.NET Application Type

Your application can be structured internally in different ways, depending on how it is to be used.

Web Site for .NET

This option uses the folder-based structure defined for .NET Web applications, with its content defined by all files and folders under a root application folder. This organization makes explicit assumptions about the ~/App_Code, ~/App_Data, ~/App_GlobalResources, and ~/bin folders.

The Web Site is not compiled for deployment and pages are compiled dynamically at run-time when they are accessed using a .NET Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler. Iron Speed Designer also provides the option of pre-compiling a Web Site if it is targeted for deployment to a Microsoft IIS web server. Compilation uses the .NET Framework compilers (VBC/CSC) and is driven by the placement of code files in the application's special directories.

In the Web Site, external DLLs are included in the application by placing them in the \bin folder, where they are automatically referenced during compilation.

Web Application for .NET

This option organizes your application using the solution/project structure used by Visual Studio. Initially the solution (your application) contains three projects: the Main project, the Data Access Layer, and the Business Layer. The Web Application is compiled using Visual Studio and the compiled content is deployed to the web server. The Data Access and Business Layers are the implementation of the abstract layers described in the Iron Speed Designer Application Architecture document.

In Web Applications, compilation is controlled by the application project file, e.g.:

<AppName>.vbproj (.csproj)

Visual Studio is used for compilation and if not available, the .NET Framework compilers (VBC/CSC) are used.

External DLLs are included in the application by using Visual Studio to add a reference to the DLL in the project.