Databases and Cookies - Summary
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Cookies allow a site programmer to overcome one of the major problems of the Internet – the lack of identification of visitors. However, cookies are only usable with the approval of the visitor. Programmers must write code that will compensate for unusable or non-existent cookies.
Cookies are ideal for holding information about how a page should be presented. For example, data such as a zip code can be applied, with ADO, to a database, in order to build a page optimized for the visitor's
neighborhood. In this technique, frequently used data is stored directly in the cookie.
An alternative approach is to hold only an ID number in the cookie. That datum is then used to select the visitor's record from all those in a database. From that record, information can be extracted about the
visitor for use in the site. That data can be used to customize pages for the visitor.
Exercises
These exercises use one or both of the two sample databases available from the Apress website. The structures of the databases are described in Appendix A for Sailors.mdb and Appendix B for
Clothier.mdb.
- Some visitors to the Clothier site prefer to see the items listed alphabetically by type (hat, shirt, etc.), other visitors prefer ordering by department (Men's Sportswear, Women's Formals).
Create a way for visitors to set a preference, and then create a products page that lists items in a table in the preferred order.
- Build on the above exercise. Within the grouping of type or department, allow the visitor to set a preference of ordering by price, either increasing or decreasing.
 This is from Beginning ASP Databases by Kauffman, Spencer, and Willis (Apress, ISBN 1590592492). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today.
Buy this book now. |
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