SplendidCRM with Silverlight 2.0 and Hosting Tricks
Working with SplendidCRM version 2.1.3074.33397, a powerful .NET-based CRM solution based on SugarCRM. When deploying to hosted environments, you might encounter some challenges - here's how to solve them.
About SplendidCRM
SplendidCRM is an excellent CRM tool, built on top of SugarCRM but ported entirely to .NET. The project was notable enough that even Miguel de Icaza mentioned it as a significant .NET application.
Why SplendidCRM?
- Open source CRM built on the .NET platform
- Based on SugarCRM, providing enterprise-grade features
- Silverlight 2.0 UI components for rich client experiences
The Silverlight Error
When running the application, you might encounter a Silverlight parser error on the Home page and Dashboard:
The Fix
The issue stems from XAML property changes in Silverlight 2.0. The TextWrapping
property in some XAML files now only accepts Wrap instead of
WrapWithOverflow.
Solution
- Locate the XAML files in the
opportunities/XAMLfolder - Find all instances of
TextWrapping="WrapWithOverflow" - Replace with
TextWrapping="Wrap" - Save and redeploy the corrected files
Hosting on Shared Servers
If you need to install SplendidCRM on a hosted server where you don't have installer access, here's a workaround that works reliably:
Step 1: Convert to Web Application Project
Port the SplendidCRM solution to a Web Application Project format in Visual Studio. This makes it compatible with standard publishing workflows.
Step 2: Publish Locally
Use Visual Studio's publish feature to compile and package all files. This creates a deployment-ready version of the application.
Step 3: Deploy Files
Copy the published files to your hosted server via FTP or your hosting control panel.
Step 4: Configure Database
Run the installer on your local machine, but when it reaches the SQL Server configuration step, enter the connection information for your hosted SQL Server instead. The installer will set up the database schema remotely.
Production Deployment
This approach was successfully used to deploy our company CRM to a hosted environment. The key is separating the file deployment from the database configuration, allowing you to work around installer restrictions on shared hosting.
Historical Context
Note: This article is from 2011 when Silverlight was a major platform for rich internet applications. While Silverlight is now deprecated, the principles of working around hosting restrictions and debugging XAML parsing errors remain relevant for modern deployment scenarios.
SplendidCRM represented an important milestone in open-source .NET CRM solutions, demonstrating that enterprise applications could be built entirely on the Microsoft stack while remaining accessible to smaller organizations.