Suggestions on Web Authoring

[mtairhead]

I have a table with several thousand records. Each record needs to eventually have its own HTML file. (Like a product inventory at wal-mart.com: Each product has it's own page)

Has anyone done anything like this with Access? My experience is that Access's "Save as HTML" capabilities are not the best I've seen when you want to include pictures, java, etc. The only way to do this is to type the HTML in a report, but lining up field boxes from a table with HTML text boxes is not my idea of a good time...And then you have to deal with the issue of saving each record as it's own file...And let’s not forget that I would actually have to output the file as a .txt, and then use VB to convert it to .html because exporting as HTML when you actually have HTML in the report doesn’t work…Oh the humanity!

What do others do for a solution? I have Dreamweaver, along with an array of other expensive tools that I never learned how to use, so getting additional programs involved should not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[KenHigg]

One way to it: Do your web page in Dreamweaver or whatever. Leave place holders wherever you need a dynamic database element. Then take the html code a strategically place it in a report, remembering that any thing placed in the detail section will repeat as many times as the are records in the underlying table or query. Then export the report as a .txt and rename it with an html extension. Of course this will just do the text stuff. You will have to ftp you images but you can set up the references to the images in the original access table.

Make sense?

???

 

[mtairhead]

I could work, but what about...

That's how I did it originally, but I ran into some problems. The first was that I couldn't line the fields from my table up with the HTML that I had copied and pasted in.

Then I decided to use a calculated field to do it, but because HTML uses quotations for hyperlinks, images, etc. (<a href=""), I cannot include them in a calculated field. Calculated fields depend on quotations as well. Wouldn’t it just confuse the computer?

For example:

The first part of my calculated field would be text: <a href="
The second part would be a field: [FileName]
The third part would be text: .html">
The fourth part would be a field: [Link Text]
The fifth part would be text: </a>

All together, it would look like this:
"<a href="" & [FileName] & ".html">" & [Link Text] & "</a>"

Won't these double-quotations mess things up?

 

[KenHigg]

Did you put the html table tag in the report header and then put the <tr> tag in the detail - this is the pc that needs to repeat.

As far as the quotes, I think you would be able to stick single quotes inside the double quotes.

"<a href='" & [FileName] & ".html'>' " & [Link Text] & "'</a>"

???

 

[mtairhead]

Sounds Good

I'll attempt to use single quotes instead. I don't want to sound picky, but does that fit with the official W3 regulations? I'll use single quotes if I have to (I think that's what I'll eventually do) but I would like to be as standard as possible.

I know this probably me just being stubborn, but MSFT must have designed a way for developers to put quotes in text without affecting a calculated field.

[This is a field value] & ""This is regular text!" the man said, while silently thinking of the seven hills of Rome. "Why can I not just type it?" He continued to ponder"

Why can't I do that?

 

[KenHigg]

Actually, I think there are two ways. The single quotes is one. The other is to use double quotes to embed a quote. Exp:


"<a href="" " & [FileName] & ".html"">"" " & [Link Text] & " ""</a>"

(extra spaces added for clarity)

???

 

[mtairhead]

So, using a previous example:

[This is a field value] & "" "This is regular text!" the man said, while silently thinking of the seven hills of Rome. "Why can I not just type it?" He continued to ponder" ""

Would this work? Is this what you're saying?

 

[KenHigg]

This:

<a href="Mylinkx">"Some Text"</a>

Could be:

"<a href='Mylinkx'>'Some Text'</a>"

Or this:

"<a href=""Mylinkx"">""Some Text""</a>"