Connecting to a database

Introduction#

Classic ASP utilises a technology called ActiveX Data Objects when requiring access to external data sources. The ADODB Library provides three main objects for this purpose, ADODB.Connection, ADODB.Command and the ADODB.Recordset.

Populating a dropdown from the database

(Caveat emptor: there are many, many programmers who go into absolute conniptions if they meet code that uses recordsets instead of commands and stored procedures.)

<%
dim rs, sql
dim SelectedUser
SelectedUser = request.form("user")
if IsNumeric(SelectedUser) then
    SelectedUser = CLng(SelectedUser)
else
    SelectedUser = 0
end if
%>
...
<p>Select a user: <select name="user" size="1">
<%
sql = "SELECT id, displayname FROM users WHERE active = 1 ORDER BY displayname"
set rs = server.createobject("ADODB.Recordset")
rs.open sql,"[connection string stuff goes here]",1,2
do until rs.eof
    response.write "<option value='" & rs("id") & "'"
    if rs("id") = SelectedUser then response.write " selected"
    response.write ">" & rs("displayname") & "</option>" & vbCrLf
    rs.Movenext '<- VERY VERY IMPORTANT!
loop
rs.close
set rs = nothing
%>
</select></p>
...