How to complete mathematical calculations on a form before you send data to a database in FrontPage 2003 (823520)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
For a Microsoft Front Page 2002 version of this article, see 319308.

SUMMARY

In a Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Web, you may want to calculate data in a Web page and then send that data to a database. For example, you may want to automatically calculate a total based on values that are entered by the user, and then send that total value to a database.

There are a number of ways to perform this type of calculation. One of the easiest ways is to use simple Active Server Pages (ASP) pages.

To create ASP pages that calculate and submit a total to a database, use the following methods, in the order that they are presented.

Create the ASP pages in FrontPage

  1. Start FrontPage.
  2. On the File menu, click New.
  3. On the File menu, click Save.
  4. In the Save As dialog box, type input.asp, and then click Save.
  5. On the File menu, click New, and then click Blank Page.
  6. On the File menu, click Save.
  7. In the Save As dialog box, type send.asp, and then click Save.

Modify the Input.asp page

The purpose of the Input.asp page is to gather the values to be calculated by providing input boxes for the user. The user types the values in the input boxes and then clicks a button. Input.asp then submits this information to the Send.asp page for processing. To modify the Input.asp page, follow these steps:
  1. In FrontPage, click the Input.asp file.
  2. On the Insert menu, point to Form, and then click Form.
  3. On the Insert menu, point to Form, and then click Text Box.
  4. Right-click the text box, and then click Form Field Properties.
  5. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, type number in the Name box, type 100 in the Width in characters box, and then click OK.
  6. Clear the selection of the text box by pressing RIGHT ARROW.
  7. On the Insert menu, point to Form, and then click Text Box.
  8. Right-click the text box, and then click Form Field Properties.
  9. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, type cost in the Name box, type 100 in the Width in characters box, and then click OK.
  10. Right-click the form, and then click Form Properties.
  11. In the Form Properties dialog box, click Send to other, and then click Options.
  12. In the Options for Custom Form Handler dialog box, type send.asp in the Action box.
  13. In the Method list, click Post, and then click OK two times.
When viewed in HTML, the Input.asp page appears similar to the following: 
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>New Page 1</title>
</head>

<body>

<form method="POST" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--">
	<!--webbot bot="SaveResults" u-file="A:\_private\form_results.csv" s-format="TEXT/CSV" s-label-fields="TRUE" startspan --><input TYPE="hidden" NAME="VTI-GROUP" VALUE="0"><!--webbot bot="SaveResults" endspan i-checksum="43374" -->
	<p><input type="text" name="number" size="100"><input type="submit" value="Submit" name="B1"><input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"></p>
</form>
<form method="POST" action="send.asp">
	<p><input type="text" name="cost" size="100"><input type="submit" value="Submit" name="B3"><input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B4"></p>
</form>

</body>

</html>

Modify the Send.asp page

The Send.asp page is sent the values to calculate from the Input.asp page. Send.asp completes the calculation and then submits the calculated total to the database. To modify the Send.asp page, follow these steps:
  1. In FrontPage, click the Send.asp file.
  2. Click the Code tab on the bottom of the page to switch to HTML view.
  3. Copy the following code, and then paste it above the initial <html> tag at the top of the page: 
    <%
dim n, c, t
n = request("number")
c = request("cost")
t = c*n
%>
    Note You must include the"%" symbol at the beginning and end of the code block, as illustrated in the previous code sample. The"%" symbol indicates that the contained code is to be run as ASP code.
  4. Click the Design tab on the bottom of the page to switch to Normal view.
  5. On the Insert menu, point to Form, and then click Form.
  6. Right-click the Reset button on the form, and then click Cut.
  7. Click the Code tab on the bottom of the page to switch to HTML view.
  8. Copy the following code, and then paste it immediately after the <form method="POST" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--"> tag: 
    Thanks for the information. You input <%=Server.HTMLEncode(n)%> for the quantity, and  <%=Server.HTMLEncode(c)%> for the cost. If this is correct, click Submit.
  9. Click the Design tab on the bottom of the page to switch to Normal view.
  10. Right-click the form, and then click Form Properties.
  11. In the Form Properties dialog box, click Advanced.
  12. In the Advanced Form Properties dialog box, click Add.
  13. In the Name/Value Pair dialog box, type cost in the Name box, and then type <%=c%> in the Value box.
  14. Click OK.
  15. In the Advanced Form Properties dialog box, click Add.
  16. In the Name/Value Pair dialog box, type number in the Name box, and then type <%=n%> in the Value box.
  17. Click OK.
  18. In the Advanced Form Properties dialog box, click Add.
  19. In the Name/Value Pair dialog box, type total in the Name box, and then type <%=t%> in the Value box.
  20. Click OK two times.
  21. In the Form Properties dialog box, click Send to database, and then click Options.
  22. In the Options for Saving Results to Database dialog box, click Create Database, and then click OK in the confirmation dialog box that appears.
  23. In the Options for Saving Results to Database dialog box, click the Saved Fields tab.

    Note that three database columns have been created that map to the number, cost, and total form fields from the ASP pages.
  24. Click OK two times.
  25. Save both pages.
  26. To publish the pages, click Publish Site on the File menu.
  27. In the Publish Destination dialog box, type the URL of your server, and then click OK.
  28. Test your pages, and then verify that the values and total are inserted in the database.

REFERENCES

For additional information about how to use databases and ASP pages with FrontPage , click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301986 FrontPage 2000 database resource center

295192 What are Active Server Pages

297943 Getting started with Active Server Pages

For more information about how to publish a FrontPage Web, click Microsoft Office FrontPage Help on the Help menu, type publish in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:5/2/2006
Keywords:kbForms kbProgramming kbDatabase kbASP kbhowto kbinfo KB823520 kbAudEndUser
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