Scott Hanselman

It's show 250! "Scott and Drew are shattered, having just finished presenting 8 solid hours of technical but upbeat content in The Netherlands. They're doing WebCamps and take a moment to talk about presenting. How do you start? How do you stay focused and recover from errors? How can you move up from smaller venues to the big rooms? All this, plus Scott's lost his voice."

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NOTE: If you want to download our complete archives as a feed - that's all 250 shows, subscribe to the Complete MP3 Feed here.

Also, please do take a moment and review the show on iTunes.

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Do also remember the complete archives are always up and they have PDF Transcripts, a little known feature that show up a few weeks after each show.

Telerik is our sponsor for this show.

Building quality software is never easy. It requires skills and imagination. We cannot promise to improve your skills, but when it comes to User Interface and developer tools, we can provide the building blocks to take your application a step closer to your imagination. Explore the leading UI suites for ASP.NET AJAX,MVC,Silverlight,Windows Forms and WPF. Enjoy developer tools like .NET Reporting, ORM, Automated Testing Tools, Agile Project Management Tools, and Content Management Solution. And now you can increase your productivity with JustCode, Telerik’s new productivity tool for code analysis and refactoring. Visit www.telerik.com.

As I've said before this show comes to you with the audio expertise and stewardship of Carl Franklin. The name comes from Travis Illig, but the goal of the show is simple. Avoid wasting the listener's time. (and make the commute less boring)

Enjoy. Who knows what'll happen in the next show?

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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I've spent the last few weeks travelling around presenting WebMatrix, Razor and ASP.NET MVC 3 to folks. Many people have existing WebForms apps or MVC apps with WebForms Views. The question has come up a number of times, "Can I mix Razor Views and WebForms Views in a single ASP.NET MVC application?"

The answer is, "No, Yes, and Maybe, But It's Not Supported."

Most commonly the scenario is that someone has an existing WebForms (ASPX) Master Page that works nicely, and they now want to include a few Razor pages in their application but don't want to maintain two effectively identical Master Pages (one for ASPX, one for Razor). They want to share their WebForms Master with both WebForms and Razor Views.

First, the No.

You can't directly have a Razor Layout with WebForms Views, or a WebForms Master with Razor Views. While the concepts are similar, layouts are not masters and the concepts aren't exactly interchangeable.

Second, the Yes.

However, Html.RenderPartial or Html.RenderAction is an opportunity to move between view engines. As Eilon Lipton says, the idea of a partial view or controller action is a first-class concept in ASP.NET MVC, but master pages are implementation details of the specific view engines.

You can put shared content in Partials then call them from wherever. For example, from Eilon's suggestion, let's say you had these three WebForms partial views:

• Header.ascx: Contains top navigation, menu, etc.
• Footer.ascx: Contains copyright notice, privacy link, etc.
• SearchBox.ascx: Contains search box implementation.

Then you have a basic WebForms master that references the above three user controls.

• WebFormLayout.master: Lays out with the controls from above.
• Page1.aspx: Uses WebFormLayout.master.
• Page2.aspx: Uses WebFormLayout.master.
• Page3.aspx: Uses WebFormLayout.master.

Then let's say you have a Razor Layout (Razor Layouts are like WebForms Masters) that reference to the same three WebForm user controls.

• _RazorLayout.cshtml: Lays out with the controls from above.
• Page4.cshtml: Uses _RazorLayout.cshtml.
• Page5.cshtml: Uses _RazorLayout.cshtml.
• Page6.cshtml: Uses _RazorLayout.cshtml.

This is the cleanest, easiest, and most supported way for doing things. You will have to have some minimal duplication between your Razor Layout and your WebForms Master, but most of the shared content is in the .ascx partials. You can mix this up as you like, but you get the idea.

Maybe, But It's not Supported

Matt Hawley from CodePlex took a look at this problem and blogged about his own solution for CodePlex. While it might feel like this should be a simple task, it's tricky because WebForms builds up a control tree and then renders it, while Razor is an all new system that's closer to a single pass template. Matt wants to directly share a WebForms Master page.

His solution is

1. There's a web forms master page
2. There's a web forms view page called "RazorView" in the \Shared folder
3. The aspx view renders a partial in the content placeholder that is the actual razor view
4. There are some new added RazorView extension methods for the controller that return a ViewResult.

Seems complex, but it's actually pretty straightforward. For example to get output like this browser screenshot using Matt's technique...

...we start with our WebForms View Site.Master:

<%@ Master Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewMasterPage" %>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head runat="server">
    <title><asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="TitleContent" runat="server" /></title>
</head>
<body>
    <div>
    <h1>I'm a WebForms Site.Master Page View. Seriously.</h1>
        <asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="MainContent" runat="server" />
    </div>
</body>
</html>

This is a normal master page. Here's our also normal Index.cshtml (Razor).

<h3>This is the index page. I'm Razor. We've clearly broken some kind of law to be at this point, right?</h3>

This page is basically nothing, and doesn't have a layout or anything specified. 

However, Matt has some extension methods he's added to the Controller class. Instead of returning View() from his controller action, he returns RazorView() like this.

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: /Home/
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return this.RazorView();
    }
}

Just a reminder as it begs repeating, RazorView is an extension method. Here's the whole ControllerExtensions class from Matt.

public static class ControllerExtensions
{
    public static ViewResult RazorView(this Controller controller)
    {
        return RazorView(controller, null, null);
    }

    public static ViewResult RazorView(this Controller controller, object model)
    {
        return RazorView(controller, null, model);
    }

    public static ViewResult RazorView(this Controller controller, string viewName)
    {
        return RazorView(controller, viewName, null);
    }

    public static ViewResult RazorView(this Controller controller, string viewName, object model)
    {
        if (model != null)
            controller.ViewData.Model = model;

        controller.ViewBag._ViewName = GetViewName(controller, viewName);

        return new ViewResult
        {
            ViewName = "RazorView",
            ViewData = controller.ViewData,
            TempData = controller.TempData
        };
    }

    static string GetViewName(Controller controller, string viewName)
    {
        return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(viewName)
            ? viewName
            : controller.RouteData.GetRequiredString("action");
    }
}

Matt's solution is clever in its simplicity. When he calls RazorView() he's returning a ViewResult that's a WebForm View, even though we want a Razor one. This satisfies the whole WebForms master pages system. However, the WebForms view called "RazorView" exists for only one reason. It calls RenderPartial, as that's the right way too switch between view engines.

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<dynamic>" %>

<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">
<h2>I'm a secret WebForms View that lies to everyone and renders Razor stuff. Ssssh! Delete this line!</h2>
    <% Html.RenderPartial((string) ViewBag._ViewName); %>
</asp:Content>

Of course, when you use this, remove the <h2>, that's just for illustration. This view is only a shim that enables the switch.

So there you go. Two good options for mixing WebForms and Razor in your ASP.NET MVC application. The first has a little duplication, but is clean. The second is a little trickier and you're on your own, but you can directly share Master Pages between WebForms and Razor Views. You can get the code for the second over at Matt's blog.

Thanks Eilon and Matt!

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Microsoft WebMatrix was released on the 13th of January. Some folks have said its very existence is confusing. Do we need another IDE? What's Microsoft trying to pull here? Scott talks to ex-Microsoftie Rob Conery on his unfiltered take.

Download: MP3 Full Show

Links from the Show

• Learn about and Install WebMatrix
• Rob's review of WebMatrix

NOTE: If you want to download our complete archives as a feed - that's all 249 shows, subscribe to the Complete MP3 Feed here.

Also, please do take a moment and review the show on iTunes.

Subscribe: or or Zune

Do also remember the complete archives are always up and they have PDF Transcripts, a little known feature that show up a few weeks after each show.

Telerik is our sponsor for this show.

Building quality software is never easy. It requires skills and imagination. We cannot promise to improve your skills, but when it comes to User Interface and developer tools, we can provide the building blocks to take your application a step closer to your imagination. Explore the leading UI suites for ASP.NET AJAX,MVC,Silverlight,Windows Forms and WPF. Enjoy developer tools like .NET Reporting, ORM, Automated Testing Tools, Agile Project Management Tools, and Content Management Solution. And now you can increase your productivity with JustCode, Telerik’s new productivity tool for code analysis and refactoring. Visit www.telerik.com.

As I've said before this show comes to you with the audio expertise and stewardship of Carl Franklin. The name comes from Travis Illig, but the goal of the show is simple. Avoid wasting the listener's time. (and make the commute less boring)

Enjoy. Who knows what'll happen in the next show?

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

About   Newsletter

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This week Scott learns about Executable Specifications with Gojko Adzic, Jonas Bandi and Aslak Hellesoy. What's all this talk about BDD, Cucumber, Gerkin and SpecFlow? Where's the best place to start and how to Acceptance Tests fit into my existing projects?

Download: MP3 Full Show

Links from the Show

• Book: Bridging the Communication Gap
• Gojko Adzic's Blog
• Free TekPub Screencast
• Book: Specification by Example
• SpecFlow
• Step By Step Guide to Cucumber

NOTE: If you want to download our complete archives as a feed - that's all 247 shows, subscribe to the Complete MP3 Feed here.

Also, please do take a moment and review the show on iTunes.

Subscribe: or or Zune

Do also remember the complete archives are always up and they have PDF Transcripts, a little known feature that show up a few weeks after each show.

Telerik is our sponsor for this show.

Building quality software is never easy. It requires skills and imagination. We cannot promise to improve your skills, but when it comes to User Interface and developer tools, we can provide the building blocks to take your application a step closer to your imagination. Explore the leading UI suites for ASP.NET AJAX,MVC,Silverlight,Windows Forms and WPF. Enjoy developer tools like .NET Reporting, ORM, Automated Testing Tools, Agile Project Management Tools, and Content Management Solution. And now you can increase your productivity with JustCode, Telerik’s new productivity tool for code analysis and refactoring. Visit www.telerik.com.

As I've said before this show comes to you with the audio expertise and stewardship of Carl Franklin. The name comes from Travis Illig, but the goal of the show is simple. Avoid wasting the listener's time. (and make the commute less boring)

Enjoy. Who knows what'll happen in the next show?

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

About   Newsletter

Hosting By

Lots of cool stuff was released yesterday that I mentioned in the post ASP.NET MVC3, WebMatrix, NuGet, IIS Express and Orchard released - The Microsoft January Web Release in Context. The Web Platform & Tools Content Team has been working hard on new content and tutorials to get you up to date on all this fun new stuff.

Here's a link rollup from Wade's documentation team. Congratulations to Mike Pope, Tim Teebken, Rick Anderson, Tim Ammann, Keith Newman, Erik Reitan and Tom Dykstra on a great set of content.

Read on!

Web Matrix

Tim Amman (Lead Writer), Erik Reitan and Mike Pope (Editor)

• Your First Website Using WebMatrix
• Create an open-source wiki website from the Web Application Gallery
• Create a website from a WebMatrix site template
• Create an ASP.NET website from scratch
• Create an open-source wiki website from the Web Application Gallery
• Add and edit ASP.NET Web Pages
• How to publish a web application using WebMatrix
• Download, edit, and republish your website with WebMatrix
• Use WebMatrix to optimize your site for search engines (SEO)
• Analyze requests to your website
• Connecting to a SQL Server or MySQL Database in WebMatrix
• Migrate a database to SQL Server
• Securing Web Communications: Certificates, SSL, and https://
• WebMatrix Content Guide

ASP.NET Web Pages with Razor Syntax

Tim Teebken (Lead Programming Writer), Erik Reitan,  and Mike Pope (Editor)

• eBook (PDF Version) Onboarding series for new Web Developers and full project code downloads
  • (also used at Web Camps)
• 1 - Getting Started
• 2 - Coding with Razor Syntax
• 3 - Creating a Consistent Look
• 4 - Working with Forms
• 5 - Working with Data
• 6 - Displaying Data in a Grid
• 7 - Displaying Data in a Chart
• 8 - Working with Files
• 9 - Working with Images
• 10 - Working with Video
• 11 - Adding Email to your Website
• 12 - Adding Search to your Website
• 13 - Adding Social Networking
• 14 - Analyzing Traffic on your Website
• 15 - Adding Caching for Faster Websites
• 16 - Adding Security and Membership
• 17 - Introduction to Debugging
• 18 - Customizing Site-Wide Behavior
• ASP.NET Web Pages API Reference
• Visual Basic Language and Syntax
• ASP.NET Web Pages Reference

Intro to ASP.NET MVC 3 onboarding series.

Scott Hanselman and Rick Anderson collaboration and Mike Pope (Editor)

Both C# and VB versions:

• Intro to ASP.NET MVC 3
• Adding a Controller
• Adding a View
• Entity Framework Code-First Development
• Accessing your Model's Data from a Controller
• Adding a Create Method and Create View
• Adding Validation to the Model
• Adding a New Field to the Movie Model and Table
• Implementing Edit, Details and Delete
• Source code for this series

MVC 3

Updated and new tutorials/ API Reference on MSDN

Rick Anderson (Lead Programming Writer), Keith Newman and Mike Pope (Editor)

• ASP.NET MVC 3 Content Map
• ASP.NET MVC Overview
• MVC Framework and Application Structure
• Understanding MVC Application Execution
• Compatibility of ASP.NET Web Forms and MVC
• Walkthrough: Creating a Basic ASP.NET MVC Project
• Walkthrough: Using Forms Authentication in ASP.NET MVC
• Controllers and Action Methods in ASP.NET MVC Applications
• Using an Asynchronous Controller in ASP.NET MVC
• Views and UI Rendering in ASP.NET MVC Applications
• Rendering a Form Using HTML Helpers
• Passing Data in an ASP.NET MVC Application
• Walkthrough: Using Templated Helpers to Display Data in ASP.NET MVC
• Creating an ASP.NET MVC View by Calling Multiple Actions
• Models and Validation in ASP.NET MVC
• How to: Validate Model Data Using DataAnnotations Attributes
• Walkthrough: Using MVC View Templates
• How to: Implement Remote Validation in ASP.NET MVC
• Walkthrough: Adding AJAX Scripting
• Walkthrough: Organizing an Application using Areas
• Filtering in ASP.NET MVC
• Creating Custom Action Filters
• How to: Create a Custom Action Filter
• Unit Testing in ASP.NET MVC Applications
• Walkthrough: Using TDD with ASP.NET MVC
• How to: Add a Custom ASP.NET MVC Test Framework in Visual Studio
• ASP.NET MVC 3 Reference
  • System.Web.Mvc
  • System.Web.Mvc.Ajax
  • System.Web.Mvc.Async
  • System.Web.Mvc.Html
  • System.Web.Mvc.Razor

Orchard 

Keith Newman (Lead Programming Writer), Tom FitzMacken and Mike Pope (Editor)

• Working with Orchard in WebMatrix
• Accessing and Rendering Shapes
• Customizing The Default Theme
• Template file syntax guide
• Writing a New Theme
• UI guidelines for theme authors
• Packaging and sharing themes
• Writing a Widget
• Managing widgets
• Saving, Scheduling, and Publishing Drafts (Tom FitzMacken)
• Understanding Permissions (Tom FitzMacken)
• Understanding data access
• Understanding content handlers
• Getting Around the Admin Panel
• Adding Pages to Your Site
• Adding a Blog to Your Site

NuGet 

Tom Dykstra, Tim Teebken and Mike Pope (Editor))

• Getting Started (Tim Teebken)
• Installing NuGet (updated)
• Installing a Package Using the Console (new)
• Installing a Package using the Add Library Package Reference Dialog Box (updated)
• Removing a Package Using the Console (new)
• Removing a Package Using the Add Library Package Reference Dialog Box (new)
• Updating a Package Using the Console (new)
• Updating a Package Using the Add Library Package Reference Dialog Box (new)
• Creating a Package (updated)
• Nuspec Format (updated)
• Version Range Specification (updated)
• Package Transformations (new)
• Package Manager Console Command Reference (updated)
• Adding a Package to the Official Feed (updated)
• Hosting your own local and remote NuGet Feeds (updated)
• NuGet Frequently Asked Questions (updated)
• NuGet Documentation tab (updated)

Website Panel

Mike Pope provided editing support for the WebsitePanel Guide, authored by the Website Panel development team.

Enjoy!

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

About   Newsletter

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