FSharp site on shared server, which dll's do I need to include in the bin folder?

Question

Which dll's do I need to include in the bin folder? or do I need to install F# on the server it self ?

NB: Resolved

• All the FSharp dlls are now in the site Bin
• The site is deployed using the Publish option from Visual Studio
  • The allow precompiled site to be updatable has to be unchecked

Error from my site:

The system cannot find the file specified

Description : An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details : System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified

Source Error :

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace :

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified]
   System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +2097
   System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() +140
   Microsoft.FSharp.Compiler.CodeDom.Internal.Compiler.compileFiles(String args, CompilerResults res) +120
   Microsoft.FSharp.Compiler.CodeDom.Internal.Compiler.compileAssemblyFromFileBatch(CompilerParameters options, String[] fileNames, CompilerResults results, FastFunc`2 sortf) +278
   System.CodeDom.Compiler.CodeDomProvider.CompileAssemblyFromFile(CompilerParameters options, String[] fileNames) +23
   System.Web.Compilation.AssemblyBuilder.Compile() +843
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvidersCompiler.PerformBuild() +164
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CompileWebFile(VirtualPath virtualPath) +267
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultInternal(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile) +582
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultWithNoAssert(HttpContext context, VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile) +93
   System.Web.UI.BaseTemplateParser.GetReferencedType(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean allowNoCompile) +325
   System.Web.UI.PageParser.EnsureMasterPageFileFromConfigApplied() +89
   System.Web.UI.PageParser.HandlePostParse() +16
   System.Web.UI.TemplateParser.Parse() +155
   System.Web.Compilation.BaseTemplateBuildProvider.get_CodeCompilerType() +105
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvider.GetCompilerTypeFromBuildProvider(BuildProvider buildProvider) +54
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvidersCompiler.ProcessBuildProviders() +182
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvidersCompiler.PerformBuild() +29
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CompileWebFile(VirtualPath virtualPath) +267
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultInternal(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile) +582
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultWithNoAssert(HttpContext context, VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile) +93
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVirtualPathObjectFactory(VirtualPath virtualPath, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean noAssert) +111
   System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CreateInstanceFromVirtualPath(VirtualPath virtualPath, Type requiredBaseType, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean noAssert) +54
   System.Web.UI.PageHandlerFactory.GetHandlerHelper(HttpContext context, String requestType, VirtualPath virtualPath, String physicalPath) +31
   System.Web.UI.PageHandlerFactory.System.Web.IHttpHandlerFactory2.GetHandler(HttpContext context, String requestType, VirtualPath virtualPath, String physicalPath) +40
   System.Web.HttpApplication.MapHttpHandler(HttpContext context, String requestType, VirtualPath path, String pathTranslated, Boolean useAppConfig) +139
   System.Web.MapHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +128
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +161

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.1433; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.1433

Answer 1

Installing F# on the server will definitely cure your problems, but isn't strictly necessary. You will have definitely picked up a dependency on FSharp.core.dll, you may also have picked up a dependency on FSharp.PowerPack.dll if you have referenced it from your project, and well any other FSharp.*.dlls that you may have referenced. You can generally use reflector to find which dlls your application depends on.

Answer 2

If you 'pre-compile' the web site using the aspnet_compiler.exe tool (or using the Publish button in Visual Studio) without compiling it as "updatable" (meaning that all ASPX and FS files have to be compiled into DLLs) then I think you'll need just:

• FSharp.Core.dll (contains the core F# libraries, lists, tuples, etc.)
• possibly FSharp.PowerPack.dll (as Robert mentioned)

Other DLLs from the F# installation shouldn't be needed for the runtime. If you want to compile the Web application on the server (using the F# CodeDOM) (ie deploy it as an updatable web site), then you'll need to install F# on the server and you'll need the rights to spawn "fsc.exe" (so that doesn't look like a case for shared server).

Answer 3

I was able to fix the issue by unchecking the allow this precompiled site to be updatable and by having all the dlls in the directory.

Thanks for the suggestions.