ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit and Web Deployment Project Releases for VS 2008

27 Comments

• I might just have missed it so far, but the number one feature I would like to see in web deployment projects is an option "Publish..." that allows me to specify a target (i.e. my remote web server) and then takes the output of the web deployment project and copies it over there.
  

• Hi Scott,
  
  Thanks for the great articles over the couples of years.
  When do you guys plan to release MVC framework ?
  

• Scott,
  Is there a reason that the web deployment project stuff wasn't integrated into VS2008 the way the WebApp project was?
  

• Hi DavidACoder,
  
  >>>>>> I might just have missed it so far, but the number one feature I would like to see in web deployment projects is an option "Publish..." that allows me to specify a target (i.e. my remote web server) and then takes the output of the web deployment project and copies it over there.
  
  One option to look at is to use MSBuild to achieve this. Web deployment projects are themselves just msbuild based project files - so you can add any MSBuild task you want to customize the publishing process.
  
  Here are two older posts I've done that points to a few MSBuild tasks that might help with this:
  
  http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/04/03/Great-Free-MSBuild-Tasks-Available-for-Download.aspx
  http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/02/12/438061.aspx
  
  We are also working on a web publishing framework for IIS (it will work with both IIS6 and IIS7) that we'll ship early next year. It handles deploying applications remotely (either to a single machine or across a webfarm) and supports versioning. You could use this either standalone to deploy applications and/or kick it off at the end of a web deployment build.
  
  Hope this helps,
  
  Scott
  

• Hi Long,
  
  >>>>>> When do you guys plan to release MVC framework ?
  
  We are shooting to ship the first preview of the MVC framework next week.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Scott
  

• Hi Kevin,
  
  >>>>>>> Is there a reason that the web deployment project stuff wasn't integrated into VS2008 the way the WebApp project was?
  
  Mainly due to time we couldn't get it into the core setup package (we also wanted the ability to more easily rev it before the next major VS release - and shipping it separately gives us that ability).
  
  Hope this helps,
  
  Scott
  

• Scott.
  
  Thanks.
  
  I am waiting for MVC Framework release. Please do let us know when you are planning for its first release.
  

• Hi PK,
  
  >>>>>>> Kewl. just a few questions about this.
  
  >>>>>>> 1) If our servers are PHYSICALLY remote, will we be able to 'publish' to these servers over the net? (ie. use IP address instead of \\).
  
  Yes - we will support remote publishing over the net.
  
  >>>>>>> 2) If so, can we configure the remote port ourselfs (just to obfuscate the publish port a bit more, to protect us from hack attempts).
  
  The ports will be completely configurable
  
  >>>>>>> 3) Lastly, if this remote publish by IP address (see question #1 about this), then i'm assuming multiple IP's can be handled, for the web farm scenario suggested by you.
  
  Yes - it will support multiple machines for farm situations.
  
  >>>>>>>> Lastly - i strongly think this new web deployment scenario you are looking to get released "early next year" will be one of the biggest gain benefits for us developers/release managers in eons with regards to the VS product suit. TFS was the last _huge_ benefit in recent years (IMO), followed by the up'n'coming MVC + Linq imo .. and now this. (remember, i'm talking about my thoughts on the _biggest_ benefit, with regards to what the upgrade had previously... if it had anything)
  
  Hope so! :-)
  
  Thanks,
  
  Scott
  

• Hi "Poor Man",
  
  >>>>>>>>> Would that address my criticism on the webdevtools blog (blogs.msdn.com/.../web-deployment-projects-wdp-for-visual-studio-2008-december-2007-ctp-released.aspx)?
  
  >>>>>>>>> There my comment is that Web Deployment Projects for Visual Studio 2008 is constrained more than WDP for VS 2005, in that it is prevented from running standalone.
  
  The aspnet_merge.exe utility now actually ships built-into Visual Studio 2008 - which is why it isn't in the web deployment setup.
  
  Your scenario of wanting to run it on an express installation is a good one though - i will forward it to the team to see if they can enable.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Scott
  

• >>>> Your scenario of wanting to run it on an express installation is a good one though - i will forward it to the team to see if they can enable.
  
  Thanks Scott. The team will also need to adjust the wording of the licence agreement (as per my second comment on that blog), in order to make the standalone/express installation legitimate.
  

• Scott,
  Great to know you are working over the weekend! Impressed how many comments you already have! Again, thanks so much for the info. When can we expect the Silverlight 2.0 features included on that release?
  

• What is the goal of .NET Framework,please tell us who care .NET Framework ?
  Some words from Don Box Blog:
  And naturally, I hope my brothers and sisters here at MSFT who work on .NET will take note - those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it. I can feel "Beyond .NET" being pitched to acquisition editors already…
  

• Excellent, thanks for the pointers! And I am VERY much looking forward to the deployment stuff. Just one question up front: Will it also integrate with DB deployment? I.e. if I have a DB project with VS Team DB (or whatever the name is), can I then just say deploy, and it will push any updates to the DB, and then also adjust the connection strings before so they are pointing to the right DB on the server?
  

• Hi Scott
  
  I think I've found a bug in WDP for VS2008. I get the following error when trying to replace config sections
  
  web.config(1): error WDP00002: missing section appSettings.
  
  I've made sure that the appSettings section do exist in the web.config file. I tried the same config replacements in WDP for VS2005 where it works ok.
  
  TIA
  Henrik
  

• Excellent work, thanks
  

• There are way too many ASP.NET controls and products out there – especially as indicated by your blogpost.
  However, the controls.add mechanism is very flexible (because it doesn’t do anything), but also to some extent gives you almost too much freedom.
  
  It would be nice if all subsequent controls were to fit in a mould that makes it easy to plug them into my page, without having to learn all the finickiness of each control. Right now, I have to learn the intricacies of every control to really be able to use it.
  
  If there was a “control provider model”, so I could learn the model and plug and play whatever I wanted – that would be so neat.
  
  Something on the lines of webparts, but more flexible, cleaner HTML and optional runtime configurability.
  

• Hi Scott,
  
  We are starting a new project here in BBC Worldwide (UK) using MVC. I've managed to partly get the guys excited to use your MVC rather than our own, to be an early adopter.
  
  If it matters to you, I'm sure an encouraging/support email from you helps so much to get the team excited here.
  
  Thanks
  Paymon
  

• "We are also working on a web publishing framework for IIS (it will work with both IIS6 and IIS7) that we'll ship early next year."
  
  First I've heard of this. I just Googled, er LiveSearched, and I couldn't find any other blog posts. Does this project have a codename or can you point to some other blog posts about it? Sounds cool and desperately needed.
  

• Stephen,
  In regards to :
  >>>>>> I wonder if these updates can/will fix this super annoying problem I have been having with VS2008's "publish" feature
  
  Is there anyway by which you can send the site with "Publish" problem in it to me as I am unable to reproduce, but want to take it to the team to be looked at... My alias is vijoshi at Microsoft...
  Thanks
  -Vishal
  

• thanks for the post was petty useful.
  

• What is the recommended way to develop an ajax control extender?
  
  We have two option: the abstract ExtenderControl base class, or using the AjaxControlToolkit as a base. The first one is simple and easy, the last one seems too complex.
  

• Hi Scott,
  
  If the team is reluctant to include aspnet_merge.exe in the final ‘Visual Studio 2008 Web Deployment Projects’ then perhaps an alternative download could be provided. I’m thinking of a repackaged download that supports my express/standalone scenario. Let’s say it’s called ‘Web Deployment Projects Standalone’. Web Deployment Projects Standalone would be similar to Visual Studio 2008 Web Deployment Projects, but with the following differences:
  
  - Includes aspnet_merge.exe.
  
  - Does not include any of the UI that is required for integrating within Visual Studio.
  
  - Includes a licence agreement that allows it to be used on any validly licensed Windows PC (with only .NET Framework 2.0 as a pre-requisite).
  
  - Ideally includes some guidance on using MSBuild, to deploy a web site, if that is possible in the standalone scenario.
  
  - Ideally includes some guidance on using aspnet_compiler.exe and aspnet_merge.exe directly from the command line interface, to deploy a web site.
  
  Regards
  
  Poor Man
  

• Hey Now Scott,
  Video Tutorials are a stellar way to learn.
  Thx 4 the info,
  Catto
  

• Scott - Will an AJAX update be released soon to provide AJAX project templates for .Net 2 web apps in VS2008?
  

• Hi BradW,
  
  >>>>>>> Scott - Will an AJAX update be released soon to provide AJAX project templates for .Net 2 web apps in VS2008?
  
  I know this is in the works. I'll send email to the team now to remind them to hurry on it.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Scott
  

• Hello Scott
  
  If u can help me out please.
  How to reference the AjaxControlKit in my empty web project i need all steps for vs 2008 express
  
  The main problem is i want the AjaxControlKit tools in my toolbox tab as well as AjaxControlKit Ext. as i have for GaiaAjax Widgets so that i can easly drag and drop the AjaxControlKit controls in my ASPX page
  
  please its important
  
  Regards bhupendra
  
  bhupendra@infobase.in
  

• Hi Scott
  
  I'm having a problem using the WDP with AJAXControlToolkit where the "AJAXToolkit is not defined" error crops up. This does not happen if I just copy the project directly to the server without using WDP. The scriptresource.axd and webresource.axd links work and display javascript if I go to them directly, but this one does not:
  
  /default.aspx?_TSM_HiddenField_=ctl00_cphLeft_ScriptManager1_HiddenField&_TSM_CombinedScripts_=%3b%3bAjaxControlToolkit%2c+Version%3d1.0.11119.20010%2c+Culture%3dneutral%2c+PublicKeyToken%3d28f01b0e84b6d53e%3aen%3af115bb7c-9ed9-4839-b013-8ca60f25e300%3a1df13a87%3a2d3f89a8
  
  It's a blank page that IE and Firefox want to download to my desktop and Safari refuses to do anything with. Do I need to add something to my webdeploy build project?