A Simple Hit Counter : Keep a check up on your visitors without having to use a hosted script or sql.

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A Simple Hit Counter
By Chris Worfolk
http://www.crimsoncheckpoint.com

This tutorial will show you how to build a simple hit counter. It does not use any sql or databases and stores the hits in a text file.

Al you need to create for this script is your asp file and a text file. In the text file, simply enter the number 0 and save it in the same directory as count.txt. Take a look at the basic source code.

<%@ Language="VBScript" %> <% Response.Expires= -1 Response.AddHeader "Cache-Control", "no-cache" Response.AddHeader "Pragma", "no-cache" %> <% if Session("ct") = "" then fp = Server.MapPath("db\count.txt") Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set a = fs.OpenTextFile(fp) ct = Clng(a.ReadLine) ct = ct + 1 Session("ct") = ct a.close Set a = fs.CreateTextFile(fp, True) a.WriteLine(ct) a.Close Set a = Nothing Set fs = Nothing else ct = Clng(Session("ct")) end if %>

Now lets break it down into 3 sections.

<%@ Language="VBScript" %>

This just states that the page is a VB script page.

<% Response.Expires= -1 Response.AddHeader "Cache-Control", "no-cache" Response.AddHeader "Pragma", "no-cache" %>

This section stops the user refreshing the page to clock up hits.

<% if Session("ct") = "" then fp = Server.MapPath("count.txt") Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set a = fs.OpenTextFile(fp) ct = Clng(a.ReadLine) ct = ct + 1 Session("ct") = ct a.close Set a = fs.CreateTextFile(fp, True) a.WriteLine(ct) a.Close Set a = Nothing Set fs = Nothing else ct = Clng(Session("ct")) end if %>

This is the main section which adds the hits.

fp = Server.MapPath("count.txt")

This tells the server where to find the file. You can modify the file location by changing count.txt. So for instance if you wanted to to be called hitcounter.txt and in the directory db you would use:

fp = Server.MapPath("db\hitcounter.txt")

All you have to do is alter the file path in the quote marks.

Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set a = fs.OpenTextFile(fp) ct = Clng(a.ReadLine)

This section opens the file using FileSystemObject and reads the first line. It then sets the varialbe ct to the amount of hits it has already had.

ct = ct + 1

This line adds one hit to the total number of visitors.

Session("ct") = ct a.close

This bit saves a session variable as the new click through with the new amount of visitors and closes the text file.

Set a = fs.CreateTextFile(fp, True) a.WriteLine(ct) a.Close

This code creates a new textfile over the old one and adds in the new amount of visitors to it. Then it closes the text file.

Now you have a working hit counter. All you need to do is add the hit counter into your page:

You are a visitor number <%=ct%>!

This would display the amount of visitors. Now to save confusion, here is the full source code for the page:

<%@ Language="VBScript" %> <% Response.Expires= -1 Response.AddHeader "Cache-Control", "no-cache" Response.AddHeader "Pragma", "no-cache" %> <% if Session("ct") = "" then fp = Server.MapPath("db\count.txt") Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set a = fs.OpenTextFile(fp) ct = Clng(a.ReadLine) ct = ct + 1 Session("ct") = ct a.close Set a = fs.CreateTextFile(fp, True) a.WriteLine(ct) a.Close Set a = Nothing Set fs = Nothing else ct = Clng(Session("ct")) end if %> <HTML> <BODY> You are a visitor number <%=ct%>! </BODY> </HTML>

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About The Author:
Chris Worfolk
http://www.crimsoncheckpoint.com
Chris began web developing almost 10 years ago and since then has built up a network of websites including TheGurkin.com and IronCheesecake.com. He publishes all his articles on his web developer site Crimson Check Point.

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