CodeSOD: Classic architecture

Back in the old days, when Classic ASP was just ASP, there were a surprising number of intranet applications built into it. Because ASP code ran on the server, you often needed JavaScript to run on the client side, so many applications would mix double-generated JavaScript from ASP. This led to a large number of domestic frames that were wobbly at best.

Few years ago, Melinda inherited one such application from a third-party vendor.

<script type='text/javascript' language="JavaScript">

    var NoOffFirstLineMenus=3;                      // Number of first level items
    function BeforeStart()return;
    function AfterBuild()return;
    function BeforeFirstOpen()return;
    function AfterCloseAll()return;

    // Menu tree

<% If Session("SubSystem") = "IndexSearch" Then %>

    <% If Session("ReturnURL") = "" Then %>
        Menu1=new Array("Logoff","default.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Logoff");
    <% else %>
        Menu1=new Array("<%=session("returnalt")%>","returnredirect.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Return to Application");
        <% end if %>
        Menu2=new Array("Menu","Menu.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Menu");
        Menu3=new Array("Back","","",5,20,40,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Back to Previous Pages");
        Menu3_1=new Array("<%= Session("sptitle") %>",<% If OWFeatureExcluded(Session("UserID"),"Web Index Search","SYSTEM","","")Then %>"","",0,20,130,"#33FFCC","#33FFCC","#C0C0C0","#C0C0C0","","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","<%= Session("sptitle") %>"); <% Else %>"SelectStorage.asp","",0,20,130,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","<%= Session("sptitle") %>");
    <% End If %>
    Menu3_2=new Array("Indexes","IndexRedirect.asp?<%= Session("ReturnQueryString")%>","",0,20,95,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Enter Index Search Criteria");
    Menu3_3=new Array("Document List","DocumentList.asp?<%= Session("ReturnQueryString")%>","",0,20,130,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Current Document List");
    Menu3_4=new Array("Document Detail",<% If OWFeatureExcluded(Session("UserID"),"Web Document Detail",Documents.Fields.Item("StoragePlace").Value,"","") Then %>"","",0,20,135,"#33FFCC","#33FFCC","#C0C0C0","#C0C0C0","","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Document Details"); <% Else %>"DetailPage.asp?CounterKey=<%= Request.QueryString("CounterKey") %>","",0,20,135,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Document Details");<% End If %>
    Menu3_5=new Array("Comments","Annotations.asp?CounterKey=<%= Request.QueryString("CounterKey") %>","",0,20,70,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Document Comments");

<% Else %>

    <% If Session("ReturnURL") = "" Then %>
        Menu1=new Array("Logoff","default.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Logoff");
    <% else %>
    Menu1=new Array("<%=session("returnalt")%>","returnredirect.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Return to Application");
    <% end if %>
    Menu2=new Array("Menu","Menu.asp","",0,20,100,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Menu");
    Menu3=new Array("Back","","",3,20,40,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Back to Previous Pages");
    Menu3_1=new Array("Document List","SearchDocumentList.asp?<%= Session("ReturnQueryString") %>","",0,20,130,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Current Document List");
    Menu3_2=new Array("Document Detail","DetailPage.asp?CounterKey=<%= Request.QueryString("CounterKey") %>","",0,20,135,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Document Details");
    Menu3_3=new Array("Comments","Annotations.asp?CounterKey=<%= Request.QueryString("CounterKey") %>","",0,20,70,"","","","","","",-1,-1,-1,"","Document Comments");

<% End If %>

</script>

Here the ASP code just provides some conditions – we check the session variables and emit some different JavaScript based on them. Or sometimes the same JavaScript, just to keep us on our toes.

The real magic is that this is not the code that actually displays the menu items, this is just where they are defined, and instead of using objects in JavaScript, we just use strings – label, URL, colors and many other parameters that control the UI elements they’re just put in an array, unlabeled. And there are additional ones if statements, built right into the code, that help guarantee that you can’t actually debug this, because you can’t understand what it actually does without actually sitting down and spending time with it.

Of course, this app is long dead. But for Melinda, the memory lives on.