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Text entry is more
difficult than it should be in web applications. The current generation of HTML text controls doesn't include formatting capability available in typical word
processors so things like carriage returns and formatting are not preserved. If you enter HTML tags with your text they will be
observed and your formatting will work but who can remember all those
tags?
ConsenCIS uses a custom control called FreeTextBox to make it easy to add formatted text.
This WYSIWYG editor looks like a word processor but formats your text
as HTML. Nicely integrated as a custom control with a DLL residing in
the .bin directory this text editor has the side benefit of blocking
<script> tags. The builtin spell checker is an added bonus. This control is very popular and we understand
why. A better implementation of this control would be client not server based.
ConsenCIS further exploits the HTML editor by allowing
entry of an unlimited amount of text. It takes a little bit of MS SQL
legerdemain to make this happen, but we do it so you don't have to give
it a thought. By the way you can limit the amount if you prefer.
ConsenCIS text entries are retained. New entries do not write over the
old entries. Instead the old entries are expired and the new entries
become effective when they are posted. Dates and user ids are attached
to the entries. History can be recovered and version changes
reviewed. Administrative cleanup of older entries can be
automated by allowing only "n" old versions, deleting version
older than "n" days, or just deleting anything that's not current on
demand.
A frustrating problem arises if
your session or your authentication ticket expires while you are entering text. If this happens we
don't want to update the database normally but we also don't want to
lose your updates. Our solution so far is pretty good but not up to our standards. When you open an update page we start a timer on your (client) computer. After 15 minutes we pop a "Times Up" message onto the screen. When this message appears you have five minutes to save.
The spell checker suggests another effective solution. If your session
expires and you request a spell check, the system opens your login
screen in a pop up window. You login and then the spell check proceeds.
Why not do the same when you select the save function? We are looking into this possibility.
If you want to use a client based text editor like MS Word to create
your text then post it into the site, go ahead. It works but there are some caveats. We still have some work to do to
cleanup up the hugh number of tags Word includes when it generates HTML. A good tag cleaner would be useful.
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