how to preview .asp files in DW

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Hiya All,

I'm working on a site for someone who uses only .asp files. The design and layout has been subcontracted to me. I seem to have a really hard time previewing the pages in a browser thru DW. I have CS3. I use FF, IE and Safari to preview. Sometimes they work in IE or Safari, sometimes not. No .asp pages with any form/script will ever preview in FF for me. However once they are uploaded to the server, I can view them fine in all the browsers.

It is me? I'm still pretty new at this and am in the designing camp, and know almost no coding/programming at all.

TIA!
 
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asp is a server-side language. it only runs on a server (windows) If you are trying to view asp thru your local computer, you wont be able to view it properly. You might have to install and configure your IIS and have .net framework to view locally.

or I recommend using this:
Web Matrix

unless anyone has a better method?
 
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Thank you! is there a reason they can be viewed in Safari and IE? It's very mystifying to me.
 
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Just wondering if anyone came up with any ideas about this.

Happy New Year!
 
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Thank you! is there a reason they can be viewed in Safari and IE? It's very mystifying to me.
ofcourse you can still view the html part on safari and IE but not the .asp code is not executing. does that make sense?
 
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ofcourse you can still view the html part on safari and IE but not the .asp code is not executing. does that make sense?

That makes sense, but I don't think that's what's happening. In IE it hangs and won't load. In Safari it will take to finder. And in FF it shows the code only. I'll get some screenshots and post them, if you have time to get back to this thread later. :)
 
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screen shots when previewing from DW

This is what I see when I try to preview .asp files that have scripts in them, when I'm in DW. The shot with Finder is what I get when I try to preview in Safari. If I'm using a .asp without a script it's usually better, but not always. The last screen shot is how a page looks in Safari if it does NOT have a script.

BTW, the site is http://www.headlinersmodelcontest.com/default.asp

Thank you!!! :D

Picture 2.png

Picture 3.png

Picture 4.png

Picture 5.png
 
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you should create a sub domain and use that to test your work.

something like : http://sitetest.headlinersmodelcontest.com

that way you can upload and test how it will work on the server with out taking down the site that is already there.
 
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you should create a sub domain and use that to test your work.

something like : http://sitetest.headlinersmodelcontest.com

that way you can upload and test how it will work on the server with out taking down the site that is already there.

there was a test server when it was build but it's a subbed out to me by a firm and I don't know if the test server is still up. However, I would need to PUT things everytime I wanted to check it, which is a little cumbersome...

BTW, some one here tried to walk me thru making subdomains. I couldn't figure it out. I host at Go Daddy, I have the deluxe package, on a shared server. Is that why? Do I need a dedicated server to make a subdomain?
What I do now is make the client a folder, like www.mysite.com/testsite.com.
 
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That makes sense, but I don't think that's what's happening. In IE it hangs and won't load. In Safari it will take to finder. And in FF it shows the code only. I'll get some screenshots and post them, if you have time to get back to this thread later. :)

Hi rc...
It sounds like the server is sending out the wrong MIME type for asp files (or the asp file itself is setting an incorrect header). That is why some browsers will try to force-download the file ('take to finder' as you say) or show the source as a text file ('FF showing the code'), instead of correctly displaying it as an html page.
 
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there was a test server when it was build but it's a subbed out to me by a firm and I don't know if the test server is still up. However, I would need to PUT things everytime I wanted to check it, which is a little cumbersome...
That is how I prefer to work actually. Live on a server. So I know exactly what is going on. And, if you're doing dynamic work, its the only possible way. Design/html doesn't matter so much. But if you are working with any server language, you obviously need a server to do the work (database, files, post/get variables, etc)

BTW, some one here tried to walk me thru making subdomains. I couldn't figure it out. I host at Go Daddy, I have the deluxe package, on a shared server. Is that why? Do I need a dedicated server to make a subdomain?
What I do now is make the client a folder, like www.mysite.com/testsite.com.

That was me =)
I don't know how godaddy works. I don't think they offer subdomains.

It's probably easier for you to make a duplicated .asp file. so if the original is "home.asp", duplicate it as "home1.asp" and work on that duplicate. when you are satisfied with the changes delete home.asp and rename home1.asp (remove the '1').
Make a backup first of course!
 
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Hi Giulio!

I was hoping you would find this thread! :) I know that was you that told me about the subdomains, but I didn't want to ask you again, lol.

Those explanations helped a lot, thanks! I've been making duplicate files actually, I was desperate and that's what I came up with. Good to know that it's not such a bad idea. :eek: Projects for this company are killing me! They just do things so differently from me. And when I say differently, I mean they know what they are doing and I don't. And they are all PC. The owner just about choked when I said I work on a Mac. I told him it's not contagious. Especially if you never try one, lol. When I'm in his office, it's like he tries not to look at it, like I've got a club foot or something. It's pretty comical. I'd be worried that they would see my posts here, but not much chance of that!

I was just thinking about you, b/c I was on the "rate the avatar above you thread and knew you would give me a good rating instead of a "huh?!" I did get a good rating anyways, on the "aww, a mother and baby" factor. That's a pretty funny thread. Kept me laughing. People here can be so funny. Drives my family nuts b/c I'll be laughing at the computer and they want to see what's so funny. Sure, if they had 1/2 an hour to read thru a thread, lol. And if they could read (2 yr & 4 1/2 yr olds).

Anyways, thanks again and have a good one,
 
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GoDaddy does offer subdomains, they're easy to setup too! When you go into the admin section of your hosting account there should be a blatant option for subdomains. Outside of that, I will say, ASP.Net development is best left on a PC. I'm a hardcore Mac User, but this is one thing I don't try to cross over. On a PC (or Windows on a Mac if you so choose!) just use Microsoft's free Visual We Developer Express Edition. It provides a mock SQL development environment to locally test ASP.Net pages. I still prefer working straight on the server, That way you know exactly how your customer will see it. If you were working on pages someone else had created initially, Dreamweaver can sometimes try to change tags on its on when you open them up for the first time. I suggest copying the body (not page initialization, etc..) into a new ASP file created in Dreamweaver, and pasting it in.
 
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GoDaddy does offer subdomains, they're easy to setup too! When you go into the admin section of your hosting account there should be a blatant option for subdomains. Outside of that, I will say, ASP.Net development is best left on a PC. I'm a hardcore Mac User, but this is one thing I don't try to cross over. On a PC (or Windows on a Mac if you so choose!) just use Microsoft's free Visual We Developer Express Edition. It provides a mock SQL development environment to locally test ASP.Net pages. I still prefer working straight on the server, That way you know exactly how your customer will see it. If you were working on pages someone else had created initially, Dreamweaver can sometimes try to change tags on its on when you open them up for the first time. I suggest copying the body (not page initialization, etc..) into a new ASP file created in Dreamweaver, and pasting it in.

Hi jmsearcy,

Thanks for the info. I've made subdomains, two full websites, actually. But what I was trying to do was use them for test sites like this www.testsite.mysite.com I don't know if go daddy allows that. I have a shared hosting account, which may be why.
Your suggestions about .asp files were really help, so THANKS! Seems pretty clear that looking at them on the server is the only way to go.
 
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You should definitely be able to do that, ie. blog.mysite.com, restaurant.mysite.com, modelagency.mysite.com, make one for each site you want to mock up.
 
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hmmm. Maybe I should give them a call. As Giulio mentioned before (whoops that may have been another thread), doing it that way looks more professional and offers a bit more security.
 

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