Hello:

I have recently written several lengthy posts regarding my adventures getting into the development of the store module. I spent quite a bit of time spinning my wheels trying to get the 'optimal' Visual Studio solution for the Store module released by Allan Thompson on a separate thread in these forums. Specifically, since I only recently seriously got into ASP.NET 2.0 development, I hadn't really paid much attention to the various compilation/project models supported by ASP.NET/Visual Studio 2005.

Specifically, the WWStore module released by Allan is a subtely modified version of the Core Store module released in January of last year. He has a list of enhancements somewhere in his thread, but unfortunately he didn't detail how to get started using the module. I posted a lengthy how-to in a response to his original thread, and it pretty much still stands as being the best way to do development in a DotNetNuke module, be it VB.NET or C#, by using Web Application Project for the module's code, and using a similar approach to the _DNNStub project so popular with DNN 3.x/ASPNET 1.1 development. I am tempted to go into all the details again, but they are complete in my other response.

The reason for this post is mainly to re-iterate what I should have found at the outset of my own futile efforts: Read Scott Guthrie's VS 2005 Web Application Project V1.0 Released blog entry. For a little background on why WAP is so important, read this blog entry by Rick Stahl: Understanding Page Inheritance in ASP.NET 2.0. Specifically, the original compilation strategy of Web Projects prevented any user control from being programmatically loaded from another web user control if that web user control was not in the same directory with it's companion. WAP Fixed this. One little point I overlooked is that the WAP model requires/re-introduces the CodeBehind Page & Control attribute. (which won't work unless you have a WAP).

Also of interest is this blog entry on DNN 4 Module Development: Using Web Application Project(WAP) for development of DotNetNuke modules with Edit and Continue Support  http://geekswithblogs.net/mnf/archive/2006/08/08/87356.aspx

Hello Bryn:

Having spent enough time with the WWStore enhancement of the original core store, I would suggest this would make a great starting point for you. The best I can tell, the main enhancements of the WWStore include the email payment provider, very basic administrative order processing capability (ability to search for orders, view orders, and modify the status of that order), and of course, conversion to .NET 2.0.

One thing I found which I wasn't able to adequately describe in my previous post(s), is that the project type for the WebControls project in the WWStore solution is a basic assembly, NOT Web Application Project. In order to convert this project, I had to manually hack in the necessary project type elements in the .csproj and after some trial and error was able to open the project as a web application project. Once the project was converted, I then did the conversion step to web application which processed all the ascx and aspx controls to have the .designer and asp.net 2.0 page directives etc.... Once this was accomplished, working in DNN 4.x development to me is virtually identical to DNN 3.x/VS2003 process. My solution architecture is essentially identical to my 3.x architecture. I understand there might be a way to get edit & continue to work with DNN, but my attempts have proven futile: whenever I try to start dnn using those guides, I get the infinite redirect loop.