Into ASP: Page 1

Into ASP	Page 1
What is ASP? ASP is an acronym for Active Server Pages. ASP was first introduced in Microsoft Internet Information Server 2.0, the company's NT-based combination Internet and Network server. It is an extremely powerful server side scripting environment. Probably the most useful application of Active Server Pages is as a link to a database. ASP sits between the Web server and a database such as Access or SQL Server. Data requested by ASP can then be used to create Web pages "on the fly". In other words, a database-driven Web site may only need a few actual Web pages, However, the content and appearance of those pages is only limited by the size of the database.
What do I need? You do not need a fancy server running NT or Windows 2000 Server in order to experiment with ASP. Hidden away on the Windows 98 CD you will find an application named Microsoft Personal Web Server. Personal Web Server (known as PWS from here on) is a great little application that enables you to run server side scripts on your own PC. In fact, if you have a small network at home, maybe connecting the kids PC's with your own, you could use PWS to run a small Intranet.
Installing PWS Insert the Windows 98 CD in your CD-ROM drive. Click the "Start" button and then click "Run". In the dialogue box type D:\add-ons\pws\setup.exe (if your cd drive is not called D substitute with the appropriate letter) then click OK. The PWS setup window should appear (fig 1) click "Next".
Fig 1
5. Click the "Custom" button in the configuration menu (fig 2).
Fig 2
6. Double Click on "Microsoft Data Access Components" (fig 3) and in the active window on MDAC: ADO, ODBC, and OLE DB (fig 4). Then check the ADO documentation to be installed (fig5).
Fig 3
Fig 4
Fig 5
7. Click OK to close the window and OK in the second window to close it as well. We recommended installing the ADO documentation because you will need it for developing data driven web pages. 8. Double click PWS (fig 6) and then double click Documentation and Checkmark Active Server Pages in the window that appears (fig7).
Fig 6
Fig 7
9. Close the two windows by clicking OK. 10. Click "NEXT" in the PWS Setup Window. 11. Notice the default Web publishing home directory, x:\Inetpub\wwwroot where"X" is a drive letter. Click Next to accept the default (fig 8).
Fig 8
12. Leave the MTS (Microsoft Transaction Server) install folder to it's default value and click the Next button (fig 9).
Fig 9
13. The PWS set up will now complete the installation. When it is finished, click on the Finish button. 14. Restart your computer Those of you who are still running Windows 95 can install PWS from the NT 4.0 option pack which is available from Microsofts Web site.
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