FP: Can't Use Copy Web Command with Large Web or Slow Connection

• Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows
• Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows with Bonus Pack
• Microsoft FrontPage for Windows, version 1.1

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Copy Web command to copy an existing Web to a remote Web site, you may receive one of the following error messages:

• An unexpected Web Extender error occurred on the server. Authors- please contact the Webmaster for this server's site. WebMasters- please see the server's logs for more details.

  -or-

• Poorly formed http response.

CAUSE

When you use the Copy Web command to connect the FrontPage client to a server, the Web Server will create a process to serve that request. Once the client's account is validated, the client will use HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to communicate with Author.exe on your server. Author.exe works as a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script within the process generated by the Web server.

Web servers enforce a time-out period on any process in order to protect the server from being overloaded. On most servers, this time- out period varies. When the connection speed between the client and the server is slow and the size of the Web to be transferred is large, the server may stop serving FrontPage before the transfer is complete.

NOTE: There have been unconfirmed reports that the first error occurs when you attempt to open a Web on the FrontPage Personal Web Server after you install FrontPage 97 over FrontPage 1.1. It has been reported that you can resolve this problem by removing and reinstalling the FrontPage 97 Server Extensions on FrontPage Personal Web Server.

WORKAROUND

To work around the limitations of the time-out period, use any of the following methods:

• Get a faster modem. A 28.8 (28,800 bits per second [bps]) modem is twice as fast as a 14.4 modem.
• Use sub-Webs instead of a root Web to avoid creating Webs whose transfer speed exceeds the time-out period.
• Create the Web remotely, on your staging server, in order to avoid having to transfer the Web.
• Use the FrontPage Publishing Wizard to transfer your Web, and then recalculate the links on the Web when it reaches the server.

  The FrontPage Publishing Wizard initiates an FTP session to your server and automates the transfer of FrontPage Webs using FTP. FTP is not subject to the same time-out limitations as HTTP and can often move data more reliably. In addition, the Publishing Wizard allows you to transfer only the files that have been changed since the last post, resulting in less data transferred. The FrontPage Publishing Wizard can be set to transfer all files or some files in the Web.

  To obtain the FrontPage Publishing Wizard for FrontPage 97, please see the following Microsoft World Wide Web site:

        http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software/webpost/default.htm
  

MORE INFORMATION

The formula to calculate the time-out period is as follows

   Seconds to transfer = Web size/modem speed

   (Web in K * 1024) * (8{Bits} + 4{bits overhead}) = (Web in K * 12288)

                                   File Size
                 500K      1000K    5000K     10000K   20000K
                 --------------------------------------------
   14,400 bps    427        854     4267       8534    17067
   28,800 bps    214        427     2134       4267     8534