Conversion of classic asp/html to .net at root web

[EO]

I have much of what I need, but would appreciate a sanity check and I have
some hopefully easy questions. (Easy for YOU, that is!)

I have a website with about 2000 pages to convert to .net.
(prime candidate for aspx headers/footers, etc. - eh?)
There's a development copy on my local W2kS box and a live copy on a web
server on a shared host through a web hosting service.

Local host environment:
I'm trying to get vs.net to provide me with a viable development
environment. I followed KB article Q303845 on setting up a root web. It's
there. I have imported the existing files. So far so good. But...

1a) I still have no global.asax or web.config. Is there an easy way to get
default files created? Do I just search my hard disk for default copies and
import them for a starting point? Are there any things I MUST modify for a
new project? (I will modify the session state & other optional stuff etc.
w/no problem.)
1b) I also need a new bin directory and controls directory, which aren't
there now. Anything else? Anything I should be populating in those
directories as defaults?

2) The following problem may go away when issue#1 is resolved... (Oh
please . . . )
Add new item, web form, save as default.aspx page as-is.
<text added at top of .vb file>
Implements System
Implements System.Web
</text added at top of .vb file>
Oops! "Statement is not valid in a namespace" message for imports
declarations.
Huh? Whassup? That is happy in my functioning .net app on another box.

3) <%@ Page includes: ... Inherits=DevProject._default ...
Okay, the current project is "DevProject", but I was planning to create a
project for the live server as project name "LiveProject". Is that a death
wish? If I deploy pages from dev to live, do I shoot myself for project name
incompatibility?

4) I've noticed that after creating the project, I have a new folder in
cocuments and settings\{UserName}\VSWebCache\{localcomputername}
containing all the items in the website.
{sigh} Can anyone point me to an article or something that describes what
this is about? I suspect that when I make any changes directly to the live
server copy - it'll be handy to know when I'm only changing a cached copy
and when I'm really changing the live copy.
Also, since the folder is just named after the local computer - which is
hosting multiple IP addresses & will host multiple .net development sites
plus a project for the live site - will I be driven to cursing when I try
setting up a second project and the setup has a name collision with the
current {machine name} directory?

4) Does the project name - or anything else in the .net project - have to
correspond to the appname in IIS? (If so, this is probably another phone
call to the web hosting service to find out or request the appname setting
for my live copy.)

And today's msdn article (Migrate code and concepts...) questions why more
people aren't converting apps from classic asp to asp.net? It ain't for the
timid! I mean, I've already read nearly 2,000 pages of .net books and I'm
stuck on setup. (Books all focus on examples with new apps or provided
sample apps.)
On the constructive side, how 'bout one of you MVP types write an article
for the MSDN library with a cookbook for this type of process? It's
mysteriously difficult to research even through the vast expanse of google.
I mean, look at the list of questions I have after following the
instructions on a KB article for setting up a root web app! Or is there an
article I missed? {blushing}

Many thanks.

Ernest Ostrander

 

[Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD]]

It's sounds like you're not using Visual Studio.NET.
You should if possible.
When you create a new web application project in Visual Studio.NET it will
automatically give you all the files you needs, such as global.asax. When
you create a new page it will give you the headers you need and import the
default namespaces for you.
Then you can copy your old ASP stuff into your new ASP.NET project.
For more details about making the upgrade process as painless as possible,
here's some good reading on the subject for you:
http://www.able-consulting.com/dotnet/aspnet/asp_aspnet_files/frame.htm
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnaspp/html/ConvertToASPNET.asp

Here's information on creating a web app in the root web:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303845

 

[EO]

Actually, I am using VS.net. Also, I followed Q303845 to the letter. I used
"new project in existing folder" and it did not give me the default
web.config or global.asax files.

Still, I have made headway by reading up on some of the links at the bottom
of the Q303845 article. I had a brain misfire on the project name question.
Doh!

I'll read up some more and re-post if I have fresh questions or continuing
problems. Thanks for the article references. The majority of the issues I've
had are interrelated and should go away with a cleaner setup.

Thanks again for the response and article links.

Onward,

-EO