🔩 JJ.Framework

📔 Contents

• 📢 Introduction
• 🏋️ Stability
• 🏡 In-House
• 🏛️ History
• 🍱 Modularization
• 💁 Platform Compatibility
• ⚙ Setting Up Dev Environment
  • 💿 WiX Toolset (Windows Installer XML Toolset)
  • 📲 .NET 4.6.1
  • 📦 JJ.Framework
  • 🌐 Internet Information Services (IIS)
  • 💽 SQL Server
• 🧓 Checking Out Old Commits

📢 Introduction

JJ.Framework are extensions of the .NET Framework: the nuts, bolts and screws of software development: reusable components. Some of which might be expected to be there in .NET, but seem to be missing there.

JJ.Framework contains reusable code, that was produced along with real-life applications.

🏋️ Stability

No software is bug free, but extra effort was made, testing the JJ.Framework components, that were published to NuGet which includes automated testing.

The ones not on NuGet are available as a sneek peek in JJs-Pre-Release-Package-Feed. But those may be used with caution, because they may not be tested that well. Those may need some more unit testing and could still be a bug or two in it.

🏡 In-House

JJ.Framework was made in the spirit of: small things: develop your own, instead of importing a huge framework.

JJ.Framework components are compact: a couple of kilobytes each.

Developed in-house so that it could be adapted and extended as needed. It did not have to be complete, because then we would just extend it.

If a bug was found in the development of an app, we could just correct the JJ.Framework as needed and release a stable app.

Of course, this 'in-house development' argument does not apply, when other people use it. But I think these extensions could be of use to others too.

🏛️ History

Any reusable code independent of a particular business domain, was moved to this JJ.Framework, for reuse. The reusable code was gathered up between 2010 and 2020. It was a hobby project. But something similar to this framework, was also developed professionally in a team of 7 of which I was the technical lead at the time.

🍱 Modularization

JJ.Framework tends to have a separate assembly for each part of the .NET Framework that it extends. Separation may be found between technical aspects. That may allow being specific, on which parts of .NET an application becomes dependent.

JJ.Framework also likes decouple platform-specific implementation details and hide them behind generalized interfaces.

💁 Platform Compatibility

That grip on dependency, was once a good plan for platform compatibility. JJ.Framework may currently be based on .NET 4.6.1 trying to keep it compatible with Mono. Around 2015 JJ.Framework was tested to be reasonably compatible with Mono and by extension Android, iOS and Windows Phone. This was before newer technology like .NET Standard and more recently .NET 5 and up, which might make keeping things platform-compatible a bit easier than before. For this reason, there may be plans to port JJ.Framework to .NET 5 or higher once, but this currently isn't in the plans.

⚙ Setting Up Dev Environment

💿 WiX Toolset (Windows Installer XML Toolset)

Install the following:

• WiX Toolset: "wix311.exe" https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix3/releases/tag/wix3112rtm
• WiX v3 - Visual Studio 2022 Extension: "Votive2022.vsix" https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=WixToolset.WixToolsetVisualStudio2022Extension

📲 .NET 4.6.1

The old .NET version with which these projects were built. Origally this choice guaranteed platform compatibility. Download here:

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net461

📦 JJ.Framework

• Pre-release versions of JJ.Framework components may be used.
• Those are currently hosted in Azure DevOps:
• https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/jjvanzon/1de16010-421a-41a5-90f1-86e9513f2c5b/_packaging/JJs-Pre-Release-Package-Feed/nuget/v3/index.json
• Name: JJs-Pre-Release-Package-Feed
• It might require configuring NuGet in your dev environment to connect to this additional package source.

🌐 Internet Information Services (IIS)

• You can enable IIS with "Turn Windows features on or off" (search in the Start menu).
• The following options have been known to work on Windows 11:
  
• Some projects need Internet Information Services (IIS).
• They might not load otherwise.
• Create a web site for each of the relevant projects below.
• Also change the Windows hosts file. Each site added to IIS might need to be mentioned in the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
• Try reloading a web project:
• The Output window in Visual Studio might show an expected web address.
• Here follow suggestions for each of the sites to create and their settings.
• (Physical path root folder C:\Repositories\JJ.Framework may vary.)

---

• JJ.Framework.Soap.Tests.Server

  • C# project:
    • JJ.Framework.Soap.Tests.Server.csproj
  • IIS site name:
    • TEST_JJ.Framework.Soap.Tests.Server
  • IIS site physical path:
    • C:\Repositories\JJ.Framework\Framework\Soap.Tests.Server
  • IIS site binding host name:
    • test.jj-framework-soap.jjvanzon.io
  • hosts file entries:
    • 127.0.0.1 test.jj-framework-soap.jjvanzon.io
    • ::1 test.jj-framework-soap.jjvanzon.io

• JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.NoViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter

  • C# project:
    • JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.NoViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter.csproj
  • IIS site name:
    • DEV_JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.NoViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter
  • IIS site physical path:
    • C:\Repositories\JJ.Framework\Demos\ReturnActions.NoViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter
  • IIS site binding host name:
    • demo-ret-noviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io
  • hosts file entries:
    • 127.0.0.1 demo-ret-noviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io
    • ::1 demo-ret-noviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io

• JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.PostData

  • C# project:
    • JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.PostData.csproj
  • IIS site name:
    • DEV_JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.PostData
  • IIS site physical path:
    • C:\Repositories\JJ.Framework\Demos\ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.PostData
  • IIS site binding host name:
    • demo-ret-withviewmapping-postdata.jjvanzon.io
  • hosts file entries:
    • 127.0.0.1 demo-ret-withviewmapping-postdata.jjvanzon.io
    • ::1 demo-ret-withviewmapping-postdata.jjvanzon.io

• JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter

  • C# project:
    • JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter.csproj
  • IIS site name:
    • DEV_JJ.Demos.ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter
  • IIS site physical path:
    • C:\Repositories\JJ.Framework\Demos\ReturnActions.WithViewMapping.Mvc.UrlParameter
  • IIS site binding host name:
    • demo-ret-withviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io
  • hosts file entries:
    • 127.0.0.1 demo-ret-withviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io
    • ::1 demo-ret-withviewmapping-urlparameter.jjvanzon.io

💽 SQL Server

SQL Server is used by some of the automated tests, but they fail gracefully with an inconclusive result. Anyway, the database files may or may not even be included in this code base either.

🧓 Checking Out Old Commits

JJ.Framework was once part of a larger code base. It was extracted to become a new Git repository with history in tact. Some quirks when checking out older history items, may have to do with that.

Sometimes commit comments may mention apps that do not seem to be relevant to the JJ.Framework. That is because changes to JJ.Framework were in service of making a feature in another app.

The following may only be relevant when getting older commits from history (from before 2018-12-02).

• No solution file in the first commits.
  • JJ.Framework projects were first only referenced by the solution of the app it was made for. Those solutions are not be in the history here, so the first commits may have no solution file.
• JJ.sln references non-existent projects.
  • Before JJ.Framework was open-sourced, there might not have been a JJ.Framework.sln.
  • However, what you might find there is a JJ.sln, broader in scope.
  • However it would include projects from other apps too.
  • It might still build even though some projects may not load.
• Missing NHibernate SQL Logger files.
  • NHibernate SQL Logger was made in employer's time, but programmed into the JJ.Framework. It was removed out of the JJ.Framework to avoid intellectual property issues.
  • Perhaps remove references to non-existent files.
  • Perhaps remove the pieces of code that use if (SqlLogger.Enabled) and it will work.
• .NET Framework mismatches:
  • These errors may have slipped in, by not consistently building all solutions upon committing code.
  • The symptom would be compiler errors. csproj references may appear not to work, even when the references are obviously there.
  • Perhaps correct the csproj with the lower .NET version (e.g. 3.5) to use the higher .NET version instead (e.g. 4.5).
• MVC Framework
  • Mismatches 4.0.0.0 vs 4.0.0.1.
  • Perhaps correct it so the projects use the same version (using NuGet?).
• Entity Framework
  • It seems difficult for a newer Visual Studio to find (the older) Entity Framework 5. Messing around until you got some working references to Entity Framework might be the only advice at hand here.