Week 9 - Introduction to ASP

What is ASP?

• ASP stands for Active Server Pages
• ASP is a Microsoft Technology
• ASP is a program that runs inside IIS
• IIS stands for Internet Information Services
• IIS comes as a free component with Windows 2000
• IIS is also a part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
• The Option Pack can be downloaded from Microsoft
• PWS is a smaller - but fully functional - version of IIS
• PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD

ASP Compatibility

• To run IIS you must have Windows NT 4.0 or later
• To run PWS you must have Windows 95 or later
• ChiliASP is a technology that runs ASP without Windows OS
• InstantASP is another technology that runs ASP without Windows

What is an ASP File?

• An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
• An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
• Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
• An ASP file has the file extension ".asp"

How Does ASP Differ from HTML?

• When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
• When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine. The ASP engine reads the ASP file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file. Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML

What can ASP do for us?

• Dynamically edit, change, or add any content of a Web page
• Respond to user queries or data submitted from HTML forms
• Access any data or databases and return the results to a browser
• Customize a Web page to make it more useful for individual users
• The advantages of using ASP instead of CGI and Perl, are those of simplicity and speed
• Provide security - since ASP code cannot be viewed from the browser
• Clever ASP programming can minimize the network traffic

Installing IIS 7 on Windows Vista and Windows 7

Before You Begin
Ensure that you have installed one of the editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7 on which IIS 7 is supported before you proceed. Not all IIS features are supported on all editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Home Basic and Starter editions include only limited basic features of IIS. To see a list of which features are supported on the edition of Windows you are using, see one of the following:

• Available Role Services in IIS 7.0 (Windows Vista)
• Available Web Server (IIS) Role Services in IIS 7.5 (Windows 7)

Also be sure that you have administrative user rights on the computer. By default, you do not have administrative user rights if you are logged on as a user other than the built-in administrator, even if you were added to the local Administrators group on the computer (this is a new security feature in Windows Server^® 2008 called Local User Administrator). Log on either to the built-in administrator account, or explicitly invoke applications as the built-in administrator by using the runas command-line tool.

Note that you can run runas /user:administrator cmd.exe so that every application you run from that command line will be elevated, eliminating the need to use the runas syntax from that command line.

If you are logged on to an account other than the built-in local administrator account, you may see the following security alert dialog box.

Figure 1: Windows Security (User Account Control)
Installing IIS 7

1. To open the Windows Features dialog box, click Start, and then click Control Panel.

Figure 2: Windows Vista Start menu

2. In the Control Panel, click Programs.

Figure 3: Control Panel Home

3. Click Turn Windows features on or off.

Figure 4: Control Panel install options

4. You may receive the Windows Security warning. Click Allow to continue. The Windows Features dialog box is displayed.

Figure 5: Windows Security dialog box

5. Expand Internet Information Services. Additional categories of IIS features are displayed. Select Internet Information Services to choose the default features for installation.

Figure 6: Windows Features dialog box - IIS

6. Expand the additional categories displayed, and select any additional features you want to install, such as Web Management Tools.

Figure 7: Windows Features dialog box - IIS feature selection

7. If you are installing IIS 7 for evaluation purposes, you may want to select additional features to install. Select the check boxes for all IIS features you want to install, and then click OK to start installation.

Figure 8: Windows Features dialog box - Installation selection

8. The progress indicator appears.

Figure 9: Progress indicator

9. When the installation completes, the Windows Features dialog box closes, and the Control Panel is displayed.

Figure 10: Control Panel Home page

10. IIS 7 is now installed with a default configuration on Windows Vista or Windows 7. To confirm that the installation succeeded, type the following URL into your browser, http://localhost.


Figure 11: Default Web site

11. Next, you can use Internet Information Services Manager to manage and configure IIS. To open IIS Manager, click Start, type inetmgr in the Search Programs and Files box, and then press ENTER.


Figure 12: Default Web Site Home page

If you want to use ASP, Microsoft^® ASP.NET, or PHP, install the modules needed to host these pages; this can be done during the installation of IIS or after the installation is complete.

Use Unattended Setup to Install IIS 7.0
IIS 7.0 can also be installed unattended on Windows Vista. For detailed instructions and scripts, see Using Unattended Setup to Install IIS 7.0.

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Week 8 - INTRODUCTION TO DREAMWEAVER

Dreamweaver MX is the most dynamic HTML editor available off the shelf. With the help of this HTML Editor you can create powerful web sites that have animations, graphics, and complex scripting. You can create web sites linked with databases and more. Dreamweaver gives you the power of adding components such as flash animated buttons, Mouse rollover scripts, Navigation bar with menu’s and so on. The MX technology is the new state of the art technology devised by Macromedia that integrates, client, tool and server technologies together in order to give your website an extra edge over others.
The advantages of Dreamweaver are:
		Easy to use menus: The Dreamweaver interface provides you with extensive menu driven options with the help of which, you can create powerful, yet complex websites easily and with in no time.
		Supported Technologies: Dreamweaver enables you to use technologies such as PHP, ASP, CFML and more so that you save time and effort spent in creating complex codes for programming.
		Extension Manager: Dreamweaver provides you with an extension manager, with the help of which you can download code snippets and various behaviors from the macromedia website http://www.macromedia.com that helps you to integrate technologies like Shopping carts, Dynamic HTML menus, Javascripts and more.

WEEK 7 - INTRODUCTION TO WEB-BASED DEVELOPMENT

What are static and dynamic websites?

STATIC WEBSITE

A static site is a website that is written entirely using HTML. Each web page is a separate document and there are no databases or external files that are drawn upon.
This means that the only way to edit this type of website is to go into each page and edit the HTML. So you would have to do it yourself using a web page editor such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver, or pay your web developer to make updates for you.
There are many static websites on the Internet, you won’t be able to tell immediately if it is static, but the chances are, if the site looks basic and is for a smaller company, and simply delivers information without any bells and whistles, it could be a static website. Static websites can only really be updated by someone with a knowledge of website development. Static websites are the cheapest to develop and host, and many smaller companies still use these to get a web presence.

Advantages of static websites

• Quick to develop
• Cheap to develop
• Cheap to host

Disadvantages of static websites

• Requires web development expertise to update site
• Site not as useful for the user
• Content can get stagnant

DYNAMIC WEBSITE

Dynamic sites on the other hand can be more expensive to develop initially, but the advantages are numerous. At a basic level, a dynamic website can give the website owner the ability to simply update and add new content to the site. For example, news and events could be posted to the site through a simple browser interface. Dynamic features of a site are only limited by imagination. Some examples of dynamic website features could be: content management system, e-commerce system, bulletin / discussion boards, intranet or extranet facilities, ability for clients or users to upload documents, ability for administrators or users to create content or add information to a site (dynamic publishing).
A dynamic website is written using more complex code — such as PHP or ASP — and has a greater degree of functionality. For instance, many dynamic websites can be controlled by a content management system. This means that you will potentially be able to make updates without needing any knowledge of HTML or any website software.
Each page of a dynamic website is generated from information stored in a database or external file. And the content management system that you may use to maintain your website directly modifies this stored information.

Advantages of dynamic websites

• Much more functional website
• Much easier to update
• New content brings people back to the site and helps in the search engines
• Can work as a system to allow staff or users to collaborate

Disadvantages of dynamic websites

• Slower / more expensive to develop
• Hosting costs a little more

Summary

Many sites from the last decade are static, but more and more people are realising the advantages of having a dynamic website. Dynamic websites can make the most of your site and either use it as a tool or create a professional, interesting experience for your visitors.

WEEK 6 - TEXT ENTRY

Tutorial 3 : Personalise your flash games using input & dynamic text boxes
Let's learn how to do it...


1. Open a new file in flash by selecting File > New.

2. Select the Text Box tool from the tool box and draw a text box on the stage.

3. Make sure the properties panel is visible at the bottom of the screen. Let's look through the different options for text in Flash.

4. In step 2, create a text box. Convert the text box to an Input text box. (the type of text box that the person using game/flash)

Click text book > Select the Input text option (from the Text Type drop down Menu)

5. Next, make this box as variable. In variable name cell > enter a name.

6. Ensure the border tool button is selected.

7. Select the Text Tool. Draw another text box on the stage.

8. Select Dynamic Text option from the types menu.

9. In the Variable Name Cell in the properties panel, enter the same name as Input Text box.

    Var  : name

10. Control > Test movie

Below are the outcome of my class activity...

WEEK 5 - B.U.T.T.O.N.S

Week 4 - ACTION SCRIPT

Week 3 - Motion Tween & Shape Tween

MOTION TWEEN 

• Open a new flash file (Ctrl+N). New Document window will appear. Select General panel and choose Type: Flash Document . Press OK.
• If your timeline window is not open, press (Ctrl+Alt+T).
• Now you can see a single Layer called "Layer1" in your timeline Window.

• Select the first frame. Import your image onto stage, upon which you would want to implement motion tween.
  File>Import>Import to Stage, or just press (Ctrl+R).
  Or you can even draw your own object, you can either choose Rectangular tool or Oval tool from the tool box and draw your desired shape.
• Now select your object on the stage and press F8 to convert this image to a Symbol. Convert to Symbol window will pop-up.
  Name your Symbol what ever you like.
  Select Graphic behavior and press OK.
  
  Note: You can create motion tween only on symbols. So any object upon which you would want to implement motion tween, First convert the object to a Symbol.
• Right now your Symbol is in frame1 of Layer1. Select frame 20 and press F6 to insert a new keyframe.
• Still keeping playhead on frame 20, move your Symbol to any other position other than the present one
• Select any frame between, 2 to 19 and select Motion from the tween pop-up menu in the Property inspector. Now your Layer will look something like the one shown below.

• Now press (Ctrl+Enter) to view your motion tween.

SHAPE TWEEN

• Open a new flash file (Ctrl+N).
  New Document window will appear
  Select General panel and choose Type: Flash Document . Press OK.
• If your timeline window is not open, press (Ctrl+Alt+T).
• Now you can see a single Layer called "Layer1" in your timeline Window.

• Select the first frame. Now go to your working area and draw any object. To start off with, may be you can draw a circle.This is going to be your initial object.
  In the above demonstration, my initial object is a short line.
• Select frame 20 and press F6 to insert a new keyframe.
• Still keeping playhead on frame 20, delete the object present in your working area. Now draw a different object, may be a square.
  In the above demonstration, I have drawn a long line.
• Select any frame between, 2 to 19 and select Shape from the tween pop-up menu in the Property inspector. Now your Layer will look something like the one shown below.

• Now press (Ctrl+Enter) to view your motion tween.