DanDoes.NET - ContentGator

Created Release: DanDoes.NET ContentGator Beta 1.2 (Mar 10, 2009)

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:28:29 GMT

Fixed an issue that prevented the aggregated file from being served in subdirectories in WinForms apps
The url format is now forced to start with a forward slash ("/")
Updated the MVC test project to reference MVC RC2
Misc url format parsing fixes

Released: DanDoes.NET ContentGator Beta 1.2 (Mar 10, 2009)

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:28:29 GMT

Fixed an issue that prevented the aggregated file from being served in subdirectories in WinForms apps
The url format is now forced to start with a forward slash ("/")
Updated the MVC test project to reference MVC RC2
Misc url format parsing fixes

Updated Wiki: Home

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:08:35 GMT

Project Description
ContentGator allows web developers to automatically serve aggregated content (css, js, etc) from their web pages. By simply listing relative paths, files are grouped by content type and aggregated into a single file, which is automatically served with GZip or Deflate compression.

Overview

Decreases client load times by limiting the number of distinct HTTP requests
GZip/Deflate compression decreases load times and bandwidth consumption
Allows better organization of your project, since parts can be more liberally separated into separate files
Aggregates multiple content files into a single file
Supports adding files from both master pages and child pages
Both WebForms and MVC Beta (Preview 5) are supported
Supports GZip and Deflate compression
Implements HTTP 304 Not Modified

WebForms and MVC

ContentGator works the same in both WebForms and MVC, so there are no differences in setup or usage between the two. The only difference is that MVC requires referencing the DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.Mvc.dll library in addition to DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.dll.

Required References

ASP.NET WebForms:

DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.dll

ASP.NET MVC Beta Preview 5

System.Web.Mvc.dll (not included)
DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.dll
DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.Mvc.dll

Setup

Web.config (IIS6/Cassini):

<system.web>
   <pages>
      <namespaces>
         <add namespace="DanDoesDotNet.Web.UI"/>
      </namespaces>
   </pages>
   <httpHandlers>
      <remove verb="*" path="*_ContentGator.axd" />
      <add verb="*" path="*_ContentGator.axd" type="DanDoesDotNet.Web.ContentGatorHandler, DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator" validate="false"/>
   </httpHandlers>
</system.web>

Web.config (IIS7):

<system.web>
   <pages>
      <namespaces>
         <add namespace="DanDoesDotNet.Web.UI"/>
      </namespaces>
   </pages>
</system.web>
<system.webServer>
   <handlers>
      <remove name="ContentGatorHandler"/>
      <add name="ContentGatorHandler" verb="GET,HEAD" path="*_ContentGator.axd" preCondition="integratedMode"
               type="DanDoesDotNet.Web.ContentGatorHandler, DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator"/>
   </handlers>
</system.webServer>

Usage

Using Master Pages:
In Master Page:

<head>
    <title>This Is a Master Page!</title>
    <% this.AddContentGatorPaths(
           "~/Content/_reset.css",
           "~/Content/Site.css",
           "~/Content/jquery-1.2.6.min.js",
           "~/Content/jquery-ui.core.min.js"); %>
    <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="head" runat="server" />
    
    <%= this.RenderContentGator() %>    
</head>

In Child Page:

<asp:Content ID="head" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" runat="server">
    <% this.AddContentGatorPaths("~/Content/Default.css"); %>
</asp:Content>

Not Using Master Pages:

<head>
    <title>This Is a Non-Master Page</title>
    <%= this.RenderContentGator(
           "~/Content/_reset.css",
           "~/Content/Site.css",
           "~/Content/jquery-1.2.6.min.js",
           "~/Content/jquery-ui.core.min.js") %>
</head>

Other Considerations

Requested files are not generated until they are requested. This means that page requests served to spiders and other non-browser clients will not result in any potential additional overhead.
Aggregated files, once generated, are stored in the application state.
Compression is done at the time of generation. As such, up to three copies of each aggregated file (GZipped, Deflated and Uncompressed) may be present in the application state at once. This may be less likely in practice, since most web browsers support GZip.
Files are aggregated in the order they are specified, which guaranties that content from one file is loaded before another. This is a requirement for situations that are sensitive to loading order, such as CSS styling and loading client script that depends on client script frameworks.
Each unique collection of content, including the order they are specified in will resulting in an additional item being placed in the application state.

Disclaimer

This Works On My Computer and on my website in progress.
This has not been tested on any websites with any semblance of traffic volume.
In other words, please use this, but do so at your own risk.

Undocumented

Optional configuration - DanDoesDotNet.Web.Configuration.ContentGatorSection allows default settings to be overwritten, such as:

Url format - used in the rendered html to reference aggregated files
Use/Preference of compression - whether or not to use GZip and/or Delfate, and which one is preferred (default is GZip)
Use of HTTP 304 Not Modified - whether or not to send an HTTP 304 response if none of the files have been modified (default is true)
Supported content types - by default, files with the extensions .js and .css are supported.

Source code checked in, #14006

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:58:15 GMT

Source code checked in, #14005

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:55:04 GMT

Source code checked in, #14003

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:48:21 GMT

Updated Wiki: Home

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:31:12 GMT

Overview

Decreases client load times by limiting the number of distinct HTTP requests
GZip/Deflate compression decreases load times and bandwidth consumption
Allows better organization of your project, since parts can be more liberally separated into separate files
Aggregates multiple content files into a single file
Supports adding files from both master pages and child pages
Both WebForms and MVC Beta (Preview 5) are supported
Supports GZip and Deflate compression
Implements HTTP 304 Not Modified

WebForms and MVC

Required References

ASP.NET WebForms:

DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.dll

ASP.NET MVC Beta Preview 5

System.Web.Mvc.dll (not included)
DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.dll
DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator.Mvc.dll

Setup

Web.config (IIS6/Cassini):

<system.web>
   <pages>
      <namespaces>
         <add namespace="DanDoesDotNet.Web.UI"/>
      </namespaces>
   </pages>
   <httpHandlers>
      <remove verb="*" path="*_ContentGator.axd" />
      <add verb="*" path="*_ContentGator.axd" type="DanDoesDotNet.Web.ContentGatorHandler, DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator" validate="false"/>
   </httpHandlers>
</system.web>

Web.config (IIS7):

<system.web>
   <pages>
      <namespaces>
         <add namespace="DanDoesDotNet.Web.UI"/>
      </namespaces>
   </pages>
</system.web>
<system.webServer>
   <handlers>
      <remove name="ContentGatorHandler"/>
      <add name="ContentGatorHandler" verb="GET,HEAD" path="*_ContentGator.axd" preCondition="integratedMode"
               type="DanDoesDotNet.Web.ContentGatorHandler, DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator"/>
   </handlers>
</system.webServer>

Subdirectory Fix for WebForms Apps (this is required for WebForms, it will not work otherwise!)

This will be fixed in the next release, but for now this also needs to be added to your configuration:

<configSections>
    <section name="dandoesdotnet.contentgator" type="DanDoesDotNet.Configuration.ContentGatorSection, DanDoesDotNet.ContentGator" />
</configSections>
<dandoesdotnet.contentgator urlFormat="/{0}_ContentGator.axd" />

Usage

Using Master Pages:
In Master Page:

<head>
    <title>This Is a Master Page!</title>
    <% this.AddContentGatorPaths(
           "~/Content/_reset.css",
           "~/Content/Site.css",
           "~/Content/jquery-1.2.6.min.js",
           "~/Content/jquery-ui.core.min.js"); %>
    <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="head" runat="server" />
    
    <%= this.RenderContentGator() %>    
</head>

In Child Page:

<asp:Content ID="head" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" runat="server">
    <% this.AddContentGatorPaths("~/Content/Default.css"); %>
</asp:Content>

Not Using Master Pages:

<head>
    <title>This Is a Non-Master Page</title>
    <%= this.RenderContentGator(
           "~/Content/_reset.css",
           "~/Content/Site.css",
           "~/Content/jquery-1.2.6.min.js",
           "~/Content/jquery-ui.core.min.js") %>
</head>

Other Considerations

Requested files are not generated until they are requested. This means that page requests served to spiders and other non-browser clients will not result in any potential additional overhead.
Aggregated files, once generated, are stored in the application state.
Compression is done at the time of generation. As such, up to three copies of each aggregated file (GZipped, Deflated and Uncompressed) may be present in the application state at once. This may be less likely in practice, since most web browsers support GZip.
Files are aggregated in the order they are specified, which guaranties that content from one file is loaded before another. This is a requirement for situations that are sensitive to loading order, such as CSS styling and loading client script that depends on client script frameworks.
Each unique collection of content, including the order they are specified in will resulting in an additional item being placed in the application state.

Disclaimer

This Works On My Computer and on my website in progress.
This has not been tested on any websites with any semblance of traffic volume.
In other words, please use this, but do so at your own risk.

Undocumented

Optional configuration - DanDoesDotNet.Web.Configuration.ContentGatorSection allows default settings to be overwritten, such as:

Url format - used in the rendered html to reference aggregated files
Use/Preference of compression - whether or not to use GZip and/or Delfate, and which one is preferred (default is GZip)
Use of HTTP 304 Not Modified - whether or not to send an HTTP 304 response if none of the files have been modified (default is true)
Supported content types - by default, files with the extensions .js and .css are supported.

New Post: undeclared entity 'rsquo'?

DanielSchaffer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:26:03 GMT

Okay, I see what the problem is. It seems that it has problems getting the correct file hash from pages in subdirectories in webforms applications. My apologies for this, I quite obviously should've caught this on my own.

Fortunately, there is a way to work around this without requiring a new release - it just involves adding some additional configuration into your web.config file.

First, add this to your <configSections> element:

Then add this anywhere outside of any sections (i put it after your urlrewriting section):

<dandoesdotnet.contentgator urlFormat="/{0}_ContentGator.axd" />

I tested this with your app, and it worked fine, even after uncommenting the url rewriting configuration.

New Post: undeclared entity 'rsquo'?

DanielSchaffer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:42:33 GMT

Yes, please send the ZIP to dan(at)dandoes(dot)net. I'll take a look at it this afternoon/evening.

New Post: undeclared entity 'rsquo'?

ArranM — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:58:52 GMT

Hi

I think i've narrowed it down a little. Started from scratch an built a simple 2 page app. (I can email the .zip if you would like , 25k)

web.config registered your cool ContentGator which I currently using in an app about to go live, and also UrlWritingnet.dll, with url re-write rules.
/default.aspx added <%=this.RenderContentGator("~/ic/test.js")%>
ic/test.js = alert("hello");

run the page works fine, I see the alert box popup.

in a sub folder /u/default.aspx , page created is a copy of the root default.aspx file.
now visit the sub page and you get the ";" issue.

If I remove all the URLWrite from web.config and just visit the root/u/default.aspx you no longer get the ";" error, but the alert box still does not appear.

It seems only files created in the root trigger the test.js file, ones in subfolders don't.

Would I have to treat sub-pages list children of a master page, even thou they are not?

Regard Arran :->

New Post: undeclared entity 'rsquo'?

DanielSchaffer — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:31:42 GMT

Is this a server side or client-side error? If it is server side, can you post the entire stack trace of the exception?

Also, can you post the content of your test.js, if you don't mind?

rsquo is an html entity (as in ’) - is it possible that it is showing up in a file name somewhere?

New Post: undeclared entity 'rsquo'?

ArranM — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:56:45 GMT

Hi

Geate lib, used it before on another project and works a treat, but now i'm getting the following message on a new web app.

Reference to undeclared entity

'rsquo'. Line 88, position 10.

I've double checked the web.config again your easy instructions, and I have it running of an other web running on the same box.. so I can only think there is another setting somewhere

asp.net 3.5 , the only difference between the working web app and this one is I'm using "UrlRewritingNew.UrlRewriter", now I've taken this out and it's still reporting the same error message.

axd seems to be there in the view source

<head><title>
#my test
</title><meta http-equiv="imagetoolbar" content="no" /><script src="b3f4acd64de58daeec5cd2ebdbfeb64_ContentGator.axd" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

Any ideas what it might be?

Regards

Arran

New Post: Cache management

DanielSchaffer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:45:02 GMT

Hey, thanks for checking this out.

If I understand your question correctly, you are asking how the aggregator knows when a file on the server has been modified, and how it knows to begin including it in the aggregated file.

The filesystem "last modified" date of each included file is used to generate the file hash that identifies the aggregated resource. So, when you modify one of the files, the resource that is being requested changes, which means the new file should begin being served immediately.

However, if you are output caching your ASP.NET page, it may still continue to serve the generated code requesting the old file, which as I'm typing this, I realize is your issue.

Unfortunately, this was an oversight on my part for this release. The best I can recommend is doing a VaryByCustom on the output of ContentGatorHelper.Render(). In order make make that work, you'll have to modify the source code to make the ContentGatorHelper.Render(params String[] paths) method public, and you'll need to call it with the same paths in the same order as you specify on your page. I know this is about as far from optimal as workarounds go, but I'm afraid there aren't really any other options until my next release.

Thanks again,

-Daniel

New Post: Cache management

mehmetim — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:18:00 GMT

Hi,

I'm trying different libraries to compress and combine css files those days. I experienced few libraries and the biggest problem is file modify management.

For example most library support cache reset operation as changing version parameter. (Manuel operation and it is hard to manage, especialy if you forget change parameter)

It would be nice if it support new url parameter generate when the file change. Like WebReourse in asp..net ....

How do you manage file modification. There is no explanation about it.

thanks

New Post: ASP.NET Ajax Proxy

jeremy_bell — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:40:47 GMT

It would be interesting if you could also make it so that the ASP .Ajax JavaScript proxy (the result of /WebService.asmx/js request) files could be combined into a file with other script files.

You might also consider using the System.Web.Caching API to store your resulting file. That way memory would be released on the server if certain resources are not being accessed frequently.

Updated Release: DanDoes.NET ContentGator Beta 1.1 (Jan 25, 2009)

DanielSchaffer — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:51:47 GMT

Fixed an issue with the MVC extension methods that caused content to not be aggregated.
Replaced all instances of the string "ScriptGator" with "ContentGator".

Released: DanDoes.NET ContentGator Beta 1.1 (Jan 25, 2009)

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:51:44 GMT

Fixed an issue with the MVC extension methods that caused content to not be aggregated.
Replaced all instances of the string "ScriptGator" with "ContentGator".

Created Release: DanDoes.NET ContentGator Beta 1.1 (Jan 25, 2009)

DanielSchaffer — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:51:08 GMT

Fixed an issue with the MVC extension methods that caused content to not be aggregated.
Replaced all instances of the string "ScriptGator" with "ContentGator".

Source code checked in, #6057

DanielSchaffer — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:47:10 GMT

Changed all instances of the word "ScriptGator" to "ContentGator"

Source code checked in, #6055

DanielSchaffer — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:44:20 GMT