Chap. 7 Multiple Default.aspx pages

Wrong Planet · August 23rd, 2011, 09:08 PM

Imar, I have a question about naming multiple pages in this project as default.aspx. This is in regards to the root file and the two files in the Reviews and About folders, respectively. Isn't it a bit dangerous to have multiple files in the same project with the same name? Is there some compelling reason to do this the way you have illustrated or for us that are a bit edgy about such things, would it not be prudent to assign unique names?

Just curious! Thanks!!!

Imar · August 24th, 2011, 01:38 PM

Hi there,

Why would it be dangerous? I typically think of uniqueness by taking the full path into account. The following paths all result in a unique URL:

/Default.aspx
/About/Default.aspx
/Reviews/Default.aspx

The reason for this naming convention - besides the convention to name them Default.aspx - is "default documents". Because of the way the web server works and is configured out of the box, the web server will try to serve Default.aspx if you don't specify a file name, enabling you to request the three pages from above as follows:

/
/About/
/Reviews/

This results in shorter, and easier URLs.

Hope this helps,

Imar

Wrong Planet · August 25th, 2011, 05:01 PM

Thanks! Ok, I now understand the reason for the naming. I said "dangerous" because a total noob like me could easily blow away a lot of work through a misdirected copy and paste action. I'll try to be careful.

Imar · August 25th, 2011, 05:57 PM

That's where good backups or source control systems such as Team Foundation Server come in handy.... :-)

Imar