Working with a Component Description File

This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

The description file identifies the name, type, and capabilities of each component in that directory and specifies the names of the component template and implementation files. The information kept in the description files of all custom Microsoft FrontPage component directories is downloaded to the FrontPage client when a Web page is opened or its links are recalculated. FrontPage uses this information to construct the merged list of built-in FrontPage components and custom FrontPage components displayed in the Insert Web Component dialog box.

Each component must be named in the component directory description file and associated with the component implementation file. The binding between a component and this file is established by the component description file. A single component template file can describe multiple custom components, and a single object library, executable program, or script file can contain the implementation for multiple custom components.

A description file uses the Win.ini file format. The following is a sample component description file specifying two components that use the same implementation and template files:

  [info]
list=ComponentOne,ComponentTwo
clientarchitectures=All
serverarchitectures=All
vendor=Microsoft
contact=http://www.microsoft.com
version=0.1
serverbinding=stdio
servermodule=newbots.pl
clientbinding=BTL

clientmodule=newcomponents.htm

[ComponentOne]
name=New Component One
description=something or other
type=insert

[ComponentTwo]
name=New Component Two
description=something or other
type=insert

The component description file must contain an [info] section; its key/value pairs apply to all of the components in the directory. If the directory contains only one component, then all of the key/value pairs can go into the [info] section. If there are multiple components in the directory, each one must have a separate section with the same name as the component. For information on the different keys and their related values, see About the Description File Keys.

Supporting Multiple Client Bindings

A component can provide more than one client binding. In fact, any component that provides a DLL interface should provide at least two bindings: a Dynamic Link Library DLL binding for the WinI386 client architecture, and Bot Template Language client binding for all other client architectures. (For more information, see Working with a FrontPage Component Template File.) The following example shows how to specify both platform-dependent and platform-independent client bindings in a component description file, with a preference for the platform-dependent version:

  [info]
list=HitCounter
clientarchitectures=WinI386,all
vendor=Microsoft
contact=http://www.microsoft.com
version=2.1
serverbinding=dll
servermodule=fpcntsrv.dll
clientbinding=BTL
clientmodule=fpcntclt.btl

[WinI386]
clientbinding=dll
clientmodule=fpcntclt.dll

[HitCounter]
name=Hit Counter
description=Adds a hit counter to your page
type=insert