Chapter 16: WSAT with VS2013

paulf · January 8th, 2014, 01:40 PM

My first post, so let me first say what an excellent book this is, clearly written with lots of explanation and multiple ways to check that what you have done is correct. I have been working through the book successfully using VS2013, which was the version available when I started the book. I had encountered no significant problems, up until now ...

I have hit a wall with the security roles in Chapter 16. I know that WSAT isn't included in VS2013 but I Googled the problem and then followed (I believe) the workaround posted on the MSDN blog to run an instance of IIS and then open the WSAT in the browser using a url that points to the location of the Site solution (presumably where the .sln file resides). This seemed to work (eventually) - at least the WSAT page opened up - and I could create roles and assign users. But - it doesn't seem to be connected to the databases that the Site is already using. The users I had previously created in the early exercises of Ch 16 were not visible in WSAT, and the new one I created in WSAT did not show up in the PlanetWrox database.

I started IIS with the following command:
iisexpress.exe /path:C:\Windows\Microsfot.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319 \ASP.NetWebAdminFiles /vpath:"/asp.netwebadminfiles" /clr:4.0 /ntlm

then I opened the WSAT using the following url:
http://localhost:8080/asp.netwebadmi...cuments\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\Site&applicationUrl=/

Am I missing something, or is there a better way to manage users and roles with VS2013? Any help gratefully received!

Paul

Imar · January 8th, 2014, 06:56 PM

Quote:

My first post, so let me first say what an excellent book this is, clearly written with lots of explanation and multiple ways to check that what you have done is correct.

Thank you!

Yes, VS 2013 behaves a little different. In the upcoming version of the book targeting VS 2013 I am using the exact same work around as you described here.

Is the command you typed below the exact thing you used? There's a typo in the word Microsoft.

Two things you can try:

1. Check your web.config file and make sure that the database connection string for membership points to the correct database.

2. Move your site away from your Documents folder and into something like C:\BegASPNET.

If that doesn't help, can you post your web.config?

Cheers,

Imar

paulf · January 9th, 2014, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imar

Yes, VS 2013 behaves a little different. In the upcoming version of the book targeting VS 2013 I am using the exact same work around as you described here.

Thanks. That in itself helps me know I am doing the right thing.

Quote:

Is the command you typed below the exact thing you used? There's a typo in the word Microsoft.

Oops! No, that was a typo in the message.

Quote:

Two things you can try:

1. Check your web.config file and make sure that the database connection string for membership points to the correct database.

2. Move your site away from your Documents folder and into something like C:\BegASPNET.

Somehow, I had the .sln file in MyDocuments but the main site files and folders were in C:/BegASPNET. I tried moving the .sln file to that location but seemed to get in a bit of mess

and ended up with definitely the wrong webconfig file (issues with the way my site was being backed up each evening - not an issue for this site, or to waste your time!). So, the ultimate solution was that I used the downloaded source files to recreate the site up to the Chapter 16 point. The workaround with WSAT now seems to function as it should, with the URL pointing to the C:/BegASPNET/Site location so I'm back in business.

Paul

Thanks again for the quick response.

Imar · January 9th, 2014, 10:21 AM

The solution file isn't really used that much with Web Site Projects. It should have been enough to just point to the folder that contained your site's files. But I am glad to hear you found a solution and could make it work.

Cheers,

Imar

paulf · January 9th, 2014, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imar

The solution file isn't really used that much with Web Site Projects. It should have been enough to just point to the folder that contained your site's files.

Thanks - that is worth knowing. The MS Blog giving the workaround for WSAT says it should point at the folder containing the solution, which I assumed would be where the .sln file was (perhaps because I'm more used to VB coding).

Paul

Imar · January 10th, 2014, 03:27 AM

Ah, I see. That's confusing indeed. I tried posting a comment on that blog to mention this but it seems that comments are now closed (guess there were too many people complaining about this missing functionality ;-) )

Imar

January 10th, 2014, 06:46 AM

appreciate the efforts as it would be helpful in getting the suggestions