ASP Server Components

Some of the ASP server components are the common features found in dynamic web pages. These base ASP server components are provided to enrich the pre-made functions of ASP technology for making dynamic and interactive web pages. However, some IIS pre-made components are not installed for all version of IIS. Ad Rotator, Browser Capabilities, Content Linker, Content Rotator, Counters, Logging Utility, My Info, Page Counter, Status, and tools are not installed with IIS 6.0. However, if you upgrade your Web server from a previous version of IIS, the pre-made components are not removed. Some IIS pre-made components, ASP content rotator and nextlink,  are deprecated in IIS7. And most IIS pre-made components are either not installed with IIS7 or their usage is not supported.

Page Counter Component

The Page Counter component can be used to create a PageCounter object that acts as a HTML tags holder on an ASP page for counting and displaying the number of times that a web page has been opened. The PageCounter object are designed such that the number of hits will be written to a text file at regular interval automatically such that the number of hits will not be lost in the event of a server shut down. The default filename of the text file is Hitcnt.cnt and the default hit count data file is located in the windows directory by default.  

The PageCounter object are designed as an internal central management object to record the number of hits for each page in the application. When an instance of the PageCounter object is created on a page using the Server.CreateObject method, the PageCounter object retrieves the current hit count for the specified web page from the central management object for further manipulation by the specified method in the web page.

Although the Hit Count Data file is a text file located on the server, the Hit Count Data file cannot be editted directly becacue errors in the format of the text file will prevent the PageCounter object from loading the total hit count information properly. Besides, the Central Management object will saves the hit count data to the text file periodically. Any changes in the hit count data after the creation or increment by the MyInfo objects may need to restart the IIS services in ordered to make the changes written to the Hit Count Data File.

File Name

The file name of the Page Counter component is Pagecnt.dll.

Syntax

Set PageCounterName = Server.CreateObject( "MSWC.PageCounter" )

Parameters

PageCounterName

The parameter "PageCounterName" is the name assigned to the instance of the PageCounter object created by the call using the Server.CreateObject.

Registry Entries

The PageCounter object adds the key MSWC.PageCounter to the registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT when the object is compiled or registered. Under key MSWC.PageCounter, the following named values are added:

Named Value	Description
File_Location	A string to specify the path and name of the Hit Count Data file. The default filename is Hitcnt.cnt and the file is located in the windows directory by default.
Save_Count	A DWORD to specify the total number of hits before the hit count is saved to the Hit ount Data file. This number is not the total number of hits per page but the total number of hits per application. The default value of the total number of hits is 25.

Remark

The MyInfo component does not work with Internet Information Server 7 (IIS7).

PageCounter.Hits Method

PageCounter.Hits method is used to retrieve the current value of the number of times that a specified web page has been opened.

Syntax

PageCounterName.Hits([pathInfo])

Parameters

PageCounterName

The parameter "PageCounterName" is the name of the instance of the PageCounter object to be set.

pathInfo

The optional parameter "pathInfo" is used to specify the PATH_INFO of the web page to be retrieved. The format of the PATH_INFO of the web page is in the form of "/virtualdirectory/filename.asp. If the optional parameter "pathInfo" is not specified, the PageCounterName.Hits() method returns the total hit count for the current page.

Return Values

A LONG indicating the total number of times that the specified web page has been opened.

PageCounter.PageHit Method

PageCounter.PageHit method is used to increase the current value of the number of hit count for the current web page by one when the current page is opened.

Syntax

PageCounterName.PageHit()

Parameters

PageCounterName

The parameter "PageCounterName" is the name of the instance of the PageCounter object to be set.

Return Values

A LONG indicating the total number of times that the specified web page has been opened after the increment.

PageCounter.Reset Method

PageCounter.Reset method is used to set the current value of the number of hit count for the specified web page to 0 when the current page is opened.

Syntax

PageCounterName.Reset([pathInfo])

Parameters

PageCounterName

The parameter "PageCounterName" is the name of the instance of the PageCounter object to be set.

pathInfo

The optional parameter "pathInfo" is used to specify the PATH_INFO of the web page to be retrieved. The format of the PATH_INFO of the web page is in the form of "/virtualdirectory/filename.asp. If the optional parameter "pathInfo" is not specified, the PageCounterName.Reset() method reset the total hit count for the current page to zero.

Return Values

This method has no return values.