How to create VDF Web Applications
How to create VDF Web Applications page under construction
Introduction
Getting started
To be able to develop ASP pages , then you need Internet Information Server. The most easy way to get that these days is to grab Microsofts Web Platform installer here :
http://www.microsoft.com/web/channel/products/WebPlatformInstaller.aspx (note that it is in beta right now)
This tool will provide you with a full stack for developing asp related things. It will also keep track of certain things you need to enable on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
You will also need to install Webapp server from the Visual DataFlex installer. Follow the onscreen instructions if you are on windows vista or windows server 2008.
The overall idea about Active Server pages and vdf
When you develop ASP pages using vdf then you develop COM compents that run on the serverside and are 'glued' together using a scripting language like
- vbscript
- jscript (jscript is microsofts version of Javascript )
This means that asp itself should not be used as a programming language - it is a fast way of writing the html to go together with serverside components you develop in Visual DataFlex (VDF). The trick is that you can write lots of HTML in asp - outside your code. If you have problems you need to solve as a programmer, then the best idea is to try solve them in Visual DataFlex first , then expose the developed functionality as a web object embedded in your asp page.
VDF on the serverside
- Web Business Process (these things gets registered and you can access them in asp)
- Global.asa (this is where your code is stackup up. check the list of WBP's there)
Web development primer
Now - after having being told that you really shouldn't be doing any clientside code when you are a vdf programmer, then here are some instructions for doing exactly that!
The basics
You should always make sure that any html/javascript/css you do validates to the current standards. It will save you time in the long run.
Toolset for writing valid clientside code:
- HTML ( validate here: [1] )
- Cascading Style Sheets ( validate here: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ )
- Javascript ( validate here: http://www.jslint.com/ )
Advanced techniques
