This article covers the creation and essential configuration of a StoreFront Web and the local machine it is tested on. Please note that this article is not intended to act as a complete guide for developing and configuring a live site as it does not cover the essential server configuration and security measures that must be taken in a live web.
Step 1: Make sure that Personal Web Server 4.0 is installed.
To begin developing a StoreFront web on your local machine, start by installing Personal Web Server 4.0. Personal Web Server 1.0 with the optional support for ASP will not be able to support StoreFront 2000.
Users of StoreFront 98 can install the PWS from the Windows 98 CD. The files are located under ADDONS\PWS\; click the setup.exe file to begin the installation.
Users of Windows 95 can install the PWS in the form of NT Option Pack 4.0. NT Option Pack 4.0 can be downloaded from this link:
www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/NT4OptPk/default.asp
Step 2: Create the web.
Once the PWS has been installed, create the web on your local machine. There are two ways to do this:
Add StoreFront Files to an Existing Web. To do this, simply open the existing web in FrontPage and click on the StoreFront menu. >From the available options, select StoreFront Import Wizard. When the alert appears saying "This will add StoreFront Files to the current web", click ok to begin the import.
Create a new StoreFront web using the StoreFront web template. To do this, open FrontPage and click on the File menu. Select New|Web. >From the list of available Web Wizards, select the StoreFront 2000 Web Template. Specify the location to be http://localhost/ or http://(your machine name). The StoreFront Web must be located on an http:// location; ASP will not run in a file-based web at a location such as C:\my documents\my webs.
Once the StoreFront Web has been created, a system DSN must be created and configured to point to the storefront.mdb database in the fpdb folder of your web. To establish a database connection in FrontPage2000, using StoreFront 2000, you will first need to create a system DSN in the ODBC Administrator.
Step 3: Establishing a System DSN
Click on the Start Menu, then Settings, and Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double click the icon for the ODBC Datasource Administrator. In Windows 2000, the ODBC Administrator is located under Start Menu|Settings|Control Panel|Administrative Tools.
Click on the System DSN tab, then click Add. Select the Microsoft Access Driver and click Finish. You will now see a select database dialog. Enter the desired DSN in the Datasource name field and leave the description blank. Click on the Select button, then browse down to find the location of the web you have recently created. The path should be C:\inetpub\wwwroot\yourweb, C:\or webshare\wwwroot\yourweb. Once you locate the web's directory, continue to browse until you find the database for this web (inetpub\wwwroot\yourweb\fpdb\storefront.mdb or webshare\wwwroot\yourweb\database\storefront.mdb) When you open the fpdb folder, the storefront.mdb will appear to the left. Select the storefront.mdb and click ok. Continue to click Ok until you have closed the remaining open windows.
Step 4: Create a database connection for the ASP pages in the web.
Now you will need to establish the database connection within FrontPage. Open the web in FrontPage, then go to Tools|Web Settings, then the Database tab. Then click Add, select "File or folder in current web," and click Browse. Browse to the location of the database within the web (the storefront.mdb in the fpdb folder), then highlight this file and click OK, and OK once more. Now, highlight the new connection and click Verify, then Apply. Click Ok to close the window.
Step 5: Test the database connections.
The next step is to test the database connection within the web. To do this, locate the search.asp file in the root of the web. Right click on this file and select Copy. Open a browser independent of FrontPage (do NOT use the Preview in Browser feature of FrontPage), right click in the address window, then select Paste. This will paste the URL of the search.asp page into the address window. Click Go or hit enter to view the page in the browser.
If the page displays without an error, then the database connection within the web has been properly set. If you encounter an error message, review the other knowledge base articles for a solution, review the Troubleshooting section of the help file, or contact StoreFront Support.
Once the database connection within the web has been configured correctly, test the connection to the database using the StoreFront Client Tools.
Click on the icon for the StoreFront Administrator, or select the StoreFront Administrator from the StoreFront menu of FrontPage. In the database connection dialog box that appears, use the following criteria.
Host should be set to localhost
DSN should be the DSN you just created in the ODBC Administrator.
Use remote database connection should be unchecked. Use data handler should be unchecked.
MSAccess should be selected. Logon required should be unchecked, and both logon fields should be left blank.
Click ok to test the connection.
If the StoreFront Administrator opens, then the test has been successful. You can connect to the database using the Product Manager, Sales Reports, and Link Builder in the same fashion. Proceed with the construction and configuration of your web as described in your manual or help files.
