CGI Variables in a CSS Document

04/14/2003 02:10 PM by Chris Toohey

I responded to a posting in LDD regarding CGI Variables in a CSS document.
This article describes how I was able to make a "real" CSS from a Form element containing CGI Variable fields.

When setting a form to "Treat contents like HTML", you cannot include domino fields in the form. Doing so will result in the following error:

Error 500

HTTP Web Server: Application Exception - Documents treated as HTML cannot be edited

If I wanted to put, say Remote_Addr (a CGI variable which, when computed to itself, will provide a user's IP address) into a such a form, I would need to either create the field with HTML ("ok" way of getting around it I suppose - but not what I had in mind) which may still not work or find a way to *fool* Domino server into thinking that it wasn't really serving up a form.

... then I thought of it!

First thing's first, I need to give credit to the site who sorta "inspired" this solution. If I could do this for a home page (like I've done here), why can't I do this for a form that's going to act like a CSS document?!?

So I created a completely blank navigator called "name.css". Then I created a form called "$$NavigatorTemplate for name.css", which I set to "Treat contents as HTML" and included a computed for display hidden field called "Remote_Addr" (computed to itself).
Next, I basically started building the CSS:

A:LINK, A:ACTIVE, A:VISITED {
color: BLACK;
text-decoration: NONE;
}
A:HOVER {
color: #8B0000;
text-decoration : underline;
}
.hWork{

}

... and now for that computed text...

workList := "127.0.0.1";
@If(
@IsMember( Remote_Addr ; worklist );
"display: none;";
"")

... And there you have it!.

Now, I used the CSS sheet named name.css like I would normally use a CSS sheet in Domino: Add a field called $$HTMLHead or add to the HTML Head Content section the following code -
version := "main";

db := @ReplaceSubstring( @Subset( @DbName; -1); "\\"; "/");
"<link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\"/"+ db +"/"+ version +".css\">"

Now this opened the name.css (which is a blank navigator) using the $$NavigatorTemplate for name.css (which actually contains the CSS and the CGI variable) as a mask - returning:
A:LINK, A:ACTIVE, A:VISITED { color: BLACK; text-decoration: NONE; } A:HOVER { color: #8B0000; text-decoration : underline; } TR { color:BLUE; font-family: "MS-Sans Serif"; font-size: 8pt; } .hWork{display: none;}
(hey, I tested this on my local machine...)

With this, I can now "hide" sections of my application based on reffering URLs, user IP addresses, and all other CGI Variable triggers! By using a blank navigator and a $$NavigatorTemplate, I was able to *hack* a fix as well as open up a world of possibilities!!!