michael pardo » DotNetNuke

Initializing SubSonic in your DNN module

Michael Pardo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:57:18 +0000

SubSonic requires you to put some stuff in the web.config. You may be wondering how you’re going to distribute your module without requiring the buyer to alter his web.config. Here’s the method that I use:

private static void InitializeProvider()
{
    DataService.Provider = new SqlDataProvider();
    DataService.Providers = new DataProviderCollection();
    DataProvider provider = DataService.Provider;
    var config = new NameValueCollection();
    config.Add("SubSonicSqlString", ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["SiteSqlServer"].ConnectionString);
    provider.Initialize("SubSonicSqlString", config);
    DataService.Provider.DefaultConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["SiteSqlServer"].ConnectionString;
    DataService.Provider.GeneratedNamespace = "Example.DataModel";
    DataService.Providers.Add(provider);
}

This method goes into my Page_Init event. Luckily I setup my module pages to inherit a base class that does all my setup. Here’s the base class:

using System;
using System.Collections.Specialized;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
using DotNetNuke.Entities.Modules;
using SubSonic;
 
namespace Example.Common
{
    public class ModuleBase : PortalModuleBase
    {
        #region Events
 
        protected void Page_Init(Object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            InitializeProvider();
        }
 
        #endregion
 
        #region Methods
 
        private static void InitializeProvider()
        {
            DataService.Provider = new SqlDataProvider();
            DataService.Providers = new DataProviderCollection();
            DataProvider provider = DataService.Provider;
            var config = new NameValueCollection();
            config.Add("SubSonicSqlString", ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["SiteSqlServer"].ConnectionString);
            provider.Initialize("SubSonicSqlString", config);
            DataService.Provider.DefaultConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["SiteSqlServer"].ConnectionString;
            DataService.Provider.GeneratedNamespace = "Example.DataModel";
            DataService.Providers.Add(provider);
        }
 
        protected void RegisterJavascript(string fullPath)
        {
            var script = new HtmlGenericControl("script");
            script.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");
            script.Attributes.Add("src", fullPath);
 
            Page.Header.Controls.Add(script);
        }
 
        #endregion
    }
}

In my last post about including jQuery properly I introduced the RegisterJavascript method. We can put the method in this class so we can use it in all pages inheriting the class.

One thing worth mentioning is that the app.config for SubSonic must be setup before you can expect this to work. You should also have a SubSonic data model built and referenced. You can learn more about that here: http://michaelpardo.com/2009/06/setting-up-subsonic-in-you-dnn-module-solution/

Setting up SubSonic in your DNN module Solution

Michael Pardo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:51:22 +0000

In my modules I generally have three different projects. One for SubSonic, one for common stuff, and one for the module itself. The first thing I do when setting up a module is add a project for SubSonic. Let’s add a “Class Library” and call it “DataModel”.

Add New Project

I’ll get to the setup of the other projects in another post. Let’s just worry about SubSonic for right now as it is probably the easiest project to setup.

Now that we have the project added let’s add our app config. From the “Project” menu click “Add New Item…”. Select “Application Configuration File” and add it to your project.

Add New Item

Here is the blank app.config file that I use to get started. You will need to alter some of the settings to fit your project.

You can find more information on setting up the app.config here: http://subsonicproject.com/setup/gettingstarted/

After you have done the initial setup you will be able to generate your classes. If you haven’t already setup SubSonic in Visual Studio you can learn how here: http://michaelpardo.com/2009/06/visuals-studio-and-subsonic/

Click “Tools” and then “SubSonic” to generate the classes. You will not see the files in the Solution Explorer until you click “Show All Files” and “Refresh”. If you have done all these steps properly you will see a “Generated” folder in your project. Add the folder and build.

You’re done! Now you can reference this project in your module.

Including jQuery in DotNetNuke

Michael Pardo — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:00:12 +0000

As of DNN 5, jQuery is now included. This is great, unless you’re distributing a module and you want it to work with versions below 5 also. Fortunately there is a way to check if jQuery has already been included, thereby avoiding conflicts.

Notice the code is placed in the Page_PreRender event. This is an absolute must.

protected void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
	if (HttpContext.Current.Items["jquery_registered"] == null)
	{
		// load jQuery
		RegisterJavascript("/DesktopModules/MyModule/js/jquery.js");
		// let other modules know about jQuery
		HttpContext.Current.Items.Add("jquery_registered", "true");
	}
 
	// load all the plugins
	RegisterJavascript("/DesktopModules/MyModule/js/jquery.foo.js");
	RegisterJavascript("/DesktopModules/MyModule/js/jquery.bar.js");
}

Here’s the RegisterJavascript method I use.

protected void RegisterJavascript(string fullPath)
{
	var script = new HtmlGenericControl("script");
	script.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");
	script.Attributes.Add("src", fullPath);
 
	Page.Header.Controls.Add(script);
}

Now you can continue using jQuery without any worries of conflict.

One mistake that had me tripped up for a while was an include of jQuery in the skin. I didn’t realize it was there and I couldn’t figure out why none of my plugins worked. As a general rule I never include jQuery in the skin.

DotNetNuke web services

Michael Pardo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:59:09 +0000

I recently had to write a web service to interact with the DNN database. Some of the things I wanted to do worked best with the DotNetNuke binary. When I finally got to testing out the methods that used the DNN library, it blew up. After much deliberation, I figured out the minimum requirements for using DotNetNuke.dll in your project. This zip file contains everything you’ll need…

Minimal DNN Project (114)