------------------------------------
       Microsoft Active Server Pages 
              Beta 2  Release Notes
       ------------------------------------


       Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1996

Contents: 
1. Installation Issues
2. Where is the Product Documentation?
3. Object and Component Notes
4. Known Issues
5. Using a Text Editor with ASP Files
6. Notes for Windows 95
7. Notes for Alpha and PowerPC
8. Server-Side Includes Syntax

-------------------------------------------------
Active Server Pages is a feature of the following Web 
server releases:

* Microsoft(R) Internet Information Server 3.0 on Windows NT(R)
   Server version 4.0

 * Microsoft Peer Web Services 3.0 on Windows NT Workstation
    version 4.0

* Microsoft Personal Web Server on Windows(R) 95

=================================
1. Installation Issues
=================================

Installing JavaVM
------------------------

To install and use the JavaVM included with 
Active Server Pages, you must first install Microsoft(R)
Internet Explorer version 3.0 or later on your computer.  
If you install JavaVM before Internet Explorer  is 
installed, you will see the following message the next 
time you restart your computer:

OleMainThreadWndName regsrv32.exe entry point not found
    URLDownloadToCacheFileW not in urlmon.dll


Cannot upgrade ASP while Event Viewer is open
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You cannot upgrade Active Server Pages while the 
Windows NT Event Viewer is open.  You will see the 
following error message:

"The requested operation cannot be performed on a 
file with a user mapped section open."

Close the Event Viewer and try installing Active 
Server Pages again.


Install Peer Web Services before Active Server Pages
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If you intend to use Active Server Pages with Peer Web 
Services (PWS), be sure to install Peer Web Services before 
installing ASP.  Active Server Pages uses a newer version 
of ODBC; installing PWS after installing Active Server Pages
will write over the Odbcint.dll and Odbccp32.dll files with 
older versions.  If you get an error message about an ODBC 
conflict, reinstall Active Server Pages to install
the newer ODBC files.  For important information about using
ASP on Peer Web Services, see "Notes for Windows 95 and Peer 
Web Services".


Install Internet Explorer 3.0 on Windows 95
---------------------------------------------------------
Active Server Pages on Windows 95 requires Internet Explorer
version 3.0. 


=====================================
2. Where is the Product Documentation?
=====================================

The Active Server Pages documentation is in HTML format and 
is installed with the product.  After you have installed 
Active Server Pages, you can view the documentation by choosing
Active Server Pages Roadmap from your Web server's program 
group.  From the Roadmap you can also view the Adventure Works
sample Web site, which demonstrates many of the features of 
Active Server Pages scripting and is an excellent source of 
sample code.  You can also view the Roadmap by typing the following
address:  http://<server>/iasdocs/aspdocs/roadmap.htm.

The documentation Roadmap requires either  Internet Explorer version 3.0
or later or a browser that supports frames.   You will get the 
best results with Internet Explorer.

When you browse the Roadmap using Internet Explorer, you 
may see a message that the page you are viewing contains 
potentially unsafe active content.  This message is caused by
the ActiveX control used to provide the table of contents. To view the table of contents:

1.  From the View menu, choose Options, then click the Security
    tab.

2.  Click Safety Level, then click either the Medium or None 
    safety level.

This problem will be fixed in the final release of the documentation.

===================================== 
3.  Object and Component Notes 
=====================================

The following methods and properties have not been 
implemented for this release.


ActiveX Server Components
-------------------------------------

Content Linking Component

       NextLink.GetNextURL, NextLink.GetPreviousURL, 
       NextLink.GetNextDescription, 
       NextLink.GetPreviousDescription, and
       NextLink.GetListIndex are not yet implemented 
       for fully qualified URLs.
     

=================================
4.  Known Issues
=================================

Setting CacheExtensions Registry Entry to 0 Stops Server
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting the CacheExtensions registry entry to 0 will cause
your Web server to stop responding when Active Server Pages
is unloaded from memory.


Running Out of Virtual Memory
------------------------------------------
Under heavy loads, an ASP-based application might run
out of virtual memory because memory becomes fragmented
over time as Active Server Pages allocates and deallocates memory.

To correct this problem, adjust the value of the MemFreeFactor
registry entry for your site.  The default value is 50%.  
A value of 0 will increase virtual memory fragmentation but 
allow other applications to use more memory. A value of 100 
decreases virtual memory fragmentation but prevents other 
applications from using more memory.  Thus, if your server
is used entirely for ASP-based applications, setting the value
to 100 will produce the best results. 


Updating a File Included by Global.asa
--------------------------------------------------
Updating a file that is included by Global.asa does 
not restart sessions. Therefore, objects stored in 
the Application object are not reset. 
To restart sessions, save the Global.asa file.


VBScript Line Continuation Character
-------------------------------------------------

You cannot use the VBScript line continuation character (_) 
within an <%= expression%>.  For example, the following 
script directive will generate a VBScript compilation error:

<%= "Variable1" & _
    "Variable2" %>

To work around this problem, you can use the
Response.Write method:

<% Response.Write("Variable1" & _
                  "Variable2") %>


Registering Components
--------------------------------
If you have trouble registering components
 on Windows NT Server and Windows NT Workstation, 
you may be using the wrong version of Regsvr32.  
Please use the version installed by default in the directory 
c:\Winnt\System32\Inetsrv\Denali\Cmpnts.


Using OnStartPage in  Server Components
--------------------------------------------------------
If you have written an ActiveX server component that
uses OnStartPage, you must recompile the component
using the header file shipped with the Beta 2 release
of Active Server Pages. The header file is in 
\<Installdir>\ASP\Cmpnts\Asptlb.h.
On Windows NT Server and Windows NT Workstation,
the default installation directory is \winnt\system32\Inetsrv.
On Windows 95, the default installation directory is
\Program Files\WebSvr\System.


Creating Single-threaded Components
---------------------------------------------------
Objects that are marked as single threaded or free
threaded cannot access the scripting context inside
OnStartPage.  Objects marked as apartment threaded or marked
as both apartment threaded and single threaded are OK.
This will be fixed for the final version of Active
Server Pages.


Providing Unknown Scripting Language Causes Error
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifying an unknown scripting language as the value of
the DefaultScriptLanguage registry entry may cause the 
following error message:

     http/1.0 500 server error

If you get this error, check the DefaultScriptLanguage 
registry entry. Make sure that you have supplied a 
valid language.


Starting and Stopping Web Services
-----------------------------------------------
Your Web server may erroneously report that a service could
not be stopped when the Active Server Pages DLL is unloaded
from memory.  


Using Microsoft JScript
-------------------------------
To use JavaScript in your ASP files, use "JScript"
as the language attribute of the <SCRIPT> tag.  While
"JavaScript" is supported for backward compatibility,
mixing blocks of code labeled "JScript" with blocks of
code labeled "JavaScript" will cause errors.


NCompass Billboard Control
---------------------------------------
The NCompass billboard control is only provided for 
Intel processors. This release does not include versions
for the Alpha and PPC processors.  


Adventure Works Sample Site
----------------------------------------
The following issues pertain to the Adventure Works
sample application:

*  The shopping cart currently does not support more 
   than five items at any given time. If you order more
   than five items at any one time, a "Subscript Out of
   Range" error will occur.
   
*  The pie chart found on the "Sales by Product" page
   currently displays only the first six  products. 
   However, you can change the parameters to accommodate
   the dynamic content if you wish.
   
*  "Warning: Avalanche Area" indicates a page 
   under construction.

*  The Adventure Works visitors number count currently is
   set to 0 whenever the site is restarted.  For the final
   release of Active Server Pages,  the site will save the 
   number of visitors upon reboot or shutdown.  


Ad Rotator Component
------------------------------
Repeatedly requesting a nonexistent file from the 
Ad Rotator component might cause the Web server to 
stop responding.  


Database Access Component Issues
-------------------------------------------------
Deleting a database record might cause a dynamic cursor 
to be lost.  Further attempts to move the cursor will
return unexpected results.  To locate the cursor in the
database, use the MoveFirst method to return to the first
record, then relocate the cursor.

Deleting a row in a recordset and then trying to 
update the row at the same location may fail. If you 
need to update rows that may have been  previously deleted
on the current recordset, you should close the recordset
and requery the data to be sure all rows are visible.

Null data can be stored as a column value in a database.  
The corresponding Visual Basic data type is Empty which is 
equivalent to an empty string. Accessing a Null value and 
printing it will thus display nothing.  To print a string 
for Null values, use a statement similar to the following:  

<% If IsNull(RScatalog_item("ProductSize")) Then  
       Response.Write("ProductSize" & "is Null") %>

==================================
5.  Using a Text Editor with ASP Files
==================================
  Here is a tip about using Notepad to create .Asp files:
      In the Save or Save As dialog boxes, if the Save As 
      Type box displays "Text Documents (*.txt)", the 
      extension .txt is added to whatever you type in the 
      File Name box.  So, if you type Myfile.Asp in the 
      File Name box, the saved text file is actually named 
      Myfile.Asp.txt. To avoid this, select "All Files" in 
      the Save As Type list, or enclose the file name 
      in quotation marks before saving.


=====================================
6. Notes for Windows 95
=====================================
The Active Server Pages version for Windows 95 
should be considered an alpha-quality release.  

Personal Web Server on Windows 95 does not support 
the new server-side includes enhancements.

Active Server Pages for Personal Web Server requires
the installation of Internet Explorer version 3.0.


=====================================
7. Notes for Alpha and PowerPC
=====================================
If you want to use the Access ODBC driver on PowerPC
computers, you must create and set a new value entry in
the registry.  Use the Registry Editor to open the key 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   \System
     \CurrentControlSet
        \Control
           \SessionManager 

Add a value entry called EnableAlignmentFaultExceptions. 
Set the class to REG_DWORD, and set the value to 0.

This registry entry causes the system to catch alignment
faults that exist in this release of Active Server Pages.
Because catching alignment faults hampers performance,
do not run ASP permanently with this setting.  The final
release of ASP will correct this problem.  

The AdventureWorks sample site and the tutorial  both require
the Access ODBC driver. 


You cannot use the table of contents in the documentation roadmap
from a browser running on Alpha or PowerPC computers that
access the files from an i386 server.
 
=====================================
8. Server-Side Includes (SSI) Support
=====================================
This release of Internet Information Server and 
Peer Web Services includes enhancements to 
server-side includes syntax.  For information on
server-side includes, use your Web browser to open
the SSI documentation at the following location:

http://<your-server>/iasdocs/aspdocs/ssi/isiall.htm