Compile web application project ascx into dll

Question

Is it possible to compile a web application project .ascx (user control) into a dll?

I want to do the following:

1. Use the same control in multiple websites
2. Embed css and .js as resources into the control
3. Be able to update super easy. If the user control updates, I just want to update 1 .dll

I have successfully followed this article, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479318.aspx.

However, that uses web site projects, and I cannot embed js css as resources into web site projects.

Any ideas? Am I going about this wrong, should I change the approach?

Answer 1

Another way would be to convert user control to the custom control. There is an nice article on MSDN: Turning an .ascx User Control into a Redistributable Custom Control which describes exactly how to do that. Here is the summary:

1. Write your user control as you normally would, typically using the Visual Studio designer.
2. Test it using a simple page before trying to deploy it.
3. Deploy the application to precompile it.
4. Grab the user control's assembly produced by the deployment step, and you're essentially done: You have your custom control.
5. Finally, use your custom control in other apps the same way as you always use custom controls.

Hope this helps.