[MonoDevelop] variables that don't exist in current context

[Michael Hutchinson]

On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 3:01 PM, Devin Venable <venable.devin at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm porting an ASP.NET project on Windows to mono/Linux in
> MonoDevelop.  I'm still a newbie when it comes to ASP.NET.
>
> On Windows, the project was a "web site" and I'm making it a "web
> application" by importing everything into an empty project.
>
> For each aspx file (web template) there is one ascs.cs file (the
> associated code).
>
> For every field that is in the aspx like this:
>
> <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="rfvQ1" runat="server"
> ControlToValidate="ddlQuestion1"
>          Display="Dynamic" ErrorMessage="Required.<br>" InitialValue="
>  "></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>
> <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlQuestion1" runat="server">
>
> There is a reference in the c# like this where it is used:
>
>  rfvAnswer1.ErrorMessage = msgRequired;
>
> The problem:  When I compile I get:
>
> Error CS0103: The name `rfvAnswer1' does not exist in the current
> context (CS0103) (GTPCard)
>
>
> It's because the rfvAnswer variable hasn't been explicitly declared.
> If I add a protected member to the class like this:
>
> protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.RequiredFieldValidator rfvAnswer1;
>
> ...the error goes away.
>
> The question is WHY am I having to do this over and over again for
> every reference?  Is there a reference I can include, or a way to
> configure the project so that the variables are automatically created?
>
> I assume something must be happening like this on the Windows/Visual
> Studio side, since there the project source doesn't have these
> variables explicitly created.

This is down to the difference between the CodeBehind models used by
Web Sites and Web Applications.

Web Sites are intended to be compiled fully on the server. In
contrast, Web Applications have a project that is compiled by the IDE.
Hence, the CodeBehind classes in Web Sites are compiled into
individual assemblies on the fly, while CodeBehind classes in Web
Applications are usually compiled into a single assembly by the IDE.

Each as[pchm]x file is compile to a class by the ASP.NET server. The
class that it subclasses is called the "CodeBehind" class, and can be
specified by the Inherits attribute in the page directive. CodeBehind
classes can access controls defined in their subclasses because if
there is protected/public field/property in the base class with the
same name as the control's IDE, the control instance will be assigned
to that. You can define these members manually in the CodeBehind
class, or use the IDE or server's ability to autogenerate partial
classes with these members which can then be compiled together with
the CodeBehind class.

If the Page directive has a CodeFile="Foo.aspx.cs" attribute, then
when the ASP.NET server compiles the aspx file it will also generate a
partial class and compile it together with the Foo.aspx.cs. You can
use this CodeBehind compilation model in a Web Application project,
but beware that you must set the Foo.aspx file's build action to
"Content", not "Compile". Also, MonoDevelop will provide only limited
or inaccurate code completion for this model.

If there is no CodeFile attribute, the server tries to find the
CodeBehind class in the assemblies in the app's bin folder. This means
it will find any classes that have been compiled by the IDE, i.e. with
Compile build actions. Both VS and MD can assist this model - if there
is a class called Foo.aspx.designer.cs beside the Foo.aspx file, then
the IDE will generate the partial class in the "designer file"
whenever the aspx file is saved.

Also look out for the App_Code folder - this is also intended for use
with Web Sites, since the server compiles all code in this folder, so
if you use it in Web Application project you must also set the build
action of these files to "Content" not "Compile" or you will get
duplicate type conflicts.

-- 
Michael Hutchinson
http://mjhutchinson.com