7 

The Config System 

This is the  junction box  of the whole system and contains most of the 

switches to configure the commonly used elements of CactuShop. In v3 and 

prior versions, the 

config.asp

 file was a list of constants and settings that 

controlled many elements of the store. Since v4, this has been largely 

replaced by a databased application variable system using the 

tblCactuShopConfig

 table to store the default settings. The database 

connection string still needs to be set in the 

config.asp

 file, but once this is in 

place, most other settings can be changed online from the back end. 

7.1 Basic 

Operation 

The config settings are stored in server memory, using `application variables'. 

These values are created by the 

config.asp

 file if it cannot find existing ones 

in memory, or if a page tells the config settings to be rebuilt from those 

stored in the database. Application variables are shared across all pages and 

users of the application. Only one instance of each is stored in memory. 

Although similar in nature to session variables, application variables do not 

time out and do not hog huge amounts of server memory when the site is 

busy since all users share the same single set of variables. 

It is important to understand that CactuShop uses the config settings that are 

stored in the server's memory; it does not check the database each time a 

page is generated. If you change the config settings values in the database 

using Enterprise Manager (for an SQL site) or upload a new Access database 

to an existing site, the site may start to error because it is still using the old 

copies of the config settings that it had in memory. For information in dealing 

with problems caused by this, see Error! Reference source not found.  

7.2 

The License Number 

Each copy of CactuShop has a unique license number that must be present for 

any site using the software on the web. Each license number may only be 

used for one site. The part of the code that builds the license number into the 

page HTML may not be removed. Please see the terms and conditions if in 

doubt. The license number should be entered into the space provided within 

the 

config.asp

 file. 

7.3 Database 

Connection 

7.3.1 

Hard coded connection values 

The settings relating to CactuShop's connection with the database need to be 

set up in the 

config.asp

 file. These are coded into the script rather than in the 

database The settings are as follows: 

7.3.1.1 strDBtype 

This can be  access  for MS Access,  mssql  for MS SQL Server or  mysql  for 

the open source MySql database. This setting controls the syntax used in 

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