Quick Start

dogs97.sss
dogs2000.sss

Here is a List of steps to help you get started quickly. We have included an example file:  To get started first go to the Welcome screen if you are not already there and test to see which server type your Internet Service Provider uses.   You can use the tab marked "Host Test" to find out.    A few pages will be uploaded to your server and will determine if your hosting service provides Active Server Pages (ASP) or Hypertext Preprocess Pages (PHP).

NOTE: This is only applicable for ASP generated pages. If you have the PHP version then please see below.

1. Load the Welcome screen and copy the dogs project to a destination on your local hard drive.
2. From the Load Project Screen, open either the dogs97.sss or dogs2000.sss file. 
   Click on it and then click NEXT.
   
3. The sample database yields a list of dog breeds. The dogs97.sss project uses the dogs97.mdb which is compatible with servers that are configured to support Microsoft Office 97 Access databases while the dogs2000.sss project uses the dogs2000.mdb which is configured to support Microsoft Office 2000 Access databases.
   
4. Click NEXT to advance through the screens, studying them to give yourself an idea of the steps that were involved in creating this example.
   
5. Once at the Generate Screen you will generate the pages in the location where you loaded copied the project so that the supporting images will work in relation to the project.
   
6. After you have generated the files you can then upload them to the remote server, or browse them locally via IIS or Personal Web Server (advanced users only).

PHP Version Only

1. Load the Welcome screen and copy the dogs project to a destination on your local hard drive.
2. Using the "Load MySQL Data" tab on the welcome screen locate the dogs.sql file that was copied over with the project to the location you chose.
3. Fill out the necessary server information in order to connect to your MySQL database and then click on the "Load Dogs Data" button and this will populate your MySQL database with the project data.
4. New in version 3.1.40 you no longer need a DSN to connect to your MySQL database. Simply supply the following information on the database screen:
   • username
   • password
   • database name
   • server name
5. Advance to the Load screen and locate the dogsMySQL.sss project file.
7. When you click on the next button and are advanced to the Database page then you will need to specify some information specific to your database ie. username, password,database name, and server name to connect to your database whether it is an IP address or HTTP address. (This actually should be filled in already if you have imported the data in step 3 above.
8. When you click on next then if all of the information you entered in step 7 is correct you will then be advanced to the Fields screen as this will confirm that you have successfully connected to your database. You will then see a list of the available tables in your database.
9. The dogs table should already have been selected so you will be able to simply click through the project now and see how things were done to get a feel for the screens in ASaP.
10. Once you have reached the Generate page then choose a folder to generate your files into and click on the Generate button.
11. You will now need to upload your pages to your remote server. You can do this from within ASaP and then finally go and see the fruits of your labor.

If you prefer to practice on your own database follow the steps below:

1Load Project:

The Load / New Project screen allows you to load a previously saved project or start a new one from scratch.
If you are starting for the first time then click "New Project". Otherwise you will want to locate your already existing project at this time.

2 Database:

Choose the database from your system. This will allow you to view the structure i.e. tables & columns.

If you are working in a MySQL environment you will supply: username, password, database name, and server name.

Click on the NEXT button, to connect to your database.

If you are using a simple Microsoft Access database, you typically only need to locate the database on your hard drive, leave everything else blank and click NEXT.

If you are using a DSN or a SQL Server based database (these require a DSN) be sure you have the DSN (Data Source Name) and IP address (supplied by your ISP) for your database. This information is critical.

Also verify that the user ID and password necessary to gain access to the database (also typically supplied by your ISP), are correct. If you receive the message, "ERROR: Please check your DSN, database path, user ID and password (if necessary) and try again," you may need to contact your ISP to verify that the information is correct.

3Table:

Decide which table you would like to access and which fields to include on the generated pages.

1. Choose your Table.
2. Choose a field which is the Unique Key and whether or not it is of the Numeric and / or Auto Number type (In most cases ASaP will be able to detect this automatically).

Click NEXT.

4 Field Information:

Select the fields to be used on the following generated pages.

Search Fields

A Search Form page will be generated allowing your users to search for records using the fields you have chosen.

Report Fields

A Search Results (also known as Reports) page will be generated, showing the fields you specify here.

Detail Fields

A Detail page will be generated, displaying information in the fields you specify here, for the record which was chosen from the search results page.

5 MySQL:

If you have specificied that your database is of type MySQL then you will be given the opportunity to specify which fields in your database you would like to be considered as either of type "memo" or of type "checkbox".

For type "memo" the generated pages will have larger input boxes (typically allowing more than one line of text) on the add and edit pages. Those of type "checkbox" will show up as checkboxes on the generated pages.

Note: For Microsoft Access databases, these will be generated for you automatically and this screen will not even appear while you are in ASaP!  However, you will need to specify in Microsoft Access which fields are of type memo and which you'd like to be checkboxes (which are of type boolean).

6 DropDowns:

This is optional. You are now able to link to other tables within your database to pull data that can appear in dropdown lists. This is beyond the scope of this quickstart guide.

7 Relations:

This is optional. You can link to relational tables via hyperlink. This is beyond the scope of this quickstart guide.

8 Design Options:

This entire screen is optional. Select the colors you'd like for your generated pages. Cascading Style Sheets are used so that you may manipulate the styles more easily using any text editor. We've included the ability to add your own personal Header and Footer on the generated pages so that they incorporate into your existing site. You can specify how many records per page to show on the search results page here as well. There are many other options on this screen which are beyond the scoope of this quickstart guide.

9 Additional Options:

Also optional Picture Fields. This field will have an image name and path. You can also specify where your images are placed within your site and the dimensions of a typical image.

Also optional, Hyperlinks: Here you can specify which field contains either external Web site URLs or e-mail addresses. The default is for hyperlinks so if you will be using e-mail then check this box. You must include a complete URL within the database i.e. http://www.mywebpage.com. You can type in alternate text in the box labeled Hyperlink Text. This way the link can show something other than the URL i.e."Visit The Web Site". Check Pop-up Window if you'd like the external Web site to open in a new window. (This does not apply to email links)

Password Protection: You can "password protect" your generated pages. Additional login pages will be generated. Select which pages you would like to password protect and then supply a username and password for the person who will be maintaining the records in the database.

Note: This can (and probably should) be different from the user name and password used by ASaP! to connect to the database.

10 Generating Files:

Specify a location on your hard drive where you'd like to have the generated files saved to. Choose which type of pages you'd like generated. ASP pages are generally for servers running Microsoft Operating Systems such as Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Xp Server, and so on. PHP pages are generally for servers running Unix or Linux.

Once you click Generate, you will automatically be advanced to the next screen.

11 File Uploading:

First, supply information about the directory for uploading.

Enter the ftp server name. (for example, ftp.yourservername.com)

Enter a Web site subfolder if required by your ISP.

Enter your own subfolder. (This is optional)

Enter your username and password.

Click Upload.

12 Save Project:

Give your project a name and locate a place to save this file on your local hard drive.