Microsoft Word - Sam's Teach Yourself MySQL in 21 Days - SAMS.doc

580 rstCustomers.MoveNext

590 'Increase the record count

600 vRecordCount = vRecordCount + 1

610 Loop

620 rstCustomers.Close

630 mConn.Close

640 %>

650

660

670

The very first line of text tells the server that this is an Active Server Page using VBScript. That’s all it

does. The next two lines are simple HTML tags. The first declares this is an HTML page and the second

starts the page heading. The next line is a META tag. This tag tells the browser not to use the browser’s

cache for this file. This is an important line, especially when displaying data results. If the browser were

to use its cache, it may be pulling old data. And as we all know, old data isn’t always correct data. So to

ensure that your users are getting the latest and greatest, use this META tag. The next line closes your

header.

The next batch of code is executed on the server before it ever gets to the browser. This is designated

by the <% tag. An important point to note is that the header is actually loaded to the client. The code you

are creating takes place between the header and the body. This means the client will get all the head

information before this code is executed. This space—between the header and body—is where most

ASP programming is done. It allows some information to get to the client while the rest is being

processed. This is a courtesy to the users so they know something is happening and are not lost in

some cyber space void. The variables are declared in lines 70–120

All variables declared in VBScript are a variant type by default. They will become whatever type is

necessary when they get a value. The first three variables will eventually store objects, while

vRecordCount will hold a number, and vbgcolor will hold a string.

Creating ADO Objects

Lines 130–160 are a little more interesting.
This is where you create ADO objects on the server. This is discussed in a little more depth later today.
For now, examine the interesting event that is occurring here. You are setting your variables here equal
to the results of the CreateObject method of the Server object. You may be asking yourself, "Where
did this Server object come from?" This is a built-in object provided by the Internet Information Server
(IIS). This is what makes an ASP an ASP and not some other Web page. In fact, there are seven built-in
objects. They are the Server object, the Application object, the Request object, the Response
object, the Session object, the ObjectContext object, and the ASPErr object. Each one has a
bunch of useful methods and properties. This book will cover only those pertinent to our present goals.

The Server Object

The Server object, as you have seen has a very important method—CreateObject. This method creates
and instance of the named object on the server. An important point to remember is that the object that you
are calling must be installed on the server and registered properly in the server’s registry. If not, you will not