Question

We use Nant and devenv.com to build all our assemblies including the website project. Then we would use aspnet_compiler.exe to compile the published website.

Is this the correct way to do it? Historically, we always used the aspnet_compiler with plain vanilla website folders, but I’m not sure if this is really the correct tool for publishing websites that are part of a website project. It sort of feels wrong to have to do this as a 2 stage process using 2 different tools.

Answer 1

Using aspnet_compiler.exe is one of many ways to publish a website:
http://forums.asp.net/t/1544792.aspx#_What_is_the1

Since a web project can be compiled using msbuild (instead of devenv.com), you can also create a custom msbuild target to publish your files:
http://www.digitallycreated.net/Blog/59/locally-publishing-a-vs2010-asp.net-web-application-using-msbuild

In this way, you can combine the compiling and publishing of the web site in one step.