PRB: Visual InterDev, FrontPage May Alter Documents when Saving

 Last reviewed: December 11, 1997
Article ID: Q173142
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Visual InterDev, version 1.0

SYMPTOMS

When saving an Active Server Pages (ASP), HTML, or other Web document to a Web server using Visual InterDev or FrontPage, the <DOCTYPE> and several <META> tags may be added to the document.

The most common changes are as follows:

  1. <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN"> tag is placed at the absolute top of the file. This occurs if the tag has been removed or moved to another location further down the document.

  2. The following tags will be added if they have been removed: 

          <meta name="FORMATTER" content="Microsoft FrontPage 2.0"> and
      <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 2.0">

  3. If a WebBot tag that closes a span has been removed, it may be replaced into the document

  4. White space, such as blank lines and indenting with spaces, may be altered, changing the readability of a file.

CAUSE

Visual InterDev and FrontPage 97 use the FrontPage Server Extensions to save documents to the Web server. FrontPage Server Extensions parse the documents prior to placing them on the Web server. The Server Extensions look for either FrontPage WebBots or the <body stylesrc="../_private/style.htm"> tag.

If the server extensions find either of these elements, they assume the page was generated by FrontPage 97, and then they parse the page according to built in rules for these documents.

The FrontPage server extensions are designed to correct common errors and ensure that a document conforms to HTML 3.2 standards. Placing the DocType and Meta tags into a document are two of these built in rules.

This behavior unfortunately can interfere with some specific tasks, such as an ASP page using the redirect command. This does not affect the operation of most Active Server Pages code.

RESOLUTION

  • Remove any WebBots and the <BODY stylesrc="../_private/style.htm"> tag.

-or-
  • Bypass the FrontPage Server Extensions when you save your files by saving them directly to the Web server with an editor such as Notepad or Microsoft Word.

While there is no way currently to turn off this behavior in the FrontPage extensions, the easiest workaround is to open a document on the Web server in any editor that does not require the use of the FrontPage server extensions and remove the unwanted code. As long as the files are not being posted to the Web server using the FrontPage Server Extensions, the files will not be altered.

STATUS

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

REFERENCES

For the latest Knowledge Base articles and other support information on Visual InterDev and Active Server Pages, see the following page on the Microsoft Technical Support site: 

   http://support.microsoft.com/support/vinterdev/


Keywords          : VIFPSE
Technology        : kbInetDev
Version           : WINDOWS:1.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

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Last reviewed: December 11, 1997
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