Web Development in Delphi 2005 with Jim Tierney and Steve Trefethen

Listen to the audio replay.

This is a log of the chat room during the live audio chat from December 10, 2004 on Delphi 2005 with Jim Tierney and Steve Trefethen. Jim and Steve discuss ASP.NET and web development support in Delphi 2005.

Note: This log is only the chat room transcript. There is much additional information covered in the audio replay that is not available in this chat log. For all previous and upcoming live chats, see http://bdntv.borland.com/chat.html.

VIP Lounge

aohlsson: CHECK BDN!!! They've been announced for a while... ;)
aohlsson: This interview has been announced for over a week.
aohlsson: I added 3-4 yesterday
aohlsson: Also subscribe to the BDN RSS feeds.

jkaster inserts the following link: http://news.borland.com/
aohlsson: You'll know the second I update and add more.
aohlsson: We'll send out emails as often as we can, but that's a manual process...
aohlsson: You can ask future stuff as well.
aohlsson: Please use /ask to ask questions
aohlsson: Or hit the ask button

jkaster: holger: "Does D2005 use all of the schemas in the "Schemas" folder or do I have to specify it?" - by default, it uses one of the schema files. they're not all used at the same time. if you're using ASP.NET, several schema files are used.

jkaster: MrPMorris: "I really dislike it when my ASPX gets rearranged, what can I do about it?" -Steve: 've talked about this issue on my blog.

jkaster inserts the following link: http://blogs.borland.com/stevet/
jkaster: steve's blog

jkaster: MrPMorris: "File->New->ECO ASP.NET WebForm uses its own custom template for the .cs file, can we add our own too (so that a new page has source that we want within it)?" - that's a good question because there's some inside information you can make use of for File New wizards. We have a templates directory that has all the markup and source code we use to generate new ASP.NET items.

jkaster: davidi: "Any plans for better ASP support for Windows 32?" - We've never actually formally supported ASP development. We've had our own systems like WebBroker, WebSnap, and delivered IntraWeb. We do have a very nice HTML editor in Delphi 2005 that would help any web developer.

jkaster: iman: "Any plans on supporting javascript (debugger, editor)" - we don't have any immediate plans for this.

jkaster: davidi: "I've heard that there is ASP.NET support on Apache Server - have you tried it?" - one of our QA guys, Shane, has tried ASP.NET on Mono and apparently that works when you copy the assembly over if it doesn't have external dependencies.

jkaster: davidi: "Can you explian the differences between code inlining, code behind, and code beside?" - code inline is embedding your serve-side scripting in your markup. code behind is separating your server side code from your markup, for example into two files. code beside is also a code separation model, but hopefully gets rid of some of the "junk" you get in the code behind model.

jkaster: davidi: "Can you say some more about Cassini, why would I use it?" - Cassini has source available. It's a very simple web server available from the MS web site. It's very limited in that it doesn't support multiple directories, but it doesn't have the IIS management overhead so its efficient for debugging. You don't even need IIS installed on your development machine.

jkaster inserts the following link: http://asp.net/Projects/Cassini/Download/download.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=1
jkaster inserts the following link: http://www.systemex.net/CassiniEx/
jkaster: cassini downloads

jkaster: holger: "Would Cassini make ASP.NET development on XP Home Edition (no IIS)?" - I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

jkaster: davidi: "D2k5 supports ASP.NET 1.1, is there anything I should do to ensure that my web apps will work (or be easier to modify) when ASP.NET 2.0 comes out?" - I don't really have a good answer for that question. We'll probably have some kind of conversion tool if you want to move your project over. ASP.NET 1.1 projects will run under 2.0, apparently without even recompiling them according to Microsoft. You might have to configure your virtual directory to run the right framework.

jkaster: holger: "Since upgrading to D2005, the codebehind sometimes includes things, I did not add in the Design view. Closing/Opening the project helps to make those redundant lines in the codebehind vanish. Will the coming updates resolve these issues or is it a bigger problem?" - Yes, we will be addressing problems like this with updates.

jkaster: davidi: "Can I use the dbWebAudio and dbWebVideo without a database? (I can't seem to find an example.)" - yes, this should work.

jkaster: RobLove: "Is there a published way to hook into the deployment manager?" - No. But there will be, available in some sort of update. I've [Jim] been working on an update to allow a plug-in for the deployment manager.

jkaster: Serge_d: "There are rumors about new Deployment manager. ASP project describes destribution. Will DM able pick up project settings and create deployment package to be used to distribute it to a web-site..." - The deployment manager was initially designed for deploying ASP.NET applications, and does what the question asks. We use an XML file for your deployment configuration files. It recognizes markup files, configuration files, ignores source code files by default, and so on.

jkaster: Serge_d: "So, are you going to support Windows Installer? and would you provide API which will allow to develop plug-in which will then compile into WI code using 3rd party." - yes, once this extensible api is available. being worked on.

jkaster: davidi: "I read something about D2k5 supporting output caching - is this for generated pages? Objects? Do I have to do anything special to cache my pages?" - output caching is an ASP.NET runtime feature. There is a caching and/or session object you can use for this.

jkaster: davidi: "Does session management include support for database transactions/state?" - We're just surfacing design-time support for ASP.NET runtime. However, DBWeb and ECO supports session management very easily.

jkaster: topher: "Can you explain the changes made to machine.config by Delphi 2005 (the installer I think?)" - to better support debugging on IIS, the debugger guys came up with assemblies that can be added to either machine.config or web.config to allow for better debugging of asp.net applications with IIS. We have an option to modify machine.config because that doesn't get deployed to a live server, but it's still available on your development/debugging machine so you don't have to modify web.config when you deploy the application.

jkaster: PGandhi: "Is there going to some talk about master page inheritance" - This is an ASP.NET 2.0 feature ...

jkaster: holger: "Please elaborate on the plans for ASP.NET 2.0 if it will be available (wait for new Delphi version or update for D2005)." - ASP.NET 2.0 support will come in a new version of Delphi. Can't say when this would be available.

Public chat

Welcome to the moderated Borland Community Chat!
You are allowed to speak freely with everyone in this lower window. In the upper window you'll find all messages written by moderators and invited speakers.

MrPMorris: Audio is perfect
jpowell: same here
holger: audio is better than the last time i was here...
holger: could you please announce the chats a little bit earlier?
holger: got the message today for today ;-)
shcodip: they're all in the calendar
PGandhi: Audio quality is very good
holger: oh ok
shcodip: http://ec.borland.com/monthView.jsf
holger: then pardon me
MrPMorris: I don't check the calendar, so I am grateful for the emails!
holger: tnx good hint
shcodip: no problem.
holger: just got thunderbird and it's at last a news reader which can do rss
shcodip: sweet
PGandhi: Is there going to some talk about master page inheritance
MrPMorris: Our questions, are they supposed to be based on what we currently have, or are we allowed to ask what we might get in the future?
holger: sad that it's not in pro version...
MrPMorris: It works brilliantly, using it right now :)
iman: the pro version isn't for professionals :)
MrPMorris: I hadn't noticed that zoom in/out before
holger: asp_directives?
holger: pls don't change it... my provider can only do c#
MrPMorris: holger, it would be an option anyway
MrPMorris: seeing as you specify it in the ASPX file
holger: yes, but if they decided to change to their "own" code markup...
holger: nope, last update in april
holger: yes, it does
MrPMorris: I have seen people stating that it breaks SQL Server Reporting Services, I haven't tried that yet
MrPMorris: Steve: Please don't forget to add that Blog information about adding our own file->new templates for asp.net webapps
holger: thanx guys
MrPMorris: thanks
Serge_d: thanks!!!!