Simple Standard Message Screen

[rdflesher]

I wanted to create a simple dynamic page that is fed from an Excel spreadsheet. This page would be part of our standard loop in certain areas that could provide quick messages. I didn't want each dynamic page to look exactly the same as it transitioned, so I created 6 different layouts that structurely are identical but are different colors, like below:



My spreadsheet will allow up to 4 messages. Each message can have a Title, 3 lines of 30 char text, a start and expire date, as well as allow the user to select the color of the layout. See below:



I layed out the elements on the page, including the background image, as database elements and used the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM [Messages$] where "ExpireDate"-Date() > 0 and "StartDate"-Date() < 0

The images for the layout are all named layout-[1:5].jpg where the [1:5] is fed from the spreadsheet depending on which color they choose from a bounce bar list. (layout-pink.jpg, layout-blue.jpg, etc.)

Everything works great !

BUT, I wanted a fall-back full screen image in case all messages had expired - in other words, when the SELECT returns nothing. A little corporate eye-candy, so a blank screen wasn't displayed. I have that image full screen and defined it as /......./employee-brand[1:5].jpg. When the SELECT statement returns rows, this image fails and displays nothing - perfect. But I expected when the SELECT statement returns nothing, for the image to display because the [1:5] would be null - employee-brand.jpg. It doesn't.

Any ideas on how to make this last step work? I'm close but no cigar.

[Trent S]

Hello rdflesher,

Thank you for the post!

It sounds like the way you have it set up should be functioning, but there are a number of things that could be preventing your image from displaying. The first few things I would like for you to confirm are:

1. Is that fall-back full screen image sitting on top of the layer stack?
2. Is the select statement for that image equal to the select statement found elsewhere in your project?
3. Is the image a JPEG file and stored in the exact folder location that you are pointing to in the project?

Kind Regards,

[rdflesher]

Yes on all three of your questions. I did a little more investigation. When SELECT returns a row, the [1:5] is replaced by the contents of the column. But when it returns no rows, the resulting file name has is "employee-brand[1:5].jpg". It doesn't replace the [1:5] with a null.

[Trent S]

Hello rdflesher,

Just a quick update -

We are trying to recreate this scenario here at our office. If we are unable to do so, we may request that you send your project file / example database to us to test.

I will keep you posted.

Kind Regards,

[nehakakar]

With regards to the issue of the fall back full screen image not displaying when SELECT statement returns zero, what actions have you taken as part of trouble shooting so far?