Learn about ASP

Learn about ASP

ASP Tutorial

In our ASP tutorial you will learn about ASP, and how to execute scripts on your server.
You will see that ASP is a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive Web pages.

Active Server Pages. A specification that enables Web pages to be dynamically created using HTML, scripts, and reusable ActiveX server components.

A dynamically generated web page, generally using ActiveX scripting. When a browser or a search engine spider requests an ASP page from a server, the server generates the web page with HTML code and gives it to the browser or spider.

The abbreviation ASP has several meanings: * Active Server Pages - which is a web server extension by Microsoft.* Advanced Simple Profile - a profile used in digital video codecs, such as XviD and Nero Digital* amnesic shellfish poison - a marine biotoxin and neurotoxin (aka domoic acid).* Application service provider - a business that serves clients with computer application needs (compare to internet service provider or ISP)

Active Server Pages. The default scripting language used for writing ASP is VBScript, although you can use other scripting languages like JScript. Also see PSP, JSP and JSP. Application Service Provider. A provider of applications through the internet.

ASP is Microsoft's server-side scripting technology. An Active Server Page has an .asp extension and it mixes HTML and scripting code that can be written in VBScript or JScript. ASP is distributed with Microsoft's IIS web server, so most host using IIS will also offer ASP for dynamic web programming. ASP.NET is the next version of ASP. Other popular server-side scripting languages are Perl, PHP, ColdFusion, TCL, Python, and JSP.

Lesson 1: Introduction to ASP

An ASP file can contain text, HTML tags and scripts. Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server

What you should already know

Before you continue you should have some basic understanding of the following:

HTML / XHTML
A scripting language like JavaScript or VBScript

If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.

What is ASP?

ASP stands for Active Server Pages
ASP is a program that runs inside IIS
IIS stands for Internet Information Services
IIS comes as a free component with Windows 2000
IIS is also a part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack
The Option Pack can be downloaded from Microsoft
PWS is a smaller - but fully functional - version of IIS
PWS can be found on your Windows 95/98 CD

ASP Compatibility

ASP is a Microsoft Technology
To run IIS you must have Windows NT 4.0 or later
To run PWS you must have Windows 95 or later
ChiliASP is a technology that runs ASP without Windows OS
InstantASP is another technology that runs ASP without Windows

What is an ASP File?

An ASP file is just the same as an HTML file
An ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML, and scripts
Scripts in an ASP file are executed on the server
An ASP file has the file extension ".asp"

How Does ASP Differ from HTML?

When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine. The ASP engine reads the ASP file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file. Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML

What can ASP do for you?

Dynamically edit, change or add any content of a Web page
Respond to user queries or data submitted from HTML forms
Access any data or databases and return the results to a browser
Customize a Web page to make it more useful for individual users
The advantages of using ASP instead of CGI and Perl, are those of simplicity and speed
Provides security since your ASP code can not be viewed from the browser
Since ASP files are returned as plain HTML, they can be viewed in any browser
Clever ASP programming can minimize the network traffic

Lesson 2: Run ASP on Your PC

You can run ASP on your own PC without an external server. To do that, you must install Microsoft's Personal Web Server (PWS) or Internet Information Services (IIS) on your PC.

How to Run ASP on your own PC

You can run ASP on your own PC without an external server. To do that, you must install Microsoft's Personal Web Server (PWS) or Internet Information Services (IIS) on your PC.
If you are serious about using ASP, you should have at least Windows 98, Second Edition.
If you are really serious about using ASP, you should go for Windows 2000.

How to install PWS and run ASP on Windows 95

Personal Web Server (PWS) is not shipped with Windows 95 !!
To run ASP on Windows 95, you will have to download "Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack" from Microsoft.

How to install PWS and run ASP on Windows NT

Personal Web Server (PWS) is not shipped with Windows NT !!
To run ASP on Windows NT, you will have to download "Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack" from Microsoft.

How to install PWS and run ASP on Windows 98

Open the Add-ons folder on your Windows98 CD, find the PWS folder and run the setup.exe file.
An Inetpub folder will be created on your harddrive. Open it and find the wwwroot folder.
Create a new folder, like "MyWeb", under wwwroot.
Use a text editor to write some ASP code, save the file as "test1.asp" in the "MyWeb" folder.
Make sure your Web server is running - The installation program has added a new icon on your task bar (this is the PWS symbol). Click on the icon and press the Start button in the window that appears.
Open your browser and type in "http://localhost/MyWeb/test1.asp", to view your first ASP page.

How to install PWS and run ASP on Windows ME

Personal Web Server (PWS) is not included with Windows Me !!
Read article from Microsoft
A workaround!

How to install IIS and run ASP on Windows 2000

From your Start Button, go to Settings, and Control Panel
In the Control Panel window select Add/Remove Programs
In the Add/Remove window select Add/Remove Windows Components
In the Wizard window check Internet Information Services, click OK
An Inetpub folder will be created on your harddrive
Open the Inetpub folder, and find a folder named wwwroot
Create a new folder, like "MyWeb", under wwwroot.
Use a text editor to write some ASP code, save the file as "test1.asp" in the "MyWeb" folder
Make sure your Web server is running - The installation program has added a new icon on your task bar (this is the IIS symbol). Click on the icon and press the Start button in the window that appears.
Open your browser and type in "http://localhost/MyWeb/test1.asp", to view your first ASP page

How to install IIS and run ASP on Windows XP Professional

Note: You cannot run ASP on Windows XP Home Edition.

Insert the Windows XP Professional CD-Rom into your CD-Rom Drive
From your Start Button, go to Settings, and Control Panel
In the Control Panel window select Add/Remove Programs
In the Add/Remove window select Add/Remove Windows Components
In the Wizard window check Internet Information Services, click OK
An Inetpub folder will be created on your harddrive
Open the Inetpub folder, and find a folder named wwwroot
Create a new folder, like "MyWeb", under wwwroot.
Use a text editor to write some ASP code, save the file as "test1.asp" in the "MyWeb" folder
Make sure your Web server is running - its status can be checked by going into the Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, and double-click the "IIS Manager" icon
Open your browser and type in "http://localhost/MyWeb/test1.asp", to view your first ASP page

How to install IIS and run ASP on Windows Server 2003 (Windows .NET Server)

When you start the Windows Server 2003, you should see the Manage Your Server wizard
If the wizard is not displayed, go to Administrative Tools, and select Manage Your Server
In the wizard, click Add or Remove a Role, click Next
Select Custom Configuration, click Next
Select Application Server role, click Next
Select Enable ASP.NET, click Next
Now, the wizard may ask for the Server 2003 CD. Insert the CD and let it run until it is finished, then click the Finish button
The wizard should now show the Application Server role installed
Click on Manage This Application Server to bring up the Application Server Management Console (MMC)
Expand the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, then expand your server, and then the Web Sites folder
You should see the Default Web Site, and it should not say (Stopped)
IIS is running!
In the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager click on the Web Service Extensions folder
Here you will see that Active Server Pages are Prohibited (this is the default configuration of IIS 6)
Highlight Active Server Pages and click the Allow button
ASP is now active!

Lesson 3: ASP Syntax

You cannot view the ASP source code by selecting "View source" in a browser, you will only see the output from the ASP file, which is plain HTML. This is because the scripts are executed on the server before the result is sent back to the browser.

In our ASP tutorial, every example displays the hidden ASP source code. This will make it easier for you to understand how it works.

Examples

Write text with ASP
How to write some text with ASP.
Add some HTML to the text
How to format the text with HTML tags.

The Basic Syntax Rule

An ASP file normally contains HTML tags, just like an HTML file. However, an ASP file can also contain server scripts, surrounded by the delimiters <% and %>. Server scripts are executed on the server, and can contain any expressions, statements, procedures, or operators valid for the scripting language you prefer to use......