Downloading Data saved to a text file from a form

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Guest

I want our web developer to start saving data to a text file, instead of
sending it to an email so that I can collect personal information. She is
going to give me access to the file. My question is: Can I rename the text
file and download it each time (once a week), so that I'll have a data file
with new info each time? Will the form handler just create a new file, if it
doesn't find one there?

Also, do I FTP the file down or what program do I use to get the data file
down to my PC?

If I can't rename and download, how do I make sure I'm working with newly
saved data each time. I don't want a huge text file that I have to go through
and figure out what's already been entered, and what hasn't. (I want to
import the data into my database.)

Thanks,

Carrie
 
You can ftp into your site using your browser.
Open it in IE, using ftp://websitename.com
Then in the browser, click File > Log in As and enter the user name and password.
When the site opens ( it will be in folder view ) open the _private folder, right click on the file and drag it to your
desktop. Release the mouse and click Copy here when prompted.

After it is done copying to your desktop, rename it.

--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
FP Cleaner
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm
Hit Me FP
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/HitMeFP.htm
 
FYI: Some web host must not allow FTP access with FP extensions installed and/or they may assign a
different login for use with FTP.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage

http://www.Ecom-Data.com
==============================================
 
Try logging onto the live site with FrontPage, navigate to the folder with
the file you need and then copy it to your local machine. Either copy/paste
or download it.
Larry
 
Use FrontPage to open the remote site. As others have said you can grab
the results file from the _private folder.
I suggest you keep an empty copy of the results file, with a different
name.
Rename the results file, then copy the empty file and rename the copy to
replace the results file. FrontPage extensions will usually will
re-create the results file, but sometimes don't - hence keeping the
empty copy.
The completed results file can be exported to a folder on your PC
(File->Export)
 
If I download using Front Page, is the data secure? I was hoping to FTP it
down with WS_FTP Pro as I don't have Front Page. (Our host will an FTP
account for me. ) Only the developer has Front Page at this point.

Also, is this the "best practice" method for getting data from a file -
downloading, renaming and copying the empty file over? What do most people do?

Thanks,

Carrie
 
Where they can, most people would use a database for storing the data,
and use either FrontPage or FTP to transfer a copy of the database to
their desktop. A database, when suitably constructed, will make it easy
to distinguish between old and new records without worrying about
deleting any (until the database gets large enough to be unmanageable).

For small amounts of data stored in a text file, FrontPage and FTP are
as secure as each other - if security is essential then a database is a
must, either mySQL or MS SQL for preference.

You can use FTP to download and rename the files, as long as you do not
touch any other files with the FTP client - doing so may corrupt the FP
extensions.
--
Ron Symonds - Microsoft MVP (FrontPage)
Reply only to group - emails will be deleted unread.
FrontPage Support: http://www.frontpagemvps.com/
http://www.rxs-enterprises.org/fp
 
I have an Access database. I was going to import the text file into my access
database. Even with Access, I didn't want to keep getting the whole file each
time (as opposed to just the new stuff) because I have to then remove the
duplicates through a query which is time consuming. At some point, don't I
have to refresh the file so it doesn't get too huge anyway?

Also, I was wondering, if I'm only allowed access to the _private folder,
can I do a lot of damage if I touch other files, by mistake? I'm assuming the
other files in there are not critical files, am I correct? My web developer
is nervous about that and I was hoping that being isolated to the _private
folder would ease her mind. Please let me know. This has been very helpful.
Thanks.
 
If your site is hosted on a Windows IIS web host, then you should consider storing the form data
directly in the Access database using the FP database components.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage

http://www.Ecom-Data.com
==============================================
 
I know but our webmaster doesn't provide database service. Hence, I'm stuck
downloading and importing. Is that the best practice? Are there critical
files I can mess up in he _private folder?
 
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