Help : passing variables through frames on an ASP site ?

[A Web Master]

I want to know the best way of passing on variable contents on a site
coded in ASP using frameset/frame. Content is used in all frames for
stuffs like screen_resolution, language, ...

My client's site is visited by Netscape 4.x/6.x and IE-5.x/6.x. It's
being converted to ASP and currently using frames (middle frame has a
vert scroll bar).

-I tried using Session("xxx") but in Netscape (4.x), it opens up a new
Session-ID for each frames. Therefore I cannot store variables in a
session when it's Netscape.

-I tried passing on variable contents using http://...?xxx=124&yyy=...
but I'm finding that I may have to have a long list of variables to
pass on this way.

-I was thinking about using SQL to store infos but then I cannot have
a unique record because of not having unique SessionID in all frames.

-Maybe there is a way of re-using the same session as the frameset for
each frames ?

 

[Ray at]

Cookies?

Ray at work

 

[A. Webmaster]

I have read many times that I should not rely on cookies for persistent
informations. Even if your application tells you that the client's
brwoser has cookies enabled, there is no garantee that they are in fact.

 

[Ray at]

This may be true, but everything is give and take. I've also heard that
frames should be avoided... How long of a querystring are you talking about
here? Isn't there a way that you can consolidate it if it's really that
long? Like, instead of ?screenresolution=1024x768, do ?s=c and use
something in your code so it knows c= 1024×768. Now, that isn't to say that
it's not possible that you'll run into a resolution that you don't foresee,
but it's certainly pretty unlikely to find anything beyond the known and
common possible resolutions. If you have a user on a 230" plasma TV running
15,360×11,520, I'd be surpised.

Another thing is that you could just use a common include in your two pages
that both execute the functions that return your data, and they should
return the same results. This isn't the most efficient thing to do of
course though.

Ray at work

 

[A. Webmaster]

Good idea about shortening the parms. I didn't thing about this.

Thx.