From the Desk of Brandon Haynes

Some time ago, I wrote about an approach for enabling ASP.NET 2.0 localization within a DotNetNuke application.  This approach not only required a core modification, but the change introduced a potential breaking change with third party modules.  This was clearly unsatisfactory, and the fact that I was unable to fully solve the problem has been vexing me for some time.

As my research on the recently-released Linq to Sql Adapter (currently hosted on CodePlex) wound down, I decided to investigate a new approach to solving the problem.  In my opinion, an optimal solution would fulfill the following requirements:

1. Require no core changes
2. Be side-by-side compatible with the existing DotNetNuke localization services
3. Require little configuration by a hosting user
4. Allow strongly-typed per-portal and per-culture access to existing global DotNetNuke resources
5. Minimal additional in-memory footprint and reasonable performance
6. Enable use of the meta:resourcekey attribute in DotNetNuke modules
7. Be fully compatibility with third-party modules

I am pleased to announce a preview release of a custom BuildProvider that, to my knowledge, accomplishes all of these goals.

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In a previous entry, I discussed a potential solution to a longstanding problem.  The DotNetNuke CMS framework allows declaration of an object qualifier and database owner on a per-installation basis.  This effectively varies the fully-qualified database entity names at runtime.  Because the Linq to Sql system by default utilizes a class attribution approach, it does not lend itself well to such runtime adaptation.

Here I describe the steps necessary to use Linq to Sql within a DotNetNuke module in a reliable, distributable manner.

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The .NET-supplied DataContext allows Linq to Sql development using the attributed model automatically generated by a Visual Studio designer. However, when deployed within DotNetNuke, these attributes do not pick up the database owner and object qualfier required by DotNetNuke.  Because of this, large-scale deployment of modules using Linq to Sql is infesable, and modules using the technology are unfortunately limited to internal applications.

To rememdy this issue, I have developed an adapter that converts the attributed meta model generated by the designer into a DotNetNuke-compatable model that uses both the object qualifier and database owner specified by an end-installation. 

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One of my (few) cavils about the DotNetNuke Content Management System is the organization of the administrator menu.  Presenting an administrator with thirteen options (including somewhat inscrutable choices like “Extensions” and “Solutions”), is easily overwhelming for an often-technically unsophisticated administrator.  Indeed, both feedback from users and log analysis have indicated that several of these options are rarely utilized and thereby serve only to clutter the interface and increase the learning curve.

In pre-5.0 versions, despite being persisted to the database like any other page, the admin menu is restricted to one level.  This was a hardcoded limitation; though one could change the verbiage, order, or visibility of the items in the menu, one could not introduce additional levels of organization (without several changes to the core framework).

With DotNetNuke 5.0, however, because administrator pages are treated on-par with any other page on a site, an improvement in organization becomes possible.  Herein I discuss the changes necessary to, in my opinion, improve the overall organization of the DotNetNuke administrator menu.

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I recently wrote about the use of debug-build assemblies to identify and correct difficult–to-diagnose problems with a DotNetNuke installation (see this for a detailed discussion).

To date, a number of people have successfully used these builds in correcting a number of relatively arcane problems.  As such, I have elected to deploy debug-build version of the core DNN assemblies for the recently-released 4.9 version.

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In my previous post, I discussed my reasons and motivations behind providing DotNetNuke assemblies with debug symbols to the general public.  Herein, visitors will find links to those files and instructions for generating a call stack with file names and line numbers.

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During my time working with DotNetNuke, I have encountered innumerable forum posts in the following general form:

I’m getting a very vague general exception error, and I’m not sure what is causing it.  There doesn’t seem to be anything visible in the application . . . [and] no errors as I’m navigating the site. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

StackTrace: [NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   DotNetNuke.UI.Skins.SkinDefaults..ctor(SkinDefaultType DefaultType) +189
   DotNetNuke .Common.Globals.get_DefaultSkin() +31
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings.GetPortalSettings(Int32 TabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +2797
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings..ctor(Int32 tabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +82
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.OnBeginRequest(Object s, EventArgs e) +3303
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +92
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +64

Experienced DNN developers will recognize the general area in which the error is occurring (missing skinningDefaults in DotNetNuke.config) and probably some general guidance to rectify the error (check that DotNetNuke.config exists, and correctly contains the proper skinningDefaults element).

This is fine for exceptions that occur frequently, but how does an experienced developer guide a novice in finding a solution to this issue?

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.RewriteUrl(HttpApplication app) +378
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.OnBeginRequest(Object s, EventArgs e) +1180
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +92
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +64

Even a sophisticated developer would need to explore several avenues in finding a solution.  Assisting a relatively novice forum user in performing these tasks is problematic — such assistance would require a number of back-and-forth exchanges.  With regret, I unfortunately observe many problems go unremedied for this reason (as, to date, is the exception posted immediately above). (more…)

For those that are not familiar with the UpmMembershipProvider membership provider, it is a part of Microsoft’s Commerce Server 2007 product, and is the only provider that offers interoperability with Commerce Server.  It replaces the older AuthManager functionality from Commerce Server 2002.  More importantly, it provides an implementation of the System.Web.Membership.MembershipProvider class, and may thus be used in any ASP.NET application that utilizes the standard membership system.  Read more about the UpmMembershipProvider in Microsoft’s MSDN documentation.

DotNetNuke (DNN) is one such application that uses the ASP.NET membership system.  Because I’ve been working so much with it lately, I decided to investigate whether these two strangers might be successfully introduced — and indeed they can.  Google tells me that I am the only person to date who has successfully accomplished this task (not that surprising, given its relatively esoteric nature).

It turns out that this integration consists of three tasks: (1) configuring Commerce Server appropriately, (2) the routine tasks that one would expect in using the new provider, (3) and a small integration gotcha.  Herein I address these in order. (more…)

Editor’s note: This approach has been obsoleted in favor of the more straightforward, core-friendly ASP.NET 2.0 Localization approach outlined here.

DotNetNuke provided rich localization support (in the DotNetNuke.Services.Localization namespace) long before ASP.NET caught up in version 2.0. Indeed, the core DotNetNuke libraries and UI continue to heavily rely upon this custom implementation to this day.

However, after ASP.NET 2.0 was released, there were apparently a number of issues revolving around the new localization, backwards compatibility, and the existing DotNetNuke localization. As a result, the core team chose to disable all ASP.NET 2.0 localization at the application level and to rely exclusively upon its internal implementation. This is unfortunate, but understandable — the core team has a lot of audiences, and must balance the act of pleasing them all.

DotNetNuke localization is excellent, and for almost every scenario, I strongly recommend using this API.  However, there do exist some niche circumstances that lend toward using ASP.NET 2.0 localization.
Fortunately, with a few small changes, it is possible to restore limited ASP.NET 2.0 functionality to your DotNetNuke installation. Herein I discuss these changes and their system-wide impact.

Before I begin, all the usual warnings apply: back up your data, attempt this only on a development machine, thoroughly test before entering production, et cetera, et cetera. Caveat lector!

With that, let’s get started. (more…)