Visual Studio 2005/2008 Integration

Web ADF controls

A set of Web ADF controls are added to the Visual Studio toolbox under the "ArcGIS Web Controls" tab.  The controls are packaged in the ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Web.UI.WebControls.dll assembly.

Web Mapping Application template  

The Web ADF includes a single Web project template, the Web Mapping Application, in C# and VB.NET format.  This template provides a preset Web page design and contains a comprehensive set of Web ADF controls to get up and running as quickly as possible.  The template can be customized.

Integrated library reference

The Server SDK is integrated with the Microsoft 2.0 Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 help systems and accessible within the IDE. 

Project context menus 

The Web ADF adds a set of context menus to assist in the developer.  By right-clicking on a project in Solution Explorer you can define a number of properties for a Web ADF project.  The context menus are listed below:

Add ArcGIS Reference 

An enhanced Add Reference dialog to manage ESRI specific assemblies available to a developer.  You have the ability to add and remove references to assemblies in the project as well as filter assemblies listed by component type (building block).  

 

ArcGIS Toolbox Reference

Only valid for ArcObjects developers.

ArcToolbox, included with ArcGIS Desktop products, can be used to create custom ArcGIS toolboxes that contain custom tools and models.   The geoprocessing capabilities of ArcObjects define how ArcGIS Desktop, Engine, and Server products interact with the custom toolbox.   In general, an ArcObjects GeoProcessor object is needed to work with the toolbox.  Toolboxes can be published as geoprocessing services using ArcGIS Server.  In this case, the service manages interaction with the GeoProcessor and a developer uses the IGPServer (ArcGIS Server ArcObjects API) or GPServerProxy (ArcGIS Server SOAP API).   

A developer can also use the GeoProcessor directly to work with toolboxes.  In this case, the toolbox is added to the GeoProcessor programmatically, tool or model parameters are set, the tool or model is executed and a result is returned.  The ArcGIS Toolbox Reference dialog is designed to enhance the developer experience when working with a toolbox using the GeoProcessor.   The dialog uses the .tbx file to create a .NET wrapper class to use as a proxy for creating a tool or model instance.  The native .NET class provides a constructor, intellisense, and intuitively named parameters to set values and process results.  If you are working with ArcObjects locally, the local application process must have access to the .tbx.  When working with ArcObjects remotely via ArcGIS Server, the client application must have access to the .NET proxy class while the ArcGIS Server process (ArcSOC.exe) must have access to the .tbx file.   You can have a client and server version of the .tbx, but their content must match.   Only the client application uses the .NET proxy class. 

 


Add ArcGIS Identity

At design-time, the identity of the user running Visual Studio is used to connect to an ArcGIS Server local data source.  At runtime, that identity is established by the Web application.  Only one identity can be used to define access to all ArcGIS Server local data sources in a single Web application.  This identity can be explicitly defined when building the Web ADF application in Visual Studio by using the Add ArcGIS Identity dialog.  Enter the identity credentials which will be used to access ArcGIS Server local resources at runtime.  This information will be added to the web.config file within a standard ASP.NET identity tag.  If the "Encrypt identity in web.config" checkbox is checked, the identity tag will be encrypted, otherwise the username and password will be stored as clear text.   This context menu is only available with Web projects.   

Standalone class files are added and maintained within a project's App_Code directory. Upon compilation, classes within App_Code directory are compiled into a single assembly and stored in a .NET Framework managed temporary location for the website (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files\MyWebApp). Web application code associated with existing ASPX or ASCX files is compiled into a separate assembly and stored in the same temporary location.  

By default, the position of controls added at design time in Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 is not set.  As a result, the controls are permitted to flow from left to right within a line, and from top to bottom within the page.  To use absolute positioning as the default, which enables you to place controls at precise positions on the Design view surface, do the following:

1. Choose Layout > Position > Auto-Position Options.
2. Under the HTML Designer category, choose CSS Positioning.
3. Check on the top option for changing position when dragging and dropping controls and select the 'Absolutely Positioned' option from the drop down. Click OK to dismiss the dialog.

Now, controls added within new Web applications will use absolute positioning.  When added they will snap to the 0, 0 coordinate in the upper left corner, but can be selected and dragged to the desired location on the page.