Peter wrote:
> > > I haven't figured out how to make frames on the fly without
> > > pre-creating my html
> > > files that I will insert. I think that can be done in javascript
> > > but netgrocer doesn't
> > > do this (or I didn't see it). I reckon they might just have a
> > > sort of temp table
> > > where data is entered and then periodically wiped clean. I did
> > > this same thing
> > > with a search engine once.
> >
I wrote:
> > Not sure I follow you here. What it looks like they are doing is
> > creating a template for each frame and loading it dynamically from the
> > database with links like:
Peter wrote:
> You have to update something on the server-side to maintain status of the
> CART. Without frames it is easy to do by just passing the data back and
> forth via the cgi in hidden fields. I don't see how to do this with frames
> (nor am I that interested).
On their site it just takes a link like: <A href="blah.cfm?ID=400"
target="left".
> So they must write the data to a database and then later they must delete
> the records created. What I don't like about that is that you could
> consume more space than is allotted. Also, better be sure you delete the
> right records..
Maybe they don't delete the records, though that could be automated based on
flags in the database tables, server side global variables or whatever. It's
possible that they keep every bit of data for research, even data that
didn't lead to a sale. Regarding the size of their db, they probably don't
need to worry about it much. I'll bet they have a pretty substantial server
setup.
> > I'd use a database instead of a file. ID the user in the database via
> > their login and you can collect relational data until the cows come
> > home. Also much easier to do analysis, drill-downs, adhoc queries, etc.
> > on the db.
>
> Umm. I really like using the rdbms for just what you mentioned. I have a
> sql form where I can just give the name of the database and I just insert
> the sql queries to get the results back. Very nice for just looking up
> info from data.
I've been wanting to slap something like that together...and adhoc query
maker that you can use in a browser. It would go something like this:
In a web page:
1) show a list of databases available
2) user selects the db they want
3) show list of tables in the database
4) user picks a table to query
5) show list of fields with checkboxes next to them, like this:
x last_name
x first_name
x title
etc, where the x's indicate checkboxes
6) user checks the fields they want to SELECT data from
7) user enters (in a text box) any WHERE, ORDER BY, etc details that they
want
8) user clicks button and results come back in a table
This is a simple idea for adhoc queries for single tables, not JOINs, but it
would be useful for some things nonetheless, and would save me command line
work if I bookmark pages along the way (for example, the page showing the
contents of different tables, ready for me to check the items I want to
SELECT and enter any WHERE info I want).
I got the idea from something I saw on your site, but haven't gone back
looking for it. Maybe you can direct me to it?
> I have to do this shopping cart for someone who uses one of those hosts
> who don't offer any rdbms.
Can't you change their mind? The money spent at inception will be less than
doing the site one way, then deciding to adapt it or redo it later. I try to
always get my clients to think about a smooth growth...that's what web sites
do (well, hopefully).
> A side note, I had to do a job for a web
> developer who had their site with valueweb. Can you imagine doing the work
> without access to telnet?
Ug. I can pull off some stuff with ftping cgi's and running them in a
browser, but for what you're describing, would not want to give up telnet
capabilities.
> I had to write cgi's to communicate with the
> database server. Ughhh.. I tried to import a file via a cgi I wrote for
> importing files into msql and it ran out of memory. The file was about 11
> meg or so. I thought I could do just one line at a time and not consume
> any memory (I thought I was deleting any memory from one insert to the
> next but perhaps not). I ended up just doing a
>
> msql Database < file_to_insert
>
> and it took awhile but worked.
>
> But to get back on track. These people are using hosting companies that
> are state-of-the-art for 1992. It is flat-file (like I was just a year
> ago).
rrribbit.
> > Good and bad. Problems I kept having with the site stemmed from the size
> > of the frame panes...sometimes data was hidden and unreachable with a
> > scroll bar, due to a no-scroll setting. The main item frame requires
> > constant scrolling on smaller res monitors. Indeed, I think the ideas
> > are nice, but it needs some honing.
>
> I think I would allow resizing or do it for 640x480. I looked at the site
> at 800x600.
Allowing and testing for resizing is something that many developers
apparently don't carry out very well. It becomes more obvious with framed
sites, particularly when people forget to set the scrolling details to allow
for a variety of window sizes.
Jack
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