Content based on page time of day...
David Thelwall
I wanted to create a page whereby it would present a different image
(and perhaps play different midi file) based upon the server's local
time of day, e.g. it would show a night scene (colours, etc.) for
night and lighter, blue seascape for daytime. I wanted to have a
central frame which would contain an HTML page based upon certain
criteria, say via a CGI script from the server or something (perhaps
Java?).
Does anyone know how this might be done? My knowledge of HTML is
sufficiently limited that I would not quite know where to start. This
sort of technique may not be friendly to all browsers, I'm really just
doing it as an exercise to expunge that annoying "I wonder if this can
be done" idea in my head.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Eric Buckley
David Thelwall wrote:
>
> I wanted to create a page whereby it would present a different image
> (and perhaps play different midi file) based upon the server's local
> time of day, e.g. it would show a night scene (colours, etc.) for
> night and lighter, blue seascape for daytime. I wanted to have a
> central frame which would contain an HTML page based upon certain
> criteria, say via a CGI script from the server or something (perhaps
> Java?).
Probably your best bet is to use a cgi to generate the HTML on the fly.
This is fairly straight forward and comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi
is a good place to find out more. Basically you just write a program or
script that sends your HTML to standard output.
Java would also work, but if your new to all this...
Another possibility, if you just want to change what your links point
to, would be to schedule a job on the server that renames your
destination files at certain times of the day. The implementation of
this will depend on what server you're on, but it's fairly trivial if
the server admin will let you do it.
> Thanks
FWIW
________________________
Eric Buckley
Comsys Millenium Services
eMail: eric.b...@edwardjones.com
Standard disclaimer - I speak for myself and nobody else.
Decklin Foster
>> I wanted to create a page whereby it would present a different image
>> (and perhaps play different midi file) based upon the server's local
>> time of day, e.g. it would show a night scene (colours, etc.) for
>> night and lighter, blue seascape for daytime.
Just to throw the neccecary wrench in here.... What happens if the reader is
halfway around the world and gets the exact opposite of his/her time zone?
>> I wanted to have a central frame [...]
Read: the only useful frame, meaning the rest are useless, etc...
>Java would also work, but if your new to all this...
No way. The CGI answer was definetly right.
Thoughts on the CGI...
It would probably easiest to set up two diffrent sites and simply have the CGI
redirect, instead of contantly look for the bits you need to change. However,
this method would mean a person who bookmarks the site will always get the
same version. Hmm.
--
i'm a student of the drums, but i'm also a teacher.
http://nil.home.ml.org/