[ic] Custom Admin Tool?

[Thomas J.M. Burton]

Hi all,

I need to put together a custom Admin page and I'm not quite sure how to go
about it. I've looked at the source code for some of the existing admin pages
and it looks like they're all using pretty special code. I'm wondering if I
would benefit from using any of those components, or if I'd need to use
completely custom code.

I'm running Interchange 4.8.6 and using a MySQL database.

Here's the scenario:

The catalog is for a photographer and I need to set up the admin tools so that
it's easy for him to add large batches of photos without maintaining a local
copy of the database. Photos are categorized by event (wedding, sports event,
graduation, etc.). For each event that he photographs, he'll first prepare
thumbnail and large images of all of the photos, then upload them through FTP.
These images will be stored in /photos/event_id/thumbnails and
/photos/event_id/large directory, respectively, with event_id being the
specified code for that event.

I have an events table that contains a record for each event including search
keywords and some other stuff. The products table contains a record for every
photo that's for sale on the site, with fields for sku, album (explanation
follows) event id, and price. Each event also has an option of ordering all
prints in a proof album or on CD. Those albums are also in the products table
and have the album field marked as 1. Pricing is based on print size and is
calculated using a custom price UserTag (many thanks to Kevin Walsh!), album
items fallback to the price field.

What I want the IC Admin page(s) to do is:

1. Contain fields to input the event id code, type of event (wedding, baseball
game, etc.), associated name (groom's name, etc.), user-friendly label, event
date, location information, and checkboxes for adding proof album or CD
availability.

2. Save data from above to events table, and add album products to products
table if respective boxes are checked.

3. Read thumbnail image directory for specified event and create a record for
each photo under that event in the products table.

4. Auto-export the events and products tables.


Through a previous question I posted here, I obtained help with reading the
directory contents, but I'm really not sure about specifics on setting up an
Admin page. Again, the source code for the existing Admin UI pages looks
pretty intense and specific to established ways of doing things.

Any suggestions on what I should or shouldn't do to set this up? Should I just
build the page as HTML with some standard ITL tags and [perl] areas? Would it
be best to have one page for the initial form and a second "result" page that
the form is posted to, containing whatever perl code is needed?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

___________________________________
Thomas J.M. Burton, Design/Production
Global Focus Digital Media, LLC
www.globalfocusdm.com