Directory Structure on the Server

When you deploy a .NET Web Forms application, PowerBuilder creates two top-level directories for the application under the IIS root.

One of the directories takes the name of the application specified in the Web Forms project, and the other appends "_root" to the application name.

The applicationName directory contains the generated cs and aspx files, as well as subdirectories for any resource files, PowerBuilder libraries, and external modules that you deploy with your application.

The applicationName_root directory contains directories named File, Mail, Log, and Print. The File directory contains the Common, Session, User, and Icon subdirectories. The File\Common directory holds read-only files specified in the Web Forms project. The paths to the read-only files mirror the paths on the development computer, with the drive letter serving as the name for the top subdirectory under File\Common directory.

The subdirectories under the File\Common directory include the initial current directory that you assigned in the .NET Web Forms Application wizard or in the Project painter. If an application user performs write operations on a file in a File\Common subdirectory, a SessionID folder is created under the File\Session directory (or, if the application user has a permanent user account, a UserName folder is created under the File\User directory), and the read-only file is copied there in a mirrored path before a user can save the modified file.

The File\User directory contains files saved by logged-in users whose profiles are included in a permanent user database. For information about creating user profiles, see Creating Permanent User Accounts.

The File\Icon directory is used by the PowerBuilder Web Forms runtime engine to convert .ICO files to .GIFs and .BMPs. Its contents are not visible to Web Forms application users.