No Frames Right? How?

want to change partial page content without asp reload each time.

[rogart]

I have an asp page built of nested tables. The page works great but is painfully slow. Short of using frames is there a way to reload content that doesn't change for a given visit but is originally derived from a database (i.e. menus and form information).
My goal is to create a code that generates pages based solely on database content changes, so someone who understands database entries and not web coding can update the page.
(I already know two big issues, using MS Access and having an ASP with 1000+ line of code, but I'm working on those. I just don't want to have to recreate the recordset and connection for the menus and forms each time I load a new asp post content page.)

Example:
<table><tr><td>
<table>
<tr><td>left header</td><td>right header</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr><tr><td>
<table>
<tr><td>distinct recordset generated menus</td>
<td>filtered recordset data returned from menu selection</td>(only part that changes)</tr>
</table>
</td><td>
<table>
<tr><td>recordset filtered Ad1</td></tr>
<tr><td>recordset filtered Ad2</td></tr>
<tr><td>recordset filtered Ad3</td></tr>
<table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td>contact info and footer-type stuff</td></tr>
</table>

I like using tables because the look is clean and the behavior works well with my design.

[Receptional Andy]

Hi rogart,

How frequently does that content change? If it isn't very often then one approach would be to create static files from the information in the database, and then update those files when database records change.

[rogart]

Right now the data changes every other day, but in a couple months it should slow to maybe one a month.

I was trying to create something my wife could run. She can do a database and ftp upload, but coding isn't her thing.

Is there a good way with asp to create static files. There are three options each with 10 variables in a given request so I would need a lot of pages.

[rocknbil]

The page works great but is painfully slow.

Have you done deep experimenting to determine exactly what is slowing you down? It seems to me that even a slow loading frame, iframe, or dynamic content loaded via Ajax (which is one way to do what you're asking) is still a PROBLEM.

A quick way: load up one of the slowest pages you can find. View source, copy to a static file, test.html. Load this static file on your server and measure it's load time.

The point is, it may not be the page itself, but you may have some process that is slow on delivery, not browser rendering. If the above test loads quickly, you're chasing the wrong bug.

One example: it's a common method to print-as-you-process, that is,

one = some_function;
print "one";
two = some_other_function;
print "two";

.... etc. The argument here is you are freeing up memory as you go. My argument against this is each time you print, you have to wait for the gateway to connect to the browser before moving on to the next command. I have had far superior results by printing when I'm done:

one = some_function;
final = one;
two = some_other_function;
final = final + " " + two;
print final;

Another is to examine the various loops in your "filter." Often I see

for each record [db_query_results] { 
 for each record [what_i_have_stored] { 
  if [this_record_is_not_in_what_i_have_stored] { 
   [add_to what_i_have_stored] 
  } 
 } 
} 

The previous (silly?) example basically steps through all records of a result and stores it in an array (list.) But to avoid duplicates, an inner loop checks the array each time a record is read, so the number of loops here is num_records X num_records - an intense amount of processing that can probably be more efficient by reworking the initial select statement to avoid duplicates in the first place.

If it turns out to be the page itself, then I'd review my tables and nesting and take another approach. I had this with select lists once, a hundred or so on a page with each list exceeding 100 items brought the page to it's knees. It didn't work and I had to do something else.

[rogart]

Thanks. I have been playing with select phrases and it seems to help. I also think my printing timing is way off I do somehting then generate a result, I'll try the alternative.

I'll try the test as well. Not to sure how, but I'll figure it out, thanks.