DnnPackager - v2.0.6
A short post to announce that a new minor release of DnnPackager is out.
You can find the release notes here explaining what's new: https://github.com/dazinator/DnnPackager/releases/tag/2.0.6%2B2
For an introduction to DnnPackager in general see here
Special thanks to @nvisionative for requesting this feature.
Dnn Extensions - Sources Packages?
I have been doing some work on DnnPackager recently, and I've come accross the concept of "Source" packages. I have to admit I am not entirely new to these, but I've never personally used them for my projects in the past.
Source packages are basically identical to the ordinary install zip's for your dnn module / extension, i.e you "install" them into your Dnn site like any other install package, except that they also include "source code" files within them, like .cs, .vb files etc.
Imagining a DotNetNuke Project Type for Visual Studio
When developing DotNetNuke extensions, we typically use one of the existing Visual Studio Project Type's, for example - an ASP.NET Web Application project.
Even when using a Project Template such as Christoc's, the project template is still based upon one of the standard Visual Studio project types - usually an ASP.NET Web Application project.
However these Project Types do not "gel" well with DotNetNuke development in a number of areas, the main ones being:
So.. what if there was a new Project Type, one that was purpose built for DotNetNuke development? What would that look like?
DnnPackager Getting Started
In this post, I am going to show you how to get up and running with DnnPackager for your DotNetNuke module / extension development.
I am using VS2015 Community Edition, but this should work equally well with previous versions.
DotNetNuke - Streamlining Module Development Workflow
When developing DotNetNuke modules people take many different approaches but they boil down to two alternatives in terms of workflow:
Both approaches require that you "attach to process" from within Visual Studio in order to debug your module.