Hi everyone,

I really like DotNetNuke, but the more I know the less I understand -Gibbs NCIS anyone?

Anyway back to the question..

I'm trying to understand how modules work, and how easy it is to create one. I have gone through tons of tutorials on creating modules, but they all seem to be different. Some make you create a .dnn file, others dont even mention it, do you need a .dnn file? Some tutorials use Visual Basic, some C#, i can use C# to create a module right? All I want to do is create a simple module and say to my boss: "Look here's the module you asked me to make" and possibly show it on another machine which is not the one I was working on.

What really confuses me is the databases..

I followed a tutorial, which im sure most tutorial seekers have found, where you create a things4sale module. There is a part where you have to put the SQL script in the website to create the tables and stored procedures. The funny thing is when I run the script the screen fills up with red letters(errors) but the module works anyway (I can add Items, delete items etc.). So the tables must had been created somewhere. But Im not sure, are they in the module or on the DotNetNuke site? Is there anywhere i can see all created tables?

Also:

If I give my module to someone else will he have to set up a database or is it somehow done by the module?

Thank you.

Paul

1) Creating a module.- Any .net language can be used to create a module. The .dnn file is needed for an installer package, which you need if you want to avoid using the cumbersome XCopy method of distribution. Of course, this is exactly what you will probably use to show your first module to your boss.

2) Database Access.- The SQL script can be run in two modes. Make sure you understand both. The website SQL tool is one I use a lot, it's just a convenience. Those red errors should be red, to identify what's failing. The errors text is nothing but bubbling up what you would get from SQL when running them directly in SQL Management Studio.

The DB tables are of course in the DB. Read the SQL and you know the name of the objects, go to the DB and look for those objects.

3) DB SetUp.- Combining the answers from 1 and 2, you can infer that you will distribute your module in a package that contains the dnn file to configure the module and a script file to configure/initialize the DB objects.

HTH