ACC97: Subforms Appear Blank When Browsing ASP Files on NT 4.0

• Microsoft Access 97

SYMPTOMS

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

When you use Internet Explorer 3.0, 3.01, or 3.02 on Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 to browse an Active Server Pages (ASP) file that contains a subform, the subform does not appear.

CAUSE

Subforms in an ASP file are displayed in a separate instance of Internet Explorer. If Internet Explorer is running Windows NT 4.0, it is not able to display the embedded instance of Internet Explorer.

RESOLUTION

If you run Internet Explorer 3.0 or 3.01 on Microsoft Windows 95, it does not have any problems displaying subforms in ASP files.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem when browsing ASP files in Internet Explorer 3.0 and 3.01 on Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Start Microsoft Access 97 and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Select the Orders form in the Database window, and then click Save As/Export on the File menu.

3. In the Save As dialog box, click "To an External File or Database," and then click OK.

4. In the "Save Form 'Orders' In" dialog box, select Microsoft Active Server Pages (*.asp) in the Save As Type box, and type Orders.asp in the File Name box. Note the folder to which the files will be exported. Click Export.

5. In the Microsoft Active Server Pages Output Options dialog box, enter the name of a System DSN on your Web server that points to the Northwind sample database. In the Server URL box, enter the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the location on the Web server where the ASP files will be stored. Click OK.

   For more information on how to define a system DSN, search the Help index for "ODBC, setting up data sources," and see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

         ARTICLE-ID: Q159682
         TITLE     : "Data Source Name Not Found" Err Msg Opening Web Page
   
   

6. The ASP output creates three files: Orders.asp, Ordersalx.asp, and Orders Subform.asp. Copy the files to a folder on your Web Server computer where you have Execute permission. This must be the same location you entered in the Server URL in step 5.

   For more information about configuring Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) permissions, please refer to the IIS Help Index, and see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

         ARTICLE-ID: Q162975
         TITLE     : INF: Permissions Necessary to View HTML, IDC, and ASP
                     Files
   
   

7. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 on a computer running Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0.

8. Type the URL in the address box of your Web browser to view Orders.asp. For example, if you saved your ASP files in a folder called Test in the wwwroot folder of your Web Server, type:

         http://<servername>/test/Orders.ASP
   

   Note that the URL depends upon where your files are located on the Web Server.

REFERENCES

For more information about exporting forms to ASP, search the Help Index for "ASP files," or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.

For more information about issues related to subforms in ASP files, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q164248
   TITLE     : INF: Troubleshooting ASP Forms That Do Not Display in
               Browser

   ARTICLE-ID: Q164002
   TITLE     : PRB: Web Browser Error Opening Subform in ASP File