Global Alert Design

[Gamera99]

I am building an intranet site using Interdev 6 running on an IIS4 Server.
In my app I have included a utility that allows a DBA to write a message, click a button, and the title bar on all users' pages (using application variables) is replaced with my message text - Sort of like a Global Alert utility. I can tell users that the database will be shutting down, etc.
Currently how I am running my app is to have the title bar (in a separate frameset) refresh every 10 to 60 seconds (specified via application variable) - the title bar frame then detects a changed Global Message Boolean and either stays at the title image or redirects to the message page.

My problem: It seems inelegant to have the title frameset refresh every so often, but I can't figure out any other way for a page loaded in a browser to detect a changed application variable and redirect itself without refreshing.
Once it refreshes, it will be recreated or redirected depending on the status of the boolean value (message true or false).

Does anyone have any high-level design advice that will make it better than what I currently have? Maybe forcing a frameset to refresh periodically is actually the state of the art. I have visited many commercial sites that feature a frameset refreshing periodically.

Thanks if anyone can help.

 

[Microbe]

Why don't you set an application variable when you do an "alert"

Constantly check the value of the variable and if the variable = "" then don't refresh, but if the variable ="incoming" (or whatever) then do something Steve Davis
hey.you@hahaha.com.au

http://www.hahaha.com.au

 

[Gamera99]

Well that is the right idea but what I don't know is:
1. Where should I constantly check the value of the application variable? If I check the value while at the title page itself, I will have to refresh the title page to "read" the variable contents at the server.

2. Can I force a page to refresh from outside a page? Meaning, can I read the variable on the global.asa page and then cause the title page to refresh or redirect from there?

Thanks for responding.