Web Hosting Without Frontpage Extensions
A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Frances Rhea
Using Asp Instead of Frontpage Extensions for Web Hosting
It is possible to enable Active Server Pages (ASP) for Web hosting that does not have the FrontPage Server Extensions. This is not for the faint of heart but will enable you to use the Database feature. You will be able to run the FrontPage Save to Database and the pages generated by the Database Results Wizard on any server that supports ASP. You will need support for the particular database that you use.
How Asp Works Instead of Frontpage Extensions for Web Hosting
Although either FrontPage 2000 or 2002 Server Extensions are required to 'create' pages that use the ASP features, these Extensions are not required to 'run' the pages generated by the ASP features. It is recommended that you install Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.1 for full support on Web hosting that is based on Microsoft Windows.
Getting Ready to Use the Asp Features in Frontpage for Web Hosting
Before you can use the ASP features in FrontPage with your Web hosting, you must install some additional components. These are listed in Microsoft's Knowledge Base articles. Read the article for the version of FrontPage that you are using.
312638 FP: What You Need to Use Active Server Pages (ASP) in FrontPage 2000
318287 FP2002: What You Need to Use Active Server Pages (ASP) in FrontPage 2002
Create and Publish Your Frontpage Database Web
If you are using Microsoft SQL Server or an Oracle server connection, you must confirm that the network location is accessible from the destination Web site. If you are using a system data source name, you must confirm that it is valid on the system that is running the destination Web server.
Next create your database. The Web hosting server must be a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) server, a Microsoft NT Peer Web Server (NTPWS), or a Microsoft Personal Web Server (MSPWS) that meets the following requirements:
• Support for ASP
• MDAC 2.1 or later is installed
• FrontPage Server Extensions are installed
When the database is complete, you can publish it using FTP, or copy it by using Windows Explorer or a command prompt.
On your hosting server, find the database. Make sure that the URL for the folder that you just copied or published is configured as an application root. All root folders or files must be preceeded by a ' '.
Troubleshooting
If the published database is not an application root, an error message similar to the following may occur when you open a page that uses the database:
The database connection named 'Yourdatabase' is undefined.
This can happen if the connection has been removed, the file 'global.asa' is missing or contains errors, the root folder does not have Scripting permissions enabled, or the database is not an Application Root.
If the database meets all the above requirements and an error message is not received when you submit the form (but no data is added to the database) the error might be suppressed by the ASP code.
