WebPrecompiler v1.0

by Auri Rahimzadeh

Standard Disclaimer: You use this product at your own risk.

Download the Visual Studio 2005 Add-In version here.

What Is WebPrecompiler?
When you release an ASP, ASP.NET, JSP (and yes, other dynamic CGI) site, the first time loading a page takes a moment while the server executes and caches the page or application. This can translate to a perception of slow performance. In addition, there’s a tangible benefit to hitting HTML files in IIS and many other web servers – the HTML files are loaded into memory and served from there instead of the hard drive or other storage medium. It’s much, much faster to retrieve data from RAM than the hard drive, so it pays to have every application and every HTML file cached when you deploy a site. The problem is, there are many, many files on a standard web site, and it’s quite laborious to hit all of them.

Enter WebPrecompiler. Give it the path to your web site, and give it the URL, then tell it what files to hit (ASPX, ASP, JSP, and HTML), and it will scan the folder for all the files and then hit every page on that site, triggering your web server to compile and/or cache all the files users hit on your site. WebPrecompiler also lets you save sites you commonly need to deploy, so you don’t have to enter their data all the time. To make things even more convenient, WebPrecompiler comes in two versions: one that runs directly inside of Visual Studio 2005, and a standalone application that can be run on any PC running Windows 98SE or higher.

Is WebPrecompiler free?
Yeah, sort of. It’s free to download and use. I wrote this tool because I needed it, and I saw a lot of posts where others needed it, too. But I’m also an author, and I try to make a living in software development and books. So if you like WebPrecompiler, and you want to help me out, buy my books, and recommend them to friends. As of the writing of this Read Me, my current books are Hacking the PSP (www.hackingpsp.com) and Geek My Ride (www.geekmyride.net).

Scanning a Site
To scan a site, simply enter the full path to the parent directory of the web site and enter the URL to the web site. So, if your files are on a server at \\web-server\www\site.com and your URL is http://www.site.com, you would enter those values into the appropriate boxes, as illustrated below. You would then check the boxes for the file types you want to scan for, and click Do It to begin the scan. The Site Name field is not required – it is used for naming the site you’re pre-compiling when saving it for later use.

NOTE: When you scan a site, there may be a slight delay while the system scans the files. The add-in has not crashed – it’s just scanning. :)

Saving Sites
If you need to scan the same site often, you can save your settings for later use. Simply add the file path, file URL, and a Site Name that will make it easy for you to remember the site, and click the Save button. To use the site again, simply double-click it.

Removing Sites
To remove a saved site, select it in the list and press the minus symbol on the bottom right of the Favorites list.

Support and Suggestions
I will do my best to help you with WebPrecompiler. There are many different environments out there, and I’m sure there are features you want (say, ASMX files, and the ability to pre-compile secured sites). I plan on adding new features, but I’m putting this 1.0 version out so you can give me suggestions.

For support and suggestions, please visit my web site and drop me a note there: www.hackingpsp.com/contact.aspx.