Err Msg: Active Server Pages, ASP 0131 Disallowed Parent Path

SYMPTOMS
When you use relative paths in include statements with Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP), browsing a Web page may return an error message similar to the following:
Active Server Pages, ASP 0131
Disallowed Parent Path
The Include file '../<filename.ext>' cannot contain '..' to indicate the parent directory.
/<path>/<filename.ext>, line <number>

CAUSE
This is caused by disabling ASP's "parent paths" for a Web site or application while using relative parent paths in an include statement.

Relative parent paths in include statements use the following form:

<!--#include file="../<filename.ext>"-->

RESOLUTION

The best solution to the problem is to use absolute virtual paths from the root of the Web site instead of relative paths.

For example, if you use an include file named "mycode.inc" at the root of your server, the virtual path would be "/mycode.inc." If you use the same include file in a virtual directory named "/includes" on your server, the virtual path would be "/includes/mycode.inc."

The syntax example below illustrates how to implement virtual paths:
<!--#include virtual="/<virtual path>/<filename.ext>"-->

An alternative to using absolute virtual paths is to enable parent paths; however, this is not the preferred method because of security issues.

APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
• Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
• Microsoft Internet Information Services 6.0

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