Using dynamic links

You can add links on dynamic pages to any other pages, dynamic or static. GoLive lets you specify additional behavior for any link page element. You can control several aspects of link behavior. You can bind the text of a link to a content source field so that the text that appears on the page actually comes from a data source. You can bind the destination of a link to a content source field so that, when a viewer clicks the link in a browser, the page shown is specified by a content source field. In addition, you can add link actions to a link. These link actions control which record is viewed on the page to which the link points.

To bind link text to a content source field:

Select the text in the Layout editor, and then in the Dynamic Bindings palette, select the content source and field. When the page is served, the selected text is replaced by the contents of the content source field you selected.

To bind the destination of a link to a content source field:

1. Select the link text.
2. On the Dynamic Bindings palette, set the content source and field, as desired.

The value from the content source is placed directly in the HREF attribute of the link. Thus, the value in the underlying database must be a fully qualified URL (for example, http://www.adobe.com) or a page-relative, unqualified URL (for example, page2.html). The value in the database can also be relative to the site root. If this is the case, select the URL Is Relative to Site Root option. GoLive adjusts the value received from the database by prefixing it with the correct number of ../ entries so that the link goes to the proper page. Using this feature lets you store page paths in the database without having to know the full site URL or the page from which the links originate.

To add a link action to a link on a dynamic page:

1. Select the text or image serving as a link in the Layout Editor.
2. On the Binding Bindings palette, select the Link Action option.
3. Choose a link action from the popup menu:
• Show Details of Current Record to go to a different page of your choosing and displays the current record's details. You must have the identical content source set up on the destination page as on the current page.
• Show Details of Empty Record to go to a different page of your choosing and displays a blank form. You must have the identical content source set up on the destination page as on the current page. This is used to create a blank form for the user to fill in and then add a new record. (See Creating a blank form for adding new records to a database and Creating new records in a database.)
• Show Next Record to redisplay the current page with information for the next record. The HREF in the Inspector is ignored.
• Show Previous Record to redisplay the current page with information for the previous record. The HREF in the Inspector is ignored.
• Show First Record to redisplay the current page with information for the first record. The HREF in the Inspector is ignored.
• Show Last Record to redisplay the current page with information for the last record. The HREF in the Inspector is ignored.

To add URL arguments to a link on a dynamic page:

Note: you cannot add arguments if there is already a Show Next, Show Previous, Show First, or Show Last Record link action in the link.

1. Select the text or image serving as a link in the Layout Editor.
2. In the Inspector, click the right triangle button to the right of the HREF field, and select Edit from the popup menu.
3. Add parameters by typing a name and value in the entry fields, and then click the Add Parameter button.
4. If you want the value part of the field to come from a dynamic content source field, click the triangle next to the value entry area, and select a content source and field.
5. Click OK.

You can add multiple arguments, which can contain either fields from defined content sources, or you can enter text in the value field.

Note: Links to dynamic pages will not work properly when you preview the page within GoLive, use the Show in Browser button, or simply open the page locally as a file in a browser. In order to test the functionality of dynamic page links, the page must be served up live on your Web server and viewed in a browser by typing in its Web address, using the form http://webserver/site/page.asp.