Starting the Web Publisher

The Web Publisher is started whenever a browser sends a URL requesting information from an askSam database. The URL can come from a Web page, a bookmark, or it can be typed directly into the browser.

Example URL:

http://www.askSam.com/scripts/as_web4.exe?Command=First&File=readme.ask

Description:

     http://                transport protocol

     www.askSam.com         server location

     scripts                CGI directory containing the Web Publisher

     as_web4.exe?           starts Web Publisher

     Command=               indicates that a command parameter follows

     First                  views first document in the askSam file

     &                      indicates that another command follows

      File=readme.ask        specifies the askSam file "readme.ask"

NOTE: In addition to the command "First" and "File", there are other parameters you can pass to the Web Publisher. See List of Modifiers for the Web Publisher for a complete list.

You can direct users to your askSam data files by placing hypertext links on any Web page. Clicking on the hypertext link will start the Web Publisher and access the information from your askSam data file.

Example URLs to access the Web Publisher:

as_web4.exe?Command=First&File=products

     goes to the first document in the products.ask file

as_web4.exe?Command=Last&File=products

     goes to the last document in the products.ask file

as_web4.exe?Command=SD&File=products

     displays the Search Dialog for the products.ask file.

as_web4.exe?Command=Bookmark&File=products&Name=Price+List

     goes to the bookmark "Price List" in the products.ask file.

     Note: If the bookmark name contains a space, replace the space with a + in the URL.

as_web4.exe?Command=DocName&File=products&Name=SurfSaver+Brochure

     goes to the document named "SurfSaver Brochure" in the products.ask file.

     Note: If the document name contains a space, replace the space with a + in the URL.

as_web4.exe?Command=Search&File=products&Request=askSam&ViewName=(default)&NumRows=10

     searches the PRODUCTS.ASK file

     for the search request "askSam"

     10 hits are output on each page

     The (Default) view is set as the format for the results.

Return to Table of Contents