[AccessD] Access VB question

Okay, I am going to explain what's going on with this article in an email,
don't have time right now to do it within the Word document.  First of all,
I appreciate the comments, it is definitely a learning experience.
 
Next, this is a hack....it is something Microsoft has never published, and
was a pain to figure out, but I did figure it out.  That is the reason for
the term 'trick', because this is most definitely a trick, not something
microsoft had in mind for design.  Let me explain what is going on, so you
understand the logic behind this whole thing.
 
FrontPage is a web page editor.  Web pages are just HTML, so you can just
use Notepad.  Because of that, FP needs features that are more difficult to
perform by hand, so that it sells.  On such feature is it's Navigation
(which would be a noun, just like VBE, it's a component of FP, which makes
it an object.).  The navigation is pretty simple to use.  When you are
building a site within FrontPage, you can simply drag your pages into the
Navigation structure, and it keeps track of it.  It keeps track of it WITHIN
the structure.cnf file (for that particular site.....so if it is a local
site, or you are publishing the site without FP extensions, then the
structure.cnf is going to be on your local machine....if you are using an
IIS server (which I think should be called just that.....since IIS is just a
service ON a server.), and have FP extensions installed, then the
structure.cnf is located on the IIS server itself.
 
Now, FP uses the Navigation strictly for Navigation bars.  These navigation
bars are built by web bots, and use the data within structure.cnf.  For
example, if you go to www.marlow.com <http://www.marlow.com> , you'll see an
example of a navigation bar.  The 'links' on the home page a 'built' from
FP's navigation.  If I go into FrontPage and rearrange the navigation, the
navigation bars automatically reflect the changes made.  Pretty handy.
Front page does let you programmatically mess with the Navigation stuff,
however that's only when YOUR FP is open.  If someone else makes a change to
the site, code on your machine won't pick that up.  Now, since FP uses
structure.cnf to store the information on how the Navigation is structured,
it was simply a matter of finding that (friggin <grin>) file.  That was no
easy matter.  To begin with, it's a hidden file...really hidden, and if I
didn't have direct access to our IIS server, I probably never would have
found it.  Next, the file extension is tricky.  Even when I found the
appropriate folder, I couldn't directly open the file, which makes it
difficult to find out if a file is the right file or not.  That's why I
explained how to open it.  I many people are 'experienced' with Notepad,
however, I have NEVER seen a file act like this one, ever before.
Typically, if you find a file, that has an extension that you want to open
it with something else, then you can right click (or shift right click) and
you'll get the 'Open With' option.  This did NOT do this.  .cnf is a special
file extension that Windows Explorer uses a special shortcut menu for.  It's
odd.
 
In reality, if the user has an IIS server, and FP extensions, they can just
use the code...it's that simple.  However, I figured it would make a better
article if information on how to 'hack' or how it was 'hacked' was provided.
There are other perks you can receive once you understand how FP's
Navigation uses this file.  For instance, the Navigation won't let you put
the same page into it twice.  However, with direct access to the file, and
understanding how the file works, you CAN add the same page to the
navigation structure as many times as you want.  (This is really handy if
you have an ASP page that you want shown in the navigation at several
junctures......)
 
So, in conclusion, the .asp code reads the structure.cnf file that is
already located on the web server.  (If it's a 'published' site, then the
file needs to be uploaded to the root, which means that it's not entirely
dynamic, since it requires that manual upload.)  Assuming this is a complete
M$ setup, with an IIS server, FP, etc.  Just dropping the sitemap.asp file
on the the websites root will provide a sitemap for that web site.  The code
automatically reads the file, and builds a structure containing links to all
of the pages within the Navigation structure.
 
Let me know if that changes any of your comments/suggestions (It should for
some of the technical stuff).  If you have more questions, let me know.
 
Drew

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Harkins [mailto:harkins at iglou.com]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 7:39 PM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access VB question


 One method is to disable the startup from with the database itself.  ie,
have it look for a specific flag in a record, or have it check for a
specific command line argument, so that when it starts, the startup code
checks that 'trigger', and then stops...effectively 'bypassing' the startup
stuff.  
 
========Exactly, but what I'm suggesting is that the problem may need a
change of strategy.... some "trigger" within the db itself that knows when
to reset the check -- such a "clue" may not exist. 
 
Susan H. 

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