NOF 5.0 and the ASP components:

At this time the installer for the ASP components for NOF 5.0 has not been created. Hopefully this will be corrected soon. Until then you should be able to copy the ASP folder from the C:\NetObjects Fusion 4.0\Components directory to the C:\NetObjects Fusion 5.0\Components directory. This will allow you to use the ASP components and your site containing ASP components from NOF 4.0 in NOF 5.0. Be sure to move these components first into the C:\Netobjects Fusion 5.0\Components directory before opening the site. If you do not all the ASP components on your site will revert to images. If this occurs be sure that you do not save the site with these components as images. If you do not have NOF 4.0.1 you can simply download and install the NOF 4.01 ASP components and move them to the proper directory in NOF 5.0.

Scope of ASP Connector:

You use Connector for ASP components in NetObjects Fusion so site visitors can:

• Add, delete or modify records to a table in a MS Access database or MS SQL Server.
• Search for records in a database table.
• View a list of found records.
• View the details of a particular found record.
• Navigate through records.

Requirements for ASP to work: (Not specific to your set component properties)

You will need to verify this information within NetObjects:

• Page extension must be set to ".asp." Go to "Custom Names" in Site View and set the page extension to "asp".
• Directory Structure for the site must be set to by “Asset Type” or “Flat.” Found in Publish View under “Setup.”
• All ASP pages must contain a MSDBConnection and a MSDBQuery component.
• ASP page must be set to “Regular Tables” or “Nested Tables.”
• ASP pages used to Search or Update a database must be placed within an area with "Layout is a form" checked.
• ASP pages must be view off a ASP-enabled Web Server (http://). They cannot be viewed off the hard drive (file://). When Local Publish launches the browser, you should change the "file://"  to “http://localhost/”
• The ASP-enabled Web Server must be running.

ASP pages will only work when viewed off an ASP-enabled Web Servers:

• Microsoft IIS 4.0
• Microsoft Personal Web Server 4.0
• Possibly the Platform-Independent Active Server Pages by Chilisoft. However this has never been tested and we cannot support it.

Once published to the ASP-enabled server you will want to verify settings on the Server System:

• Database must be located on the server running the ASP pages
• Database must be registered in the ODBC as a System DSN
• Must have ODBC 3.5 or greater installed. You may want to install MDAC 2.1.2.4202.3 (GA)
• HTML directory (when by "Asset Type") or root (when by “Flat”) must be set to "Executable" or “Execute (including Scripts).”

Common Component Setting Mistakes:

If you experience problems getting an ASP page to work correctly, check the following items:

• In the page’s Custom Names dialog, is the extension for the page set to asp?
• Is the directory structure in the Publish Setup dialog set to “By Asset Type” or “Flat”?
• Are you viewing the page through an ASP-enabled Web server? If you preview or publish locally, the browser displays the pages as file:/// paths, which are not served through the Web server.
• Is the Web server actually running?
• Are all table and field names typed exactly like they appear in the database, including capitalization? Also component names should only contain letters, numbers, and underscores. Spaces and special characters are not allowed.
• If there is more than one component on the page, each component must have a unique name relative to other components on the page.
• Does the data source name in the ODBC control panel match the data source in the ASP Connection component, including capitalization?
• Are field types in ASP components set correctly to match the field types in the database?
• Is the HTML output method for the page set to “Regular Tables” or “Nested Tables”?
• Is the container (Layout, Table, Text Box, etc.) for the Connector for ASP components designated as a form object?
• Did you place an ASP component in a MasterBorder or on a page with AutoFrames? ASP Components should only be placed in the container that is designated a form object. This is typically the Layout or a Layout Region inside the Layout. ASP components cannot be placed in a MasterBorder or be placed on pages using AutoFrames or frames of any type.
• Components do not work correctly if your database table contains null values in the primary key field.
• Connector for ASP components do not support databases that have spaces in table names or in field names. If you get an error in the browser similar to the one shown below, check the URL in the browser’s location window for spaces. If an ASP Component’s Field Name, Key Field Name, or Key Field Label parameter has spaces, fix the ASP component parameter so that it does not contain spaces. If necessary, edit the field name in the database so that it does not have spaces.
  
  400 Bad Request. Due to malformed syntax, the request could not be understood by the server. The client should not repeat the request without modifications.
   
• You cannot use Connector for ASP components to display images that populate a field of a database. This is because ASP components do not support OLE Embedded images within a database.
• The Key Field Label parameter in the ASP List component is only used if a key field in your database has an alias name defined. If it does not, make the Key Field Label parameter the same as the Key Field Name parameter.
• Naming a field “Date,” “Text,” “Value,” or “ABS” can cause Connector for ASP transactions to fail. Avoid the name “Date,” “Text,” “Value,” or “ABS” for field names.
• When updating a database all Dynafields must contain data. If they are not the word “null” will be placed in that field.
• If an ASP page appears blank every time you access the page, view the page’s HTML source and try to determine where in the HTML generation process the ASP script encountered a problem. The error is normal found at the bottom of the HTML. For example:
  
  <font face="Arial" size=2>ADO could not find the object in the collection corresponding to the name or ordinal reference requested by the application.</font>
   
• If your browser displays text such as <% CustomerEmail.render() %> and <%MSDBConnection1.render() %> instead of form text entry fields and buttons, check that the extension of the ASP page is set to asp.This also occurs if you are viewing the page in Internet Explorer off the hard drive rather than from the ASP-enabled server.
• If you see a message such as ADO could not find specified provider. /CustomerService/assets/lib/MSDBConnection.inc, line133, check that your directory structure is set to “By Asset Type” in Publish view.
• If you experience problems using the ASP Update component, but other components work, check that the Read Only attribute for your database file is not selected. If your database is Read Only, all ASP Update components that change the database fail. Another reason the ASP Update component fails is due to the Key Field settings. Make sure the Key Field is one unique field which is not being changed during the update. Lastly DO NOT copy and paste this component or the component will not work.
• If you consistently see either of the two following messages in your browser, and you have verified that your data source is configured correctly in ODBC and also typed correctly in the ASP Connection component, you might need to uninstall and reinstall Connector for ASP components. If that does not work, uninstall Connector for ASP, reinstall Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1, which contains updated ODBC drivers, then reinstall Connector for ASP components.
  
  Microsoft OLE dB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005'
  [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified.
  /sports6/assets/lib/MSDBConnection.inc, line 133
  
  or:
  
  ADODB.Connection error '800a0e7a'
  ADO could not find the specified provider.
  /address/assets/lib/MSDBConnection.inc, line 133
• For additional information and limitations, refer to the documentation located in the NetObjects Fusion 4.0\Components\Asp\Docs\ folder.

Valid SQL Parameter Syntax

You can enter valid SQL code into ASP Query component parameters. You can select multiple fields from multiple related tables. The table below shows sample SQL parameters written in valid SQL syntax:

Select: Distributors.Distributor_ID, Products.Product_ID, Products.UnitPrice
From: Distributors, Products
Where: Distributor_ID=1252 AND UnitPrice<50
Order By: UnitPrice DESC