Before you jump into trying to fathom the source code of what is a very complex portal framework.
I would first suggest you spend a good deal of time gettting to understand what DNN is capable of WITHOUT coding.
Once you understand how DNN works from an usability point of view - you will then come to understand that for many
situations there is often no need to resort to coding.
There is a huge wealth of prewritten modules available for DNN right now that meet the needs of many thousands of
users every day.
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Having said this - the next thing you need to come to terms with - is that you should always avoid touching
the source code of the framework itself - instead look to the existing methods of extending DNN in the form
of SKINS, SKIN OBJECTS, MODULES AND PROVIDERS - which all act a hooks into the framework without
actually altering the underlying code itself.
If after all this you still want to dig into the framework source code
- install Visual Studio 2008 on your computer
- download and install the SOURCE CODE version of the framework.
- And open the 2008 solution thats in the root folder of the SOURCE CODE version using VISUAL STUDIO.
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From there get ready for a very long journey - this baby is big.
But first a comment.
The DNN source code is split into two parts - the LIBRARY and the WEBSITE.
The code in the LIBRARY folder is all compiled in advance into a set of .dll librarys that liv in the WEBSITE/bin directory.
These librarys make up much of the dnn framework and for the most part can be ignored unless you really want to
get into low level operations - or creation of providers etc
The WEBSITE contains all the files needed to make DNN run at RUNTIME - including a whole heap of compile on demand modules etc.
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AS to how you go about getting started understanding how this all fits together - again - i would really suggest you get and understanding
of how to use DNN without code first.
And that means getting a running portal.
Once you have a running portal - you can then use VS2008 in debug mode to step thru the entire site line by line if that takes your fancy.
Westa