EW4 does not replace webbot Substition in.aspx page (but works for .htm page). Why? How to fix?

Question

I've got lots of Substitions left over from when this site was on FrontPage.

EW supports these but they're not getting substituted for pages that are .aspx, only on .htm pages.

Any idea why?

<!--webbot bot="Substitution" S-Variable="subscriptionCount" -->

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Substitutions are among the many FrontPage features not supported in EW. You're going to have to use, say, javascript, or another technology (e.g. data controls in ASP.NET) to implement that functionality.

Wait a minute, I just re-read your topic title. Are you saying that you have substitutions that work in HTML pages?

Ah, OK. I thought that I recalled having addressed this issue in the past. It turns out that EW supports Site Parameters (Substitutions) if they already exist. However, they are not supported for editing existing or creation of new. See this previous discussion from May, in which you were already answered on this subject.

cheers,
scott

---

Please remember to "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue. It is common courtesy to recognize those who have helped you, and it also makes it easier for visitors to find the resolution later.

Answer 2

Because webbots were never intended to work in asp.net web pages. Webbots are for HTML page with the exception of the database webbots which work with classic asp pages and possibly asp.net 1.0 pages (it has been too long since I used FrontPage or did anything with the bots including teaching them that I don't remember if the database webbots ever worked with asp.net at all. Kathleen Anderson may have something about that on her spiderwebwoman website if you really want to know.)

Frankly, webbots are only minimally supported for backwards compatibility and you should have moved away from them by now.

---

Free Expression Web Tutorials
For an Expression Web forum with without the posting issues try expressionwebforum.com

Answer 3

Because webbots were never intended to work in asp.net web pages. Webbots are for HTML page with the exception of the database webbots which work with classic asp pages and possibly asp.net 1.0 pages (it has been too long since I used FrontPage or did anything with the bots including teaching them that I don't remember if the database webbots ever worked with asp.net at all. Kathleen Anderson may have something about that on her spiderwebwoman website if you really want to know.)

Frankly, webbots are only minimally supported for backwards compatibility and you should have moved away from them by now.

AFAIK, database webbots have never worked with ASP.NET, even the first version, because ASP.NET, from the outset, has been built upon a managed code CLR base, and anything compatible with FP's Classic ASP would have had to be rewritten from the ground up. Given that FP was at end of life at that time, I seriously doubt that that would have been done.

Clay, since you already know how to edit substitutions for HTML pages in _vti_pvt\service.cnf, why not use ASP.net methods for aspx pages? For example, here is a method for binding a label to a data field, which would work for any control with a text property. Google can provide other solutions, as well, but the question is, strictly speaking, one probably better asked in a dedicated ASP.NET forum such as forums.asp.net.

cheers,
scott

---

Please remember to "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue. It is common courtesy to recognize those who have helped you, and it also makes it easier for visitors to find the resolution later.

Answer 4

Actually it appears you could use the FP 2003 Database Wizard with ASP.Net http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/frontpage-help/using-the-database-results-wizard-with-asp-net-HP001053157.aspx Plus Dave Berry has an old article on using asp.net in EW http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa218650%28v=office.11%29.aspx

However, that was asp.net 1.0 and it quite different from ASP.Net 2.0 +

---

Free Expression Web Tutorials
For an Expression Web forum with without the posting issues try expressionwebforum.com

Answer 5

I'll be darned. I wouldn't have thought that anything written to run under Classic ASP would have also run under dotNET's managed code base. Then again, you're right; there was quite a bit of difference between 1.0 and 2.0, and by that time I had left FP far behind, having dropped it after FP2000, so I never actually tried it at the time.

cheers,
scott

---

Please remember to "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue. It is common courtesy to recognize those who have helped you, and it also makes it easier for visitors to find the resolution later.

Answer 6

Well, from what I recall you had to choose through the database wizard which you were going to use either classic asp (my actual preference and far better supported at the time) or the "new" asp.net 1.0 (with all the attendant issues of a 1.0 product) so it wasn't the same code base. Instead the asp.net was sort of bolted on. I think I used it only to test for a class I was teaching but we didn't spend much time on it.

---

Free Expression Web Tutorials
For an Expression Web forum with without the posting issues try expressionwebforum.com

Answer 7

To clarify:

These substitutions (like <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%A, %B %d, %Y" --> ) DO WORK for an .HTML page. But NOT for a .aspx page.

Most of our pages are .html and the substitions are in the .dwt. So I can't simply replace the substitution in the .dwt  with .aspx code b/c the .html pages will then not have the substitution.

Answer 8

ClayNichols,

Your first post was clear already.  The last posts were simply discussion diversions.

If they don't work in aspx pages, they don't work.  Not surprising, really.  Backward compatibility for FP things is limited.

Use javascript, find/replace, or whatever else would accomplish what you are trying to do with those webbots.