FP2000: Cannot Open a Subweb with an "&" Character in the Name (284278)

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Open Web dialog box in FrontPage 2000 to open a subweb directly, you may receive the following error message:

"The folder "http://server/sub&web" isn't accessible. The folder may be located on an unavailable volume or protected with a password."

There is nothing added to the Wecerr.txt error log.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when there is an "&" character in the subweb name. FrontPage 2000 allows you to create a subweb with this character, but the Open Web dialog box cannot open the subweb if the name contains this character.

WORKAROUND

To open the subweb by using the Open Web dialog box, you must rename the subweb so that it does not contain the "&" character.

NOTE: The following steps allow FrontPage to update the hyperlinks to the newly renamed subweb, as well as keep any theme and navigation structure that may be contained within the subweb.

Open FrontPage.
On the File menu, click Open Web.
In the Folder name field, type http://server name.
Click Open.
In the folder list, double-click the subweb that contains an "&" in its name. The subweb opens in its own window within FrontPage.
On the Tools menu, click Web Settings.
On the General tab, change the Web name so that it no longer contains the "&" character.
Click OK to close Web Settings.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office XP.

MORE INFORMATION

Section 2.2. "Reserved Characters" of RFC 2396 recommends that you do not include an "&" in a URL, which includes the name of a web or subweb.

For more information about this topic, please browse to the following Web sites:

RFC 2396 Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax

RFC 2616 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1