First you need to have all the components of your new website ready, these are:
1) Database
2) Template
3) Output folder
4) APG

1) Database
The database has to be named for the ODBC link to work.
Using Windows 95:
From control panel go to 32bit ODBC
From user DSN select Add
From Select New Datasource select relevant database driver, ie Access
Enter Data Source Name
Select Database
Click OK
This name (case sensitive) must be entered as the APG datasource name.

A database field must be dedicated for the filenames. Each entry will then be the name of the generated file; you not need to add .html as this is automatic. Do not have spaces in the filename or any field name and use lower case characters throughout. Now ensure that that the APG recordname is the same as this fieldname.

2) HTML template
Use your editor to design layout, style, colours and, when finished, add the active content fields in the format , ie <!--#heading-->
These must be identical in spelling and case to the database fields. APG will substitute the entries for each database field into the tags on the out put files.

3) Output Folder
Choose an output folder for your generated files, this can be the same as your template files.

4) APG
Configure APG to locate the relative paths to the database, template and output folder using the browse function.

Press the build button and watch APG build your pages. The Status bar shows the progress and the results will appear in the box.

Saving your files. APG files are not transferable, they only contain the relative paths to enable you to revisit a project to make amendments and will be specific to your PC. Due to APG's design, release 2.0 will not recognise version 1.0 files.

Samples
Sample databases and templates will be available to download:
Sample DB and Template to try out after installing APG.

Setting a Datasource The database has to be named for the ODBC link to work. Using Windows 95 From control panel go to 32bit ODBC From user DSN select add From Select new datasource select relevant database driver, ie Access Enter data source name Select database Click OK

Connecting to Database When connecting to a database, you need to issue various parameters. The most important parameter is the Datasource Name. Set this to the same name you entered when you created a DSN in 32bit ODBC. You may also need to enter a username and password in the advanced box on the output page. If you are unsure, contact your database administrator.

File Extension formats

APG can output files in the following formats htm/html/txt. Simply enter your preference.

Index Mode: Takes a header and footer then sandwiches a code fragment between them. the code fragment is repeated for every record that the SQL query returns

SQL Query APG 2.0 enables SQL queries to be made from the database. This can be useful for selective generation of pages. The most common application is to create HTML pages for all database entries. This is the default and all you need to do is enter the tablename as follows: SELECT * FROM [tablename] For more advanced and selective SQL commands please refer to specialist web sites such as: Introduction to Structured Query Language
Note, the SQL Query you enter must pass back a recordset

About

Alma Page Generator is is product of:
Alma Internet Publishing Limited
Bridge House
181 Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4DD