Quickly attached from the outside of the handguard. Microsot declined to disclose the average solution provider margin.Fits both KeyMod and M-Lok mounting surfaces. Microsoft's three-tier channel program provides online and onsite training, online technical and sales resources, volume rebates, demos and sales tools.įrontPage costs $199 and $109 for an upgrade. Front3 will require considerable training because the product now speaks to advanced users and developers alike. So much has been added to this product that it is a truly different product and not merely an upgraded version. Again, the server where the pages are being delivered must support FrontPage Server Extensions or SharePoint Services.įor the first time FrontPage is truly committed to Web technologies. FrontPage has a simple dialog box that lets users quickly change connection properties in a couple of steps. What's more, FrontPage accepts pages requests from passive FTP sites that usually run behind firewalls. In addition, the new Remote Web Site feature supports FTP servers. Since SharePoint Services runs under WebDAV, FrontPage can publish pages to remote sites.
One caveat is that the Windows 2003 Server must be running Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 for Web Parts to work with forms that input data into databases. XML files can be exported right into Excel or any other application that accepts XML formats. Results from a form can also be saved in XML, HTML or text files. FrontPage can also collect data from forms and input it into databases created by users or by the application. Validation choices can be added to blank fields, drop-down menus and other fields. For instance, users can add rules for number validation that will only accept entries with numerical characters. The forms created using Web Parts have all the usual options that are available to HTML programmers. This technology allows users to develop highly dynamic, data-driven sites that utilize XML, OLEDB and Web Services. With Web Parts, users can quickly create forms that access databases.
Out of the box, FrontPage arrives with an author-time component that can automatically generate photo galleries.įor companies that upgrade to Windows 2003 Server and Windows SharePoint Services, FrontPage offers a dynamic data solution using Web Parts, which is a new feature that only works with Windows SharePoint Services. The new extensions work with the Front3 Server Extensions and Windows SharePoint Services.Ĭonversely, author-time Web Components do not need specific servers to run on. However, the company is falling into the same trap by including a new set of optional browser-based Web Components that arrive with proprietary server extensions and require IIS to be used.įortunately, with a simple click of a box, users can de-select this feature in FrontPage. With good intention, in Front3 Microsoft has made many of its FrontPage Extensions a thing of the past.
One of the big drawbacks of the older FrontPage versions is that they required FrontPage Extensions, which obligated the user to use Internet Information Services (IIS), Microsoft Web server. Each behavior is accompanied by a wizard that guides users with its inputs. With Behaviors, users can add jump menus or pop-up messages, preload images and play sounds without having to do a lot of coding.
Users can see code as it is generated in realtime.Īnother useful new item is the Behaviors feature, which adds functionality to elements by inserting code right into a page, thereby speeding up coding. Tightening up code is also easier because FrontPage has a new split-screen view that generates code as users work with the Design editor. The IntelliSense feature offers users writing code a drop-down list of possible tag or code choices that best match a given HTML statement. The Coding editor now includes Microsoft's IntelliSense software, which has been used for some years now by its Visual Studio product. Developers can also write scripts to manipulate a Layer's visibility. Layers can be stacked on top of each other, dragged on a page in groups and be resized to fit images. Front3 allows layers for precise CSS positioning using the Layer command. The old way of positioning text and images on a page by arranging HTML tables is now optional. FrontPage can apply inline Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) right into design pages.