Connectivity issues in FP 2003 with Remote Site

[Guest]

Hello,

We just started a consulting project involving the revamping of an existing
site built with FP2003. The server does *not* have server extensions
installed, so the uploading/downloading of files through FontPage is done
using the built-in FTP option.

We are having reoccurring connectivity problems using this method, that is,
when we try to create a local web site using the “Import Web Site Wizardâ€,
the process of downloading the remote site times out. We can tell that the
connection works for a while. We do get the remote site directory listing and
can see the files. However, when we try to publish the remote site to the
local workstations, the process eventually times out with a message along the
lines that the remote FTP site could not be located on port 21.

Now, just for testing purposes, we used a conventional FTP client and are
able to access and download the remote site with absolutely not issues. Thos
of course bypassed FrontPage which does not longer know which files are
actually in synch between the local and remote site.

Question: are there any settings that we might be missing that will allow
FrontPage to not timeout while it tries to download files from the remote
site?

Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[Ronx]

The only FTP setting in FP2003 activates Passive mode
(Remote Web Site view->Publishing Properties),
and those files considered to be text or binary. (Tools->Site
Settings->FTP) . You could try toggling the Passive mode to see if
that helps (though your Firewall may block non-passive mode).
The FTP engine in FrontPage will not work with all FTP servers -
"conventional" FTP clients are able to cope with short breaks in the
connection, whereas FP is more sensitive.

 

[Guest]

We have tried to toggle the Passive FTP setting with the same results. Some
files transfer but at some point, FP hangs. The interesting thing though is
that FP hangs on the *same* file most of the times.

So, if we were to use a 3rd party FTP client, how would we get FP to synch
up the local project files with the remote site?

Also, we read that it's a bad idea to use an FTP client when the site is
built using FP because there are all sorts of hidden FP files that don't get
updated. Is that relevant only when server extensions are used or does it
always apply?

Thanks again for your time.

 

[Ronx]

Try marking the "hang" file as "Do not Publish" (right click and
choose "Do not publish") and see what happens. Is there anything
unusual about this file (size, type, extension)?

If you use a third party client, you cannot synch the files. The
hidden files (named _vti*) are never published - with HTML publishing
to an extended site they are recreated on the server, and the contents
are not the same as on the local copy). With an FTP site, there is no
need to publish them, and they are ignored if you do.