JavaScript: how to use external files

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As we already know, because we saw it in the past here on the web thought or elsewhere, we can use JavaScript snippet by placing the code in the head and/or the body of our documents.
However, it's good practise to create external JavaScript files, especially when we use standard functions all over our web site.

In this short article, we are going to see how to do it.

jQuery: menu plugin and ideas

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If you want to create menus using jQuery, here is a good list of plugins and ideas to consider.

NavDock jQuery Plugin 1.2
"NavDock is a jQuery plugin that transforms your menu into a dock style menu." 

jQuery.tn34.facets 

jOrbital menu
"Group objects with similar functionality into one button. Save space and give users more interaction. Move your mouse over the share button to see what I mean."

jMenu : Horizontal navigations with unlimited dropdown sub-menus
"Menu is a jQuery plugin that enables us to create horizontal navigations with unlimited sub-menus.
Besides jQuery, it also requires jQuery UI and supports all the effects of this library (like fadeIn or slideDown).
The markup of the menu is pretty clean as it makes use of nested lists.
The look and feel of the output is set in a CSS file so updating it without touching the JS code is possible."

Drop Menu
"With this script you can make nice and interactive drop down menus. The advantage of this script is that it not only gives you the ability to make list drop down menu. You can also use a div as drop down element."

jQuery and CSS3 Awesome Slide Down Box Menu 
"we will create a unique sliding box navigation. The idea is to make a box with the menu item slide out, while a thumbnail pops up. We will also include a submenu box with further links for some of the menu items. The submenu will slide to the left or to the right depending on which menu item we are hovering."

Apple Navigation with CSS3 
"Apple is known for very clean design and if you have been to their website in the last few years you’ve seen their primary navigation. It’s a staple of the apple website and today I wanted to take a crack at recreating the Apple navigation using CSS3 techniques."

CSS: Layers

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We can use CSS to overlap elements on a page. We are talking about putting one element on top of another.
To do so we can define the z-index. Something like:

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam dictum tincidunt turpis vitae rhoncus. Donec massa enim, fringilla nec vestibulum at, congue hendrerit dolor. Integer rutrum volutpat condimentum. In consequat ornare erat, ac condimentum diam molestie ac. Nullam ligula lacus, posuere vel rhoncus at, ullamcorper eget lacus. Etiam non nisi urna. Vivamus elementum orci sed diam rhoncus vitae pharetra dolor commodo. Vestibulum varius cursus orci nec ullamcorper. Curabitur nulla sapien, laoreet eu convallis ac, luctus in tellus.

ASP: CDate

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CDate is an ASP function that converts a valid date and time string to a Date Type value and returns it.

Because of the above we need to use another ASP function in order to be sure to convert a valid date. The function's IsDate.

In the following short post, we are going to see how to use both functions and create a short script that converts a date.

JavaScript: innerHTML

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In the following short post, we are going to take advantage of JavaScript and its innerHTML method.

Every DOM element can be manipulated using JavaScript. With the use of jQuery we can do great things, but if we need to do something more basic, it is probably better to use JavaScript directly, without the help of the aforementioned great library.

We can manipulate any DOM element using its id as selector together with document.getElementById. The advantage is that we can manipulate the inner html part of the element.
Let's see some example.

CSS: visibility: hidden vs display: none

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Writing for the web thought becomes more complicated everyday. It goes down to the fact that I've wrote more than 380 posts since July 2010 and thinking about new things to talk about is getting harder and harder. However, some times a short conversation with a friend or a colleague might ignite a sparkle and might give me new ideas for a short post like the following.

I was in fact talking with a friend when it came to my mind that the difference between visibility and display properties in CSS is some times completely missed. Specifically, the difference between visibility: hidden and display: none.
The point is not that complicated, so in just a few words we are going to see the difference, and we are going to explore when to use visibility instead of display.

SQL: AND vs OR (operators)

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In SQL Server we can use different operators in our queries: AND, OR, LIKE, BETWEEN and so on. In this short post we are going to see AND and OR because I've noticed that some could get confused by the results obtained when using them.

So, let's clear the situation a bit, because we really need to know what we are doing!

ASP: URL Rewrite and IIS7

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Following a kind suggestion by a follower, today we are going to see how to use IIS URL Rewrite 2.0 for IIS 7.

First of all, what's URL Rewrite?

"IIS URL Rewrite 2.0 enables Web administrators to create powerful rules to implement URLs that are easier for users to remember and easier for search engines to find. By using rule templates, rewrite maps, .NET providers, and other functionality integrated into IIS Manager, Web administrators can easily set up rules to define URL rewriting behavior based on HTTP headers, HTTP response or request headers, IIS server variables, and even complex programmatic rules. In addition, Web administrators can perform redirects, send custom responses, or stop HTTP requests based on the logic expressed in the rewrite rules."

Rest assured, we can use it for a classic ASP site as well.
What we need to do is:
1) install URL Rewrite after downloading it from the Ms IIS site;
2) enable ASP.NET role service on IIS 7;
3) write a rule