wdvlTalk Roundup October 2002

I'm writing a vbs app and would like to add 4 hours to the current time.

time_limit = Time() + 4
time_limit = Time() + 240

• Use DateAdd(interval, number, date):

  time_limit = DateAdd("h", 4, Date())

• Since you probably need something that adds just time, I have written this small function for you:

  <%
  function timeAdd(timePart, nTime)
  
    splitArray=split(dateadd(timePart, nTime, now()), " ")
  
    timeAdd=splitArray(1) & " " & splitArray(2)
  
  end function
  
  response.write timeAdd("h", 4)
  %>
  

• Use DateAdd(interval,number,date)
  The interval argument can have the following values:
  Setting Description
  yyyy Year
  q Quarter
  m Month
  y Day of year
  d Day
  w Weekday
  ww Week of year
  h Hour
  n Minute
  s Second
  
  Ex:

  NewDate = DateAdd("h",4,time)

Can anyone recommend some bulletin board software that we can run on our site. Preferably open source, ie free, and easy to set up and run.

• http://phpbb.com/ is excellent.
  There are some graphics for the "sub silver" look at http://www.phpbb.com/file_downloads/phpBB2_subSilver_SDK.zip
• I'd also recommend Ikonboard which can be configured to run as flat-file or from a database. Free, customizable and has got heaps of functions though it might be a bit excessive in some situations. Check it out at: http://www.ikonboard.com/ * Requires Perl to be installed, which it probably is if you're on a Unix server.
• I've used discus software, they offer freeware or Discuss Pro. Cant remember the main differences but I didn't need the extras. I loaded it fairly easily on my host. http://www.discusware.com/discus/index.php
• Please note though that ikonboard is banned by many webhosting providers due to its very CPU-intensive tendencies. If you really need something totally free, perhaps www.phpbb.com and www.invisionboard.com are your best bet. Otherwise, you cannot go wrong with www.vbulletin.com, that is definitely the board of boards.

I'm trying to set the border on my table using CSS rather than border="1" This doesn't not seem to do anything (IE6) table { border: #FFFFCC; border-width: 2px;}

• Try:

  style="border: solid 2px #ffffcc;"

  and see if it does it for you (pulling it off the top of my head. If that doesn't do it, have a look here: http://www.devguru.com/Technologies/css/quickref/css_index.html

Can anyone recommend a (free) search tool that will index pdf's and is deployable on a site-by-site basis? I know Google has one, but is it the best? They reserve the right to place adds on the result page, and it looks like it is more of a subset to their WebSearch, which I don't want.

• www.atomz.com

  If you go to "Products", "Atomz Search" they offer either the full paid for version or "Atomz Express Search... a no-cost and reduced-feature version of Atomz Search"

  Atomz Express Search is limited to sites of 500 pages or less... can be used on any Web site and is not time-limited by a trial period... allows complete customization of look and feel...only a small "Powered by Atomz" logo is shown above the search results.

  But, and it's a big but, "Advanced features of Atomz Search are not available in the trial version, including...PDF and Flash support"

I used to know of a web site where I could find out what server software a particular site was hosted on (by providing the URL). Example: If I typed in www.microsoft.com the page would return Windows 2000, IIS 5, local time etc. I've since forgotten the URL - anyone out there know it?

• http://www.lokbox.net/help/html/AnalyzingRemotely/FingerprintWeb.htm
• http://www.netcraft.com/oldwhats
• there is a free program that will do this for you - it is called WebBug 5.2 Aman Software CyberSpyder www.cyberspyder.com
• You can get a lot of useful information about a website by using "SnipStash" on the sniptools website. E.g.,

    http://sniptools.com/url.get?u=http://microsoft.com
    http://sniptools.com/url.get?u=http://themezz.com
  

• http://freesoft.org/CIE/Course/Section2/13.cgi

I've always done my form validation server side in ASP, but I'd like to learn how it's done with JavaScript after hitting the submit button. I'd like to verify that required fields are filled in, and that both password fields match.

• IN THE HEAD -

  <script>
  
  </script>
  

  FORM TAG -

  <form name="contactform" onSubmit="return checkData()" 
  method="post"
  action="cu_resp.asp">
  

• http://developer.irt.org/script/form.htm#5

Third party credit card processors

• I had to look into this a while back & the most frequently mentioned & I think favored was World Pay (www.worldpay.com).
• I've set a couple of clients up with PayPal (http://www.paypal.com), and they have been pretty satisfied with it.
• I would not recommend Authorize.net ... they change their protocols all the time and have connection problems to the servers . Now, CyberCash has worked flawlessly with all my clients
• I personally use ClickBank.com and 2Checkout.com