Disable OutputCache on Development System

Question

I use OutputCache in an ASP.net MVC application. As developing with an active OutputCache is not very pleasant I want to disable the OutputCache on the Development Systems (local machines and development server).

What is the best way to do this?

Answer 1

The outputcache in ASP.NET can be enabled and disabled using

For iis versions < 7.0

<system.web>
    <caching>
        <outputCache enableOutputCache="false" />
    </caching>
</system.web>

For iis versions >= 7.0

<system.webServer>
    <caching enabled="false" />
</system.webServer>

N.B. I usually use both, better safe than having a sore foot, and use a config transform to make sure that the caching is enabled for different configurations on publish. In my solution a configuration corresponds 1 on 1 with an environment

Another technique is to use pragmas to enable pieces of code to compile or not compile based on i.e. the DEBUG conditional compilation symbol:

#if DEBUG
    [OutputCache]
#endif

Answer 2

It's an old one but...

set this in your web.config under system.web

<caching>
  <outputCache enableOutputCache="false" />
</caching>