Creating a category tree

[shane-dated-1130371478.43db8f]

Hello all,

I am working on a website for a bookstore and have run into a bit of a snag.
I am trying to write a form where an admin can set the category for a book.
However, categories can be of an arbitrary depth so I need something which
resembles a windows "tree view." For example:

Primary category Art and Architecture
has subcategory history
has subcategory African etc etc.

I can't say in advance how deep the tree will go so don't know how many
select boxes to place on the form. Are there any examples out there of a
similar construction I can learn from. Though I do know html/cgi, I'm no
JavaScript/dhtml expert which I assume this will involve. From the
backend's point of view, the page would probably have to, when a category
was selected, query the server which would return any subcategories, that
part is simple enough. It's the frontend I am not sure of.

Thanks,
Shane

[RobG]

sh***************************@cm.nu wrote:

Hello all,

I am working on a website for a bookstore and have run into a bit of a snag.
I am trying to write a form where an admin can set the category for a book.
However, categories can be of an arbitrary depth so I need something which
resembles a windows "tree view." For example:

Primary category Art and Architecture
has subcategory history
has subcategory African etc etc.

I can't say in advance how deep the tree will go so don't know how many
select boxes to place on the form. Are there any examples out there of a
similar construction I can learn from. Though I do know html/cgi, I'm no
JavaScript/dhtml expert which I assume this will involve. From the
backend's point of view, the page would probably have to, when a category
was selected, query the server which would return any subcategories, that
part is simple enough. It's the frontend I am not sure of.

Try >>>-- comp.lang.javascript -->

In the meantime, you may want to have a look at how your thesaurus might
be delivered - for example, when "Art and Architecture" are selected,
fill a second select with all the sub-categories including 'history',
which when selected creates a third select with the categories with
'african', etc.

There is an article on XMLHttpRequest here:

<URL:http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/xmlhttpreq.html>
And a cross-browser example here:

<URL:http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/XMLHttpRequestExample/example.html>
--
Rob

[Jim Moe]

sh***************************@cm.nu wrote:

I can't say in advance how deep the tree will go so don't know how many
select boxes to place on the form. Are there any examples out there of a
similar construction I can learn from. [...]

Server-side programs like PHP, JSP, ASP and even perl are often used to
create dynamically generated pages. CGI is less common because it's
noticeably more difficult to use.
Web commerce/shopping programs often have support for categories.
Search for some that make the source code available.

--
jmm dash list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
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