Support Statement: Setting Scope for an ASP Site Upgrade

Owned by Mark Juras
Last updated: Jun 28, 2023

gmStudio's ASP translation process is directed by translating groups of pages (.asp files, aka. Web Sites).  This process requires preparing a Site translation script containing a list of .asp/.asa files and processing that script.  The list of files should contain "pages", not #include files.  The #Include files are translated when you translate a page that references an #include either directly or indirectly, through another #include.

Translating #includes directly does not make sense because they often contain code that depends on symbols declared in other #includes that are only available when integrated through a page.

gmStudio can help you identify which files are pages and which ones are #includes using the Set Build Order operation from the Tools menu.   In simple terms: any .asp file found in an #include element is considered to be an #include, otherwise it is considered a page. See Prepare Web Site Script for more details.

However, there can still be a problem: some pages may not be used by the production web site.  These pages are in the site directory, but they are never browsed by a user or used in any other operation such as a redirect.  We call these dead pages and they often contain out of date or invalid code that can cause problems with translation.  So, an important step in preparing for an ASP upgrade is identifying precisely which files are dead and which are active and removing dead files from the site folder and the site script.  This clean up work should be one of the first steps done when preparing your site for translation.  Failing to do this cleanup will waste time during your upgrade project and increase technical debt and maintenance costs afterwards.

There are a lot of ways to deduce if files are used or not:

  • Exclude files based on names (e.g. named "file-old.asp" or "copy of file.asp", etc.)
  • Exclude folders based on names (e.g. named "backup\" or "old\", etc.)
  • Exclude files that are clearly not active or are defective in some way
  • Include files that are reported as served in Production web logs
  • Include files in redirect statements in pages known to be active
  • Include files in href tags in pages known to be active
  • Consider system documentation if available and up to date
  • Consider Test Plans (only upgrade the pages that you know how to test)

Contact Us if you would like help with planning as ASP upgrade using gmStudio.