the cloud way

ElCamino.DocFx.WebAppRefresh

DocFx build middleware that allows you to setup a .net core web app project and adds a file watcher to your content files. When you change a content file, such as markdown, css, etc, the middleware automatically starts a docFx build in the background regenerating the target html files. Sample .net core web application

This library should be configured for local development only as shown below!

1. Create a new .net core web application 'Empty' project

dotnet new web

or

Use Visual Studio new project, web application, Empty.

2. Use the nuget package manager to install docfx.console

dotnet add package docfx.console 

3. Build the project (this will generate all of the docfx files)
4. Rename the _site folder to wwwroot.
5. Edit the .gitignore file, remove _site, add wwwroot and log.txt

wwwroot
log.txt

6. Edit the docfx.json, rename _site and replace with wwwroot

{
    "dest": "wwwroot"
}

7. Use the nuget package manager to install ElCamino.DocFx.WebAppRefresh

dotnet add package ElCamino.DocFx.WebAppRefresh 

8. Edit the Startup.cs

public class Startup
{
    ...
    // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to configure the HTTP request pipeline.
    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
    {
        if (env.IsDevelopment())
        {
            app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
            // only use in development, not for production
            app.UseDocFxBuildRefresh(env.ContentRootPath, env.WebRootPath);
        }
        app.UseDefaultFiles();

        app.UseStaticFiles();
    }
...

9. Debug the web application. Change a content file (markdown, css, etc) and watch the debug output for the docFx build output and refresh the page to see your changes.