Jeff Nuckolls {Application Platform and Development Tools} : ASP.NET

ColdFusion to ASP.NET Migration

jeffnuck — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:12:00 GMT

When considering a migration from ColdFusion to ASP.NET, you have several options to consider, I’ve touched on just a few here...

Migration options:

Re-write… which is really more like drag-and-drop and configure properties than it is re-writing code
Build on top of Sharepoint – you might find that it makes more sense to leverage Sharepoint as your development platform (which is based on ASP.NET already) vs. building from scratch… especially since it includes a majority of the functionality that you may need in your new application
Use 3^rd party tool to run your Coldfusion code in .NET such as BlueDragon from New Atlanta (some of the webcasts provided below talk about Migration using Blue Dragon below)

Interoperability:

Can ColdFusion and ASP.NET co-exist? Yes they can, in fact here are some resources that may make this process a little easier:

http://www.theserverside.net/news/thread.tss?thread_id=32869
Interoperability between ASP.NET and ColdFusion (Part 1 of 2) http://www.asp.net/learn/webcasts/webcast-113.aspx
Interoperability between ASP.NET and ColdFusion (Part 1 of 2) http://www.asp.net/learn/webcasts/webcast-114.aspx

Additional resources:

Oldie, but goodie whitepaper about ColdFusion to ASP.NET migration: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479305.aspx
Free Webcasts:

Intro to ASP.NET for ColdFusion Developers: Adding ASP.NET to Your Repertoire
Speaker: David Churvis, Productivity Enhancement
We'll show a simple yet real world code comparison between ColdFusion and ASP.NET, so developers can sink their teeth into something more than lecture and demonstrations of assembling drag-and-drop elements. We have two identical applications - one built in ColdFusion and one built in ASP.NET - named Nile.com (a fictitious bookstore) that illustrate these comparisons nicely.
Introduction to ASP.NET for ColdFusion Developers: Building an ASP.NET Application
Speaker: David Churvis, Productivity Enhancement
We'll build the application starting from a blank form, and use a few strategically pre-built items to speed things along and keep the viewers' interest. The idea is to build a small application with all the proper validation, exception handling, and the like layered in as we go along, comparing each topic with its equivalent in ColdFusion. This will give the experienced ColdFusion developer a clear idea of exactly what is involved in building a real world application from the ground up - the only difference is size.

While no migration is easy, I hope this helps you get started.

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET

jeffnuck — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:09:00 GMT

Here I have compiled a list of resources to assist anyone interested in making a migration from classic ASP to ASP.NET. If you wish to skip the details below here are a few summarized pointers.

In my humble opinion the easiest approach (using migration wizards) are NOT always the best idea (and sometimes not nearly as easy as you might think), so I would typically recommend re-writing your apps with the following considerations:

Re-writing your classic ASP apps in ASP.NET doesn't alway mean "RE-WRITE"... you will quickly find that much of the functionality, UI, navigation/menus, validation rules, authentication/authorization, etc... can be done via drag-and-drop and/or property setting/configuration setting.
Start with the data access layer and security modules of your existing ASP apps. (Before you go out and start writing your own from scratch, try leveraging some of the code we've made available for you designed with best practices in mind from our Enterprise Library, Application Blocks.)
Migrate your "Include files"... these will include global UI elements (header, menus, footer), global functions (javascript validation, data access functions, other VB Script functions)

Your global UI HTML markup can be migrated into ASP.NET MasterPage files.
Your global functions can be migrated into .NET Class Libraries (if the functionality isn't already made available via Server Controls... in fact I'd check here first)

The rest of this blog will provide further details and resources; however I'd also encourage you to checkout this webcast: http://www.asp.net/learn/videos/video-32.aspx...

ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration

While there are tools for migrating from ASP to ASP.NET 1.x, you would still need to open and migrate the ASP.NET 1.x version of your site in Visual Studio 2008 to then migrate it to ASP.NET 3.5. While this may be helpful, there will still be some code rewrites required… the migration tools don’t get everything.

1. Download and Install the ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant

a. The migration assistant is 6MB. We recommend that you save it to your local machine before installing it. After completing the installation, follow the instructions in the 'Getting Started' document (go to Start->All Programs->ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant->Getting Started)

b. Download the ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant

2. Download the ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration Guide

a. The ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration Guide provides whitepapers, code samples and other resources to help you migrate your skills and applications from ASP to ASP.NET. If you have questions or feedback on the Migration Assistant.

b. Download the ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration Guide

3. Download the ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant Training

a. This sample application is part of the Migration Assistant best practices guide. After completing the installation, follow the instructions in the 'ASP to ASP.NET Downhill Bikes Migration' document (go to Start->All Programs->ASP to ASP.NET Migration Training)

b. Download the ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant Training
Download the Migration Assistant best practices guide

4. Review the ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration Assistant Best Practices Guide

a. The Migration Assistant best practices guide walks you through the migration of an ASP sample application to ASP.NET v1.x using the Migration Assistant. The guide then describes how to migrate optimize the migrated application by taking advantage of the features of ASP.NET.

b. Download the ASP to ASP.NET 1.x Migration Assistant Best Practices Guide

ASP to ASP.NET 2.0 +

I would definitely watch these videos on Tips, Trick, Gotchas, and best practices for migrating your classic ASP site to ASP.NET 2.0 (it is still very applicable to migrating to 3.5 as well, just keep in mind that there are some enhancements in 3.0 and 3.5 that you may consider beyond whats available in 2.0. Either way these video are applicable.

1. Migrating from Classic ASP to ASP.NET 2.0 (Part 1 of 2)

2. Migrating from Classic ASP to ASP.NET 2.0 (Part 2 of 2)

Best Practices for .NET Development

There are several links of this launch site for Best Practices, including the plug-and-play reusable modules that we talked about for developing your ASP.NET web architecture and Enterprise Libraries that you can plug into your ASP.NET apps and start taking advantage of out of the box or customize to fit your specific needs:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/practices/default.aspx

Quick Tutorials, Learning Videos, and Labs

These include short learning videos for everything from ASP.NET 3.5 to Visual Studio 2008 features.

· www.asp.net

· www.learnvisualstudio.net

· www.teamsystemrocks.com

· http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/bb188199.aspx

· Learn Visual Studio 2008 – Portal site

· Visual Studio 2008 Virtual Labs

o Try Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 in a virtual lab and learn more about accessing relational data using Language Integrated Query (LINQ) to SQL or how Visual Studio 2008 integrates with .NET Framework 3.5. Virtual labs are simple, with no complex setup or installation required.

· SQL Server 2008 Virtual Labs

o Test drive Microsoft SQL Server 2008 in a virtual lab. See why SQL Server 2008 is at the heart of a comprehensive data programmability platform that enables you to access and manipulate business-critical data from a variety of diverse devices, platforms, and data services across the enterprise.

· Windows Server 2008 Virtual Labs

o Try out the latest version of Windows Server in a virtual lab. Discover how Windows Server 2008 provides a solid foundation for all of your server workload and application requirements while also being easy to deploy and manage.

I hope this helps you along the journey to .NET!

ASP.NET Error Message: Login failed for 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORKSERVICE'

jeffnuck — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:06:00 GMT

If you are developing against a local SQL Server 2005 database in Visual Studio you may not notice this error message until you attempt to access an ASP.NET page that attempts to read or write to your database from an external client (or browser not launch via VStudio)... the reason is because VStudio runs with elevated administrative previledges on the local dev machine. While there are several ways to surpress this error, here are a few options you might consider:

Modify the Web.config file to impersonate a user that has appropriate previledges for read/write access to your database.
<system.web>
<identity impersonate="true" userName="username" password="password" />
<system.web>

So you might have noticed that this is a little concerning... putting username/password in the web.config, but you can chose to encrypt this to make it more secure. Otherwise try option #2.
Open SQL Server Management Studio and grant the 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE' account to the Role Membership of db_datareader and db_datawriter.
A better option yet would be to force the user to login either via forms-based login or windows-based login and use ASP.NET Membership to control authentication to the site... ensure that appropriate users then are associate with a group that then has reader/writer permission on the database. See here for details: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yh26yfzy.aspx

Get-R-Done!