Using asp.net mvc 2 features with the spark view engine

Question

I am working with an ASP.NET MVC project which was originally started from the CodeBetter.Canvas project - and I'm trying to move to ASP.NET MVC 2. I successfully upgraded my project using Eilon's upgrade tool, moved to VS2010 (although not yet to .NET 4).

The issue I'm having currently is only occurring when using the spark view engine. Here is the relevant bit of code in my View.spark (strongly typed):

${Html.EditorFor(e => e)}

The same bit of code works just fine if I use an .aspx view:

<%= Html.EditorFor(e => e) %>

The major point here being "EditorFor" is new in ASP.NET MVC 2 and in my project I can use that helper in an ASPX view but not a Spark view.

I've tried upgrading Spark to use MVC 2 (as well as MvcContrib and Ninject), thinking maybe it was one of those that was freaking out - but so far no luck - I'm still seeing the same behavior.

Here is the full error message that is thrown from within Spark's BatchCompiler class.

Dynamic view compilation failed. (0,0): warning CS1701: Assuming assembly reference 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' matches 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35', you may need to supply runtime policy c:\inetpub\wwwroot[myproject]\CodeBetter.Canvas.Web\Views[MyEntity]\View.spark(9,16): error CS1061: 'System.Web.Mvc.HtmlHelper' does not contain a definition for 'EditorFor' and no extension method 'EditorFor' accepting a first argument of type 'System.Web.Mvc.HtmlHelper' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Here is the Spark related code in my Global.asax:

var settings = new SparkSettings()
.AddNamespace("System")
.AddNamespace("System.Collections.Generic")
.AddNamespace("System.Web.Mvc")
.AddNamespace("System.Web.Mvc.Html")
.AddNamespace("MvcContrib.FluentHtml")
.AddNamespace("CodeBetter.Canvas")
.AddNamespace("CodeBetter.Canvas.Web")
.SetPageBaseType("ApplicationViewPage")
.SetAutomaticEncoding(true);

#if DEBUG
    settings.SetDebug(true);
#endif

var viewFactory = new SparkViewFactory(settings);
ViewEngines.Engines.Add(viewFactory);

Also, I am referencing System.Web.Mvc.Html in my spark view as mentioned in another SO answer.

<use namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />

Answer 1

The underlying issue is that a version 1.0.0 assembly is still being referenced somewhere in the project.

Using reflector to examine each assemblies dependencies, I found (if you're starting with CodeBetter.Canvas project) there are three dependent projects that need to be updated to use the 2.0.0 version of system.web.mvc.dll

1. Spark. Download the latest version of spark from teamcity and use the spark.web.mvc2.dll (which references system.web.mvc.dll 2.0.0) Link to detailed instructions.

2. MVCContrib. Download the latest version of MVCContrib (download release, download source) which references the system.web.mvc.dll 2.0.0.

3. Ninject. Download the latest version of ninject and recompile the VS solution after updating the reference to the 2.0.0 version of system.web.mvc.dll

Now, replace these dependency's assemblies in your project and update the project references if necessary. All should be well.

Answer 2

I recently converted my spark project to asp.net mvc 2. I dont see in what you've written that you've switched from using Spark.Web.Mvc to Spark.Web.Mvc2.

Just to be clear, Spark.Web.Mvc2 is the project that needs to be recompiled with the new System.Web.Mvc assembly.

I had issues with intellisense until i removed all assembly and namespace references from the web.config and put them in the global.spark file and had added the pageBaseType="Spark.Web.Mvc2.SparkView" attribute to the Spark->Pages node in the web.config.

Hope any of that helps.

Answer 3

When you downloaded newest Spark sources, did you rebuild it using MVC 2 assemblies? Did you replace references in Spark project?

Answer 4

Try specifiying the System.Web.Mvc reference in the web.config instead of the Global.ascx.cs file so that you can specify the specific version:

<spark>
  <compilation debug="true" defaultLanguage="CSharp">
     <assemblies>
        <add assembly="System.Web.Mvc, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" />
     </assemblies>
 </compilation>
</spark>

This should prevent SPARK from working at all if the wrong version of the MVC assembly is being loaded from somewhere.

If the MVC 1.0 Assembly is in the GAC you can clear and reload it as follows:

(from Visual Studio command prompt)

ngen /delete System.Web.Mvc
ngen /delete System.Web.Abstractions
ngen update

Hope this helps,

Jeff French

Answer 5

These are the steps I took to resolve the issue with a new MVC 2 project and Spark 1.1:

1. Compile against MVC 2.0 - I double checked the references to make sure I was linking to MVC 2 and not MVC 1. Since this was a new project, this was not an issue.

2. Added System.Web.Mvc.Html - I added System.Web.Mvc.Html to the Spark configuration, to make sure that namespace was added to all views.

   In Global.asax.cs Application_Start

    var settings = new SparkSettings()
        .SetDebug(true)
        .SetAutomaticEncoding(true)
        .AddAssembly("Web")
        .AddNamespace("Web.Model")
        .AddNamespace("System.Collections.Generic")
        .AddNamespace("System.Linq")
        .AddNamespace("System.Web.Mvc")
        .AddNamespace("System.Web.Mvc.Html");
   

   This can also be done in the webconfig in the Spark View Engine block.

3. Add the Typed Model - Make sure you type the Spark View Model. In aspx this is done with the Inherits in the page declaration, like this:

   <%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master"
   Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<MyModelType>" %>
   

   in Spark:

   <viewdata model="MyModelType" />
   

Answer 6

I tried a lot of things mentioned above but just couldn't get a dependent dll that my views used (and also referenced MVC 1.0.0.0) to use the MVC 2.0.0.0, so here is what fixed it for me...

I downloaded the Spark code and added the following line to the BatchCompiler.cs file in the Compile method:

compilerParameters.CompilerOptions = "/nowarn:1701";