Form Issue Still

[Tom Robb]

We have gone back and forth regarding this form issue. I
copied and pasted the info I originally submitted and all
other comments are in order from the bottom up.

Here is my newest issue. I tried removing the constraint
validations from the form with the exception of required
fields, had the same user submit a new form and still
nothing is coming through. The Access database was
created by Front Page when I originally set the form up.
I went into the Table - Design View in Access and all of
the form fields the data is dumped into are text fields
in Access.

The user has Internet Explorer V5.00.2614.3500, Microsoft
Windows 98 2nd Edition, 4.10.2222A.

I have had no other issues with any other user submitting
information (that I am aware of). Do you have any other
suggestions?

I don't want to give the URL of this form as it is only
given to specific users, but I would be willing to give
it to you if you could call me or give me a call back
number.

Thanks in advance.

Tom


Subject: Re: Form Issue
From: "Kevin Spencer" <[email protected]> Sent:
12/1/2003 1:54:19 PM




Hi Tom,

The date field may be indeed the problem. A database can
only recognize a
limited number of date formats, and your Date validation
is not going to cut
it. For example, a user could type in 2003/01/12, which
would certainly
cause an error. Or a user could type in "December 1" and
pass your
validation test, but cause an error with the database.

What do you mean when you say "a string doesn't
get entered into a column to hold numbers, or a date is
formatted correctly
prior to doing the insert of the form data"

Databases store data in different formats. Text data is
stored as strings,
which means that any text field isn't going to cause a
problem. Even an
empty field will submit an empty string, which is still a
string. However,
numeric data is not stored as a string. It is stored as a
binary number. And
the database will not allow any non-numeric data into the
field. So, for
example, if you had a numeric column in your table, and
the form field was
left blank, well, of course, blank is not a number. Or if
you entered a
character in instead of a number, well, you follow. Dates
are stored
internally as numbers. But again, the database can
recognize a number of
date string formats, and the string you enter in for a
date must match one
of the recognized formats or the database will not know
what the date is,
and will throw an error.

Solutions for entering date data into a database vary,
from using
JavaScripty regular expressions for date validation to
using drop-down list
boxes, so that the user can only enter the correct data,
and having the
server-side code parse the data in them into a valid date
string.

At any rate, I would suspect that bad data entry is what
is causing your
intermittent problem.

--
Kevin Spencer
...Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

message

I sent the original message on the bottom and you replied
with the below message. The only validation that I have
is to insert 10 characters into the date field, text
only, digits, and other I indicated a "/" can also be
entered.

I also required that they submit their name and I didn't
put any constraints on that field, simply that they need
to put a value there.


Could this be the problem? If the user inserts some
value in a field that is not appropriate, would they not
get a warning message to fix it first or at least get an
error message when they try to hit submit?

What do you mean when you say "a string doesn't
get entered into a column to hold numbers, or a date is
formatted correctly
prior to doing the insert of the form data"

Tom

Chances are, it's not the browser. I would guess that it
has something to do
with the database insert that is performed going badly.
What kind of form
validation are you doing to make sure that, for example,
a string doesn't
get entered into a column to hold numbers, or a date is
formatted correctly
prior to doing the insert of the form data?

--
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.




.

..

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I would suggest finding out exactly what this user is putting into the form
before proceeding any further. That should speed up the diagnostic process.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

 

[Tom Robb]

She is entering the same type of data the other 75-100
users are entering but the data is not coming through.

This particular user has sent me copies of the
confirmation page and it does not appear that it is any
different from any others.

Please give me some direction as to why this may be
happening. Have I found a bug?

Thanks,
Tom

PS Again, I can give you the URL if need be, so if I can
obtain a phone number or you can e-mail me, that would be
wonderful, but just let me know.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

"the same type of data" is not "exactly what this user is putting into the
form." That is what I suggest you find out.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.