Article ID: 201133 - Last Review: July 7, 2008 - Revision: 4.1

Scripting Change Occurs When Upgrading from IIS 3.0

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This article was previously published under Q201133
We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008. IIS 7.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx)
For more information about IIS 7.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1 (http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1)
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SYMPTOMS

Using Scripting.FileSystemObject may return random characters due to a change in the IIS 3.0 implementation of the OpenTextFile method.

With IIS 3.0, the following script correctly displays the contents of Testfile.txt:
   <%
     Set fs = server.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
     Set a = fs.OpenTextFile("c:\inetpub\wwwroot\testfile.txt", 1, FALSE, TRUE )
     do while not a.AtEndOfStream
       response.write(a.readline&"<br>"&Chr(13))
     loop
     a.Close
   %>
However, with IIS 4.0, it displays random characters depending on the contents of Testile.txt. For example, if Testfile.txt contains the following: 
   this is testfile.txt
   line 2
   line 3
The response returned to a browser is: 
   ???????????????????
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CAUSE

The error is caused by the last parameter to OpenTextFile. It is the "format" used to open the file, ASCII, Unicode, and so on. In IIS 3.0, this parameter is ignored. In IIS 4.0, VBScript respects the parameter.

The OpenTextFile method has these parameters:
   object.OpenTextFile(filename[, iomode[, create[, format]]])

where the following applies: 
   object   = Required. Always the name of a FileSystemObject.
   filename = Required. String expression that identifies the file to open.
   iomode   = Optional. Indicates input/output mode. Can be one of two constants, either 
              ForReading or ForAppending.
   create   = Optional. Boolean value that indicates whether a new file can be created if 
              the specified filename doesn't exist. The value is True if a new file is 
              created; False if it isn't created. The default is False.
   format   = Optional. One of three Tristate values used to indicate the format of the 
              opened file. If omitted, the file is opened as ASCII.
The parameters listed above may have these settings. The iomode argument can have either of the following: 
   1 = ForReading. Open a file for reading only. You can't write to this file.
   8 = ForAppending. Open a file and write to the end of the file.
The format argument can have any of the following: 
   -2 = TristateUseDefault. Opens the file using the system default.
   -1 = TristateTrue. Opens the file as Unicode.
    0 = TristateFalse. Opens the file as ASCII.
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MORE INFORMATION

More information on this can be found in the Windows NT Option Pack online documentation. If you installed the product documentation, this is located at the following local URL:

http://localhost/iisHelp/iis/misc/default.asp (http://localhost/iisHelp/iis/misc/default.asp)
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
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Keywords: 
kbinfo KB201133
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