Transcript Class #13 Lecture

Using the World Wide
Web and Hyperlink
Fields
Creating
Hypertext
Documents for
Valle Coffee
In this session we will
Use the Publish to the Web Wizard to save Access
objects in HTML format
Use HTML templates to create World Wide Web
pages
In this session we will
Save your Publish to the Web Wizard choices in a
Profile.
Use a profile to create World Wide Web Pages
In this session we will
Update the contents of World Wide Web pages.
Import an HTML file as an Access table and
Add a hyperlink field to an Access Table
The World Wide Web (also called
WWW or simply the Web) is a vase
collection of linked documents
that reside on computers around
the world. These computers are
linked together in
a public worldwide
network called the
internet.
A computer that publishes
documents on the Web must be
running special server software.
This Computer is called a Web
server and it has an
Internet address
called a Uniform
Resource Locator
or URL.
If your computer has a telephone
connection, such as a modem, and
you have an account with an
Internet service provider, you can
connect your computer to any
Web server and
view the WWW
documents
published there.
You view the documents using a
program called a Web browser.
Popular Web browsers, like
Microsoft Internet Explorer and
Netscape Navigator, are often
bundled with other
application
software.
A World Wide Web document
contains the necessary
instructions for your browser to
display text and graphics. These
instructions, called tags, describe
how text is formatted, where
graphic images are displayed, the
background color, & other visual
characteristics of the Web page.
Certain tags, called hyperlinks, link
one Web document to another. When
you click hyperlink text, the linked
document is displayed. Hyperlinks
connect Web documents throughout
the Internet and these connections
form the
World Wide Web.
You can create a World Wide Web
page by typing the necessary
instructions, using the HyperText
Markup Language (HTML), into a
word processing document and
saving the document on a disk. Some
programs, such as
Access, have built in
tools to convert
objects to HTML.
The figure below, also shown as
Figure 7-1 on Page AC 7.02 in your
book, illustrates the process of
creating a
Web page
using Access
and viewing
it with a
Web browser.
Figure 7-2 on page AC 7.03 in your book shows a Web Page as
you would see it and the document that created it.
HTML Document
displayed as a Web page
HTML Document
that creates the
above Web Page
The HTML document in Figure 7-2
contains the necessary information to
create a Web page that displays one
page of the Valle Coffee Invoices
report. The words enclosed in angle
brackets (< >)
are HTML tags.
HTML Document
that creates the
above Web Page
The Web page shows how this
document looks when you view it
using a Web Browser. Notice the
words First, Previous, Next, and Last
at the bottom of the web page. These
are hyperlinks to
other Web pages
of the
Invoice Report.
Hyperlinks are usually displayed in a
different color from other text on a
Web page and are often underlined to
indicate
that they
are
hyperlinks.
Web pages that are created from an
Access database can be either static
or dynamic.
A static page reflects the state of the
database when the page is
created. Subsequent changes to the
database records are not reflected in
the Web page. When changes occur
the page must be re-published.
A dynamic page is updated
automatically each time the page is
viewed and reflects the current state
of the database at that time.
In this session we
will use only the
static type of page.
To publish information in the
Restaurant database to the World
Wide Web, you must convert Access
objects to HTML format. When you
have created
the HTML
documents, you
can place them on
the company’s
Web server.
Once copied to the server they can be
viewed on any computer on the
network using a Web browser. Of
course, Valle Coffee does not want its
private database to be available
worldwide, so your documents will be
placed on a Web server dedicated to
the company’s private network.
Private networks, called intranets,
are common in companies, schools,
and other organizations. Data can be
shared on an intranet in much the
same way as on the Internet, but
access is restricted to members of the
organization.
Creating the necessary HTML
documents is not as difficult as it
might appear at first.
You will use the Publish to the Web
Wizard, which can automatically
convert database objects to HTML
files.
Before we do this however, we must first
make any necessary modifications to the
Report in Design view .
After the modifications have been
made you are now ready to use the
Publish to the Web Wizard.
In Access 97 the 1st screen that
appears is the introductory page.
The second step of the wizard asks you to
select the database objects that you wish
to publish.
The third and final step asks you if you
wish to create a Home Page which is a
switchboard (menu) for multiple
document reports.
If you desire a
Home Page, click
the “Create a
Home Page”
check box.
And then type a
name for your
home page.
The Publish to the Web Wizard now has
all the information necessary to create
the home page and the HTML files for
the Customer table and the Invoices
report.
The wizard creates a
home page HTML file
called Valle Home Page
and an HTML file for the
Customer table data, called
Customer_1.
The wizard also creates three HTML
files for the Invoices report -- one file
for each page of the report. These
files are named
Invoices_1,
Invoices_1 Page2,
and
Invoices_1 Page3.
In Access 2000 there has been a major change
Reference
Window
Exporting an Object to an HTML Document
• In the Database window, click the object.
• Click file on the menubar, then Export
• Enter the file name in the file name text
box, and then select the location where
you want to save the file.
Click the Save as type list arrow, and
click HTML Documents.
Click the Save formatted check box
(if using a template) and then the Save button.
•
•
Creating a Data Access Page for an Access Table
A data access page is a dynamic HTML
document that you can open with a Web
browser to view or update current data in
an Access Database.
Unlike other database objects, such as
forms and reports, which are stored in the
Access database, data access pages are
stored outside the database as separate
HTML documents.
Creating a Data Access Page for an Access Table
You can create a data access page in Design
view or by using a Wizard.
To create a data access page in the exercise
on page AC 7.08 you will use the
AutoPage: Columnar Wizard.
Creating a Data Access Page for an Access Table
Unlike Access 97, Access 2000 has added a
new category to its array of objects. In the
past we saw
Tables
Queries
Forms
Reports
Macros
& Modules
Creating a Data Access Page for an Access Table
Now we have a new category:
Tables
Queries
Forms
Access Pages
Reports
Macros
& Modules
Creating a Data Access Page for an Access Table
Access Pages are now created
very much like an Access
Form or Report. You can
create a custom Access Page
or create one using the
Access Page Wizard.
You are now ready to view the Web Page.
A special note: Your book uses
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to
view the Page, however, if the
Internet Explorer is not available
in this Lab,
NetScape
Navigator
can be used
in it’s place.
You are now ready to view the Web Page.
In case there is not a web browser
program available, or because of
system difficulties with the
machines in
this lab, you
may skip
this part in
the class
exercise.
To start your web browser program, 1st
click View on the menu bare from the
Database Window of your Access
Database. second, select Toolbars and
then select Web. Access will display the
Web Toolbar.
With the Web Toolbar displayed, click on
the GO button and then click open from the
resulting pull down menu..
Access will then display the “Open Internet
Address dialog box”.
You may now type in the Web Page Address
(URL) or click browse to find the desired
HTML file on the disk that it was saved to.
After you have typed in the desired Web
Address or have selected the HTML file on
your disk, you can click the OK button.
Access with then open up your browser with
the selected page.
If you select the Home Page, you should be
presented with a switchboard (menu) that
will allow you to select any or all subsequent
pages that this report contains.
Viewing & Updating in Access 2000
Reference
Window
Viewing & Updating a Data Access Page Using a browser
• If necessary, click Pages in the Objects bar
of the Database window.
• Right-click the data access page name, and
•
then click Web Page Preview to start
internet Explorer and open the Page
If changing an existing record, navigate to
the desired record, make changes to the
record, and then click the Save record
button on the Record Navigation toolbar.
Viewing & Updating in Access 2000
Reference
Window
Viewing & Updating a Data Access Page Using a browser
• If adding a record, click the New Record
button on the Record Navigation toolbar,
enter the field values for the record, and
then click the Save Record button on the
Record Navigation toolbar.
Quick Check Review
Page AC 7.25
Quick Check Review
Let’s take a few
moments to break up
into discussion groups.
Each group will discuss
the quick check questions on page
AC 7.25 in your books. We will then
review the answers at the end of the
discussion.
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
1) What is the World Wide Web?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
2) What is the purpose of a Web Browser?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
3) What is HTML?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
4) What is a HyperLink?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
5) What is an HTML template?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
6) What is a data access page?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
7) What is a theme?
Quick Check Review
Session 7.1
8) What is a grouped data access page?
Your task today is to complete
the exercises in Tutorial #7 Page
AC 7.04 through Page AC 7.25
The disk is
Level 2
Disk 1