PRB: Error Message "FrontPage Server Extentions on This Web Do Not Support Getting Previous Versions" (247683)

SYMPTOMS

When trying to open a project file in Visual InterDev, you may receive the error:

Unable to Get File file name Server Error: The FrontPage server extentions on this web do not support getting previous versions.

(NOTE: "Extensions" is misspelled as "extentions" in the actual error message and in the title of this article.)

Unable to Get File <filename> Server Error: The FrontPage server extensions on this web do not support getting previous versions.

You may also get an error similar to:

Unable to check out file <filename>.
Server Error: There is a problem with source control integration on your server.
Contact your web administrator.
Do you want to open a read only copy?

The affected file will appear in the project with either a checkmark icon or a padlock icon, depending on if the FrontPage Server Extensions have metadata indicating that the file is currently checked out or not.

It is common for all files in a project to be affected, though this error can be generated by a subset of files in a project.

CAUSE

This problem is typically caused when a Visual InterDev project is under source control and the Visual SourceSafe database is unavailable because it has been moved or uninstalled or there are problems with the VSS configuration.

The FrontPage Server Extensions save metadata information regarding the checked in/out state of a file. In this scenario, they are unable to contact the Visual SourceSafe database and therefore raise the error.

To verify this, you can easily check the metadata for several files. This information is stored in the _VTI_CNF folder beneath each folder on the Web server. Entries that indicate the files are under source control are:

vti_sourcecontrolcheckedoutby:SX|REDMOND\\scottsta
vti_sourcecontrolmultiuserchkoutby:VX|REDMOND\\\\scottsta
vti_sourcecontroltimecheckedout:TX|15 Apr 1999 12:52:03 -0000
vti_sourcecontrolcookie:SX|D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\Common\\VSS\\srcsafe.ini
vti_sourcecontrolversion:SX|V1

RESOLUTION

First ensure the VSS database is installed, and appropriate user access permissions are set up in the VSS admin tool. Once the basic installation has been verified there are two primary solutions, depending on the cause:

Reinstall Visual SourceSafe. This works if the Visual SourceSafe installation is the problem. You can usually assume that the Visual SourceSafe installation/configuration is the problem if you can create new Web projects but cannot put them under Visual SourceSafe control.
Clean/filter the Web content of bad metadata. If you can place a new Web project under Visual SourceSafe control, then you can assume that the existing project contains metadata that is causing the problem.

Solution 1

Reinstalling Visual SourceSafe to the same folder can fix a problem installation under the following criteria:

The Web project is intended to be under source control.
You have verified in the Visual SourceSafe Explorer that the Visual SourceSafe project exists.
You want to retain the VSS history

This method may fix problems in which the Visual SourceSafe installation is unreachable by the FrontPage Server Extensions.

Solution 2

Copy the content to a temporary project and delete the original content folders.

On the Project menu, point to Web Project and click Copy Web to copy the project. Enter temporary as the Web Project name and clear the option Add to an existing web project so that the project will be created on the fly. NOTE: If you receive the error message "Cannot set the application root for this Web application", see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base for further information:
201140 PRB: Cannot Set the Application Root for this Web Application
Once you have ensured that the Web was copied successfully to the new project folder on the Web server, right-click the original project name in the Project Explorer and select Delete. Choose Delete Project. Choose Both Master and Local and click OK. The original master copies of the project along with the corrupted project data are now deleted. Choose Close All from the File menu to close the empty solution. Next, choose Open Project on the File menu. Select the old project folder and click delete to remove the old solution files.
Open the Temporary Project. Click the New tab in the Open Project dialog box, type Temporary in the Name field and click Open. Type the server name and click Next. Select the Connect to an existing Web Application radio button, select Temporary in the drop-down list, and click Finish. The temporary Web project will open in Visual InterDev.
Copy the content back. When the temporary project has been opened, you can choose Copy Web as in step 1 to copy the content back to the old project name. Since you deleted the master files, ensure you clear the Add to an existing web project option so that the Web project folder will be created on the fly.

Of course, if you do not require that the application retain the original name, you can choose an appropriate name other than temporary in step 2 and skip the second copy.
Place the project under Visual SourceSafe control: Select the project name in the Project Explorer, then point to Source Control on the Project menu and click Add to Source Control. In the Initial Solution Add dialog box, click Selection to add the Web content to source control.