Wizards

A wizard simplifies the process of creating common types of webs and web pages. A wizard is an independent executable program that typically collects input from a user in a series of dialog boxes, then places OLE automation calls to drive FrontPage by “remote control” to create the new webs or web pages. A wizard can be written in any programming language that is capable of calling OLE automation functions.

Just like a template, a wizard is contained in a special directory on a user’s local disk.

A wizard directory must be called *.wiz, such as sample.wiz. In order to be recognized by FrontPage, this directory must be placed in either the FrontPage webs or pages directory, depending on what kind of content it holds. The path to these directories can be determined from settings in the frontpg.ini file installed in a user’s Windows directory:

[Ports]

Port 80=

[FrontPage 3.0]

FrontPageRoot=C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage
PWSRoot=C:\FrontPage Webs
FrontPageLangID=0x0409
FrontPageLexicon=C:\Microsoft FrontPage\bin\mssp2_en.lex
FrontPageSpellEngine=C:\Microsoft FrontPage\bin\mssp232.dll
CheckedHostName=arbus

[Port 80]

servertype=frontpage
serverconfig=C:\FrontPage Webs\Server\conf\httpd.cnf
authoring=enabled
frontpageroot=C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage

In FrontPage version 1.0, the INI file was called vermeer.ini. The section was called “FrontPage,” and it contained keys for FrontPageRoot, FrontPageBin, WebWizardsDir, and PageWizardsDir. As of version 1.1, the only required key is FrontPageRoot. If you set one of these keys, the change will take effect the next time the FrontPage Explorer or FrontPage Editor are run.

A wizard can determine the FrontPageRoot setting from the FrontPage 3.0 section, and then append the directory “webs” for web wizards and templates, or “pages” for page wizards and templates. The base name of the wizard executable program should match the base name of the wizard directory, for example, sample.wiz\sample.exe.