The Web Connection Visual Studio Add-in provides a number of useful features that makes editing and previewing Web Control Framework pages easier.

The add-in is available on any Web Connection Control markup pages (both in HTML markup or in the visual designer) and pops up via right click on the Context menu:

The last four items on this context menu make up the add-in operation:

• Show Web Connection Code
  Shows the FoxPro Source code for the GeneratedSourceFile in the Visual FoxPro Editor. Brings up the VFP IDE and opens the editor. Note: Make sure you close the editor after you're done editing or the page will not run as VFP locks the PRG file while editing. This option relies on the FoxProjectBasePath key in web.config to find the source file for editing.

• Show Web Connection Code in External Editor
  Same as above except that you can specify an external editor (FoxProEditorExternal in web.config) that can be used. This is useful to edit code without having to shut down since most other editors don't look PRG files.

• View in Browser
  This option browses to the current page and essentially executes it on the Web Server. This option uses the default Web Browser on your system. Relies on the WebProjectVirtual key in web.config to find the base Web path to launch and WebBrowser for the browser to use. If WebBrowser is not set Internet Explorer is launched.

• View in Alternate Browser
  Same as above but lets you specify a second browser to launch. Generally you can use IE and FireFox in these two combinations to see the document in common formats. Relies on the WebBrowserAlternate key in web.config which contains the path to the Web Browser Exe to be launched.
  

Add-in Location

Visual Studio Add-ins can be added with a .addin file in the <documents>\Visual Studio 200x\Addins folder. The Add-in file contains XML meta data that points at the name, icon and physical filename of the Add-in. The Web Connection Add-in's physical location is located in:

<WebConnectionInstall>\Visual Studio\WebConnectionAddin\

where you can find the DLL and resource dlls. The add-in is updated automatically with a Web Connection update if you copy the full installation ontop of an existing version.

Add-in specific Web.Config Configuration Settings

The Add-in uses several configuration settings to configure its operation using the generic AppSettings section in web.config.

Most importantly the Add-in needs to know the location of your Web path (ie. your virtual path and your physical file path) to your markup pages as well as the base FoxPro path where source code files are stored. Most of the other keys are optional and are defaulted.

Here's what a configuration section looks like:

<configuration>
   <appSettings>    
    <add key="FoxProjectBasePath" value="c:\wwapps\wc3\" />    
    <add key="WebProjectBasePath" value="c:\westwind\wconnect\" />
    <add key="WebProjectVirtual" value="http://rasnote/wconnect/" />
    <add key="IdeOnLoadPrg"  value="OnLoadIde.prg"/>
    <add key="WebBrowser" value="" />
    <add key="WebBrowserAlternate" value ="c:\programs\firefox\firefox.exe"/>
    <add key="FoxProEditor" value="" />
    <add key="FoxProEditorAlternate" value="C:\Programs\EditPadPro6\editpadpro.exe" />
  </appSettings>
<configuration>

Here's what each of the keys mean:

• FoxProjectBasePath
  This is the FoxPro path to your Web Connection installation or your base path from which the application runs. This path is used by the Add-in as the base path to which the GeneratedSourceFile value is appended.

• WebProjectBasePath
  The physical path to the base directory where the markup pages live. This is the physical path to the virtual directory where IIS (or whatever server) will serve files from. This path is used by Web Connection to locate files for parsing based on a project relative path that Visual Studio provides internally.

• WebProjectVirtual
  This is the full virtual path that is used to access the base Web directory. This path should be a fully qualified base URL that ends in a slash. For example: http://localhost/TimeTrakker/. This path is used by the Add-in to preview pages in the browser.

• IdeOnLoadPrg
  An optional relative path (to the FoxProjectBasePath) to a PRG file that is called when the Visual FoxPro IDE is launched from the Add-in. You can use this PRG to set your environment or execute any FoxPro code you require for your environment to be configured properly (ie. set paths, load classes etc.)

• WebBrowser
  The WebBrowser used for the View in Web Browser option. By default this value is empty which relies on Internet Explorer for browsing. Optionally you can specify the full path to an alternate browser EXE file (ie. Safari, Opera, FireFox etc.).

• WebBrowserAlternate
  Optional second browser if set. Allows you to preview in a different browser. Commonly you'll leave WebBrowser blank to use IE and point the alternate browser at FireFox. This allows you to quickly preview pages in both browsers. If not set the alternate browser menu option is hidden.

• FoxProEditor
  The Editor used for editing FoxPro source files. By default this value is empty which uses the Visual FoxPro IDE for editing. You can optionally specify the path to an EXE that serves as the editor.

• FoxProEditorAlternate
  An optional second alternate editor that if set is also shown on the menu. Specify the full path to the editor EXE. This option is useful to point at an editor that doesn't lock PRG files so you can make incremental edit changes.
  

Only the first three keys are required to be configured - all the remainders are optional. If you don't specify WebBrowserAlternate or FoxProEditorAlternate the alternate menu options are not shown.