ASP.NET 2.0 Cookbook

Table of Contents

Preface; What This Book Is About; Who This Book Is For; How This Book Is Organized; Topics Not Covered; Sample Source Code; Sample Database, Scripts, and Connection Strings; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Comments and Questions; Safari Enabled; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Master Pages; 1.1 Introduction; 1.1 Generating a Quick Master/Content Page Arrangement; 1.2 Extending a Master Page's Content to Include Content for Other Application Pages; 1.3 Changing Which Master Page Is Used Without Modifying All Affected Application Pages; 1.4 Setting the Master Page at Runtime; Chapter 2: Tabular Data; 2.1 Introduction; 2.1 Selecting the Right Tabular Control; 2.2 Generating a Quick-and-Dirty Tabular Display; 2.3 Enhancing the Output of a Tabular Display; 2.4 Displaying Data from an XML File; 2.5 Displaying an Array as a Group of Checkboxes; 2.6 Displaying Data from a Hashtable; 2.7 Adding Next/Previous Navigation to a DataGrid; 2.8 Adding First/Last Navigation to a DataGrid; 2.9 Adding Direct Page Navigation to a DataGrid; 2.10 Sorting Data in Ascending/Descending Order Within a DataGrid; 2.11 Combining Sorting and Paging in a DataGrid; 2.12 Paging Through a Record-Heavy DataGrid; 2.13 Editing Data Within a DataGrid; 2.14 Navigating and Sorting Within a GridView; 2.15 Updating a GridView Without Refreshing the Whole Page; 2.16 Editing Data in a GridView; 2.17 Inserting a Row Within a GridView; 2.18 Formatting Columnar Data in a GridView; 2.19 Allowing Selection Anywhere Within a GridView; 2.20 Adding a Delete Confirmation Pop-Up; 2.21 Displaying a Pop-Up Details Window; 2.22 Adding a Totals Row to a GridView; Chapter 3: Validation; 3.1 Introduction; 3.1 Requiring That Data Be Entered in a Field; 3.2 Requiring Data to Be in a Range; 3.3 Requiring That Two Data Input Fields Match; 3.4 Requiring Data to Match a Predefined Pattern; 3.5 Requiring That a Drop-Down List Selection Be Made; 3.6 Requiring Data to Match a Database Entry; 3.7 Using Validation Groups to Support Login and New User Registration Within a Single Form; 3.8 Performing Validation Programmatically to Execute Your Own Application-Specific Logic; Chapter 4: Forms; 4.1 Introduction; 4.1 Setting the Default Button to Submit a Form; 4.2 Submitting a Form to a Different Page; 4.3 Simulating Multipage Forms Problem; 4.4 Setting the Initial Focus to a Specific Control Problem; 4.5 Setting the Focus to a Control with a Validation Error; Chapter 5: User Controls; 5.1 Introduction; 5.1 Sharing a Page Header on Multiple Pages; 5.2 Creating a Customizable Navigation Bar; 5.3 Reusing Code-Behind Classes; 5.4 Communicating Between User Controls; 5.5 Adding User Controls Dynamically; Chapter 6: Custom Controls; 6.1 Introduction; 6.1 Combining HTML Controls in a Single Custom Control; 6.2 Creating a Custom Control with Attributes; 6.3 Creating a Custom Control with State; 6.4 Using the Control State with Custom Controls; 6.5 Customizing an ASP.NET TextBox Server Control; Chapter 7: Maintaining State; 7.1 Introduction; 7.1 Maintaining Information Needed by All Users of an Application; 7.2 Maintaining Information About a User Throughout a Session; 7.3 Preserving Information Between Postbacks; 7.4 Preserving Information Across Multiple Requests for a Page; Chapter 8: Error Handling; 8.1 Introduction; 8.1 Handling Errors at the Method Level; 8.2 Handling Errors at the Page Level; 8.3 Handling Errors at the Application Level; 8.4 Displaying User-Friendly Error Messages; Chapter 9: Security; 9.1 Introduction; 9.1 Restricting Access to All Application Pages; 9.2 Restricting Access to Selected Application Pages; 9.3 Restricting Access to Application Pages by Role; 9.4 Using Windows Authentication; 9.5 Using Membership and Roles; Chapter 10: Profiles and Themes; 10.1 Introduction; 10.1 Using Profiles; 10.2 Inheriting a Profile; 10.3 Using and Migrating Anonymous Profiles; 10.4 Managing User Profiles; 10.5 Using Themes; 10.6 User-Personalized Themes; Chapter 11: Web Parts; 11.1 Introduction; 11.1 Using Server Controls and User Controls as Web Parts; 11.2 Creating a Reusable Web Parts Catalog; 11.3 Creating a Custom Web Part; 11.4 Communicating Between Web Parts; 11.5 Persisting Personalized Web Part Properties; Chapter 12: Configuration; 12.1 Introduction; 12.1 Overriding Default HTTP Runtime Parameters in web.config; 12.2 Adding Custom Application Settings in web.config; 12.3 Displaying Custom Error Messages; 12.4 Maintaining Session State Across Multiple Web Servers; 12.5 Accessing Other web.config Configuration Elements; 12.6 Adding Your Own Configuration Elements to web.config; 12.7 Encrypting web.config Sections; Chapter 13: Tracing and Debugging; 13.1 Introduction; 13.1 Uncovering Page-Level Problems; 13.2 Uncovering Application-Wide Problems; 13.3 Pinpointing the Cause of an Exception; 13.4 Uncovering Problems Within Web Application Components; 13.5 Uncovering Problems Within Dual-Use Components; 13.6 Writing Trace Data to the Event Log with Controllable Levels; 13.7 Sending Trace Data via Email with Controllable Levels; 13.8 Using a Breakpoint to Stop Execution of an Application When a Condition Is Met; Chapter 14: Web Services; 14.1 Introduction; 14.1 Creating a Web Service; 14.2 Consuming a Web Service; 14.3 Creating a Web Service That Returns a Custom Object; 14.4 Setting the URL of a Web Service at Runtime; Chapter 15: Dynamic Images; 15.1 Introduction; 15.1 Drawing Button Images on the Fly; 15.2 Creating Bar Charts on the Fly; 15.3 Displaying Images Stored in a Database; 15.4 Displaying Thumbnail Images; Chapter 16: Caching; 16.1 Introduction; 16.1 Caching Pages; 16.2 Caching Pages Based on Query String Parameter Values; 16.3 Caching Pages Based on Browser Type and Version; 16.4 Caching Pages Based on Developer-Defined Custom Strings; 16.5 Caching Pages Based on Database Dependencies; 16.6 Caching User Controls; 16.7 Caching Application Data; 16.8 Caching Application Data Based on Database Dependencies; 16.9 Caching Data Sources; Chapter 17: Internationalization; 17.1 Introduction; 17.1 Localizing Request/Response Encoding; 17.2 Providing Multiple Language Support; 17.3 Using Global Resources and Overriding Currency Formatting; Chapter 18: File Operations; 18.1 Introduction; 18.1 Downloading a File from the Web Server; 18.2 Uploading a File to the Web Server; 18.3 Processing an Uploaded File Without Storing It on the Filesystem; 18.4 Storing the Contents of an Uploaded File in a Database; Chapter 19: Performance; 19.1 Introduction; 19.1 Reducing Page Size by Selectively Disabling the ViewState; 19.2 Speeding Up String Concatenation with a StringBuilder; 19.3 Speeding Up Read-Only Data Access; 19.4 Speeding Up Data Access to a SQL Server Database Using the SQL Provider; Chapter 20: HTTP Handlers; 20.1 Introduction; 20.1 Creating a Reusable Image Handler; 20.2 Creating a File Download Handler; Chapter 21: Assorted Tips; 21.1 Introduction; 21.1 Accessing HTTP-Specific Information from Within a Class; 21.2 Executing External Applications; 21.3 Transforming XML to HTML; 21.4 Determining the User's Browser Type; 21.5 Dynamically Creating Browser-Specific Stylesheets; 21.6 Saving and Reusing HTML Output; 21.7 Sending Mail; 21.8 Dynamic Menus; 21.9 Adding Breadcrumbs; Colophon;

Michael Kittel has nearly 30 years experience in the software industry. He has been working with Microsoft technologies for more than 10 years and with ASP.NET since the alpha release of 1.0. He has been the system architect and led the development of applications for Lexis-Nexis, Plow & Hearth, ReturnBuy, and many others. Michael has a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer certification and is currently a senior consultant at Dominion Digital, Inc. (http://www.dominiondigital.com), a firm that specializes in helping companies envision and achieve maximum business value from investments.

Geoffrey T. LeBlond is the co-author of "Using 1-2-3", the first computer book that sold over 1 million copies. Geoff is the author of numerous computer books, and was the developer of Oriel, an early scripting language for Microsoft Windows. More recently, Geoff has been focusing his attention on developing web applications using ASP and ASP.NET.