What is ASP?

• Active Server Pages

• A series of objects and components that
are executed on the web server
• Uses a suite of technologies that allows
dynamically-generated content
• Control of how content is generated from
the server to the browsers
HTML Page Execution
You Request an HTML Page
www.ocstc.org/resumes.htm

Server finds and downloads the page

Browser displays the page

ASP Page Execution
You Request an ASP Page
www.ocstc.org/default.asp

Server finds the page

Server executes ASP commands, converts ASP

to HTML/XML as needed, processes HTML/XML

Browser displays the page

ASP Compared to Other
Scripting Languages

• ASP and /PHP/Perl/CGI execution are

roughly equivalent in execution sequence
• Compared to VBScript, ASP does not have
to worry about browser incompatibility
• Compared to JavaScript, don’t have to
worry about browser versions or disabling
• Compared to Java, don’t have to worry
about whether JRE is installed.
ASP and XML

• ASP can control the XML experience from

beginning to end
 Controls the output for conflicting browsers
 Generate XML data
 Logically connect XML and standalone databases
 Control data output formatting that XML or HTML
cannot control
ASP in the Microsoft
Language Family

• The ASP commands...

Visual Basic

VBScript ASP

• But there’s more to ASP than just code...

ASP in the Microsoft
Language Family

• ASP can also interact with other Microsoft

languages or applications:
 Execute SQL commands
 Open and close databases
 Create and Modify database tables
 Control applications or COM objects written or
compiled in other languages (VB, C++, Java)
 Extract content from Excel or Word
 Control an XML document
ASP Object Model

• ASP itself is not Object-Oriented. ASP can

use objects but cannot define new objects
• Composed of
 5 objects
 5 components
ASP Objects

• Request
• Response
• Server
• Application
• Session
ASP Components

• Scripting Objects Component

• ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) Component
• Ad Rotator Component
• Browser Capabilities Component
• Content Linking Component
ASP Object Model
Server
Request ASP.DLL
YOU (if it finds <%%>, invokes
Scripting Objects Component)

Response

Application
Session
What Does ASP Look Like
in Action?
What Does ASP Look Like
in Action?

• What HTML “looks like”

<p>Analytical Ultracentrifugation Workshop (May 21-23, 2001)
and Symposium (May 24, 2001) at the National Analytical
Ultracentrifugation Facility, Storrs, Conn. For additional
information</p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwbiotc/99wkshp.html"
target="_blank">
National Analytical Ultracentrifugation
Facility</a></li>
<li><a href="naufworkshop.asp">Analytical
Ultracentrifugation Workshop and Symposium Description and
Registration (PDF Format)</a></li>
</ul>
What Does ASP Look Like
in Action?

• What the “real code” looks like*

<% If Today < CDate("5/25/01") Then %>
<p>Analytical Ultracentrifugation Workshop (May 21-23, 2001)
and Symposium (May 24, 2001) at the National Analytical
Ultracentrifugation Facility, Storrs, Conn. For additional
information</p>
<ul><li><a
href="http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwbiotc/99wkshp.html"
target="_blank">National Analytical Ultracentrifugation
Facility</a></li>
<li><a href="naufworkshop.asp">Analytical
Ultracentrifugation Workshop and Symposium Description and
Registration (PDF Format)</a></li>
</ul>
<% End If %>

* Coloring from Microsoft FrontPage

Tools You Need to Create
ASP Applications

• Web Server that Supports ASP

 Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)—
Web services of Windows NT Server 4.0 and
Windows 2000 Server
 Microsoft Personal Web Server (PWS)—
Creates a fully functional subset of IIS 4.0
that can run on all other Windows OS
PWS is an add-on for Windows NT, 95/98/Me
Built-in to Windows 2000/XP PROFESSIONAL
Microsoft Personal Web Server
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/NT4OptPk/default.asp
Tools You Need to Create
ASP Applications

• If you are working with database

storage/retrieval
 Knowledge of Access, SQL Server, etc. (to
create databases and tables)
 Knowledge of SQL commands (or at least
how to use Access to generate SQL
statements)
 Knowledge of the VB style of data handling
• Authoring tool(s)
ASP Application
Development Tools

• Personal Preferences
 Microsoft FrontPage
 Allaire HomeSite
• Other Tools
 Microsoft Access
 Visual Basic
 Microsoft Visual InterDev
 Visual Studio .NET
 Other Non-Microsoft Tools (never used them)
“ASP Page” vs.
“ASP Application”

• An ASP page
 Needs the .ASP file extension to indicate to
the server that there is code the server must
interpret
 A series of commands on one page
• An ASP application is a series of pages
that are linked together through code and
the content linking component to function
as a logical unit
“ASP Page” vs.
“ASP Application”

• How the information is handled

 Main communication device between pages
and the server is by Forms
 Information can be transmitted or transferred
from page to page in an application by
“Submitting” a form
Sending a “URL-encoded” string
www/ocstc.org/meetingadmin/edit.asp?ID=5
Storing data as a variable
Myths/Criticisms of ASP

• ASP is Microsoft/Windows centric

• ASP doesn’t work with Netscape
• ASP pages are not recognized by Search
Engines
• ASP is “slow” because it’s interpreted (or
because it’s Microsoft)
• ASP doesn’t work with client-side scripting
languages, especially JavaScript
Criticism of ASP—
Microsoft/Windows Centric
Criticisms of ASP—
Netscape
Criticisms of ASP—
Search Engines
ASP is “slow”

• ObjectWatch Newsletter
J2EE versus .NET--The Latest Benchmark
http://www.objectwatch.com/issue_42.htm
• Conclusion: ASP/.NET technology
 Hardware/Software infrastructure is LESS
 Development time is SHORTER
 Development cost is LESS
 Administrative cost is LESS
 Application performance is FASTER and can
absorb HIGHER TRAFFIC
ASP Doesn’t Work with
Client-Side Scripting

• JavaScript commands will be processed

first, then ASP
• ASP can be used in conjunction with
JavaScript especially when verifying form
data and where JavaScript verification can
be difficult to program
• You can use ASP to assign values back
into JavaScript code
ASP Samples

• ASP Pages
 Chapter Contacts
 OCSTC Home Page
• ASP Applications
 Chapter Meetings
 Job Information
• ASP and XML
 XML assignment
Conclusion: ASP and the
Technical Communicator

• ASP is another tool in your arsenal to

control information
• ASP tests your self-esteem
• ASP may lead you to the “dark side”—
programming
• Future of ASP… “What Lies Beneath”—
Microsoft FrameWork.NET, a successor to
Visual Studio; compiled ASP
A Final Thought—1...

• Consider this
Private Sub Madness ()
Call Method
End Sub
• Translation?
“There’s a Method in the Madness”
A Final Thought—2...

• “…In the world of the Web, you have to

choose between an organization [W3C] that
wants to tell you how to design your pages
and an organization [Microsoft] that wants
you to design sites their way. I pray you
have the wisdom to choose wisely.”
—Vincent Flanders