NetForms User's Guide: Recent Articles List
Allowing users to retrieve a list of articles that have been recently added to the
server is a key feature of NetForms. It is also one of the easier functions to
implement for the server administrator.
First, use the RecentList FDML directive to add articles to the internal database of
recently added articles. See the "NetForms Directives" section for details.
To access this database, you use the "RECENT" command in the URL of a hypertext link.
"RECENT" links can be used on any page on your server. There are two forms of the
command:
- "/NetForms.acgi$RECENT" - Specifying this URL will display for the user a
list of the documents since the last time that user accessed the list. What really
happens is this: when the user clicks on the link to "/NetForms.acgi$RECENT", NetForms
will look in an internal database for the user's machine address. Once this is found,
the time and date of their last access is retrieved and compared with the "Recent
Articles List". Those documents that have a later time stamp than the user's last
access will be displayed in the list. Finally, the user's last access time is updated
with the current time.
- "/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_MIN" - This version of the Replace command allows
you to specify a time frame for what is considered a recent article. Replace "MIN"
with a number of minutes. For example, "/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_60" would show the user
articles added in the past hour. "/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_1440" would show the user
articles that are less than a day (1440 minutes) old. You might need to do some
multiplication to get the time frame you want (perhaps a week, or 10080 minutes) but
specifying the time in minutes allows a great deal of control on your part.
Here is an example that should make use of the "RECENT" command clear. A section like
this might be found on your server's Home Page:
Click on one of these link to view articles entered...
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="/NetForms.acgi$RECENT">since I last checked</A>
<LI><A HREF="/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_60">in the Last Hour</A>
<LI><A HREF="/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_480">in the Last 8 Hours</A>
<LI><A HREF="/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_1440">in the Last Day</A>
<LI><A HREF="/NetForms.acgi$RECENT_4320">in the Last 3 Days</A>
</UL>
Please note that the "RECENT" command is case sensitive. (This makes it less likely to be confused with the name of a document.)
NetForms (C) 1994 by Maxum Development Corp.
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