logging user visit

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  • Francis Dhaenens
    #1

    logging user visit




    I am building an ASP application, in this application, one of the
    functions is that I have to know exactly how long a user has used a
    certain page of the application. so I need a way to long the time a user
    enters a page and when he leaves again.

    the problem is when the user closes the browser, no time for leaving is
    recorded...

    Is there a way to run a web service that can read cookies of all the
    users and write them to a database? Or am I looking too far for the
    solution.

    I'd like a clean solution, not with popups, or opening other windows in
    order to run extra asp code..

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    • Pete
      #2
      Re: logging user visit

      You could trap this *sometimes* by writing some javascript in your
      pages, trapping the onBeforeUnload event and maybe posting something to
      your server then.

      But there are ways the user can get past this, e.g. physically bringing
      down the connection before they close the browser (disconnecting the
      phone line if its a dialup connection), or even (a bit extreme!) just
      switching the machine off at the wall without exiting anything.

      I'm fairly sure there is no 100% reliable way to achieve what you want.
      You can only really record when the user comes back to your site.

      HTH,
      Pete


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        Comment

        • CJM
          #3
          Re: logging user visit

          The most common approach I have come across is to track each time someone
          requests a page and record it in a db. Any entries less than 20 mins old
          (for default time-out settings) are considered 'live'. That is, if you can
          just accept that you are potentially 20 minutes out-of-date when you query
          the DB, life is a lot easier.

          As Pete has stated, there is currently no guarranteed way of tracking your
          users accurately.

          I'm not sure if this is helpful to you... Why are you trying to track the
          length of time they are on your site? Is it for billing for a provided
          service? Or just for your information?

          If it just informational, then my method may well be OK. If you need to be
          more accurate, I think you will be disappointed..

          hth

          Chris


          "Pete" <anonymous@devd ex.com> wrote in message
          news:OwhxGcJnDH A.2500@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
          > You could trap this *sometimes* by writing some javascript in your
          > pages, trapping the onBeforeUnload event and maybe posting something to
          > your server then.
          >
          > But there are ways the user can get past this, e.g. physically bringing
          > down the connection before they close the browser (disconnecting the
          > phone line if its a dialup connection), or even (a bit extreme!) just
          > switching the machine off at the wall without exiting anything.
          >
          > I'm fairly sure there is no 100% reliable way to achieve what you want.
          > You can only really record when the user comes back to your site.
          >
          > HTH,
          > Pete
          >
          >
          > *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
          > Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it![/color]


            Comment

            • Tim Williams
              #4
              Re: logging user visit

              Have some client side js (assuming it's enabled) make a request for an image
              from your server every x minutes, or faster if you need more resolution in
              your timings. Put the page name in the img url as a querystring and log it
              in a db.

              Tim



              "Francis Dhaenens" <fran@pointx.be > wrote in message
              news:OPGIh3HnDH A.2652@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
              >
              >
              >
              > I am building an ASP application, in this application, one of the
              > functions is that I have to know exactly how long a user has used a
              > certain page of the application. so I need a way to long the time a user
              > enters a page and when he leaves again.
              >
              > the problem is when the user closes the browser, no time for leaving is
              > recorded...
              >
              > Is there a way to run a web service that can read cookies of all the
              > users and write them to a database? Or am I looking too far for the
              > solution.
              >
              > I'd like a clean solution, not with popups, or opening other windows in
              > order to run extra asp code..
              >
              > *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
              > Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it![/color]


                Comment

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