Web Development

Increasing the Maximum file size for Web.Config

This can happen in any ASP.NET Web Application, but as Sitecore 8's default web.config file is now 246 kb this makes it extremely susceptible to exceeding the default 250 kb limit.

To change the size limit you need to modify/create the following registry keys:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InetStp\Configuration\MaxWebConfigFileSizeInKB  (REG_DWORD)

On 64-bit machines you may also have to update the following as well

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\InetStp\Configuration\MaxWebConfigFileSizeInKB (REG_DWORD)

You will probably find that these keys need to be created, rather than just being updated. After changing them you will also need to reset IIS.

Alternatively

Alternatively you can leave the default values at 250 kb and split the web.config files into separate files.

More information on doing this can be found here:

http://www.davidturvey.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/how-to-split-the-web-config-into-mutliple-files/

My personal preference for Sitecore projects is to update the the max file size as this allows keeping the web.config file as close to the default install as possible. The benefit of doing this is it makes upgrades easier, rather than needing to know why your web.config doesn't match the installation instructions.

Bundling and Minification error with IIS7

.NETs standard tools for bundling and minification are a great asset to the platform solving a lot of problems with only a few lines of code.

However if using IIS 7.0 you may run into a strange issue where the path to your bundles gets created but a 404 is returned whenever there accessed. The functionality is obviously installed and working otherwise the URL wouldn't be created, but a 404 clearly isn't what you want.

The solution lies in your web.config file by setting runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests to true

1<system.webServer>
2    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
3    </modules>
4</system.webServer>
Two Google Maps Tips

Two Google Maps Tips

Centre a map on a collection of pins

The basic way to centre a Google Map is to give it co-ordinates of where you want the map to centre. But what if you have a collection of pin/markers and you want to show all of them but don't know beforehand where they will be.

The solution is to create a LatLngBounds object and for each of your pins call the extend method of your bounds object. Once this is done call fitBounds on your map.

1var bounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds();
2 
3$.each(mapMarkers(), function(index, value) {
4    bounds.extend(value.marker.position);
5});
6 
7map.fitBounds(bounds);

Loading a map in a hidden div

The reason for doing this could be that you have a set of tabs and a non-visible one contains the Google Map. If you instantiate a Google Map when it isn't visible you end up with the smallest map size possible.

One popular solution for this is to only create the map when the tab is being displayed, which is a good option as it means the map is only loaded when it's viewed. However if your using something like Knockout to bind you've views to a model it may not be possible to attach an event to the tab change.

Google Maps actually have an event handler for just this scenario called resize. You simply need to trigger it at the point in which you can size the map.

1google.maps.event.trigger(map, 'resize')