Parsing an XML file from classic ASP
Part of an application I work on derives some of its configuration from the contents of a global.asa file, with configuration hard-coded. I've been looking at ways of separating the configuration out to make it easier to maintain and to understand. Using a simple structure of:
<config>
<settingname1>SettingValue</settingname1>
<settingname2>SettingValue</settingname2>
<settingname3>SettingValue</settingname3>
</config>
for the XML, and storing it in a file called "config.xml" with the appropriate permissions, obviously! I can then use the following code from ASP to parse this file and place the resultant information into the ASP Application object ready for use within any page:
Sub ReadAndParseXMLConfiguration()
' Called in Application_OnStart
Dim oXmlDocument
Set oXmlDocument = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM")
oXmlDocument.Load(Server.MapPath("config.xml")) If oXmlDocument.parseError.errorcode <> 0 Then
Err.Raise oXmlDocument.parseError.errorcode, ,oXmlDocument.parseError.reason
End If
Dim oXmlNode
For Each oXmlNode in oXmlDocument.documentElement.childNodes
Application(oXmlNode.NodeName) = oXmlNode.Text
Next
End Sub
I've managed to reduce the size of the global.asa, make it easier for non-developers to change configuration settings. Now all I've got to do is get the code change agreed!