Emmanuel's Screencasts

This is part 2 of screencasts I recorded that show how to speed up Windows Azure Development (see part 1 here). Specifically, in this screencast I show how we can create a macro in Visual Studio 2008 to attach or debugger to an IIS process.

We can then also create a keyboard shortcut for fast debugging of an Azure web role running in IIS. For more articles, screencasts and tips check out ehuna.org - follow me on twitter.com/ehuna

How to speed up Windows Azure Development (Part 2 of 2) from Emmanuel Huna on Vimeo.

Here’s what is covered in the video:

1. The rinetd trick and the RinetdService – accessing your windows azure web roles from the real IP (not 127.0.0.1). See “An easier way to access the Windows Azure local development fabric from another computer” -
  http://blog.ehuna.org/2009/10/an_easier_way_to_access_the_wi.html
2. Adding a breakpoint in Visual Studio 2008.
3. W3WP.EXE – the IIS host process.
4. Tools > Attach to process – takes forever for the list of processes to come up.
5. Attach to W3WP.exe the IIS host process.
6. Load the ASPX page in the browser and debug your code-behind.
7. Create a Visual Studio macro (Macros > Record Temporary Macro).
8. Rename and save the temporary macro.  Right-click and run.
9. Visual Studio > Options > Keyboard > Create keyboard shortcut.
10.  Change something in your code, right-click web role and build, press “CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+?” and open a browser to access your ASPX page.  Boom!  Debug your code in 1-2 seconds!
11. Attach to process when running a windows service or a worker role.
12. If using the ASP.NET custom session provider that uses Azure storage, don’t use it in development.  Set your web role instance count to 1 and store your ASP.NET sessions in proc.

Good Times!
Below you can find sample code and additional tips related to this screencast.