CUSTOMVAR's on the fly

[jont]

Not so much a problem just a question regarding a CUSTOMVAR.

I have a CUSTOMVAR set up to include a HTML page content. This is set as "Use File Content" ... the CUSTOMVAR is in the Act_Primary so each page shows the contents of the HTML page in a small box. All works fine.

I notice the page loads and the box contents are written with a small delay. Is the File Content written on the fly when the page is accessed or is it compliled by Actinic during the upload proceedure?

Just curious as if written on the fly may be able to utilise this feature in the future.

[NormanRouxel]

HTML doesn't have any sort of INCLUDE statement (I believe) so I think it must be included at compile time. A peek at the page source will confirm this.

[jont]

Thanks Norman - it must just be the last item being loaded on the page to cause the delay

[anthony@sfc]

.html

I agree with Norman.

~~~~~~~~~

If the page is .html, the server won't be doing anything 'on the fly' with it.

It will simply be posting it 'as is' down to your browser.

[jont]

Just realised that part of the page is generated by the CSS and the rest is plain HTML at the bottom of the page hence the delay with the CSS being written first and the rest being "added in" as the rest of the page downloads. Another small mystery sorted

[NormanRouxel]

Just as an aside - you can fudge an on-the-fly HTML include as follows:

Say you want a Message of the Day on every page but don't want to cause every page to be uploaded whenever you change this:

In Act_Primary.html (or wherever) put

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="motd.js" TYPE="text/javascript"></SCRIPT>

and edit the file motd.txt in site 1 to contain

<script language=JavaScript>
<!--
document.write('Today is sunny!');
//-->
</script>

Now just keep motd.js up-to date and the site will include it painlessly.