Suggestions for File Upload/Database Results Form/Email Project?

[Kristen Wagner]

Hi,

I am working on a project for a client who wants to offer his customers an
online form they can use to a) log in to his site's database and retrieve
their already-stored shipping and contact information, which then would bw
used to b) populate some (but not all) of the fields in a form designed to
accompany/describe a file upload, which would take place directly before or
after the filling out of the form. Ideally the customer would be able to
cycle through multiple iterations of form/upload if necessary. After the
file upload/information completion is done, the customer would submit the
information, and the form's contents would be emailed to my client for file
processing, etc. My client doesn't need to have the upload-specific form
field contents go back to the database, and he prefers the immediacy of an
email generated by the customer to having to query the database for new
uploads. He is already using the form and upload components of this process;
he just wants to integrate the customer's stored information and make the
whole process sequential.

While I am confident about handling any and all of these as separate items,
I am unsure of the best way to combine these steps using FP to achieve my
client's overall goal.

Thanks for any and all suggestions,
Kristen Wagner

 

[Kevin Spencer]

You will need to build a custom ASP or ASP.Net application to do this.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Kristen Wagner]

Okay, that is pretty much a given; I'm looking for overall conceptual
suggestions. For example, one option would be to temporarily store the
customer's form and uploaded file name/path to individual records in the
database and then generate an email indicating the presence of a new upload
or uploads. Would this be easier? Also, I have the MS white paper on
combining sending form results to a database with email and file
upload.....my complication is the initial form population from the database.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I wish I could give you what you want, but it doesn't exist. When you get
into the realm of custom programming, you either know how to, or you don't.
If you don't, you learn, and there's no quick and dirty way to learn
programming.

When you talk about "overall conceptual suggestions" you are talking about
design issues, which are another aspect of programming. Just as an architect
has to know what all the possible materials are to build a house, and must
know how each component works, so a programmer must be familiar with all the
components of an application before he/she can decide which components to
use in what configuration.

There are many components involved: Database design, interface design,
business logic and rules, etc. So far, all you have is a rather loose set of
requirements.

Have you thought about farming this out to an experienced programmer?

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Kristen Wagner]

Kevin,

First, let me apologize for asking questions that appear to be too generic
or speculative. I realize full well that I am entering the realm of custom
programming, and I never intended to give the impression that I am looking
for a "quick and dirty" way to learn programming or for someone else to do
my work. In fact, I have had many years' experience programming applications
far more complex than the fairly simple one I am asking about--just not
using FP2003.

My requirements are not loose at all. Allow me to be specific:

I am using FP2003 and ASP. I have used FP2000 on and off for several years,
and among my projects are several which use SQL Server 2000 as a back end. I
am using SQL Server again for this project and have already built the
database table, indexes, etc. to store customer information. I have also
created the customer registration component of this project, as well as the
forms for customer data entry and file upload. These all work correctly. The
only part that is new to me is the ability to offer customers retrieval of
their shipping information, populate their job information form with it, and
then allow them to upload files (repeatedly if necessary) in a "seamless
process," and then have all of the customer's information go to the site
administrator in an email once the customer is done. My initial email asked
whether this is possible.

My speculation about design issues stems from a hunch that a more elegant
solution to the programming aspect of the file upload/email/database record
scenario is to treat each upload/form combination as a record in a table
joined to the customer table, even if only temporarily, in order to generate
a neater result at the end. Perhaps this isn't the forum to discuss such
questions.

Again, my apologies.

Kristen