format empty as null prior to insert

[David Shorthouse]

Hey folks,

This one's probably been asked before but I'm tired of trying to find a
solution (if there is one!). I have an asp update page and I'd like to
convert all empty fields to NULL prior to updating the Access db rather than
permitting zero length fields in the db. Is this possible? Is there any way
to globally declare this for all text fields on the asp page rather than
having to do a whole whack of "if then" formats? Is there something I can
set in the field's properties in Access that will deny zero length yet won't
cause the asp update to choke and return an error?

Thanks for any feedback,

Dave

--
______________________________
Remove "_SPAM" to reply directly.

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

David Shorthouse wrote:

Hey folks,

This one's probably been asked before but I'm tired of trying to
find a solution (if there is one!). I have an asp update page and I'd
like to convert all empty fields to NULL prior to updating the Access
db rather than permitting zero length fields in the db. Is this
possible?
Sure, just pass Null when the user does not enter data.
Is there any way to globally declare this for all text
fields on the asp page rather than having to do a whole whack of "if
then" formats?
No
Is there something I can set in the field's properties
in Access that will deny zero length yet won't cause the asp update
to choke and return an error?

No.

--
Microsoft MVP - ASP/ASP.NET
Please reply to the newsgroup. This email account is my spam trap so I
don't check it very often. If you must reply off-line, then remove the
"NO SPAM"

[David Shorthouse]

Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. How then does one pass null when the
field is empty? I'm sad to hear there isn't any way to declare this for all
variables in one shot, say at the very beginning of the script on the the
asp. Could you provide a vbscipt I ought to include on the asp?

Thanks.

Dave

--
______________________________
Remove "_SPAM" to reply directly.
"Bob Barrows [MVP]" <re******@NOyahoo.SPAMcom> wrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

David Shorthouse wrote:

Hey folks,

This one's probably been asked before but I'm tired of trying to
find a solution (if there is one!). I have an asp update page and I'd
like to convert all empty fields to NULL prior to updating the Access
db rather than permitting zero length fields in the db. Is this
possible?

Sure, just pass Null when the user does not enter data.

Is there any way to globally declare this for all text
fields on the asp page rather than having to do a whole whack of "if
then" formats?

No

Is there something I can set in the field's properties
in Access that will deny zero length yet won't cause the asp update
to choke and return an error?

No.

--
Microsoft MVP - ASP/ASP.NET
Please reply to the newsgroup. This email account is my spam trap so I
don't check it very often. If you must reply off-line, then remove the
"NO SPAM"

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

David Shorthouse wrote:

Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. How then does one pass null when the
field is empty? I'm sad to hear there isn't any way to declare this
for all variables in one shot, say at the very beginning of the
script on the the asp. Could you provide a vbscipt I ought to include
on the asp?

It depends. Are you using a recordset (not recommended)? Dynamic SQL (also
not recommended)? Parameters?
--
Microsoft MVP - ASP/ASP.NET
Please reply to the newsgroup. This email account is my spam trap so I
don't check it very often. If you must reply off-line, then remove the
"NO SPAM"

[David Shorthouse]

Bob,

I am indeed using a recordset with UPDATE and SET. Why is this not
recommended? What's the better alternative?

Dave

--
______________________________
Remove "_SPAM" to reply directly.
"Bob Barrows [MVP]" <re******@NOyahoo.SPAMcom> wrote in message
news:e5**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

David Shorthouse wrote:

Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. How then does one pass null when the
field is empty? I'm sad to hear there isn't any way to declare this
for all variables in one shot, say at the very beginning of the
script on the the asp. Could you provide a vbscipt I ought to include
on the asp?

It depends. Are you using a recordset (not recommended)? Dynamic SQL (also
not recommended)? Parameters?
--
Microsoft MVP - ASP/ASP.NET
Please reply to the newsgroup. This email account is my spam trap so I
don't check it very often. If you must reply off-line, then remove the
"NO SPAM"

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

David Shorthouse wrote:

Bob,

I am indeed using a recordset with UPDATE and SET. Why is this not
recommended? What's the better alternative?

This is a contradiction. Using a recordset, you would open a recordset on a
table or select statement, point the cursor at a record, set the field
values and use the Update method to send the changes to the database. This
is not recommended because cursors are resource-intensive and slow. In ASP,
they should only be used to retrieve read-only data for display purposes.

Using "UPDATE and SET" seems to imply that you are using dynamic sql. This
is not recommended due to the security concerns brought on by leaving
yourself open to sql injection attacks by hackers:
http://mvp.unixwiz.net/techtips/sql-injection.html
http://www.sqlsecurity.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=23
http://www.nextgenss.com/papers/adva..._injection.pdf
http://www.nextgenss.com/papers/more..._injection.pdf
Perhaps you should read these:

http://www.google.com/groups?hl=en&l...TNGP12.phx.gbl

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...e36562fee7804e
Bob Barrows
--
Microsoft MVP - ASP/ASP.NET
Please reply to the newsgroup. This email account is my spam trap so I
don't check it very often. If you must reply off-line, then remove the
"NO SPAM"

[Roland Hall]

"Bob Barrows [MVP]" <re******@NOyahoo.SPAMcom> wrote in message
news:OZ**************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
: David Shorthouse wrote:
: > Bob,
: >
: > I am indeed using a recordset with UPDATE and SET. Why is this not
: > recommended? What's the better alternative?
<snip>
: Using "UPDATE and SET" seems to imply that you are using dynamic sql. This
: is not recommended due to the security concerns brought on by leaving
: yourself open to sql injection attacks by hackers:

I'd be happy to test those for ya', David. (O:=

--
Roland Hall
/* This information is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability
or fitness for a particular purpose. */
Technet Script Center - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/
WSH 5.6 Documentation - http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/list/webdev.asp
MSDN Library - http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp