Disk-Based Output Caching Module for ASP.NET 2.0

Dmitry has released an HTTP Module that implements Disk Output Caching for ASP.NET 2.0.

With disk output caching, output can be preserved across application domains and process restarts without using memory for cached responses.  Response.TransmitFile API is used to send cached responses directly from disk.

Note that Dmitry's disk output cache module is not based on the feature from the beta releases of ASP.NET 2.0; it implements similar functionality though. 

Check out Dmitry's blog for download details.

    Comments [0]  

CSS Properties Window Add-in for Visual Studio 2005

A new "Sandbox" tab has been introduced on the www.asp.net site.  This tab provides an opportunity for the VS team members to ship personal projects to the public.  The first download of this new section is the CSS Properties Window (an add-in package for Visual Studio 2005).  Using the CSS Properties Window, web developers can do the following:

• Display in-line styles and styles inherited from <style> blocks and linked style sheets.
• Edit in-line styles and styles in linked style sheets. (The CSS Properties window displays styles from <style> blocks, but does not enable you to edit them.)
• Display drop-down lists of styles and values to help you create valid style definitions.
• Drag style settings between different elements and to and from a style sheet.
• Edit styles for multiple elements.

The author of the download is Barry Tang from the Microsoft VWD development team.  Thanks Barry!

    Comments [0]  

New Web Project Model Option Coming for VS 2005

Scott Guthrie revealed that a new web project model option (tentatively called "ASP.NET Web Projects") for Visual Studio 2005 will be available for download in the next few weeks.

"The goal with this new project-option is to address some of the feedback we’ve heard from people who are finding migrating existing apps to the new web-site project model in VS 2005 more work than they’d like to-do (especially because of the new web site build semantics of compiling a web project into multiple assemblies).  The new project-type will also help enable some scenarios that web-site projects don’t handle as well today (for example: around sub-web projects where the sub-project isn’t an app in the ASP.NET/IIS sense, but rather feeds its generated assembly to a parent app’s \bin directory to run).  It also provides a model that will feel very familiar/identical for people who don’t want to change how they structure their web projects from VS 2003 today (for example: using a project file, etc)." - ScottGu

This is certainly welcome news for some web developers out there.  To find out technical information on the new project option and release plans, check out ScottGu's blog post.

    Comments [0]  

Community Server 2.0 Shipping Schedule Revised

Scott Watermasysk has announced a revised shipping schedule for Community Server 2.0 to allow more time for fine tuning. Beta 2 is expected to appear mid December and RTM is around mid February 2006.

Full announcement: http://communityserver.org/forums/505124/ShowPost.aspx

    Comments [0]  

Get ASP.NET Headlines Here!

Starting today, the latest ASPNETWorld.com Blog headlines will be featured on the front page of the main site of ASPNETWorld.com.

About the Blog

This blog features current ASP.NET-related news and development tips from the ASP.NET developer community.  If you have relevant news items or useful tips or links that you would like to share with the rest of the ASP.NET community, please send them here.

RSS Feed: http://www.aspnetworld.com/blog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss

Happy reading!

P.S. Help spread the word about this blog!

    Comments [0]  

Turning an ascx User Control into a Redistributable Custom Control in ASP.NET 2.0 and VS 2005

Writing custom controls in ASP.NET 1.x requires a lot of development expertise.  In ASP.NET 2.0, you can create custom controls from ascx user controls.  Neat!  David Ebbo tells how this is done.

The basic steps to make this happen are as follows:

1. Write your User Control as you normally would, typically using the Visual Studio 2005 designer. The main restriction is that the user control needs to be self-contained. 
2. Test it using a simple page before trying to deploy it.
3. Deploy the app to precompile it.
4. Grab the user control's assembly produced by the deployment step, and you're essentially done: you have your Custom Control.
5. Finally, use your Custom Control in other apps the same way as you always use Custom Control's.

Read David Ebbo's full article.

    Comments [0]  


ASP.NET and Firefox 1.5

With the recent release of Firefox 1.5, there's yet another version of Firefox for ASP.NET web developers to test out against.  

Based on the Gecko 1.8 engine, Firefox 1.5 features improved support for CSS 2 and CSS3 as well as many DHTML, JavaScript, and DOM enhancements.  Feel free to leave comments on browser render-testing results with ASP.NET.

Firefox 1.5 is available for download below:

    Comments [0]  


Workaround for VS 2005 Intellisense Issue in Web.config

Last month, Tim Heuer blogged about an issue in Visual Web Developer 2005 / VS 2005 in that Intellisense stops working for the Web.config file after using the ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool (WSAT).  This is purely an Intellisense issue as the ASP.NET application will still run normally.

Here's the workaround:
Just remove the xmlns attribute (which was added by WSAT) of the Web.config <configuration> node to get Intellisense back.

Scott Guthrie has a post on this workaround too.

This Intellisense issue is also being tracked at MSDN Product Feedback Center.

    Comments [0]  

ASP.NET 2.0 Security FAQs / Wiki Released on Channel 9

Check out the new ASP.NET 2.0 Security FAQs on Channel 9 at MSDN. It's in Wiki form i.e. besides reading the FAQs, you can also contribute towards the content.

Here's a sample of the frequently-asked questions:

• How do I enforce strong passwords using membership feature in ASP.NET 2.0?
• How do I use Role Authorization in ASP.NET 2.0?
• What all security events do health monitoring feature logs by default?
• How do I encrypt sensitive data in machine.config or web.config file?
• How should I prevent someone from disassembling code?
• ...and lots more!

This is highly recommended stuff for anyone seeking security guidance in ASP.NET 2.0 application development.

    Comments [0]