ASP.NET version 3.5 website: what does the file "vwd.webinfo" do, exactly? And what is with the bloated web.config file?

Question

I am running Visual Studio Team Edition 2008.


When I create a new website, I get a new file I've never seen before: vwd.webinfo.

The contents of this file is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<VisualWebDeveloper>
    <!-- Visual Studio global web project settings. -->
    <StartupServices>
        <Service ID="{3259AA49-8AA1-44D3-9025-A0B520596A8C}"/>
    </StartupServices>
</VisualWebDeveloper>

What do I need a "global web project settings" file for? What does it do, exactly?


Also; what is with the bloated web.config file? In standard ASP.NET version 2.0 website projects, the web.config file contains about 10 lines of code. But in a ASP.NET version 3.5 website project, it is filled with all sorts of weird settings.

Answer 1

It is created because you are using a file system web site. Read more about it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e5x4xz73.aspx

What do you mean with "bloat" ? Can you please paste the bloat?