Web page prep speed

Am starting out with web apps, and I see where kenwebclass.cc is great for
setting up a combobox or listbox for a page.  But I have to set up an option to
pick from over 1000 departments, along with some other smaller comboboxes for
other fields on a single page.  I would think this could take some time for the
server to prepare, delaying the display of the entry web page. 

Do I need to be concerned about this kind of speed issues, or is 1000 items not
that big a deal on most servers (I will be delivering this to my clients and
won’t know much about the speed of their web servers)?  

Would another way to go be to load the entry form, and have a button to select
the dept, which would load another page where a listbox would be populated so
that the initial entry form will load faster?  Is there some otehr way this
might be done to avoid slowing dymanic pages.

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions on this,
Mark

Mark,

1000 listbox options should not be hard to serveup, BUT!! I can't imagine 
that someone would click on a listbox with 1000 choices.  I am not aware of 
a comboBox function in html as we have in dBase where the user can type in a 
partial value to narrow the search.  At most keying in a letter will scroll 
through all choices beginning with that value (ie: pressing 1 repeatedly 
would get this result: 1, 10, 11, 12,...,19, 100, 101, 102,...., 199, 1000 
in a list of numbers)

If the users can narrow the choices by keying in a request, you could then 
display a smaller list of selected choices.

A couple of ways to go about tackling this problem.

1) A simple way to get you started would be to design a couple of sequential 
screens (.html pages), where you guide the user to a more managable list of 
choices. First screen would be a entry field and button where the user 
enters all or a portion of the key for the department list, to narrow list 
of choices.  The second screen would be a limited list of departments based 
on the user's request with a hyperlink to each department listed.  User then 
selects (clicks) the specific department which calls your entry screen 
populated with the correct department and populated listboxes.

2) Another option - You can place a search button on the main screen.  when 
clicked a sub-window opens with a search request (same as above) an entry 
field and submit button.  This calls your search app on the server and 
delivers a select list of choices to the user in the same smaller 
sub-window.  The user clicks on a department and the main window is 
backfilled from the sub-window.

3) Another option would be to use AJAX, where the data is delivered to the 
html page without reloading the page.  Data can be searched and delivered to 
the user's computer while they are typing in information on the form without 
reloading the page.


Can you give some examples of your data to get a better picture of what you 
are trying to accomplish.  Also list some code so we can get a feel for your 
skill level.  It is not useful to post options that cannot be used or 
understood.  It will also enable us to post useful sample code.

Claus 

Claus,

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I have many years of experience with program code, but am just beginning my
first web app.  When I learned how a combobox/listbox is displayed with html,
was concerned this may take a while to display.

My app will allow employees in the field to enter staff info, picking the dept
(sometimes the same dept the employee works in, other times not) and with other
categories in pick lists.  Depts would be the largest list to pick from.  

In the desktop app version, the depts are listed in a combobox alphabetically,
and the correct dept is easy to find by typing the letters to get to the dept. 
I see where a combobox on a web form could only search on the first letter of
the dept.  

My intention is to have the value default to the dept in which the employee
works to start a new record, which will limit the need for an actual search for
a dept in many cases.  

Ajax sounds interesting and useful for some things I have in mind.  Will need to
get my first web app up so that I have a better idea of what I am doing.  

Thanks again.  This was helpful, tho it will be more so as I make my way thru
the tutorials.

Mark

Claus Mygind Wrote:

> Mark,
> 
> 1000 listbox options should not be hard to serveup, BUT!! I can't imagine 
> that someone would click on a listbox with 1000 choices.  I am not aware of

> a comboBox function in html as we have in dBase where the user can type in
a 
> partial value to narrow the search.  At most keying in a letter will scroll

> through all choices beginning with that value (ie: pressing 1 repeatedly 
> would get this result: 1, 10, 11, 12,...,19, 100, 101, 102,...., 199, 1000

> in a list of numbers)
> 
> If the users can narrow the choices by keying in a request, you could then

> display a smaller list of selected choices.
> 
> A couple of ways to go about tackling this problem.
> 
> 1) A simple way to get you started would be to design a couple of
sequential 
> screens (.html pages), where you guide the user to a more managable list of

> choices. First screen would be a entry field and button where the user 
> enters all or a portion of the key for the department list, to narrow list

> of choices.  The second screen would be a limited list of departments based

> on the user's request with a hyperlink to each department listed.  User
then 
> selects (clicks) the specific department which calls your entry screen 
> populated with the correct department and populated listboxes.
> 
> 2) Another option - You can place a search button on the main screen.  when

> clicked a sub-window opens with a search request (same as above) an entry 
> field and submit button.  This calls your search app on the server and 
> delivers a select list of choices to the user in the same smaller 
> sub-window.  The user clicks on a department and the main window is 
> backfilled from the sub-window.
> 
> 3) Another option would be to use AJAX, where the data is delivered to the

> html page without reloading the page.  Data can be searched and delivered
to 
> the user's computer while they are typing in information on the form
without 
> reloading the page.
> 
> 
> Can you give some examples of your data to get a better picture of what you

> are trying to accomplish.  Also list some code so we can get a feel for
your 
> skill level.  It is not useful to post options that cannot be used or 
> understood.  It will also enable us to post useful sample code.
> 
> Claus 
> 
>