ASP.NET 2.0 Illustrated
Book
ISBN-10: 0-321-41834-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-41834-0
eBook (Watermarked)
ISBN-10: 0-321-46792-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-46792-8
“This book is a phenomenal start for someone new to ASP.NET, as well as a complete guide to the new features of version 2.0 for programmers familiar with an earlier version. The beginning chapters detail concepts using a hypothetical company, examining the myriad sorts of requests and situations often requested by clients. The authors deal with these in an eloquent, realistic manner. They have clearly worked in the industry and have faced real-world challenges that programmers encounter daily. The content covers everything from the most basic tasks to the most complex, and is a comprehensive collection of information on ASP.NET 2.0. Every topic is well-referenced for additional information, but contains clear examples that work. The content is technical but the clear writing makes it easy to understand. Difficult concepts are explained in such a way that this book will quickly become your favorite reference for ASP.NET!”
—Ronda Pederson, consultant, Microsoft MVP Visual Developer, ASP/ASP.NET
“As to be expected from two of today’s leading technical authors, this book is a cracking guide to getting the most from the ASP 2.0 Framework. Detailed chapters, concise yet practical examples, and clear explanation provide the grounding and support necessary to leverage the new features that ASP 2.0 brings to the table—all explained with a logical, no-nonsense approach. This book will be borrowed by every developer you work with, so guard it wisely!”
—John Timney, Microsoft MVP, senior Web services consultant, British Telecom
“This book will absolutely change the way you view ASP.NET technology. Read it and your existing Web sites will suddenly appear to be underperforming.”
—Chris Carpenter, senior software engineer, L3 Communications, Inc.
“The authors have worked closely with the ASP.NET team at Microsoft to makesure that this book is authoritative, accurate, and informative. Anyone usingASP.NET will find a wealth of useful information on ASP.NET 2.0.”
—Scott Guthrie, general manager, .NET Developer Platform, Microsoft Corporation
Developers moving to ASP.NET 2.0, the breakthrough Web development environment from Microsoft, will want to learn how to take full advantage of the new features that make this the most productive and powerful Web development environment ever. ASP.NET 2.0 Illustrated teaches developers exactly what they need to know to create exciting Web sites and applications quickly and easily using ASP.NET 2.0.
Renowned authors, developers, and conference speakers Alex Homer and Dave Sussman have written a concise, detailed exploration of the “must learn” features of ASP.NET 2.0. The book’s many original examples, fully updated for the release version of ASP.NET 2.0, are all downloadable from the authors’ Web site, and many can be run live online.
The authors provide detailed coverage of
Developers will come away from this book knowing exactly how to build secure, efficient, visually consistent, easy-to-navigate, data-driven Web sites with ASP.NET 2.0.
Online Sample Chapter
ASP.NET 2.0: Is It Really This Easy?
Downloadable Sample Chapter
Download the Sample Chapter from this book.
Table of Contents
Figures xix
Tables xxix
Preface xxxi
Acknowledgments xxxiii
About the Authors xxxv
1. Technology, Tools, and Getting Started 1
New Features of ASP.NET 2.0 2
Changes from Version 1.x 19
Obtaining and Installing .NET 2.0 19
Upgrading and Deploying Applications 21
Installing the Samples 21
Summary 22
2 Is It Really This Easy? 23A Day in the Life of a Developer 24
Summary 52
3 Data Source and Data Display Controls 53Databases and Connections 54
Data Source Controls 59
Data Display and Edit Controls 72
Summary 104
4 Data Binding to Business Objects 105Two- and Three-Tier Architecture 106
The ObjectDataSource Control 113
Typed Data Sets 122
Summary 131
5 Advanced Data and Page Techniques 133DataSource Control Events 134
GridView and DetailsView Events 144
Handling Data Editing Conflicts 145
SQL Server 2005 User-De*ned Types 159
Additions to UDTs 168
Summary 176
6 Data and Output Caching 177Application, Session, HttpContext, and ViewState Caching 178
Output Caching 185
Data Caching 195
The Cache API 210
When to Use Caching 216
Summary 218
7 Working with XML 219Working with XML in Visual Studio 2005 220
Databinding and Displaying XML Data 222
Transforming XML 230
Working with Raw XML 236
Converting between XML and Relational Data 247
Working with SQL Server 2005 XML Data 248
Summary 255
8 Building Interactive Web Forms 257The ASP.NET Control Set 258
The ASP.NET Page and Postback Model 306
Summary 308
9 The Page Class and Master Pages 309The HttpRequest, HttpResponse, HttpServerUtility, and HttpContext Classes 310
The ASP.NET Page Class 319
Sub-Classing the Page Object 343
Working with Master Pages 344
Summary 351
10 Web Site Navigation Techniques 353Simple Navigation with Hyperlinks 354
Navigation with LinkButton Controls 358
Navigation through Browser Redirection 366
Navigation through Server-Side Redirection 369
Cross-Page Posting of Form Contents 377
Site Maps, Menus, and Navigation Path Controls 381
Summary 393
11 Security and Membership 395Preventing Anonymous Access to Web Sites 396
ASP.NET Membership Provider and Role Manager 408
The ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool 414
The ASP.NET Security Server Controls 441
Accessing the Membership and Roles Features in Code 451
Summary 457
12 Profiles, Personalization, and Themes 459Configuring Profiles and Personalization 460
Storing and Using Dynamic Profile Data 471
A Simple Example of Using a Shopping Cart 474
Using Themes to Personalize Your Site 487
Summary 503
13 Building Web Portals 505The ASP.NET 2.0 Portal Framework 506
The WebPart Manager 509
WebParts and Authorization 512
Zones and WebParts 513
Catalog Zones 523
Editor Zones 525
Connecting WebParts Together 533
Summary 545
14 Usability, Accessibility, Mobile Devices, Localization 547Page Validation, Browser Capabilities, and Alternative Content 548
Making Your Pages Easier to Use 559
Supporting Disabled Users and Specialist User Agents 562
Building Pages for Small-Screen and Mobile Devices 587
Supporting Localization and Multiple Languages 600
Summary 616
15 Using the Framework Classes 619The Example Application 620
Storing Data with the System.Collections Classes 628
Reading, Writing, and Compressing Data with the System.IO Classes 638
Creating Graphics and Images with the System.Drawing Classes 652
Accessing the Internet with the System.Net Classes 656
Accessing Active Directory with the System.DirectoryServices Classes 669
Encrypting Data with the System.Security.Cryptography Classes 673
Summary 678
16 Web Services 679Web Services 680
Creating Web Services 681
Consuming Web Services 690
Controlling How Data Is Transferred in Web Services 694
Web Service Enhancements 701
The Future of Web Services 708
Summary 708
Index 711Preface
It was late in the afternoon on a cold and rainy day in 1996 as we sat in the
office in Birmingham, England, staring at a blank page in Internet Explorer 3
and wondering when the old Gateway 386 server under the desk would finally finish
grinding through a dbWeb query and produce some results. The e-mail, from a small
offshoot of the IIS team at Microsoft, arrived as we waited, asking if we would
be interested in looking at a new product ("still under development")
called Denali. Why not? It seemed that the case study for the final chapter of
our book on Web site and database integration was going nowhere.
So we installed Denali 0.9 and started to play with it. Somewhere about ten
in the evening, blown away by what we were seeing, the decision was made. The
final chapter of the book would be a preview of this amazing new technology—released
to the public some months later as Active Server Pages. Little did we realize
then that this one event would determine the direction of our future writing
career, right up to the current day.
What is remarkable, comparing ASP 1.0 with the current ASP.NET 2.0 release,
is how much has changed in the past ten years. Our first book about ASP included
the history of the Internet, a comprehensive reference to HTML 3.2 and a new
styling language called CSS, a full tutorial on VBScript, plusdescriptions and
examples of every object, method, and property of ASP and its associated database
access technology, called ActiveX Data Objects. We even had room in the 1,000
or so pages to cover the SQL language, using MTS and MSMQ, building COM components,
a few case studies, and a raft of appendices.
Now, with ASP.NET, we could fill 1,000 pages just describing server controls.
ASP.NET has grown up to become a fully fledged, rich, and all-encompassing language-agnostic
technology suitable for building any type of Web-based application. Covering
all of ASP.NET 2.0 and the associated .NET Framework classes to the same level
of detail as our first book on Active Server Pages would fill a whole shelf
in your bookcase!
Instead, this book aims to provide you with the concise and detailed information
on ASP.NET 2.0 that you need to build great Web sites and Web-based applications.
We've attempted to share with you our passion for ASP.NET, our experience of
working with it over many years, and our long and fruitful relationship with
the team at Microsoft. We hope that you, too, will develop the same passion
for ASP.NET as we have.
What Do I Need to Use This Book?
This book is aimed at developers who are reasonably familiar with the Web, HTML,
CSS, JavaScript, and the C# language. We have tried to avoid using code or concepts
that are obscure or unduly complex, instead concentrating on the techniques
and technologies in ASP.NET 2.0.
The examples were developed in Visual Studio 2005, though you can use Visual
Web Developer (VWD) if you only have this available. You will also need access
to a database—either SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server Express Edition as installed
with Visual Studio 2005 and VWD. You can download the examples, and run many
of them online, from our server at http://http://www.zjjv.com///books/8344/.
Alternatively, you can obtain the samples from the Addison-Wesley Web site at
http://http://www.zjjv.com///msdotnetseries.
Index
Download the Index file from this book.
