830.TXT
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R:WEB Questions and Answers
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PRODUCT: R:WEB VERSION: 1.0 or Higher
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CATALOG: GENERAL INFORMATION AREA : General Information
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R:WEB is an Internet database solution that runs on a World Wide
Web (WWW) server. R:WEB connects your WWW home page to the R:BASE
database management system. Using R:WEB, you can collect, process,
and provide live data to customers across the Internet. Users
familiar with R:BASE, may have questions about the Internet side of
R:WEB, and users familiar with the Internet, have questions about the
R:BASE side of R:WEB. Here we present some of the more frequent
questions about R:WEB.
1. I click on the R:WEB icon and get the error message "Unable to
open file: \all.rmd". What file is R:WEB looking for? Did everything
not get installed?
When you run RWEB.EXE, R:WEB is expecting to be provided with an
application command file name. If no name is provided, R:WEB looks
for a default file, named ALL.RMD. The application command file can
be as simple as this:
CONNECT c:\rbwin\sampledb
ENTER USING custcontact
EXIT
In the application command file, you connect your database, identify
the form the Internet users will use, and then exit. Substitute your
own database and form name. You can name the file all.rmd, but we
recommend a different name and then adding an application section to
the RWEB.INI file identifying the application. Put the name of your
application command files after RWEB.EXE in the RUN command or in the
icon properties. Then, when you run RWEB.EXE, R:WEB finds your
application command file and generates the HTML document for the
form.
2. I run RWEB.EXE and don't get any error messages, but nothing
happens. Did it really work?
RWEB.EXE does not have a user interface. When you run the program it
runs a minimized program that generates the HTML document from the
form specified in your application command file. You should see an
R:BASE 5.5 icon generated for a few minutes. Then, use your Web
browser to find and view the HTML document generated by RWEB.EXE.
3. When I look at my R:WEB form in my Web browser, I see these
buttons that say Add Row, Add Row and Duplicate etc. Where did the
buttons come from and can I get rid of them?
The buttons that you are seeing are from the R:BASE form menu. By
default, R:BASE forms have a pulldown menu with enter and edit
options for the user. The menu options are converted to buttons for
use on the Internet. In R:BASE, you can remove the menu through Form
Settings. Use the following procedure to remove the menus from your
form:
Start R:BASE 5.5.
In the Object Manager, select your database and click the
Open button. Then, click the Forms tab. Select your form
and click the Design button.
Choose Layout: Form Settings....
Click the Change Enter Menu button. Select "No Menu" and
click the OK button.
Click the Change Edit Menu button.Select "No Menu" and
click the OK button.
Uncheck the "Runtime Toolbar" option near the top of the
"Form Settings" dialog box.
Click the OK button to save the settings.
Choose File: Save Form and then close the "Form Designer"
window.
4. My users get an error message something like "This document has
no data" when they leave my form. I included an exit page form, but
they still get the error message. How come?
You get this message when the exit page form has not been defined
correctly. An exit page form is used to ensure that R:WEB shuts down
properly. It must be included in every application. An exit page is a
form with no data fields on it, just text objects displaying a thank
you or other message to your users. Since the form has no data
fields, there cannot be any buttons on the form. This means you can't
place any push buttons on the form, and you must remove the menus and
uncheck the runtime toolbar option. Refer to the procedure above to
remove the menus and runtime toolbar.
5. Can I run R:WEB in Windows 95 or Windows 3.1?
You can run RWEB.EXE and create the HTML document from your form. You
can view the document in your Web browser, but you cannot use the
form to add data. To run the R:WEB application and use the form to
load data you must run it on an Internet server under Windows NT and
access the application through the WWW.
6. My R:WEB form looks pretty dull compared with other home pages on
the WWW. How can I fancy up my form?
You can edit the HTML document after it is generated by RWEB.EXE.
Note that you can only edit the first form called in your application,
the other form documents are generated by R:WEB as they are used. One
way to improve the look of your forms is to use a background image.
Use the variable microrim_wallpaper in your form to specify the image
file. Define an expression like the following to specify the background
image file:
microrim_wallpaper LONG VARBIT = ['c:\images\logo.bmp']
You can use any image file in BMP, GIF, TIF, or PCX format. The image
is automatically converted to GIF format by R:WEB.
7. The RWEB.INI file looks complicated. What do I really need to
change or add to the file and where do I find all the file and
directory name information?
In the [Web Server] section you must specify the actual directory
name and the URL address for your CGI directory. This tells R:WEB
where the executable files are for running the form and processing
the data. You could leave the other [Web Server] parameters at their
default values. Your Web Server software identifies the directory
names and URL addresses that you need.
You can set the location for your document files, image files, and
your database and application command file in the [Web Server]
section, but we recommend that you add an application section to the
RWEB.INI file. The application section heading, [appname.rmd], names
the application command file. The section items specify the actual
directory names and URL addresses for your document and image
directories. The document directory holds HTML documents, including
the converted form. The image directory holds image files called by
the HTML documents; these are the converted image files in GIF
format. In addition, the application section specifies the location
for your database and application command file.
8. What happens if I don't put a specific application section in the
RWEB.INI file?
If you don't include a specific application section in the RWEB.INI,
then R:WEB uses the values specified in the [Web Server] section for
the document, image, and application information.
9. How can I test my R:WEB application before I put it on the
Internet server?
Make sure that your application command file and forms work in R:BASE
before installing them on the Internet server. Once the application
command file and forms are installed on the server, try accessing your
form through the WWW to make sure the form works as you expect.
10. The database where my R:WEB application loads data is on a remote
Internet server, the server is not located in my office. How do I
connect to the database and retrieve the data users are entering?
You can include commands in your R:WEB application command file to
unload the data users enter to a file, then FTP the file to your
location. Your application command file might include these
commands:
-- custapp.rmd
-- initialize the R:BASE error variable
SET ERROR VAR verror
SET VAR vHold_Error INTEGER
-- connect the database
CONNECT c:\rbwin\sampledb
LABEL thetop
-- bring up the form allowing entry of one row only
ENTER USING custcontact FOR 1 ROW
-- the form custcontact sets a variable custid using a
-- form expression, vcustid = custid
-- use a WHILE loop to unload the data and mark the row
-- as retrieved
WHILE #PI <> 0 THEN
-- the APPEND option on the OUTPUT command adds to the file
OUTPUT custdata.dat APPEND
-- unload the data for this customer
UNLOAD DATA FOR customer WHERE custid = .vcustid
-- use the R:BASE error variable to make sure the command succeeded
SET VAR vHold_Error = .verror
OUTPUT SCREEN
-- continue trying to unload the data until the command succeeds
IF vHold_Error <> 0 THEN
CONTINUE
ELSE
WHILE #PI <> 0 THEN
-- update the customer record to indicate the data
-- has been transferred
UPDATE customer SET UnloadDataDate = .#DATE +
WHERE custid = .vcustid
SET VAR vHold_Error = .verror
-- continue trying the update until the command succeeds
IF vHold_Error <> 0 THEN
CONTINUE
ENDIF
BREAK
ENDWH
ENDIF
BREAK
ENDWH
GOTO thetop