database, "sort of" javascript question

twist_, I should have been more clear.

I can read VBS but have only written maybe 20 client side functions (hta).  I only wrote them because I couldn't figure out how to do them in JavaScript.  They were for scripting MS FrontPage 2000, all the help files are in Visual Basic.  I have since figured out how to translate them to JavaScript.  I've seen JScript questions on this forum and have assumed them to be on the server.  If at all possible I'd like to do this with JScript.

The excel sheet is tied into other spreadsheets and apps that he has been using for years.  He is talking about similair projects in the future.  He wants to stick with excel and, if I can show him how to edit on the server, he wants to make updates himself.

JS enabled isn't an issue.  His dealers all use the same CPUs.  You have to be a dealer to buy from him.

If it's a multidimensional excel SS, you might have more trouble, but I think you will need VB to do some data extractions, I'm not sure if Jscript can get them all.  But VB and ASP certainly can ....

sciwriter what do you mean by a multidimensional SS?  Have I confused you also by saying it is "tied into other spreadsheets"?  What I ment is that it's is related to other SS he uses.  I just phoned him and asked if it was multidimensional and he said "what's multidimensional" lol.  I asked if it was stand alone and he said yes.  Is that what you mean?

Being "tied to" other spreadsheets adds extra "dimensions" in the spreadsheet world.  That means that the data which needs to be gotten may be in another SS somewhere, and in the final "master" SS, there is only the formula present, not the values.  Get it?  If you've ever seen an Excel SS with say 10-20 tabs at the bottom, each tab, if linked to the others, creates an extra "dimension" to get data from.  He is probably right now looking at a SS on screen which has several tabs at the bottom, each being a separate "SHEET" although not a separate file.

Therefore in an XLSS, you can have say 5 sheets, where the formulas are cross linked from one sheet to the next.  Don't let that scare you -- technically it is complex, but in reality, all you need with your program is to get the final RESULT of all that cross linking of values and formulas.  Therefore you MUST be sure that you are getting a result or a real value, as you can't just poll a data cell -- M47 for example -- and assume it is a result, it's likely to be a formula.

Easy solution -- call him and find out how many XLS files he is dealing with, and then ask him, "when you open each file, how many tabs do you see across the bottom?".  My guess is, he'll have a single file, with several tabs, or different tables of values and calculations.  In that case, it's easy, just copy the file to a working "web" one, and get to the cells via VB.  You MIGHT be able to do this directly with ASP -- don't forget, MS invented ASP to deliver to the client exactly the type of data you are trying to get -- live values from another MS application.  ASP is the key to much of it, although certainly not all ....

Yes it's not tied to other SS.  He only uses other SS like labour costs and building overhead to generate data.  He then uses a calculator to come up with a final price and inputs those prices into the SS I need to deal with.  It's a ma and pa type operation, maybe once I'm done I can help him tie these SS together.  At present I'm a XL newbie also.

Having said that, this is looking better all the time.  As I said I've scripted FP with JS.  I've also scripted Word and PhotoShop.  As far as I understand it, MS programs can all be scripted with JS.  Finding JS examples seems to be the only issue but I'm not a newbie at VB - JS conversions.

Is this true?

ASP == JScript && ASP == VBS && ASP == VB

Well, ma and pa saved your butt, boy, because a spreadsheet with only final values simplifies your life about 10,000%, believe it!!

As for the == equation, I'd have to say -- more or less, yes.  Jscript can't do things VB can and ASP is different, since it is the deliver of the data, so if you write the equation this way, I think you're closer to it --

ASP +VB == ASP+ Jscript == ASP + any other MS data fetch method.  The equality is not exact (obviously), but in terms of being able to get data into the ASP page, they are somewhat equivalent.  However, you will find that some ways can get XLS data much easier than others.

1.  Start looking into getting XLS data with VB, then XLS data with Jscript, then XLS data with ASP alone.
2.  By the time you've done that research, you'll have the answer.
3.  It really is easier than yhou pictured, and you do not need a "database" server in this small, unique setting.

Cheers

Sci

P.S.  -- you should help him tie them together in the end, because XLS takes the place of a calculator.  Show him how to enter a formula in the SS to get the result.  So if you sum column F1-F20, and put that formula in the F21 cell, it calculates the total automatically.  The PROBLEM with this for instantaneous data access on a server, is that there is no window event occurring to force a result of the formula, when the request is made, therefore you only get the fomula, not the value.  So if you teach him how to do formulas, remember, for your needs, it's a LOT simpler to have a static table full of values, not formulas.  This is where VB might come in, because it can get these results easier.

However, now I think about it, with a static table (just of values) you can probably do the entire thing with just ASP, and you may need nothing else at all!!!

Yes ma and pa are the best :)  I'll help him ties these SS together once I understand them.

Is this right?

ASP is a language onto its own.  It interacts with a given language on the server, it creates a page using the data it receives from the language then delivers the page to the browser.

SQL and ODBC means converting excel to Microsoft Access, gph, remember that ....

No ASP is "active server pages" which means it gets data from MS applications and displays them in an HTML format.  Think of it as MIcrosoft's marriage of cold fusion, html and Jscript, but BEFORE XML was a standard, hence it is weak on XML, and strong on getting data from MS files -- and this is what you have.

VB is a language unto itself, like C, but it is compiled at run time, not natively executable, like asssembly language.
VB, as it relates to web pages, is whatever features MS decided at the time were best for web pages.

I disagree that you need to learn SQL and other DB languages -- an overkill for this project.  But I will recede into the background, and let others contribute now... just holler gph, if you need more from me .....

wfRGB, it was your answer to this question that got me hoping I could do this with JScript.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Web/Web_Languages/JavaScript/Q_20687007.html

I am sorry but I'm full of questions.

What is SQL and what does it do?

The link you gave me looks very useful but I must need to change something.  I followed the instructions and when I tried to open the ASP page in IE, PhotoShop opened LOL.  I might have to change my file associations in PhotoShop, I think maybe PS sees it as a plugin.  Am I correct in thinking that, once I fix my PhotoShop issue, I can run that test page locally?

Can the VBS in that MS test page be translated to JScript?  If so, could you show me?

I only wanted to validate the data with JavaScript because I know I can.  Can I use JScript to validate on the server?

As you can see I really want to use JScript as much as possible because it is so much like JavaScript.  Is it possible to use only JScript to do this or do I need to use some VBS or VB?  If I have to use VBS or VB, where will I need to use it?

"SQL and ODBC means converting excel to Microsoft Access"

No. It does not. There is a ODBC driver for excel spreadsheets ;-)

ASP is as you might know a serverside scripting technology.
If you want to run the example on MS support page you will need IIS (or PWS if you are runing Win9x).

And yes I can translate the page to javascript if you want me to.

But it's not that difficult so I don't think that you should have
too much truble to learn how to do it yourself since you already know JS.
In fact I think that you should since VBS/ASP is a very good
thing to know if you are working as a webdeveloper.

I'm using win98.  I went through the steps in the ODBC that the page described but what is PWS?  Also is SQL and mySQL the same thng?

What I'm not sure about translating is the first line:

1) offline I've found that something like this in VBS:

blah = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

is this in JS:

blah = new ActiveXObject('WScript.Shell')

I can't see how I would do that with this line.  Would it not need to be converted on the server?

objConn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")

Sorry, I missed that SQL part.

SQL is a query language that allows you to extract, update, insert and manipulate data of a datasource/database.

lets say that you have a table (company_staff) in a DB that looks like this:

+---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------+
| firstname            | lastname          | employment_number  |
+---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------+
| john                    | Doe                   | 1234567890               |
+---------------------+--------------------+----------------------------+
| jane                    | Doe                   | 0987654321               |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

if you want to get john doe's employment number you can use a SQL query like below

"SELECT employment_number FROM company_staff WHERE firstname='john' AND lastname='Doe';"

which will give you:

employment_number
-----------------------------
1234567890

I hope I've made things a litte clearer.

I had 2 questions on translating but I think I figured the second out.  I forgot to remove  the "1)" in my last post.

PWS = Personal Webserver. If i remember things correct you can find it on your windows installation cd.

mySQL is a server software which handles databases, SQL is a programing language.

You should leave Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") as it is.

>  You should leave Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") as it is.

That's what threw me off in the other thread where you gave the JScript answer.  It almost seems like all you have to do is puts some brackets in the right place and bang, it's translated to JScript :)  I think it is easier to convert to JScript rather than client side JavaScript.  I don't think I'll have a problem with translating.

>  PWS = Personal Webserver. If i remember things correct you can find it on your windows installation cd.

I have seen Personal Webserver somewhere and am very happy to know I can run this locally until I figure it out.

>  mySQL is a server software which handles databases, SQL is a programing language.

I see, I learned alot here, thank you all.