Shared /bin directory?

[Dylan Parry]

Hi folks,

Appologies if this question is either a) stupid; or b) asked every ten
minutes

I manage several websites that are all based on the same code, so they all
have a /bin directory that contains the same .dll files. When I make
changes to the code behind these dll files I have to reupload the same dll
files to each of the bin directories for each of the sites - obviously this
is a PITA!

So I was wondering; is there a simple way (eg. web.config) that I can,
without full access to the server (ie. I have FTP access only), upload the
files to just one directory and have all of my sites share the same /bin
directory?

Cheers,

 

[Guest]

Dylan,
Create one common directory for the dlls to reside.And make reference
to that common directory.This will avoid ur copying of dlls to each web site.

 

[Dylan Parry]

Pondering the eternal question of "Hobnobs or Rich Tea?", Santhi
Maadhaven finally proclaimed:

Create one common directory for the dlls to reside.And make reference
to that common directory.This will avoid ur copying of dlls to each web site.

Yes, that's the sort of thing I am after, but as I am still learning
this .net thingy I don't have a clue how I do that?

 

[Patrick.O.Ige]

Dylan are you using VS.NET for development?
What Santhi was saying is you should copy the DLL's to the bin directory and
make
reference to that directory by right clicking on your project and select Add
reference from VS.NET
Hope that helps
Pattrick

 

[Dylan Parry]

Pondering the eternal question of "Hobnobs or Rich Tea?", Patrick.O.Ige
finally proclaimed:

What Santhi was saying is you should copy the DLL's to the bin
directory and make reference to that directory by right clicking on
your project and select Add reference from VS.NET

I've done that for reusing the same DLL's in several projects, but that
still means that I have to upload the produced DLL file for each of the
sites using it though? What I want to be able to do is only upload it to
*one* location and have all the sites use it from there rather than have
a separate version of it in each site's /bin directory.

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

You could install it in the server's GAC.
That would make it available to all applications on the server.

Be forewarned that changing versions for GAC'd assemblies
might prove to be a bit spinier than simply uploading new versions
to the /bin directories.

 

[Damien]

Pondering the eternal question of "Hobnobs or Rich Tea?", Patrick.O.Ige
finally proclaimed:


I've done that for reusing the same DLL's in several projects, but that
still means that I have to upload the produced DLL file for each of the
sites using it though? What I want to be able to do is only upload it to
*one* location and have all the sites use it from there rather than have
a separate version of it in each site's /bin directory.

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org -- Where the Music Progressively Rocks!

Usenet: The first post is free, but the next will cost you your soul.

Hi Dylan,

If each of the sites literally uses exactly the same DLLs, and only the
same DLLs, there may be a way - but only if you can get access to the
box. So was your original restriction of "access only by FTP" a "I can
only access via FTP for my day-to-day website maintenance - the server
is locked away in the server room away from prying hands", or more of a
"I'm hosted, the hosters only let me upload via FTP".

If you can get access to the box, then there is a program available in
the windows resource kits that essentially allows you to connect
directories together so that they are one single directory. It's called
linkd, and you'd probably want to experiment with it on a normal
machine before doing it to your server. Also, I cannot think of a
reason why it wouldn't, but this may not be a supported way of using
ASP.NET.

If you're not allowed any access to the server, you may be able to
persuade your hosters that this is a perfectly safe thing to do, and
get them to do the work for you. Good luck with that!

Other than that, I do not believe there's any way to do what you want
to do - ASP.NET expects things to be in certain paths, so unless you
can make the filesystem make the files appear at those paths, you'll be
out of luck.

Damien

 

[Dylan Parry]

Pondering the eternal question of "Hobnobs or Rich Tea?", Damien finally
proclaimed:

"I can only access via FTP for my day-to-day website maintenance - the
server is locked away in the server room away from prying hands"

That's the gist of it, yes

If you're not allowed any access to the server, you may be able to
persuade your hosters that this is a perfectly safe thing to do, and
get them to do the work for you. Good luck with that!

Well he only lives down the road from our office and is a friend of
ours, so he could be open to persuasion, but still I doubt it!

....

unless you can make the filesystem make the files appear at those
paths, you'll be out of luck.

What I will probably do is set up an FTP script to automagically upload
the DLL to all of the locations it is needed at whenever I change it,
which will sort of solve my problem but in a different way to how I
imagined...

Cheers,

 

[Scott Allen]

Dylan,
Create one common directory for the dlls to reside.And make reference
to that common directory.This will avoid ur copying of dlls to each web site.

Easier said than done...