visual studio web application rookie questions

[Bob Garbados]

I've been developing asp.net web apps for a year using Dreamweaver MX, and
we finally
purchased vs.net 03. I'm stumbling around trying to use the IDE and I
have a few questions... maybe someone could point me to a good
tutorial or book but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

1) When I create a new web app project, does it have to be in my
inetpub/wwwroot folder? Can I create a virtual host in IIS and put the
project in my c:\dvl\webapps folder?

2) How do I add a .net dll component to the project? I used to just
compile the component from the command line, put the dll in the web
app's bin directory, and add the imports statement to my page's
code... now this method doesn't seem to be working and I'm assuming I
have to associate the component with the project or solution in some way.
Does the component have to be a class library project in the solution or can
it be part of the same project?

thanks.

[John Saunders]

"Bob Garbados" <bo*********@ya hoo.com> wrote in message
news:PU******** ********@fe07.l ga...

I've been developing asp.net web apps for a year using Dreamweaver MX, and
we finally
purchased vs.net 03. I'm stumbling around trying to use the IDE and I
have a few questions... maybe someone could point me to a good
tutorial or book but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

1) When I create a new web app project, does it have to be in my
inetpub/wwwroot folder? Can I create a virtual host in IIS and put the
project in my c:\dvl\webapps folder?
No. What I always do is create the web project folder wherever I want. I
then right-click the folder in Windows Explorer and choose Properties. On
the Web Sharing tab, I web-share the folder with the default name. I then
create the web application with VS.NET, which now knows where to put the
project.
2) How do I add a .net dll component to the project? I used to just
compile the component from the command line, put the dll in the web
app's bin directory, and add the imports statement to my page's
code... now this method doesn't seem to be working and I'm assuming I
have to associate the component with the project or solution in some way.
Does the component have to be a class library project in the solution or
can
it be part of the same project?

You reference another DLL by using Add Reference.

You want it to be a separate project, though it may or may not be part of
the same solution. If it is part of the same solution, you can add a Project
reference (a reference from the Project tab). This has the benefit that the
web site and the class library are all coordinated in terms of which project
configuration is used. That is, they can both be in Debug mode or both in
Release mode, and VS.NET will get the right version.

Otherwise, you can use a normal reference on the .NET tab by browsing to the
location of the DLL.

John Saunders

P.S. You may find the following useful, even if you're not using SourceSafe
for source control (or indeed, even if you're not using source control):

Team Development with Visual Studio .NET and Visual SourceSafe
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...asp?frame=true)

[Bob Garbados]

Thank you. I knew it would be simple. We are in the process of
implementing SourceSafe and the link looks like it will be very helpful.

"John Saunders" <johnwsaundersi ii at hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uU******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP14.phx.gbl...

"Bob Garbados" <bo*********@ya hoo.com> wrote in message
news:PU******** ********@fe07.l ga...

I've been developing asp.net web apps for a year using Dreamweaver MX, and we finally
purchased vs.net 03. I'm stumbling around trying to use the IDE and I
have a few questions... maybe someone could point me to a good
tutorial or book but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

1) When I create a new web app project, does it have to be in my
inetpub/wwwroot folder? Can I create a virtual host in IIS and put the
project in my c:\dvl\webapps folder?
No. What I always do is create the web project folder wherever I want. I
then right-click the folder in Windows Explorer and choose Properties. On
the Web Sharing tab, I web-share the folder with the default name. I then
create the web application with VS.NET, which now knows where to put the
project.

2) How do I add a .net dll component to the project? I used to just
compile the component from the command line, put the dll in the web
app's bin directory, and add the imports statement to my page's
code... now this method doesn't seem to be working and I'm assuming I
have to associate the component with the project or solution in some way. Does the component have to be a class library project in the solution or
can
it be part of the same project?

You reference another DLL by using Add Reference.

You want it to be a separate project, though it may or may not be part of
the same solution. If it is part of the same solution, you can add a

Project reference (a reference from the Project tab). This has the benefit that the web site and the class library are all coordinated in terms of which project configuration is used. That is, they can both be in Debug mode or both in
Release mode, and VS.NET will get the right version.

Otherwise, you can use a normal reference on the .NET tab by browsing to the location of the DLL.

John Saunders

P.S. You may find the following useful, even if you're not using SourceSafe for source control (or indeed, even if you're not using source control):

Team Development with Visual Studio .NET and Visual SourceSafe
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...-us/dnbda/html
/tdlg_rm.asp?fra me=true)