FP97: WebBot Components Fail When Imported on 1.1 Server

• Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows with Bonus Pack

SYMPTOMS

When you use the FrontPage 97 Import Web Wizard to import a web to a FrontPage 1.1 extended server, many WebBot components may cease to function and will be represented as text in brackets.

CAUSE

The FrontPage 1.1 extensions cannot evaluate functions that are implemented only by the FrontPage 97 Server Extensions. The FrontPage 1.1 extensions were not designed to work with the FrontPage 97 Import Web Wizard.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use any of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the Publish FrontPage Web Command

Use the Publish FrontPage Web command (File menu) instead of the Import Web Wizard to transfer FrontPage 97 content to a FrontPage 1.1 extended server. The publish operation will cleanly overwrite any files with the same name on the destination server.

Method 2: Resave Every Page Using FrontPage 97

1. In FrontPage 97 Explorer, open the web.

2. For each page exhibiting the symptoms, open the page using the FrontPage 97 Editor and confirm the properties of every WebBot component.

3. Resave the page to the web.

Method 3: Create the FrontPage Web on the Version 1.1 Extended Server

Instead of creating the web on a local machine or a staging server, create the web directly on the 1.1 extended destination server.

1. In FrontPage Explorer, click New FrontPage Web on the File menu.

2. Select the appropriate web template, click to clear the "Add to the current web" check box, and then click OK.

3. In the "Web server or file location" box, type the address of the destination Web Server (do not include the "http://").

4. In the "Name of New FrontPage Web" box, type a name for your web. If you want to create new content in the root Web of the destination server, leave the "Name of new FrontPage Web" box empty.

5. Click OK.

6. Add or modify all content by opening this web directly (do not open a local copy).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

The Import Web Wizard, when used on a FrontPage 1.1 extended server, will evaluate most WebBot components incorrectly. The only exceptions to this are the WebBot Annotation (comments) component and the WebBot HTML Markup component.

When you use the Import Web Wizard to import to a 1.1 web, these WebBot components are displayed as names in brackets

   [Substitution Bot] (the WebBot Include Component also shows this)
   [ScheduledImage Bot]
   [ScheduledInclude Bot]
   [Search Bot]

   [Discussion Bot]
   [Registration Bot]
   [Save Result Bot]

The WebBot Timestamp component will cease to update to the most recent modification time. The WebBot Table Of Contents component will not display new pages created on the 1.1 extended server (even if it is configured to do so).