Posts Tagged ‘DotNetNuke’

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Debugging Difficult Exceptions in DotNetNuke

Monday, July 21st, 2008

During my time working with DotNetNuke, I have encountered innumerable forum posts in the following general form:

I’m getting a very vague general exception error, and I’m not sure what is causing it.  There doesn’t seem to be anything visible in the application . . . [and] no errors as I’m navigating the site. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

StackTrace: [NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   DotNetNuke.UI.Skins.SkinDefaults..ctor(SkinDefaultType DefaultType) +189
   DotNetNuke .Common.Globals.get_DefaultSkin() +31
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings.GetPortalSettings(Int32 TabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +2797
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings..ctor(Int32 tabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +82
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.OnBeginRequest(Object s, EventArgs e) +3303
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +92
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +64

Experienced DNN developers will recognize the general area in which the error is occurring (missing skinningDefaults in DotNetNuke.config) and probably some general guidance to rectify the error (check that DotNetNuke.config exists, and correctly contains the proper skinningDefaults element).

This is fine for exceptions that occur frequently, but how does an experienced developer guide a novice in finding a solution to this issue?

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.RewriteUrl(HttpApplication app) +378
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.OnBeginRequest(Object s, EventArgs e) +1180
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +92
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +64

Even a sophisticated developer would need to explore several avenues in finding a solution.  Assisting a relatively novice forum user in performing these tasks is problematic — such assistance would require a number of back-and-forth exchanges.  With regret, I unfortunately observe many problems go unremedied for this reason (as, to date, is the exception posted immediately above). (more…)

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Posted in DotNetNuke (DNN) Content Management System, Technology | 3 Comments »

Using Commerce Server’s UpmMembershipProvider with DotNetNuke

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

For those that are not familiar with the UpmMembershipProvider membership provider, it is a part of Microsoft’s Commerce Server 2007 product, and is the only provider that offers interoperability with Commerce Server.  It replaces the older AuthManager functionality from Commerce Server 2002.  More importantly, it provides an implementation of the System.Web.Membership.MembershipProvider class, and may thus be used in any ASP.NET application that utilizes the standard membership system.  Read more about the UpmMembershipProvider in Microsoft’s MSDN documentation.

DotNetNuke (DNN) is one such application that uses the ASP.NET membership system.  Because I’ve been working so much with it lately, I decided to investigate whether these two strangers might be successfully introduced — and indeed they can.  Google tells me that I am the only person to date who has successfully accomplished this task (not that surprising, given its relatively esoteric nature).

It turns out that this integration consists of three tasks: (1) configuring Commerce Server appropriately, (2) the routine tasks that one would expect in using the new provider, (3) and a small integration gotcha.  Herein I address these in order. (more…)

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Posted in DotNetNuke (DNN) Content Management System, Microsoft Commerce Server, Technology | 6 Comments »

Enabling ASP.NET 2.0 Localization in a DotNetNuke Application

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Editor’s note: This approach has been obsoleted in favor of the more straightforward, core-friendly ASP.NET 2.0 Localization approach outlined here.

DotNetNuke provided rich localization support (in the DotNetNuke.Services.Localization namespace) long before ASP.NET caught up in version 2.0. Indeed, the core DotNetNuke libraries and UI continue to heavily rely upon this custom implementation to this day.

However, after ASP.NET 2.0 was released, there were apparently a number of issues revolving around the new localization, backwards compatibility, and the existing DotNetNuke localization. As a result, the core team chose to disable all ASP.NET 2.0 localization at the application level and to rely exclusively upon its internal implementation. This is unfortunate, but understandable — the core team has a lot of audiences, and must balance the act of pleasing them all.

DotNetNuke localization is excellent, and for almost every scenario, I strongly recommend using this API.  However, there do exist some niche circumstances that lend toward using ASP.NET 2.0 localization.
Fortunately, with a few small changes, it is possible to restore limited ASP.NET 2.0 functionality to your DotNetNuke installation. Herein I discuss these changes and their system-wide impact.

Before I begin, all the usual warnings apply: back up your data, attempt this only on a development machine, thoroughly test before entering production, et cetera, et cetera. Caveat lector!

With that, let’s get started. (more…)

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Posted in DotNetNuke (DNN) Content Management System, Technology | 2 Comments »

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