Re-using code still can take hours out of my project which I’d much rather be using to create something new.  Combine that with a larger team of people doing the same thing, and we need a better solution.

NuGet makes it very easy to install binaries or content/src files, and the nuspec syntax is beautifully simplistic.  In it’s absolute barest form, it looks a little like this:

Code block

<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd">
  <metadata>
    <id>VersionAssembly.Mvc</id>
    <version>1.6</version>
    <authors>Kevin Blake</authors>
    <description>Version Assembly</description>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="VersionController.cs.pp" target="content\Controllers" />
  </files>
</package>

That doesn’t look like very much, but when we create a NuGet package (nuget.exe pack .), we’re going to get a package that will install a new controller, and the .pp file extensions means that file will be processed to include the correct namespace for our project.  In this case, the controller just outputs the assembly version number – but that’s not important.

We can also add dll’s to this, with target=”lib”, for all those libraries you’ve got hanging around on your server.  More excitingly, you can run PowerShell scripts along with your NuGet install, by using target=”tools\install.pl1″.  PowerShell is a very powerful scripting language from Microsoft (yep, another one), which among many other things, can give your NuGet packages all the extra power to do what you like…

Let’s start off with a really basic script that’ll run while installing your package by adding to your <files> node within your nuspec.

Code block

<file src="install.ps1" target="tools\install.ps1" />

Note that you can only have an install script if you’ve already got a content or lib file in there as well.  So go and add one (even a package_readme.txt) if you haven’t already.  You can also use init.ps1 instead, but that’s going to run every time your project loads.  For our sake, the controller we already have does the job just fine.

Now you’re going to need a PowerShell script, so let’s start out small with Hello World.

Code block

Write-Host "Hello World"

You can probably guess that this won’t do very much, but you should be able to see that output when you install you NuGet package.  You also have at your command, your simplest form of echo/print debugging tool, for PowerShell beginners like me.

With that working, you can move onto something a little more useful… The following script will add a Version task to your .csproj file, which updates the Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs with the version number that (in our case) comes from CruiseControl.Net.  Most of the work for this task comes with the MSBuild Community Tasks, so you will need that installed if you’re going to try this out word-for-word.

Code block

param($installPath, $toolsPath, $package, $project)
 
$buildProject = Get-MSBuildProject
$import = $buildProject.Xml.AddImport("`$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets")
$target = $buildProject.Xml.AddTarget("Version")
 
$target.BeforeTargets = "BeforeBuild"
$target.Condition = "'`$(Configuration)' == 'Release'"
$task = $target.AddTask("AssemblyInfo")
$task.Condition = "'`$(CCNetLabel)' != ''"
$task.SetParameter("CodeLanguage", "CS")
$task.SetParameter("OutputFile", "properties\AssemblyInfo.cs")
$task.SetParameter("AssemblyVersion", "`$(CCNetLabel)")
$task.SetParameter("AssemblyFileVersion", "`$(CCNetLabel)")
 
$buildProject.Save()
$project.Save()

That Get-MSBuildProject statement is actually supplied by another NuGet package, so we’ll have to change our NuSpec file to include that as a dependency by adding to the metadata block.

Code block

<dependencies>
      <dependency id="NuGetPowerTools" version="0.26" />
    </dependencies>

It’s also a good idea to add an uninstall.ps1 script that will undo all of those changes if someone later decides not to use your package.  I’m not going to cover that here because it’s not something I’ve completed, and these packages will not be publicly posted (by all means, share your examples in the comments, if you have).

Your complete NuSpec file should now look a little bit like this

Code block

<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2010/07/nuspec.xsd">
  <metadata>
    <id>VersionAssembly.Mvc</id>
    <version>1.6</version>
    <authors>Kevin Blake</authors>
    <description>Version assemblies</description>
    <dependencies>
      <dependency id="NuGetPowerTools" version="0.26" />
    </dependencies>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="VersionController.cs.pp" target="content\Controllers" />
    <file src="tools\install.ps1" target="tools\install.ps1" />
</files>
</package>

It’s a very simple example, I know – but these basic steps give almost limitless possibilities to your NuGet packages… Personally, I will be creating a lot more of these to include build scripts we would otherwise have had to include in a rather large bloated project template.  NuGet+PowerShell gives the flexibility to choose just what we need from the dessert cart, and that can only be a good thing.

Yes – of course.

I don’t really want to get into the debate about Web Site projects, vs. Web Application projects.  But I do want to start off by saying I dislike Web Site projects, and we’d never think about using them anywhere else.

One thing they offer though, is all of the files you drop into the directory become part of your Visual Studio solution.  This is really useful for applications such as Umbraco where developers are uploading media items, adding scripts, or creating templates via the Umbraco back-end.  It’s a pain to have to switch back to Visual Studio and add those generated files to your project, just to ensure they get published with the rest of your site.

We use a CI server, we want repeatable deployments, we’re working in teams, we want everything that’s anything to be in source control, we want the moon on a bloody stick – and Web Site projects just don’t cut it.  But I don’t really want to even mess around with everyone having to only work in Visual Studio either, so PostBuild events on separate projects that copy in razor scripts / templates etc is also – no good.  The beautiful thing with Umbraco is it’s completely flexible, there’s no right or wrong way to use it.  So here’s how we’re (currently) managing Umbraco (v4) builds.

Getting started with your web application

Firstly, create a new Empty Web application project in Visual Studio.

Download and copy all of the files from the latest Umbraco release into your project.

Don't forget the show all files button, to see everything in your directory

Now in Visual Studio, you want to add all the directories / files to your solution that you aren’t going to let people manage through Umbraco as well.  For our purposes, that’s config, data, App_Data, App_Browsers, data, umbraco, umbraco_client, default.aspx, and web.config.  If it’s still useful to have some of those other files/directories in your project later, don’t worry – you can add them (and have Umbraco/msbuild manage the rest).

You can add the bin folder as well, if you want – but we don’t like all binary files checked into sourcecontrol, so this is one folder we usually exclude by default.

If you want the same, copy all of the files out of the bin folder to a directory outside of your csproj (call it Resources, Libraries, whatever you like).  Then in Visual Studio, Right-click on your references folder, Add reference, and include all those dlls.  You’ll need that Resources / Libraries folder included in sourcecontrol as well.

You now have a solution that will build and work locally.  But you still don’t have the ease of including new Umbraco-managed items in your builds (try and right-click to publish your project to the file system, and notice how you’re still missing all of your media items and masterpages).  That’s no good for our Continuous Integration server, and a Web Site project would include all those items by default (you’d need to create one of those Web Deployment project as well though).

Modify MsBuild scripts… Include everything the wrong way

Msbuild to the rescue.  Open your .csproj file in your favourite editor (unload the project in Visual Studio if you want to use that).

You’ll see a whole bunch of xml nodes like <Content Include=”default.aspx”>.  These tell msbuild to include these files as Content items, and copy them to the Output directory on every build.

You can use wildcards, so you could just add a new item such as <Content Include=”masterpages\**\*.master” /> and you’d think that would include everything.  And you’d be right – reload your solution in Visual Studio,  and all of those masterpages will be included.  However – exclude one file, re-add it, and save your project.  If you inspect your .csproj file again – look how helpful Visual Studio has been… It’s replaced your wildcard map with a list of individual files again.  Bad Visual Studio.

Modify MsBuild scripts… Include everything the right way

Since that’s clearly going to go wrong somewhere down the line, one of your developers is going to do exactly that and unknowingly bring your entire build solution crumbling to its knees – this clearly won’t do.  There is always another way.

We can modify the BeforeBuild event (that’s currently commented out near the bottom of your csproj file, so uncomment it and replace it with this.

Code block

<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<CreateItem Include="macroScripts\**\*.cshtml">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="xslt\**\*.xslt">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="masterpages\**\*.master">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="media\**\*.*">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="usercontrols\**\*.*">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="css\**\*.*">
<Output ItemName="Content" TaskParameter="Include" />
</CreateItem>
</Target>

What we’re doing is adding to the Content array that msbuild’s defined with all those Content nodes.  We’re including all files from those directories in the publish, and we’re making the Web Application project work the way that Umbraco, and we want.  You can include as many of the folders as you’re comfortable with, and you can continue to work in Visual Studio for as much or as little of the sln as you want.

Avoid doing this next time

Having putting in this small amount of work up-front, you can now export your entire project as a project template, and use it to start off all your projects in the future.  You probably have more of a white label sln you can add to this and make your subsequent builds even easier.  I won’t get into the details of that in this post (but it’s essentially just File-Export Template within Visual Studio).

Like I said, Umbraco is completely flexible in the way you approach your builds, this is one solution that works for us – and there is always another way.  I’d be keen to hear your feedback / improvements / alternatives – we haven’t etched it in stone by any means.

Similar posts that have inspired, and Another Way:

• Creating packages with msbuild
• Setting up Umbraco correctly with MSBuild
• Using xcopy / postbuild events

(Send me more, and I’ll add to this list)

Code block

remote: Counting objects: 506, done.
remote: fatal: Out of memory, malloc failed (tried to allocate 342222798 bytes)
remote: aborting due to possible repository corruption on the remote side.
fatal: protocol error: bad pack header

It means the remote server has run out of memory while packing objects on the server ready to send down the wire, and has aborted the pull request mid-way.  If you know you’ve got some particularly massive files in your repository that you didn’t really need there, you could rewrite history and get rid of them, but chances are you just need to do a little maintenance on your remote repository.

Connect to your remote server, and find the repo in question, then just run the following:

Code block

git repack -a -f -d

Now you should be able to pull your repo again, with everything already packed on the server.

Obviously, you can find more about those options with:

Code block

man git-repack

• Umbraco
  • v5, in general
  • Custom v5 Hive Providers
  • Courier extensions
  • Contour extensions
• ASP.NET MVC 4
  • Mobile Views
• Entity Framework Code First
• .NET 4.5
  • New async features
  • WebSockets
  • Contract-First WCF
• T4 Templating
• Resharper 6.1 Shared Settings
• NuGet – more of it.  NuGet the f**k out of everything.
• KnockoutJS
• Gallery2/3
  • Sort out that set of godawful auto-geolocation hacks I wrote back in 2008
  • Last Updated Albums module
• Amazon MWS.
• Zencart, Magento, or whatever is passing as a popular choice of shopping cart nowadays

My most-listened to artists from 2011

• Read 18 novels.
• Listened to 17,650 tracks.
• Drank 102 beers (88 unique) since August… That I checked into.
• Wrote 3 blog posts (must try harder next year – already a third of the way there).
• Visited 3 new countries – grand total distance between the capitals and London of approx. 26,658km.
• Took approx. 7,597 photos.
• Uploaded 1,249 photos to Blakepics.
• Recorded 667 TV shows with MythTV, totalling 20 days, 21 hours of viewing.
• Pinned 94 pictures on Pinterest.
• Tweeted 553 times.
• Played 28 xbox games
• Shared far too much information with social networks, and online services.

What have I missed?

The music is “More” by Tyrone Wells.

You can also find these photos elsewhere online

• Pinterest
• Blakepics

The music is “Your Song” by Ellie Goulding (originally Elton John, of course).

You can also find these photos elsewhere online

• Pinterest
• Blakepics

The music is “Honey, let me sing you a song” by Matt Hires.

You can also find these photos elsewhere online

• Pinterest
• Blakepics

The music is “Bright Lights” by Tom McRae.

Let me know if you’re having any trouble viewing the video. This is the first time using an HTML5 compatible video format, which for the most of you should spark feelings of “I don’t care”, but hopefully the video should be a little higher quality than usual as well as supporting future standards, etc. If you’re not yet using a compliant browser, shame on you – but you should just get the flash version like usual.

I arrived into the Cameron Highlands late at night, after escaping the intense heat of KL by train, then a long bus ride that appeared questionable whether it would reach the top of the first hill. The Cameron Highlands are a huge expanse of green hills, tea plantations and forests, which remains the coolest part of Malaysia, and visited as a popular holiday destination by locals and us foreign travellers alike.

Strawberries are also rather popular here.

A little obsessively so.

I had not really thought of Malaysia as being known for its strawberries, but around here, they seem to revel in the prospect. Cushions, t-shirts, dresses, door mats, hats (I feel terribly sorry for the poor Malaysian baby that was forced to wear one, I’m sorry – you may have been only 1yr old, but you looked ridiculous), jelly, jam, cheese cake, juice, chocolate coated, honey coated, strawberry on a stick… You name it, we got it. I’m quite certain I’ll be spotting that all out of season strawberries in the UK come right from these very hills, but until now I hadn’t given it much thought. Most Malaysians I speak to tell me, rather bitterly at times, that everything (tea, fruits, vegetables) is exported to Singapore. Maybe they sell it all on at higher prices. Why would they want that many strawberries, after all.

I escaped from all of this. Running towards the nearest jungle trail (aptly named Jungle Trail number 9) where I bumped into a couple from Haslemere, Surrey (that’s 20 minutes from home, to you and me) and promptly hijacked their guide. I’d chosen the easiest trail around anyway – large parts of it were paved, and only a small part of the trail required any significant root climbing. Far better than the trip to Turkey where the instructions “just climb that wall” were given. Though Jungle Trail does sound far more adventurous, even if it is number 9.

Anyway, moments after kidnapping their guide, Surrey Guy asked him about the strawberries. His face clouded over. “I hate strawberries” the guide muttered under his breath. Too much of a good thing, perhaps? This was before I had tried one of the must-have dishes off the menu in a nearby cafe. “Strawberries and cheese on toast”. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds, and if you think for a minute that the cheese was melted over strawberry jam (slightly better than the alternative), I have pictures to demonstrate the cheese melting strawberry goodness . I guess if all you have had is strawberries for life, you probably would go a little stir crazy. “Can you believe they’re making strawberry pillows, now!” continued the guide. Concerned as I was that he was going to start turning his pockets out and throw strawberries at the lot of us, I made my excuses and returned the guide to his rightful owners. They had paid, after all.

I’m hoping that now I’ve sampled the strawberry delights, famous in this region, I will still be able to leave. My fear is that the strawberries are the cause of the madness I see on every market stall. This whole area may be one big Hotel California, or Stepford – with one bite of a strawberry having sealed my fate to open a market stall and sell strawberry shaped cushions in the middle of nowhere for the rest of my days. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.

Or maybe the strawberries are making me paranoid.

Send help.