.NET Reflector Pro – Debugging the .NET Framework Source Code

This article is rather extensive and useful, so I wanted to pass it along.  If you’ve ever ran into problems or want to debug and view the local variables and step through the .NET Frameworks, then I suggest you take a look at this blog article on Debugging the .NET Framework with .NET Reflector Pro.  There’s a lot of great configuration options to be able to debug the .NET Framework and disable certain optimizations on top of using .NET Reflector.

Documentation Resources for ASP.NET MVC 3+

Documentation Resources for ASP.NET MVC 3

This is the largest and best resource for ASP.NET MVC I have come across yet.  If you want to truly master the features and power of ASP.NET MVC, then take some time to read the great articles.

Optional Partial Layouts with ASP.NET MVC 3 Razor View Engine for AJAX Without Using PartialView / PartialViewResult on the Actions

Going into a particular design I want pages to refresh the full context including the assigned layout, but I really want a way to also say “hey, I want to load this page context via AJAX, so don’t give me the page layout please”.  I came across a rather easy solution —  Inside ASP.NET MVC 3 there is support for a _ViewStart.cshtml file under the Views/ directory.  This page is loaded for every View you use by default and usually specifies a single Layout page to use.

This is great for a few reasons

1. There is no need to specify a Layout page on every view assuming it is the same as specified inside the _ViewStart.cshtml file.
2. We can put view conditions in there for mobile layouts, etc.
3. We can check the information sent to the server (QueryString from the URL, Form, Cookies  and ServerVariables)

I chose to include a variable in the URL called “ajax” which lets me tell the site to turn a full page into the partial page content I really want.

I will say you can explicitly bypass the _ViewStart.cshtml page by rendering a PartialView() and returning a PartialViewResult in the Action, but this is extra work if you need the option for the full view and partial with no changes.

Original Views\_ViewStart.cshtml file:

@{
 Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
 }

Modified Views\_ViewStart.cshtml file:

@{
 if (!Request.QueryString["ajax"].IsEmpty())
 {
 Layout = null;
 }
 else
 {
 Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
 }
 }

I hope you find this useful and as always if you have any suggestions or enhancements to this idea please let me know.