external links using a sitemap, 2.0

[fernandezr]

I've successfully created a dynamic menu pulling data from a database
however all links thus far have all been virtual urls such as
/ABCD/default.aspx, /ABCD/profile.aspx, etc. Now I want to add urls
that are external to my site such as
http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/ or http://www.cnn.com but when I
try to use these I get
"Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException:
'http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/' is not a valid virtual path.".

It is failing on the AddNode method of StaticSiteMapProvider. I've
even tried
/ABCD/externalURL.aspx?url=http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/ and
still get the same error.

Is there a way for me to reference an external url without having to
hardcode it into my page?

Thanks,
Happy Wednesday,
Robert

[Ken Jensen]

I am having the same problem. I am using the SqlSiteMapProvider class found
in the Feb 2006 MSDN Magazine. If I use the out-of-the-box
XmlSiteMapProvider, I can use an external URL just fine. Looks like both
providers derive from StaticSiteMapProvider, and SqlSiteMapProvider doesn't
override the AddNode method. There must be a reason...
--
Ken Jensen
"fernandezr" wrote:

I've successfully created a dynamic menu pulling data from a database
however all links thus far have all been virtual urls such as
/ABCD/default.aspx, /ABCD/profile.aspx, etc. Now I want to add urls
that are external to my site such as
http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/ or http://www.cnn.com but when I
try to use these I get
"Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException:
'http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/' is not a valid virtual path.".

It is failing on the AddNode method of StaticSiteMapProvider. I've
even tried
/ABCD/externalURL.aspx?url=http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/ and
still get the same error.

Is there a way for me to reference an external url without having to
hardcode it into my page?

Thanks,
Happy Wednesday,
Robert