Using zoom in a DNN skin

[matt-c]

Hi,

I have successfully set up zoom using the asp.net server control and i can get it to work in a dnn skin just by adding

<%@ Register TagPrefix="ZoomASPX" Namespace="ZoomASPX" Assembly="ZoomASPX" %>

and

<ZoomASPX:ASPXSearch id="ASPXSearch" runat=server/>

to the skin file.

However for this to work the zoomaspx.dll needs to be in the root/bin folder and then the .zdat files need to be in the root folder also.

So my problem is we have multiple portals on this dnn installation and we would like to use zoom on all of them however with this method we can only use it for one website as the index files are in the root folder.

Is there anyway i can move the index files out of the root folder into sub folders and tell the .dll where to find them??

Thanks

Matt

[Ray]

It does not have to be the root directory, but the directory you selected when you installed the ASP.NET Server Control (which should match the directory you setup to "Convert to Application" in the IIS Management Console, etc. as described in chapter 3.2 of the Users Guide)

Once you have the server control installed and running, you can host it in multiple folders by copying the "bin" folder to other folders (which have been setup in IIS similar as above).

So you could have it originally installed to:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\zoomaspx\

Which will have the following files:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\zoomaspx\search.aspx
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\zoomaspx\bin\zoomaspx.dll
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\zoomaspx\*.zdat

Then to host another search function (presumably with a different set of index files), you would copy the bin folder to another folder,
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\2ndsearch\search.aspx
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\2ndsearch\bin\zoomaspx.dll
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\2ndsearch\*.zdat

Make sure to then go to IIS Management Console and select the "2ndsearch" folder and "Convert to Application" as mentioned.

Let us know if you have any problems getting this to work.

[matt-c]

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried this method before and it works but not how i want it to, when i try reference zoom in a skin using <%@ Register TagPrefix="ZoomASPX" Namespace="ZoomASPX" Assembly="ZoomASPX" %>
<ZoomASPX:ASPXSearch id="ASPXSearch" runat=server/>

it doesn't recongnise it hence why i put it in the main bin folder, which works great but only for 1 website.
And i can't add skin 'items' to the search.aspx file as that throws up an error also.

thanks

Matt

[Ray]

I don't quite understand the requirement. You want multiple pages to have the ability to host the same single search function? And then have multiple search functions (each hosted on many different pages)?

I'm not familiar with DNN "skins", so perhaps that's part of the confusion. I would expect that to be just a simple themeing mechanism in DNN.

If not that, I'm failing to see why you can't have one search.aspx page (and one bin folder) per index. Note that you can create multiple search forms that points to the one search function. So only one page return the results, but the user can enter a search query from any pages of the website.

Can you explain the scenario (or your requirements) in more detail?

[matt-c]

I will try to explain but my dnn understanding is far from sound.

In dnn you can have multiple websites running off the same install so they share all the main files. What we want is to use the search on all of these websites which would mean having the search files in their own sub folders, but with the method i got working it only allowed the files to be in the root folder which wouldnt allow the use of multiple index files.

Skins are like themes where you put the main body of your page, it's like a template you control the layout here and generally dont add content to them, so it controls the way your page looks and structured. But you can add dnn objects into this such as breadcrumb login etc. Each website has its own skins folder.

The method you suggested works but i can't (or dont know how to) use it as a skin so i have to the use it as a static page, ie changing the search_template.html file, which defeats the perpose of a cms.

What i would like to do is reference the zoomaspx.dll in the skin and tell it where the index files are OR have multiple .dll's in multiple folders inc index files and just reference the one related to the website.

I think for binary assemblies to work in dnn they need to be in the bin folder, which is probably why it works when i stick the dll in there. I tried setting up a subfolder with all the files in and in the web.config add the folder path to probing privatePath under assemblyBinding. This works but again looks for the index and settings files in the root folder not the sub folder so would only allow for 1 website.

thanks

[Ray]

Perhaps you should consider using an IFRAME in your skin instead, which references the search.aspx page inside it?

There's no way to specify a different location for the index files at this point. But we've made note of it as a possible change for V7.

[matt-c]

We dont really want to use iFrames. When is v7 due for release?

Thanks

[Ray]

There's no set date for V7 release at this point. It is currently in development (with some features added and completed), and we are still considering what features to add, so it is some ways from a public beta. Maybe early next year if things move quickly.