Hi guys,

I've been pulling my hair out all day trying to get YAF working in the way I want. I have got the website code working though I want to integrate the forum into a web application so I need to convert it.

After following the instructions I have now got a web application version working to the extent that I can go through the install although it bombs out with an error message as soon as it completes "There has been a serious error loading the forum. No further information is available.".

I have tried setting break points in the forum control to no avail and also checked the log table in the database which is empty.

As I'm unable to provide any real detail on the error I have uploaded my project here.

http://www.2shared.com/file/6363642/ddb6fa67/Forum.html 

I would be really grateful if some one could assist me with this!

Cheers

Steve

PS - tried using a number of web configs, have converted it to a web application, it builds fine, it creates the database fine and the forum is in the root.

I received that "There has been a serious error" immediately also. I ended up turning on errors to view the actual .NET blow-up error page.

Turns out the error related to not being able to write the configuration passcode to app.config. I added it manually, and the install scripts worked.

You might try enabling errors to see exactly what the problem is.. if you can't resolve it yourself, post the error page and let's take a peek.

Maybe my tutorials will help.

http://www.bunkerhollow.com/blogs/matt/archive/2008/10/27/integrate-yetanotherforum-with-your-net-site-from-source.aspx 

http://www.bunkerhollow.com/blogs/matt/archive/2008/12/06/working-with-yaf-source-code-from-svn-repository.aspx 

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Thanks for the help guys. I resolved the issue, I had incorrectly referenced some assemblies using the wrong name in the web.config.

Had an issue with the Ajax Control Toolkit, clashing versions. Removed all Ajax Toolkit Dll's from my system, downloaded the full source for it - compliled it then refrenced the new dll. That fixed that issue.

Now I've got another bug but will keep at it for a bit before getting you guys involved lol

Thanks again

Steve

I found some instructions on converting to a web application here:

http://forum.yetanotherforum.net/yaf_postst8407_How-to-createconvert-NET-Web-Project-from-NET-Website.aspx 

(I think the idea of making it a web site in 1.9.3 was a mistake, by the way - VS is a free download, so anyone can get it.)

There is nothing wrong with a web site project. You just use it for different reasons.

Here are some of them:

Need to migrate large Visual Studio .NET 2003 applications

Web Application Projects

Prefer single-page code model to code-behind model

Web Site Projects

Prefer dynamic compilation and working on pages without building entire site on each page view (that is, save file and then simply refresh the page in the browser).

Web Site Projects

Need to control names of output assemblies

Web Application Projects

Need to generate one assembly for each page

Web Site Projects

Need stand-alone classes to reference page and user control classes

Web Application Projects

Need to build a Web application using multiple Web projects

Web Application Projects

Need to add pre-build and post-build steps during compilation

Web Application Projects

Want to open and edit any directory as a Web project without creating a project file

Web Site Projects

Here is a link to some help in converting a web site project to a web application project:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa983476(VS.80).aspx 

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I don't have anything against web site projects per se. But for me, none of the purposes for Web Site projects that you quote make a compelling argument for changing YAF to this model.

The reason I mention Visual Studio is because one of the developer's main reasons for YAF being a WS project is:

http://www.bunkerhollow.com/blogs/matt/archive/2008/12/06/working-with-yaf-source-code-from-svn-repository.aspx )

I don't think this is a good reason. Sure, it saves people having to download the free version of Visual Studio, but the downside is more significant: it makes it more difficult to integrate.

EDIT: I just read the next post on that blog and where the developer says:

This may be a good reason for converting YAF to a web site.

As a web developer I can say that I find the third one in the list very helpful in building and testing apps.

To each his own as they say.

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Agreed, its very much like marmite. You either like it or you hate it.

Another major factor in why we switched is that we have a large number of users who are unable to compile. Running as a WAP for a number of years and the volume of posts in regards to making little changes in the code behind helped push us down that path. The free express editions were alot more basic and compilation was an absolute nightmare for users unexperienced with compiling code, it may not be quite as strong a case now with the newer versions of express.

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Even in WAPs, the .aspx is still dynamically compiled. Only the code-behind is pre-compiled. You can make changes to the .aspx file, save and refresh your browser - no need to re-compile. In fact, you can edit .aspx files live on the production server in notepad and the changes will immediately take effect.

YAF used to be a WAP and was changed to WSP because, at the time, VSWD Express did NOT support WAPs.

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No mater which way it's done, someone will not be happy.

To quote Conner McCloud - "There can be only one."

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remember publishing a web site project is an option -- it will compile all the code-behind. Kind of a mess, but it sort of works 🙂