Is this practical?

[TJ Bristol]

Hey, any input appreciated.

I am putting together a Live Auction site using asp and SQL 2000. How it
should work is bidders enter bids against each other live in real time (not
like ebay) and the page updates in real time with this information.

I have implemented this using a flavor of remote scripting that uses hidden
Iframes to add and call data from the SQL DB, as well as update the page
without reload using Javascript and the DOM. (The child Iframe page uses
dynamically generated javascript to update hidden <div> containers in the
parent page.)

I used this method instead of MS remote scripting, or xmlhttp for browser
compatibility issues.

My question is how practical is this setup with many/multiple users involved
as the hidden Iframe that calls the data (using a standard Dreamweaver
recordset) has to call to the SQL DB once every second (for all the users)
to get the bids in real time and update and synch the parent pages.

Has anyone out there done anything like this and is there perhaps another
way to do this that may be better suited?

Thanks in advance
TJ

[CMBergin]

Sounds fine. But -
1. Use a stored procedure to get the records. That way the database is
guaranteed to have a cached execution plan, which helps performance. (MS
SQL is quite sturdy, though, so don't worry too much.)
2. Use the GetRows() method rather than keeping the data in the recordset
and using a repeat region. It's a bit more work up front, but it keeps the
database connection time to a minimum and vastly improves overall
throughput. Go to [url]www.4guysfromrolla.com[/url] for good examples of using
GetRows() to stream your recordset into an array.

Quick outline:
<%
Set myRS = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
....snip...
myRS.Open()
If NOT myRS.EOF Then
MyList = myRS.GetRows()
LIST_MAX = UBound(MyList,2)
Else
LIST_MAX = -1
End If
myRS.Close()
Set myRS = Nothing
'List your fields in order from left to right
I_Name = 0
I_Bid = 1
%>

The "repeat region" for a list like this:
<%For X = 0 To LIST_MAX%>
<tr>
<td><%=MyList(I_Name,X)%></td>
<td><%=MyList(I_Bid,X)%></td>
</tr>
<%Next%>
"TJ Bristol" <bristoll@NOSPAM.vdot.net> wrote in message
news:cvfuvn$1m5$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Hey, any input appreciated.
>
> I am putting together a Live Auction site using asp and SQL 2000. How it
> should work is bidders enter bids against each other live in real time

(not

> like ebay) and the page updates in real time with this information.
>
> I have implemented this using a flavor of remote scripting that uses

hidden

> Iframes to add and call data from the SQL DB, as well as update the page
> without reload using Javascript and the DOM. (The child Iframe page uses
> dynamically generated javascript to update hidden <div> containers in the
> parent page.)
>
> I used this method instead of MS remote scripting, or xmlhttp for browser
> compatibility issues.
>
> My question is how practical is this setup with many/multiple users

involved

> as the hidden Iframe that calls the data (using a standard Dreamweaver
> recordset) has to call to the SQL DB once every second (for all the users)
> to get the bids in real time and update and synch the parent pages.
>
> Has anyone out there done anything like this and is there perhaps another
> way to do this that may be better suited?
>
> Thanks in advance
> TJ
>
>

[TJ Bristol]

Thanks for that, sounds like the winner.

TJ