[dba-SQLServer] Starting an ASP.NET Project (may be OT)

Ron,

I feel your pain. The IT departments have learned over the years of PC domination that they'd better hold their cards closer to the vest.

I can't answer your questions directly, but maybe my indirect answers will be of help and the folks that know more than me can make it more official-sounding.

I'm writing an ASP.NET application using a SQL Server 2000 back end. I've installed the .NET Framework and IIS on my system along with all the other .NET stuff (about 1.5 GB of it!) that came with Visual Studio .NET 2003. When I'm developing the application on my workstation I can, of course, test and debug it using the full-bore SQL Server connection. My client uses CrystalTech as his web host and SQL Server host and it works out well.

But when I publish the application to the target web site, I just use WS_FTP Pro and copy it to a folder off of his root directory. I KNOW that the path isn't the same as the one on my PC; but that doesn't seem to affect the application. As I say, I've just copied the files and Front Page folders to the application directory. Then I used the CrystalTech IIS management tool to designate that folder as an Application Starting Point, they call it. I believe that's a virtual directory. The path for the app on my system is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Myapp\Myapp. On the CrystalTech site it's D:\inetpub\Userweb\Myapp.

I hope that helps. And good luck moving to ASP.NET. I think that the more you've worked with creating your own classes the better off you'll be. Of course, SQL Server stuff is de rigeur. There's lots to learn about the way ASP.NET handles web pages and "state" and server memory.

Steve Erbach
Neenah, WI


> ------------Original Message------------
> From: chizotz at mchsi.com
> To: dba-sqlserver at databaseadvisors.com
> Date: Fri, Jan-14-2005 3:51 PM
> Subject: [dba-SQLServer] Starting an ASP.NET Project (may be OT)
> 
> Apologies if this is completely OT.
> 
> I've been told that as a company we would like to start moving to 
> ASP.NET 
> applications rather than Windows Forms applications. Windows forms apps 
> I 
> know, and have been doing for years. I have never done anything with 
> ASP. The 
> IT department is being incredibly difficult about helping me get 
> started. This 
> is political, they resent an "outsider" (i.e. a developer not in their 
> department) being able to do, well, anything.
> 
> I'm not stupid, but I am almost completely ignorant when it comes to 
> ASP.NET.
> 
> IT told me that I could publish my test projects to 
> http://intranet/artestweb 
> and use my network login. When I start up Visual Studio and try to 
> start a C# 
> ASP.NET Web Application, it tells me that the path 
> \\intranet\wwwroot$\artestweb\rallen\WebApplication1 either does not 
> exist or 
> that I do not have access. When I ask IT about this, their response is 
> "I took 
> a look at the folder and there is no directory rallen.  Check to see if 
> you 
> have a local version."
> 
> They are being deliberately difficult. I have no idea how to create the 
> 
> directory, where it is on our file system, anything. Trying to create a 
> local 
> project, i.e. on the filesystem of my work station results in an error 
> that 
> says that the file path and URL do not map to the same server location. 
> I 
> simply don't understand (yet) what I need to do. Earlier in this mess, 
> they 
> asked if I had made a DNS. Well, yes, I have a DNS that supposedly 
> connects to 
> the Intranet database, but it, too, does not like my username/password.
> 
> If someone could explain what I should be looking for, or what I should 
> ask, 
> or anything at all that would let me deal with this situation from a 
> position 
> of just a little more strength, I would surely appreciate it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ron