Compiling views when publishing asp.net mvc project

Question

Is is possible to compile asp.net mvc views into one assemply when publishing web project?

Answer 1

There is ASP.NET Merge tool (Aspnet_merge.exe) and Web Deployment Projects ( UPDATED: Aspnet_merge.exe came with Windows SDK components when you installing Visual Studio 2008 - look at "%Program Files%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin" folder ). These links may be interesting to you:

• How Do I: Use MSBuild to Automate the ASP.NET Compiler and Merge Utilities
• Managing ASP.NET Precompiled Output for Deployment Using the aspnet_merge.exe Command

UPDATED:

In ASP.NET MVC projects there is <MvcBuildViews>true/false</MvcBuildViews> property which enables compiling Views in AfterBuild target. But it does not compile your project in one assembly. You should use ASP.NET Merge tool or Web Deployment Projects.