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ASP Overview - Application Object

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Application Object
The Application Object is used to store information once that can shared across all the users of the application simultaneously. An example of this use is database logins, common directories, and short bits of information that are common to all users.

An example use of the Application Object is to store a web address that is commonly used throughout the web application. For example, if you were developing an application and several times in your application you needed to code in the web address to send users back to your home or main page. When developing this application the address might be one thing, and when the application is moved from the development to the production environment the main page web address will likely change. The best way to do this would be to store this bit of information in an Application variable that is set in one place and called in several. This way when it needs to be changed, it is changed in one place and not the dozens of places where you called it.

Here is an example of how to set an Application variable:

Application("myvar") = "http://www.mywebsite.com/dev/index.htm"

In the above code we set an Application variable that can later be called by simply printing it out where we need it like so:

<A HREF="<%=Application("myvar")%>">Home Page</A>

The = sign is a shortcut to Response.Write and can only be used when you supply the <% and %> around it. The code above prints our the value of the Application variable in the a href spot so that when you click on "Home Page" it takes you to wherever the Application variable specifies.

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