Configuring module.config

This is a pseudocode description of the element structure of the module.config file. Refer to the Configuration section for an explanation of the syntax used in the description of the configuration elements.

Each element name below is also a link leading to the detailed information for that element.

The module.config file is located in the root directory of a shell module and contains settings specific to that module.

<module>
        <assemblies/>
        <routes/>
        <clientResources/>
        <dojo/>
        <clientModule/>
</module>

<module>

<module helpFile="string"
        productName="string"
        clientResourceRelativePath="string"
        type="string" 
        loadFromBin="string">
        <a href="#assemblies"><assemblies/></a>
        <a href="#routes"><routes/></a>
        <a href="#clientResources"><clientResources/></a>
        <a href="#dojo"><dojo/></a>
        <a href="#client"><clientModule/></a>
</module>

<module> Element Attributes

<assemblies>

This list of assemblies specifies which assemblies belong to this shell module.

<assemblies>
      <add assembly="string" />
      ...
</assemblies>

<add> Element Attributes

<routes>

<routes>
    <route url="string"
           clientSideOnly="string"
           type="string"
           controllerPrefix="string">
      <defaults>
        <add key="string"
             value="string" />
        ...
      </defaults>
      <constraints>
        <add key="string"
             value="string" />
        ...
      </constraints>
      <dataTokens>
        <add key="string"
             value="string" />
        ...
      </dataTokens>
    </route>
    ...
</routes>

<route> Element Attributes

<defaults>/<add> Element Attributes

These values specify the default values used when URL parameters (see the url attribute on the route element) are not defined in the request. See the Route.Defaults property for details on how these values are used by the ASP.NET routing system.

<constraints>/<add> Element Attributes

These constraints limit which values are accepted as valid values for URL parameters (see the url attribute on the route element). See the Route.Constraints property for details on how these values are used by the ASP.NET routing system.

<dataTokens>/<add> Element Attributes

Data tokens are custom values that are passed to the route handler, but which are not used to determine whether the route matches a URL pattern. See the Route.DataTokens property for details on how these values are used by the ASP.NET routing system.

<clientResources>

This section contains definitions of client resources that should be associated with the module.

<clientResources>
    <add name="string"         
         path="string"         
         resourceType="string"
         sortIndex="int"
         isMinified="bool" >

        <dependencies>
            <add name="string" />
            ...
        </dependencies>
    </add>
    ...
</clientResources>

<add> Element Attributes

This is client resource definition.

<dependencies>/<add> Element Attributes

The list of names of client resources that this resource depends on.

<dojo>

This section contains configuration for paths and aliases used by dojo.

<dojo>
    <paths>
        <add name="string" path="string" />
    </paths>
    <aliases>
        <add from="string" to="string" />
    </aliases>
</dojo>

<paths>/<add> Element Attributes

<aliases>/<add> Element Attributes

Aliases allow module paths to be remapped at run time.

<clientModule>

This section contains client-side configuration options.

<clientModule initializer="string">
    <moduleDependencies>
      <add dependency="string"/>
      ...
    </moduleDependencies>
    <requiredResources>
      <add name="string"/>
      ...
    </requiredResources>
    ...
</clientModule>

<clientModule> Element Attributes

Example of client-side initializer class

define(["dojo"], function(dojo) {
    return dojo.declare([], {
        initialize: function() {
            // Do any custom module initialization here
        }
    });
});

<moduleDependencies>/<add> Element Attributes

Defines shell modules that this module has a dependency on on the client side.

<requiredResources>/<add> Element Attributes

This section defines which client resources should be loaded on the client.

Application default module

In addition to the ordinary shell modules there is also a module configured for the application root. This module serves two main purposes; resolving paths to the application root when no matching module is found in the module system, and making it possible to let the application provide functionality which would otherwise require a separate module implementation.

This default module is always added to the module system as an empty module, and to configure it you have to place a module.config file in the application root. This module.config is then treated just as any other module configuration with the exception that the client resource base path is defaulted to ~/ClientResources, unless configured otherwise.

Example module manifest file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<module productName="Sample Module" clientResourceRelativePath="7.3.0" loadFromBin="false">

  <assemblies>
    <add assembly="Sample.UI" />
  </assemblies>

  <route controllerPrefix="Sample">
    <defaults>
      <add key="moduleArea" value="Sample.UI" />
      <add key="controller" value="Home" />
      <add key="action" value="Index" />
    </defaults>
  </route>

  <clientResources>
    <add name="sample.theme" path="ClientResources/sample.css" resourceType="Style" />
    <add name="sample.widgets" path="ClientResources/widget1.js" resourceType="Script">
      <dependencies>
        <add name="sample.dependency" />
      </dependencies>
    </add>
    <add name="sample.widgets" path="ClientResources/widget2.js" resourceType="Script" sortIndex="1" />
    <add name="sample.other" path="http://domain.com/Script.js" resourceType="Script" />
  </clientResources>

  <dojo>
    <paths>
      <add name="sample" path="ClientResources"/>
    </paths>
  </dojo>

  <clientModule>
    <moduleDependencies>
      <add dependency="Shell"/>
      <add dependency="Cms" type="RunAfter"/>
      <add dependency="AnotherAddon" type="Require RunAfter"/>
    </moduleDependencies>
    <requiredResources>
      <add name="sample.theme"/>
      <add name="sample.widgets"/>
    </requiredResources>
  </clientModule>
</module>