SlowChetah-like Transformation for ASPX Pages?

Question

Is there an acceptable way to generate the HTML/ASP portion of an ASPX page (not the code behind) based on the configuration selected in Visual Studio? For example, I want to display different header graphics on my Development landing page (a header that notifies the user they are looking at Development), and different graphic for Production build.

I use SlowChetah for transforming my config files, so my first thought was to use something like that for ASPX pages, but I haven't found any information regarding that sort of functionality or feature.

Answer 1

This could be achieved using the T4 text templates in combination with the DTE object, as described at the bottom of Accessing Visual Studio or other Hosts from a T4 Text Template, to get the current build configuration and generate the required portion of the ASPX:

<#@ template hostspecific="true" #>
<#@ output extension=".aspx" #>
<#@ assembly name="EnvDTE" #>
<#@ import namespace="EnvDTE" #>
<#
// Get the environment object
IServiceProvider serviceProvider = (IServiceProvider)Host;
DTE dte = serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(DTE)) as DTE;

// Get the active build configuration object
var activeConfiguration = dte.Solution.SolutionBuild.ActiveConfiguration;

// Generate customized ASPX content
if (activeConfiguration.Name == "Debug")
{
#>

<h1>Debug</h1>

<#
}
else
{
#>

<h1>Release</h1>

<#
}
#>

The output of the template could then be included in the actual ASPX page, e.g. via a Literal control, or as a user control.