Disadvantages in Visual Studio 2005 (Web sites)

[m.roello]

In the book:
"Working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005"
Craig Skibo wrote:
"The power of Visual Studio 2005 lies in its ability to empower users to
build, test, and debug powerful applications quickly and easly."

I don't agree on what concernes ASP .NET Web Sites in VS2005.

All what involves Namespaces in Web sites has been disappeared. I know
you can still MANUALLY manage them, but not QUICKLY and EASLY. In a
project I can subdivide the App_Code Folder in subfolders, but if I use
the Powerfull "Class View" Window, I'm not very glad to see an infinity
number of classes, all placed at the root of the project namespace.

Grouping in namespaces is one of the most powerful skills tha .net gave
us, since 1.0 and not only for .Net Windows Projects.

Someone could reply me that the problem is pre-compilation. I know that
now you can choose how to build your Web site, and this is very good.
But the need of defining namespaces and grouping classes is indipendent
from the way I'll decide to deploy the Web Site.

Is this a "by design" issue?. Or it is a bug? In my opinion is a BIG
black hole.

I'm sorry for this lines, but I'm tired to search for workarounds for an
IDE, abive all when a functionality was already present in the previous
version.

Marco Roello
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Guest]

Dear Disadvantaged,

I don't often use the new class viewer, it is overpowering like you said.

I'm am however using namespace inside the app_code folder.
My Namespaces do come up in the IDE as expected type assist, imports, etc.

 

[Patrice]

Not familier with VS.NET 2005 but can't you speciify the namespaces in your
classes with the appropriate statement ?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your opinion,

Maybe I've not explained very well the problem.
I've already written that I know that I can MANUALLY define namespace, but
the RAD tool doesn't help me in any mode....

These are the real questions:

In the App_Code directory, you can define custom namespaces for .cs files.
But if you add a Dataset (.xsd) how can you define his namespace in visual
studio?

A Web site isn't a collection of classes?

Why a Windows Form Project or a ClassLibrary project manage namespaces in
the right mode?

Why in Visual Studio .Net 2003 I could do it and now not?

Anyone know what does it mean to open hundred of aspx files and write the
namespace?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Thanks Patrice,

sorry but I'm talking about DISADVANTAGES of Visual Studio, not of the .Net
framework.

 

[Scott Allen]

Is this a "by design" issue?. Or it is a bug? In my opinion is a BIG
black hole.

I don't think it's a big issue. 99% of the types in code-behind /
code-beside files are never used outside of the files they are defined
in. Many times they end up in isolated assemblies.

 

[Christopher Reed]

In actuality, if you are developing everything within the same website, then
why do you need a namespace. If you use the App_Code directory for your
website-specific classes and you have multiple ASPX pages (with or without
code-behind), they are all compiled into the same assembly, so where's the
need for a namespace.

Note that I add my namespaces to my website files and I have no problem with
it. It's not a major issue.

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you.

All the .Net framework is a library subdivided in namespaces.

I'm sorry if you say that you don't need namespaces, you say that .Net
framework doesn't need them.

 

[Guest]

You are confusing the problem.

Namespaces aren't assemblies.

You can define the same namespace for different assemblies.

NAMESPACES are LOGICAL rappresentation of your class library.

And a Web site is an Application with one or more assemblies.

Why the assemblies of a web site cannot be rappresented in namespaces?

 

[Guest]

A question to everyone tells me that they don't need namespaces:

In your web site. You have 2 folders with 2 default.aspx files, one in each
folder.

If build the web site, you'll get an error, because the compiler finds two
classes with the same name.

The solution is to define a different namespace for each aspx file (or one
of them).

Now, if I have to define ONE namespace for ONE class, a good developer
SHOULD define namespaces for ALL the classes in the projects.

I'll post the question in another thread.

 

[Guest]

answer me this question please:

In the App_Code directory, you can define custom namespaces for .cs files.
But if you add a Dataset (.xsd) how can you define his namespace in the web
project?

 

[Scott Allen]

You are confusing the problem.

Namespaces aren't assemblies.

I never said they were.

You can define the same namespace for different assemblies.


NAMESPACES are LOGICAL rappresentation of your class library.

And a Web site is an Application with one or more assemblies.

Why the assemblies of a web site cannot be rappresented in namespaces?

You aren't writing a class library, you are writing a web application.

The ASP.NET runtime will be the only client for all those Page and
UserControl derived types in your web application. The runtime doesn't
need namespaces to figure out what type to use. This is unlike a
developer. Namespaces present logical groupings for developers. I
don't see how there is a BIG black hole when we don't have to write
code like:

using My.WebForms;

Default_aspx form = new Default_aspx();

 

[Scott Allen]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you.

All the .Net framework is a library subdivided in namespaces.

I'm sorry if you say that you don't need namespaces, you say that .Net
framework doesn't need them.

The framework does need namespaces. It would be a nightmare to find
classes in a flat hierarchy.

The difference is that the types in the framework have to be found by
human developers. The types in a web application are used only by the
runtime.

There are exceptions of course, like the PreviousPage property for a
cross page postback, but even then I think it's preferable to
represent the other entity using an interface or a base class defined
in a class library (or App_Code) that IS inside a logical namespace
(so it can be found).

Leave the Page and UserControl derived types as islands unto
themselves.

 

[Scott Allen]

Could you give us the exact error? Perhaps some code? It sounds like
something else is wrong.

 

[Guest]

Maybe I'm not explaining very well.

- First of all, if you make a little search on the newsgroup or the web
(keywords: dataset namespace) , you'll find a lot of post with the same
problem.

- Second, You are forgotting that in VS2003, the IDE works in this manner:
if you add a folder to a Web Project, and then an aspx file into it, if you
take a look at the code behind, you will see that the class will have a
namespace with this construct:

namespace myprojectnamespace.myfolder

- To reproduce the problem in VS2005, just add 2 folders to a web site, and
then 2 web forms, each aspx in one folder, and name them default.apsx. You'll
get an error.

- Third do the same with 2 xsd files. In a web site add two folders in the
App_Code. Call each xsd file DataSet1.xsd and put each xsd in a folder.

When you say that you don't need namespaces, I get suprised.
You should only answer this questions:

1) How can you define the namespace of a xsd file in a Web site?
2) Custom Namespaces are built automatically in ClassLibrary and
WindowsForms projects. Why not in Web sites?
3) Why in VS2003 the project namespaces were created automatically and now
not? (compatibility)

Thanks

 

[Mark Rae]

A question to everyone tells me that they don't need namespaces:

In your web site. You have 2 folders with 2 default.aspx files, one in
each
folder.

If build the web site, you'll get an error, because the compiler finds two
classes with the same name.

The solution is to define a different namespace for each aspx file (or one
of them).

That simply isn't true.

<webroot>
/home
default.aspx
<%@ Page language="c#" CodeFile="default.aspx.cs"
Inherits="home_default" %>
default.aspx.cs
public partial class home_default
/welcome
default.aspx
<%@ Page language="c#" CodeFile="default.aspx.cs"
Inherits="welcome_default" %>
default.aspx.cs
public partial class welcome_default

Now, if I have to define ONE namespace for ONE class, a good developer
SHOULD define namespaces for ALL the classes in the projects.

Why? Says who?

 

[Guest]

Mark,
we are talking about Visual Studio 2005. The RAD Tool.
I know that you can manually define different namespaces.

Please read again all the posts.

 

[Scott Allen]

- To reproduce the problem in VS2005, just add 2 folders to a web site, and
then 2 web forms, each aspx in one folder, and name them default.apsx. You'll
get an error.

Can you tell us what the specific error message is?

You can't possibly have type name collisions unless there is something
you aren't telling us. The default ASP.NET batch compilation will
generate an assembly for each directory. The assemblies will both have
names like App_Web_*.dll. Even then, the CodeFile classes should have
names like Folder1_Default and Folder2_Default.

Are you using aspnet_merge.exe, perhaps?

 

[Guest]

That demonstrates that you ask me questions without trying.

Just do what I described in VS2005, (1.5 minutes of work) and you'll get the
error.
I've also opened a Bug Reuest at Microsoft, and they have reproduced the
problem.

Have you got VS2005?

 

[Scott Allen]

That demonstrates that you ask me questions without trying.

Just do what I described in VS2005, (1.5 minutes of work) and you'll get the
error.
I've also opened a Bug Reuest at Microsoft, and they have reproduced the
problem.

Have you got VS2005?

Yes, VS 2005 RTM.

I have no problems putting two default.aspx web forms into two
different directories. Please elaborate on the problem you see in this
scenario.

I do have a problem putting two .xsd files with the same name into two
sub-directories of App_Code. You can put the generated DataSets into
different namespaces by:

1. Using a file naming convention.

2. Use a class library instead of App_Code.

As an example of #1, name one file Foo.DataSet1.xsd and the other
Bar.DataSet1.xsd. The runtime will generate a DataSet1 class in a Foo
namespace, and a DataSet1 class in a Bar namespace.