Variable Replacement in .asp file

FinalBuilder Discussion
1

Is there a way to replace variables within a .asp file?  The problem I'm having is that the file starts with <% and ends with %> so FB tries to replace the variables, it tries to replace everything between the %.

I've been able to get this to work using Text replacement, but it seems there should be a way to use variable replacement.

thanks

2

Hi Valeri,

Thanks for your post. You’re correct that the % signs cause problems.

The best way to correct this is to escape the individual % signs as %%. Then FinalBuilder will expand these to %, and will expand any other variable references normally.

Regards,

Angus

3

I"m a little confused by that…i have an asp files that I only want to have 1 % sign - if I add two then the file doesn’t function.

Even with .NET - if I want to iterate through all the files to replace all the variables then this:
<%@ Page Language=“C#” MasterPageFile="~/_master/web.master" AutoEventWireup=“true” CodeFile=“auto_schedule.aspx.cs” Inherits=“auto_schedule” Title=“Schedule Preference” %>

will cause problems. I can’t escape the % because then the page won’t work.

Does that make sense? What is the suggested method of variable replacement in this instance?

Thanks,
Valeri

4

Hi Valeri,

Thanks for the reply. If you escape the variables as %% in the Original file, then after you do the “Replace Variables” then they will all be single % signs, and any variables (ie %MyFinalBuilderVariable%) will be replaced with their values.

So you can use the file with %%s as the “before” file, and the %s as the “after” file.

Is this OK for you? Or do you need the “before” file to be valid .asp as well?

- Angus

5

No.

What I"m saying is I have a .asp file with something like this:

<%
'create connection
Dim objConn
Set objConn= Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
objConn.Open = "DSN=DSNName; UID=UserId;PWD=%password%;"
%>

 

So when I try to replace %password% it tries to replace what's between the <% and %> because it thinks the % start variables.

Does that make sense?

I can't do:

<%%
'create connection
Dim objConn
Set objConn= Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
objConn.Open = "DSN=DSNName; UID=UserId;PWD=%password%;"
%%>

Because that will neither be a valid file before OR after the variable replacement. But yes, it needs to be valid both before AND after the replacement (simply with the wrong password).

Is there a way for Final Builder to ignore the % if preceeded by a < or follwed by a >?

 

6

Hi Valeri,

Thanks for clarifying. This is a tricky thing to work around, for the reasons I outlined earlier (FinalBuilder can’t tell the difference between one % sign and another without escaping.)

If you only need to replace a handful of variables then I would recommend using a different syntax and search for the values specifically.

ie

objConn.Open = “DSN=DSNName; UID=UserId;PWD=#password#;”

… then use a Text Replace action with search text “#password#” and replace text “%password%”.

You can repeat this for any other variables you’re using in your .asp file.

Will that solve the problem?

Regards,

Angus