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WS Editor Online Database Editor

General Information

Accessing WS Editor

Configure Setup File Filenames

Converting tab-delimited Excel © Spreadsheets

Conversion Options

Backup Filename Conventions

General Information

WS Editor, ws_editor.cgi, is a perl script for UNIX systems which allows you to edit flatfile databases over the Internet using a web browser.

Fields in each record (row) are separated by a single | (pipe) character. The pipe character can not be used as text in any field.

The database record structure is defined in %FIELDS of a WS Editor setup file. The first field of each record is referenced as Field 0 (zero).

Comment lines may be included in the database, beginning with COMMENT: in column one.

Example COMMENT line:

COMMENT: Field 0 | Field 1 | Field 2 | Field 3 | Field 4 | Field 5 | Field 6 | Field 7 | Id

COMMENT: tags are case sensitive in WS Editor. Sort and Group functions in WS Editor will remove commented lines beginning with uppercase COMMENT:. Any combination of lowercase characters in CoMmEnT: tags are not recognized as commented lines by WS Editor.

If you use WS Editor to maintain more than one database, each database must have a unique setup file defining the database filename in $data_file and the database record structure in %FIELDS.

If the filename(s) of additional WS Editor setup files ends in _editor.setup, WS Editor will print a drop down select element listing these setup files on it's front page and sort page, allowing you to switch between databases. Filenames may be configured to display the setup file filename, the current database filename, or as a phrase in the drop down select.

To easily determine which database you are working with, each WS Editor setup file could define a different document color scheme in $bgcolor or $background, $header_bkg_clr, and $header_fnt_clr.

WS Editor prints the current database filename in table headers.

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Accessing WS Editor

http://www.YourDomain.xxx/AnyDirectories/ws_editor.cgi
WS Editor will require the setup file defined in $default_setup_file, located in the DEFINE VARIABLES section at the top of ws_editor.cgi:

COMMENT:	Field 0	\|	Field 1	\|	Field 2	\|	Field 3	\|	Field 4	\|	Field 5	\|	Field 6	\|	Field 7	\|	Id

$default_setup_file = 'outlet_editor.setup';

WS Editor adds .setup to the filename listed in $default_setup_file and the filename defined in setup= in query strings if the filename does not end in .setup.

Online Demo: No Query String
Requires outlet_editor.setup, defined in $default_setup_file.

Online Demo: ?setup=Resellers.data~Name_editor
Requires Resellers.data~Name_editor.setup.

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Configure Setup File Filenames

WS Editor will print a drop down select element listing setup files ending in _editor.setup. A minimum of two setup files is required.

Filenames may be configured to display database filenames or a phrase in the drop down select element.

When WS Editor detects more than one . (dot), _ (underscore), or a ~ (tilde) in the filename, _editor.setup is removed from the filename and the remaining portion of the filename is translated for display using the following character substitutions:

_ (underscore)  converted to  single space
~ (tilde)       converted to  " sort by "

Multiple WS Editor setup files may be configured for the reseller's database, Resellers.data, with a different primary sort field defined in $category_fld_num of each setup file, associating each file's filename with the name of the primary sort field defined in the file.

NOTE:
$category_fld_num in outlet_editor.setup must match $category_fld_num in outlet.setup. WebStore's product database must always be sorted by the field defined in $category_fld_num in outlet.setup.

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Converting tab-delimited Excel © Spreadsheets

WS Editor will convert tab-delimited spreadsheets, with or without " (double-quote) text quantifiers, to WebStore's | (pipe) delimited format.

WS Editor's internally defined file extension for tab-delimited spreadsheets is .txt. The spreadsheet's filename is constucted by appending .txt to the database filename defined in $data_file in outlet_editor.setup:

outlet.data.txt

Upload outlet.data.txt to the /Databases sub-directory as an ASCII text file.

Line termination characters will be corrected at the time of conversion if you upload this file in BINARY mode. Records merged into the existing database are corrected. The contents of the original spreadsheet are never altered.

WS Editor checks for the presence of the database's spreadsheet, outlet.data.txt, on each script process. When a spreadsheet is detected with a byte count greater than zero, WS Editor immediately switches to it's spreadsheet conversion page and remains locked on this page until a conversion option is submitted, converting or deleting the spreadsheet from the /Databases sub-directory.

Spreadsheets with a byte count equal to zero are ignored by WS Editor.

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Spreadsheet Conversion Options:

The following options are listed on WS Editor's spreadsheet conversion page:

Merge records in outlet.data and outlet.data.txt

Group/Add Maintain existing Item Id's in outlet.data

Group/Remove Maintain existing Item Id's in outlet.data

Sort/Add Assign sequential Item Id's in outlet.data

Sort/Remove Assign sequential Item Id's in outlet.data

Replace records in outlet.data with outlet.data.txt

Sort/Add Assign sequential Item Id's in outlet.data

Sort/Remove Assign sequential Item Id's in outlet.data

File Options

Backup original outlet.data and outlet.data.txt
Example backup filename: outlet.19990907.093025AM.data

Delete outlet.data.txt - Do not merge or replace files
No backup files created

Id numbers present in the spreadsheet are always discarded.

Group/Add and Group/Remove functions maintain the existing database id numbers present in outlet.data, sorts the records according to the ascending/descending selections for the primary and secondary sort fields, and assigns id numbers to merged records from the spreadsheet beginning with the largest id number found in outlet.data, plus 1.

Sort/Add and Sort/Remove functions remove the existing database id numbers present in outlet.data, sorts the records according to the ascending/descending selections for the primary and secondary sort fields, and assigns sequential id numbers, beginning with 1.

Group/Add and Sort/Add functions add COMMENT: Category Name category headers for each category present in the database. Double spacing is added between each category grouping in the database.

Group/Remove and Sort/Remove functions remove all COMMENT: Category Name category headers detected in the database. Double spacing is removed from the database.

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Backup Filename Conventions:

The backup filenames for the original database and spreadsheet are constructed by inserting the date and time of conversion into each filename using the following format:

outlet.19990907.093025AM.data
outlet.19990907.093025AM.data.txt

1999 - Year     09 - Hour
  09 - Month    30 - Minutes
  07 - Day      25 - Seconds
                AM - AM/PM

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Drop down select for filenames below:
outlet_editor.setup Resellers.data.txt_editor.setup Resellers.data~E-mail_Address_editor.setup Resellers.data~Name_editor.setup Resellers.data~Reseller_Code_editor.setup

WS Editor Online Database Editor