Drop-down to display content on same pg?
January 24, 2008 12:00 AM
Hello.Been thinking about this and wondered if using the process of pulling information from say, a SQL or Access database would not be a better method. That is, by using a pull-down box that is linked to a field in a table within your database you would be able to populate your page with the required information based on the field the user chooses from the pull-down box.Lectora's ability of adding server code scripting via External HTML Object is an excellent way to do this.How would this work?Well, first you would have a table in your database that have columns labeled free_text, picklist, defaults (if applicable), description, dependencies, etc. You would be capturing for example, the description, dependencies on one Lectora-generated page. You then, through an ASP code, link the table to your course via the pull-down box that outputs the picklist for the user to choose. When the user chooses a picklist, then the ASP code goes and gets from the database the associated description, and populates the External HTML object with the information. You would have written a query to do the pulling of the information. Just like a search box does from a database.The advantage of this method is that you only have to update the database as the ASP code remains the same except if you add more columns to the table. Also you won't have to deal with 50 text boxes sitting on top of each other to edit with their respective information, and not least the number of variables to deal with. Faster processing time for the user is also a plus.Just a thought. As soon as I get to work I will try this method to see if it will work, as I am sure it will offer an easier process than the 50 text boxes.Regards,Edited By: bruman on 2008-2-24 19:23:17
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