4GuysFromRolla.com - User Tips: A Neat Use for Include Files Encompassing both HTML content and ASP Code

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User Tips: A Neat Use for Include Files Encompassing both HTML content and ASP Code

By Jeremy J.

I've got a suggestion for a tip I've picked up when making ASP/SQL pages.

I often find my self using a similar design over a large number of pages, and I want to have a header and a footer. I know this could be set up with two lines:

 and 

but for me that means editing more files, and doesn't allow easily to see both files at once, for example if I made a large change to the site design. Also, on some pages I want to include a small form that updates something in a database using SQL, and depending on the results of that, possibly forward the user to another page. For example - I have a logon page for an admin area called logon.asp. The user enters their username on the page and the actual checking of the user is done on that page:

Logon.asp

<% If request("action") = "logon" 'check user 'if valid response.redirect("main.asp") End If %>  <form action="<%=scriptname%>?action=logon" method="post"> <input type="text" name="user"><input type="submit"></form> 

However, there can be some problems doing things like this - if the checking part needs to look something up on a database, then I need to specifically set up the database connection string beforehand - if it was in the header, then I'd have to do the checking after the header was shown, and then I couldn't use the forwarding method. If this is the same string as I need for several pages, and it may change, then I need to include a third file called something like database.inc and include that at the top of every page. Help! - 3 include files.

However, I discovered a nifty way of only using one include file, and it certainly solves all my problems. The file is called includes.asp and looks like this:

 <% 'Set up Connection String Scriptname = Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME") %>  <% Sub Header(PageName) %> <html> <head><title><%=PageName%></title></head> <body> .. Do header stuff <% End Sub %> <% Sub Footer %> .. Do footer stuff </html> <% End Sub %>

Now, creating new database-enabled pages is very simple - I simply write them like this:

 <% call header("New Page") %> Page Content goes here <% call footer %>

Simple, eh? Also - if I wanted to put any code at the top of the page, I can put it between the <!--#include line and the <% Call header line. Note, I also used a variable to change the title of the page - other variables could be used for similar purposes.

Now, if I need to change and of the information on pages, I simply need to alter the includes.asp file - where everything is in one place.

Great site guys - keep up the good work! I'll let you know if I think of any other useful things I've learnt in ASP/SQL, mostly from working on the site at http://www.planetquake.com/airquake2/.

Jeremy

Happy Programming!

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