How to get Helpers back into needed context in BlogEngine.NET? - asp.net-mvc

Trying to integrate BlogEngine.NET into an existing large and complicated .NET web site, I've found that my cshtml files cannot locate the helpers files. This is a site which has not previously made any use of MVC, and my own experience with MVC is modest enough that I had to review to even remind myself what helpers were.
I placed the BlogEngine.NET code in its own subdirectory.
Now the code in "[rootdirectory]/Blogs/default.cshtml" needs access to the code which now resides in the "[rootdirectory]/App_Code/Helpers/" directory.
I haven't changed the code trying to do this, ad representative sample of which looks like: "#Helpers.ExtensionsHelper.GetExtensions(true)".
I've tried moving the Helpers directory and its contents around extensively. I've tried adding assemblies to the web site to include all the assemblies that appear in BlogEngine.NET.
I always wind up with the error, "The name 'Helpers' does not exist in the current context".

Related

download source code, but not working

I had a problem with part 3 of an orchard tutorial...
so I was attempting to download the source code for part 4 and continue on from there (which can be found about 3/4 of the way down at the end of the tutorial on the page http://skywalkersoftwaredevelopment.net/blog/writing-an-orchard-webshop-module-from-scratch-part-4
However when I run part 4 from webmatrix I get the error(see below)
im guessing this is because iv only downloaded the code but i need to put it inside a seperate project? is this correct? can someone advise me how to do this?
thanks for any replies
The error states that there is no default document configured in IIS. Attempt to access the document using the full URL.
For instance http://localhost:28266/default.aspx (or similar)
You can then adjust IIS to have the correct default document (if desired)
Edit: After reviewing the referenced ZIP archive.
This looks like a changed file zip for the application. This isn't a complete ASP.NET MVC application by itself and, as such, isn't viewable stand alone. I don't have the time to parse the exact steps required to make this application work alongside the demos provided, but be sure you're either combining all of the previous files and folders in order or follow the instructions detailed by the author.
As referenced, this is not a complete ASP.NET MVC application and isn't ready to be immediately rendered by IIS.
The problem is probably that the application can't start for some reason, which causes IIS to attempt to respond to the request with other handlers. Because there is no default document defined (and there shouldn't), it tries to do a directory listing, which is not allowed in your configuration. Do not focus on what IIS is telling you but rather on why your application doesn't run.
Things to check:
you have built the application
you are running in full trust
you are running in integrated mode
there is no exception in app_data/logs
you added the module to a working Orchard instance, in its Modules directory

following iterative and agile in asp.net MVC

ok, i know there are a lot of posts online that specify how to do iterations with MVC.
my question is slightly different. when i used to do iterations using WebForms, i was creating one thing only and finishing that one thing till the end which was including the deployment on production.
for example, i was creating a webpage and deploying it, then i create the second page and deploy it. so .dll files were added to my bin folder while the previous dlls remain untouched. at the other hand, when i was making a change latter on, there was this one file that needed to be replaced on production.
now here is the question, how can i acheive the same thing in mvc? beause it just doesn't deploy each page into an individual dll. each time that i add something i have to redeploy the application dll which is not really wise! i played around with deployment options in visual studio but no luck!
There is nothing preventing you from putting controllers and other code in separate assemblies and dropping them in an existing application. Like any ASP.NET based application an MVC application will automatically restart if you add or modify any file in the bin folder or modify web.config.
If you're using Razor you can use RazorGenerator to generate code for your views and compile them into the same assembly.
You may need to write some additional logic though to get routes, model binders etc. wired up correctly.
For a more structures approach to compose the application of separate modules, you may want to look into portable areas. This is an extension to ASP.NET MVC that allows you to package the entire module (including views, css, js etc.) into a single assembly.
First thing, you have to work on the title of the post, it does not match the content of the post.
In asp.net mvc u can choose to deploy only what changed. I.e. If you only changed the .cshtml file, then you can just replace it with the file in production. However if you change any controller class (C#/Vb code), then you will have to upload the web project dll file too so that this new changes are available in the production env

MVC Razor Shared external layout

I'm looking for a way to reference a shared external _layout.cshtml from MVC 3 and Razor.
A little back story:
We have multiple developers. All of them are working on separate MVC applications that all need the same look and feel. All these applications will be deployed to the same site for example
http://www.example.com/App1/
and
http://www.example.com/App2/
The look and feel will be generated by the CMS and dropped into a different folder
http://www.example.com/Layout/_layoutExt.cshtml
I've tried
MasterName = #"C:\inetpub\wwwroot\layout\_LayoutExt.cshtml";
But it gives me the error that it can't find the file
The view 'Index' or its master was not
found or no view engine supports the
searched locations. The following
locations were searched.
My eventual solution was to use Symbolic links (or junctions or hard links) to link the needed file into the view folder. This way the CMS writes to one location and my app reads from another. Not the clean solution I was looking for.
You'll probably need to make your own view engine that support reading file outside the web application home directory.

ASP.NET MVC 3 File Structure

I apologize for the vague title - I am new to ASP.NET MVC coming from PHP, and I have teamed up with a .NET developer that has a webforms background.
When working with MVC in PHP, all of my files are visible on the server - that is to say, I can go into any of my model, view and controller files and edit any of the code remotely without a problem.
In .NET MVC, I couldn't find the controller or model files, so I asked the developer how the webpage is being put together, and he told me about how .NET compiles code into .DLL files and that I am unable to access this. I wanted to view a controller to see how it was pulling together my views, but didn't even see a controller folder on the server.
To me, something about this doesn't sound right, but I am not sure because of my lack of experience in .NET. Can someone provide input as to if this is the typical .NET scenario, and if not, what is he doing wrong? Should I take this as a red flag? Keep in mind that .NET MVC is new to both of us.
Thanks!
There is no code files because these code files was compiled into DLL files during Publish process. It's not strange - it's even better because of performance reasons. It's common scenario for all ASP.NET and ASP.NET MVC applications.
You can deploy yor application via XCopy deployment (to have all .CS files etc.): simply copy all files to destination folder. Then your site will be compiled (into App_temp destination) by runtime on first run. Your .CS files will still be in place.
You can read more about Publishing procees here:
Walkthrough: Publishing a Web Site
Publishing Web Sites

Include MVC views and master pages as DLL resources instead of separate files

Does there exist a method when publishing an ASP.NET MVC application to completely remove the .aspx view files (and if possible .master too) by compiling them into the application DLL as resources?
The published application would just be the /bin folder, Global.asax and web.config, a default.aspx if needed, and whatever is in the /Content folder. All the views would be contained in the MyProject.dll file.
To clarify I don't mean where every .aspx is overwritten with a 1 line dummy file referencing the correct resource, but where those files can be eliminated entirely in the published app.
The goal here is to simply change management and all the auditing and layers of people surrounding it - one file gets deployed, that file replaces the existing file, and no messing around with a stack of .aspx files that have to be added/removed/updated (yes, SVN or a similar solution handle that problem instead, but management politics prevent this).
Is this what you are looking for?
It's possible with the web forms view engine but you'll have to extend the path provider yourself.
Here is a question here at SO about the same thing:
Using VirtualPathProvider to load ASP.NET MVC views from DLLs
If you use the Spark view engine, it already has additional path providers built in.
The documentation can be found here:
Adding a view folder to config
It allows you to locate your views inside a DLL as an embedded resource, somewhere else on the file system, using the default virtual directories, or plug in your own custom provider.

Resources