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Advice on opening files

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    Advice on opening files

    Hi, I have a db table that stores a file name for pdf files that are saved to a company network location. The network location is defined in a table in the same db.

    I have a grid displaying the file names (and other stuff) with a button on each row, when the button is clicked I want to open the pdf using Alpha's File Download action js but I need to build the full path of course which is NetworkLocation concatenated with the pdf file name (eg \\serverA\reports\report1.pdf).

    I would appreciate advice on how to best do this.

    Regards, Richard.

    #2
    Re: Advice on opening files

    Two ways off the top of my head (and posting from my phone) are:

    1. Make an extra field in your grid and set the client side calculation to concatenate them. Then call that new field as your location in the button action

    2. Create the button DL action; setting it to any old field, save it, then click "text mode" and edit the JavaScript in there to do your concatenation to a variable.... setting the "any old field" value you picked to the variable you calculated instead..

    If that doesn't make sense I'm sorry. Either someone will post the answer or I'll clarify tomorrow.

    By the way, I'm doing almost the exact same thing in my companies setup.... only I've got to stamp the pdfs with names and dates so I'm using my own a5w page for it

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Advice on opening files

      Originally posted by -Jinx- View Post
      Two ways off the top of my head (and posting from my phone) are:

      1. Make an extra field in your grid and set the client side calculation to concatenate them. Then call that new field as your location in the button action

      2. Create the button DL action; setting it to any old field, save it, then click "text mode" and edit the JavaScript in there to do your concatenation to a variable.... setting the "any old field" value you picked to the variable you calculated instead..

      If that doesn't make sense I'm sorry. Either someone will post the answer or I'll clarify tomorrow.

      By the way, I'm doing almost the exact same thing in my companies setup.... only I've got to stamp the pdfs with names and dates so I'm using my own a5w page for it

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Advice on opening files

        Did you get it to work?
        I thought of another option as well.
        If your DB is sql you can pull in a field during your query for the grid that's "pre-concatenated".

        Depending on what DB and version you are running, something like:

        SELECT field1, field2, field3, (networklocation+pdffilename) AS fullpath, field4, field5

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Advice on opening files

          Mostly... first I set a session variable = the root server folder where the pdfs are eg :"\\MyServer\Reports"
          Then I used a calc field js to concat SESSION.MYVAR + "\\" + ReportName which gives me my full path.
          Then I use the button action js to download the file using the calc field as the pointer to the file.

          Works well except when I logout of the app and back in the session var isn't reset, for some reason I need to refresh (F5) the page for the var to be set properly... working on that!

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Advice on opening files

            You could always use the other options like concatenating it as part of your query or even putting it in the DB (in it's own field of course so if that part of the path changes it's just one command to change them all).

            As for the session variable, try dimMING it first while setting it to "" and then setting it again. I was told that could help sometimes if its disappearing on you....so instead of:
            dim session.myvar as c
            session.myvar = "myfilepath"
            Do:
            dim session.myvar as c = ""
            session.myvar = "myfilepath"

            Might work, might not.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Advice on opening files

              Thanks Jinx, I noticed you can specify a folder in the download file properties window too when setting up the Action js. But yes I'm trying to avoid hardcoding it anywhere although I thought the session var on an a5 page wasn't a bad idea as the a5 page can easily be edited, even in notepad for instance. I'm just defining it like this.

              <%a5
              session.reportpath = "C:\JHealth\Reports"
              %>

              Ideally though I'd like to set a var based on the path set in my database's parameters table where I store all sort of parameters and reference them throughout the app (which isn't developed in A5) The concept of the app I'm developing here to provide easy browser based access to pdf reports.

              I haven't really played with XBasic yet so any tips on how to lookup a table and store a value in a variable that can then be used in a grid would be very helpful.

              Thanks for all your assistance.

              Comment

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