ASP.NET 2.0 Web Deployment Projects Beta V2 Preview
The ASP.NET 2.0 Web Deployment Projects newest Beta has been released, and is available from the link below. This Visual Studio Add-in provides a feature-rich user interface for enhancing your asp.net website. We've started to use this tool for some of our client projects, and its quickly becoming a valuable tool for me:
Web Deployment Projects Beta V2 Preview
One useful feature for us is the ability to specify and configure separate build scenarios, including the omniscient Debug and Release. You are also able to create your own custom scenarios, such as PreProduction, Staging, Testing, etc. It is easy to specify which projects to build for each: for example, we only build Setup, Custom Build Action and Web Deployment projects for non-debug builds, which saves a lot of compile time.
My favorite option? The ability to specify sections of the web.config to be replaced, depending on what build scenario is running, either by specifying a local .config file containing only the build-specific element, or an external config file. Imagine, no more tweaking the local web config file after deploying to your staging server..its all handled during the build!
The link also directs you to two excellent documents that cover every feature of the web deployment Add-in, and suggest examples of when you would apply certain features. A simple tool, and clear documentation...sounds good to me.
Scott Guthrie posted updates about this tool here.