 |
 |
 |
>
|
Module Development IntroductionThis document describes how to write a new module for the ASP Nuke Content Management system. This instructional document is intended for a medium to advanced-level ASP developer. You will need to have a firm understanding of Active Server Pages, SQL Server database programming (Transact-SQL) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Note that this document does not contain information about the automatic module updater / installer and the theme manager, both of which have yet to be built. As soon as these components are complete, this documentation will be updated with instructions on how to add support for these features. Module FrameworkThere is no real magic to the way our module framework is built. As you might imagine, we make use of Server-Side Includes for some modular elements. But we do so using an IIS feature that allows us to dynamically include files. All modular code is placed in a directory named "module". Each unique application is given a unique folder name where we place all of the module code. This folder name is also used to create an administration feature for your module. Most style elements which affect how your application looks and feels should be defined in the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) file (/css/style.css.) You should try to use the pre-defined styles that already exist. This will ensure that all themes developed for ASP Nuke will apply their look completely to your module. Major ComponentsThe module is the main feature of the ASP Nuke project. A module, in this case, has two different meanings. The first is the modular visible components which make up the content on the web site. The other is the code module which can be easily "plugged" into the framework, setup quickly and integrate smoothly.The small boxes which appear on the left and right-hand column are called "capsules". These encapsulate a synopsis of content that you want displayed to visitors on all of the pages of your site. These will be configurable through the admin area so you can add or remove capsules and reorder them however you like. Sometimes, like in the case of the home page, the center column also is a module (thought it may not appear with the same style box surrounding it. For the most part, the modules will have a common look and feel to make it easier for the visitor to navigate and understand the site. Dynamic Module IncludesIntroduced in IIS (Internet Information Server) 5.0, the Server.Execute method allows us to dynamically include scripts (physical files) which will be evaluated and placed within another web page. The one difference between Server.Execute and server-side includes, which look like <!-- #include file=... -->, is that Server.Execute will evaluate a script and then include the output on your page (where you called the Execute method.) A server-side include, will include the code in your script BEFORE it gets evaluated. The effect of this, is that you need to make your modules complete "stand-alone" scripts which are capable of functioning on their own. This helps us, rather than hinders us because we can easily test new modules that we develop. It also means that we can't share code between module code and the main content pages. Database CallsAll of the database calls on your page should go through our common database library code. It is contained in the common code library folder (/lib.) Place the following at the top of your page: <!-- #include virtual="/lib/ado_lib.asp" -->Any SQL statement that returns a recordset such as a SELECT or an EXECUTE statement should use the adoOpenRecordset method, otherwise, you should use the adoExecute method. <!-- #include virtual="/lib/ado_lib.asp" -->sStat = "SELECT * FROM tblCountry" Set rsCountry = adoOpenRecordset(sStat) <!-- #include virtual="/lib/ado_lib.asp" --> sStat = "UPDATE tblCountry SET Active = 1" Call adoExecute(sStat) ADO Library Documentation Software LicenseAt the beginning of your page, you should place a comment block containing the name of the script, a short description of the purpose of the file and the GNU General Public License (GPL) which will look as follows:
<% Except for trivial pages (anything with 10 or more lines of code not counting server-side includes lines), we require that you add this license to your module if you want it to be officially included and recognized by ASP Nuke. This is recommended by the GNU organization to protect the freedom of the code and ensure the source is open. Creating CapsulesCreating AdminThe process of creating the admin portion of your module is rather complex so we've decided to create another separate document for this purpose. Last Updated: Sep 29, 2003 |
|
| All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors. | -- Anon |
 |
|
 |