hyperlinks AND email addresses
clickable on the front end.
*************************************************************
explanation of the search function
During the generation of your asp files you can choose
wether or not you would like to be able to search
certain text fields from that table from a search
box which will appear at the top of your list screen.
You can see the asp generated within the listScreen.asp
, so for example in the above example ( note the trial
version doesnt produce the search code , it just demonstrates
the search input ... )
take a look at contactsList.asp you will see a sql
statement something like if you chose the OR operator...
strsql="select * from [contacts] where CompanyName
like '%" & replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' OR ContactTitle like '%" &
replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' OR City like '%" & replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' "
and with the AND operator
strsql="select * from [contacts]
where CompanyName like '%" & replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' AND ContactTitle like '%" &
replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' AND City like '%" & replace(request("search"),"'","''")
& "%' "
You can of course modify the sql search criteria on
this line to sit your needs.
The generated code even preserves the paging , so
if you search for 'smith' and the results return 300
people with surname smith, the paging will 'remember'
that you have searched for smith, also there is a
'list all' button available once you have made a search
to enable you to reset the results so you can list
all again ...
*************************************************************
explanation of the display Html/Script function
In most situations the administration forms will be
located within the administration section where the
site admin will be inputting data - and this may sometimes
be html or javascript...for instance if you have a
memo field - and administrator may simply make something
bold by entering <b>this is important!!</b>
in the admin section - this will then be displayed
as bold text this is important!!
on the 'front end'. This is the same with javascript
too - an administrator may even enter javascript in
the admin section.
There are situations though where you may not want
the script or html to actually execute when displayed
on the front end - for instance if you use access2asp
to generate a form that you place on the 'front end'
then for security reasons you may not want people
to be able to enter scripts that will execute on when
displayed on the front end... Or you may be writing
html or javascript tutorials in your admin and want
to display the html as normal text on the front end.
download the files for this tutorial
- including the free trial version of access2asp.
*trial version converts 2 tables
see
the contact database online here!
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