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The "Charles Explains..." column write charlescarroll@learnasp.com with feedback What is ASP? Everything YOU want to know starting from the beginning

(surprisingly even though ASP was shipped in Feb 1996, most explanations are still HUGE in books and use quite scary technical terms) We will try to present this all in clear, concise terms and be complete as well. Hang on. Here we go.

ASP is:

1. an abbreviation for Active Server Pages
2. FREE and already built into Win2000. It is part of IIS and must be added with add/remove programs menu there.
3. FREE for NT4 or Win 95/98 if one installs the NT4 Option Pack. Can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/NT4OptPk/default.asp
   since ASP can be installed on Win 95/98 computers to test ASP scripts; thus we can  conclude the NT Option Pack4 has a very misleading name since it installs on Win 9x as well.
4. The code inside ASP is mixed in with standard HTML and is NEVER seen by the browser. ASP pages run in ALL browsers UNLESS the person making the page uses HTML or browser commands outside of the ASP portions.

Tip: Trouble/Errors installing PWS? Here is the answer(s):

http://www.acceleratedcomputers.com/pws4.htm
has the answer to several annoying error messages!

http://rwebs.net/webdesign/pwsmore.htm
also has some excellent info about how and whether to install PWS.

Tip: Trouble/Errors installing IIS5?

When IIS5 does not start:
http://www.iisfaq.com/Articles/134/ 

More ASP facts:

1. See www.learnasp.com/hosts for links to FREE hosts if you want to develop a site on the WWW web without spending money; Commercial hosts are also listed to serve busy corporate sites you build.
2. It is part of IIS (Internet Information Server) which takes care of all the non-asp chores (FTP, serving plain HTML, serving video). IIS  is also FREE with NT4 or Win2000.
3. It can be purchased for Unix, Notes/Domino, Novell servers and other platforms.  Two vendors currently offer this: Chilisoft and Halcyonsoft (see www.learnasp.com/hosts for links to them)

Are you one of those unlucky folks who gets cryptic errors or has trouble Installing Asp? Just join http://www.asplists.com/asplists/aspinstall.asp and submit your problem by email. Others will help you!

What is ASP? Where Can I Get The Software?	Table of Contents PrintView
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