We have two asp.net sites (based on episerver).
Using Telerik Asp.net controls.
We have some functionality that we want to have available in both sites.
Right now one of the sites use webparts/usercontrols and the other uses usercontrols.
Is there any way to share the functionality between these sites?
What I would like is to be able to share usercontrols between the sites.
Since your talking about user controls I'm assuming you also have .ascx files that are part of the user controls, which makes this tricky.
I guess the ideal solution would be to move everything into server controls, that way you could just reference the assembly, but if you are inheriting from other controls that utilize .ascx files, your kinda stuck with them.
One way of handling it is to use the file linking capabilities in Visual Studio (Add Existing File, click the down arrow, choose link option) to share the same physical file between projects within the same solution. This is not ideal simply because you have to make sure that the ascx files are copied to both sites prior to deployment (I've done it with a post-build script before), but there is a lot that can still be pretty fragile.
Another option that is more technically complex, but probably a "better" way of handling it would be to use a Virtual Path Provider to do the work for you. Here is an article which talks about using Virtual Path Providers to do the sort of thing you are wanting to do.
Start a new class library project, reference that project in both your site projects, then pull out the common controls and code into the library project.
Like mentioned you could put the files in a VPP directory in the live environment and that way only have to copy ASCX-files to one folder for a two-site-code-infront-update. Code-behind updates would need the DLL built and overwritten for both sites though.
If you are using SVN in your development environment you could also setup a svn:external linked folder from one of the projects and that way only have the code and it's revision history in one repository.
Related
Our product is an ASP.Net web application. Currently, we use Web Site Projects in Visual Studio, but have been looking into using Web Application Projects for quite some time. I am currently researching them so that we can hopefully improve our deployment process.
We have a base web site that is shared and common between different clients, and then we extend that with client-specific functionality in client Web Site Projects. The client projects extend base, and therefore rely on its contents. To build the full product, we first deploy the base web site, and then overlay it with the content from the client project.
In looking at converting to Web Application Projects in Visual Studio, we were hoping to be able to create the base project, then create client projects and set up references to base. This structure seems to work OK, but when we are attempting to deploy the application from the client project using MSDeploy, only the dll from the base web site is being published. This is fine for some things, referencing the compiled code is useful, but there are other items like images, js pages, htm, etc that is still source that is required for the client application to function. We need more than the compiled code from our base web site.
That all being said, I can think of a few options here:
Continue to deploy in 2 steps. First the base web site, then the client web site to build the full product.
Modify the deployment process to copy the required source files from the base project
Re-architect our model to support this base-client relationship in a different manner. Not quite sure how this would work, and would be the least-viable option.
??
Is there a different option that I am missing? Am I doing something wrong with the way I am setting up my projects? Is there more to making a Web Application reference another Web Application beyond sharing compiled code? If that's the case, why wouldn't you just use a shared class library? Or maybe I am missing something with the MS Deploy process?
I am open to suggestions here as I feel like I am missing something. I don't think our model for our web applications is too unique.
Update: The dual-deploy process does work, but feels a little kludgey. Any other input?
By using assembly WebResource you can Add CSS/JS/Some other File as Reference along with the Code i.e, your Base Project DLL.
If am right you can Add this WebResource in your base project then go through the below link.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910442
Like this way, most of the third party tools will access their CSS and JS files.
Try this. Hope it will help.
How is the site "shared" between clients? Does each client ultimately get a different site (ip address, etc) or are they logging into the same site but getting different functionality? You may want to looking into adding ALL the functionality into a single project and then enabling/disabling feature via settings.
If i have correctly understood your question, you'd like to publish also items which aren't compiled (htm, JS, images, etc..).
So, each file in your Solution Explorer tab has its own properties (accessed by F4 key) which let you choose the build action (eg. compile -> will inject the item in the DLL if applicable, content -> will copy the file "as is" to output directory).
I think the build action "content", with the option "copy to output directory" set to "copy if newer", may be the solution you're looking for.
I would carefully analyze what you are sharing between projects and how you share them.
If it is compiled code, the correct way is to extract those classes out into their own namespace and assembly and share the DLL across projects. Ensure you follow OO and SOLID principles while refactoring.
If it is content (js, htm, images, css) that you share, you have a few options here. You can create a separate virtual directory for the content and reference your content with an absolute URL. This helps because later down the line if you ever want to separate out a project into its own website in IIS, you don't have to change the content URLs. You can also have all the content in your so-called base website and then reference the content in the other projects using a relative path relative to the base website.
On the other hand, if it is ASP.NET user controls or ASP.NET MVC views that you would like to share, it is best to create an individual item in each project. This does not necessarily mean there is a separate physical file in that path - you can also add items in a .NET project in Visual Studio that are only reference links.
Regarding the deployment process, I don't think there is anything wrong with the web site projects per se. Web site projects have a purpose that is different than Web application projects, the main being that you do not have to compile your classes every time you deploy code (provided they are in the correct application folders).
I would suggest sticking to the 2 step deployment process with Web site projects.
I would also review the web sites (virtual directories) created in IIS and consider nesting them if it makes sense. And a review of the application pools (whether separate or shared) would not harm either.
Lastly, this is an old question. Please share if you have already implemented a successful strategy.
Right now I have a single ASP.NET solution with one project in it. The problem I'm facing is that multiple developers are working on different parts of the project that are getting released at different times. Because of this my project manager is thinking we can split the project into multiple dlls instead of just one dll so that we can update just the modules that need to updated.
1. Is splitting the project into multiple projects (multiple dlls) the correct way to solve this problem?
2. If so, how do I do this?
Can I just copy the appropriate aspx/cs files to the new project, remove them from the old one and build? What about Master Pages, CSS, Javascript and User-Controls, will I need to copy those along as well or can they be referenced in the "Core" Project? Would I need to make some adjustments in IIS or can I just copy the aspx from the new "sub-project" to the root of the "Core" Project (essentially where the aspx files are now)?
3. If not, what is the better solution to fix my issue?
Thanks for your help
Edit (to add a bit more clarity):
Right now our structure is something like this (shortened and code-behind implied):
MasterPage.master
styles.css
SplashPage.aspx
Page.aspx
AnotherPage.aspx
a_MasterPage.master
a_Page.aspx
a_AnotherPage.aspx
b_Page.aspx
b_AnotherPage.aspx
b_AlsoAnotherPage.aspx
Can I take all the a_ pages and roll them into one project and all the b_ pages and roll them into another (which would separate the dlls).
If this doesn't make sense please ask and I'll try to explain it better
Yes
How? Don't think in terms of pages, but rather functionality. The best way to handle your issue is to move the business logic out of the ASP.NET experience layer project and put it in class libraries. You can then have different types of developers working on different types of code.
Now, if you truly have different "sites", meaning they serve different purposes, then you may have to move some pages to one and other pages to another. I can't answer whether that is a need or not.
Hopefully, this all makes sense. NOTE: If you code is contained in Page_Load() and event handlers, you are pretty much screwed until you can refactor the code into individual methods.
3.) What about some version control system, wouldn't that serve you better?
Splitting project like this isn't a good idea imo, it would make sense, if you would like to split logical/physical layers of that project (you could have different project for your data access, another for business logic etc.) But splitting to projects, where one contains "welcome.aspx" and second one "contact.aspx".. hmm I would rather use SVN / Git / TFS / Whatever ;)
Normally you split the project according to the function or feature eg. you could split off the data access layer into a different project.
I ussually try to keep my view together and separate the core features, so it would be easy to use the same dll's over different websites.
eg: I have a project with all the methods and a db for user management.
I could deploy this project on a server and reference it in all my websites.
This way users can use the same login over all my websites.
So once you have a core system, everyone can make his own project and just reference the projects needed.
Yes you just move your aspx/c# files to a different project and reference the new project in your existing project.
I do think that every project needs his own masterpage though (last time I checked that is).
I hope this answers you question.
I know this seems pretty basic, but I've been working with MVC for awhile and I'm not sure what works with asp.net.
Is it possible to organize code outside the App_Code directory or into separate projects? How would this be done?
Yes, it's possible.
You have a couple choices. One is to use Web Application Projects instead of Web Site projects. WAP's have a LOT more control over where code lives, compilation, etc.
Another is to create a Class Library project and reference this from your existing project. This is a great way to share code amongst multiple projects and/or solutions.
Incidentally, if you are wanting to stick with MVC, then I'd highly suggest you investigate Razor. I've heard nothing but good things about it. Personally, I'm not 100% sold on MVC; but the people I know who are love Razor.
To move code outside of the App_Code folder, you need to place it in a separate class library project, and the dll output from that project must registered in the GAC on your web server (and each of your development machines).
It's this last part that annoys me most, as it's not easy getting all the working with a source control system where the relevant revision that you need installed in the GAC on your local machine may change frequently.
In a website, I see some developers put code into app_code, and sometimes appcode (due to some bug), other files into DataModel, and other files into miscellaneous folders.
Is there a standard approach to organizing code within an application?
How is it different between an ASP.NET, MVC, Silverlight, Console, Database, and WCF application? The reason I mention WCF is because many people seem to have a shared types library that is linked between the server and client code.
Where can I learn these common practices without having to try, fail, and try again. I'd rather just learn it once from the experts.
the most standard well organized is MVC framework. For anything else, mostly i organize folders as namespace.
eg companyName.projectName.folderName
myCompany.StackOverFlow.Extension
myCompany.StackOverFlow.OpenID
There is no set in stone 'best practice' standard for organizing namespaces. My personal approach to keeping projects organized is to limit the content of any directory/namespace to about 20 items. This means I can fit the full contents of a folder into my screen, and also see every other item surrounding it (assuming other folders are collapsed).
On the other hand, lots of folders without much content can make navigation difficult as well.
Another thing you should do is to separate your solution into projects based on dependencies. For example if you are using m-v-vm, you should have a project for each of Model, View, and ViewModel.
Files placed in AppCode should only be files directly relevant to the presentation modules. Other files (ie ViewModel, Model, Controller etc depending on the framework you're using) would be preferably placed in separate projects.
Take a look at the "WCF the Manual Way…the Right Way" http://www.code-magazine.com/Article.aspx?quickid=0809101
One of the projects I was in charge of as a JSP/Struts developer at my last employer was a themes tag library (present on every WebSphere server as a shared library) that let any Java web dev in the company pull in any of the standard themes like intranet, public, etc. with minimal effort. The themes included header, footer, navigation, and links to css & javascript, etc. They could even customize things a bit when we gave them the option, like choosing a selected tab.
This setup was ideal because we could make centralized change to any standard UI elements and they were automatically pulled in by all sites using themes without any effort by the site developer.
With the new job I started in December, I've switched to using ASP.NET. I'd like to propose something similar in spirit to the themes app here, since we're running a bunch of different sites that should have a unified look and feel.
What's the best way to accomplish this? I'd rather not have to recompile anything to update the theme to make this work.
Edit:
Although I was hoping for a better answer, the .NET gods apparently don't approve of what I was trying to accomplish. Here are the three options that were found:
Compile a Master Page into a DLL and put it into the GAC:
This works in simple cases, but as a hack it's too brittle. I couldn't get it to work correctly with our site.
Create a virtual directory to the Master Page in each web app: This actually does work, although it doesn't make for a very comfortable development environment. However, one of the things we are trying to move away from is having to create virtual directories inside each web application. No dice.
Create a bunch of custom controls, compile them into a DLL, and put it into the GAC: This is the answer I selected. It's the least centralized option and requires more work for the developer of each site, but it seems to be the only Microsoft-blessed way.
In conclusion, I'm pretty frustrated with .NET over this. In the grand scheme of things Master pages are just code, and I don't see any reason why they couldn't be easily centralized for use in multiple web applications. This seems to be a major loss compared to JSP/Java.
You can put some UI into the form of custom controls or server controls (if not in MVC) and then place them in the GAC thereby distributing them. All references to the controls in that assembly will be pulled from the latest version in the gac. You can also do things via the Machine.config which is controlled at the server level rather than the app level.