ASP.NET Cookbook (Paperback)

Description:

Developers who want to create dynamic, data-driven web sites running on Microsoft web servers have long relied on Active Server Pages (ASP). ASP.NET is Microsoft's latest evolution of ASP. While ASP.NET has a lot in common with its predecessor, this new technology takes advantage of object-oriented programming to dramatically improve developer productivity and convenience. Using the .NET Framework and Microsoft's new object-oriented languages, ASP.NET brings the same rapid drag-and-drop productivity to web applications that the Visual Basic programming language brought to Windows applications. ASP.NET also introduces web services, which allow developers to expose the functionality of an application via HTTP and XML, so that clients on any platform can access it via the Internet. ASP.NET is not a simple upgrade of ASP. It s a quantum leap ahead. There are many benefits to using ASP.NET, and one major drawback: the time developers must devote to mastering this new Web application technology.

The ASP.NET Cookbook provides a wealth of plug-and-play solutions to problems commonly encountered when developing ASP.NET web applications and services in the popular problem-solution-discussion Cookbook format. The coding solutions in ASP.NET Cookbook appeal to a wide range of developers, from the inexperienced to the expert. For every problem addressed in the book, there's a worked-out solution or recipe a short, focused piece of code that web developers can insert directly into their applications. Developers can save hours by using just a single one of over 100 recipes included in this invaluable cookbook.

But the ASP.NET Cookbook provides far more than just a wide range of cut-and-paste code solutions. Each recipe is followed by a discussion including tips, tricks, and possible pitfalls--so developers can learn to adapt the problem-solving techniques to a myriad of similar situations. Each recipe provides an immediate solution to a pressing problem, while simultaneously allowing developers who prefer to a hands-on learning style with the experience they need to master ASP.NET. This ultimate ASP.NET code sourcebook will quickly earn the dog-eared corners and coffee rings that mark a web developer's most valued resource.

 

Preface

1. Tabular Data
       1.1 Selecting the Right Tabular Control
       1.2 Generating a Quick-and-Dirty Tabular Display
       1.3 Enhancing the Output of a Tabular Display
       1.4 Displaying Data from an XML File
       1.5 Displaying an Array as a Group of Checkboxes
       1.6 Displaying Data from a Hashtable
       1.7 Adding Next/Previous Navigation to a DataGrid
       1.8 Adding First/Last Navigation to a DataGrid
       1.9 Adding Direct Page Navigation to a DataGrid
       1.10 Paging Through a Record-Heavy DataGrid
       1.11 Sorting Data Within a DataGrid
       1.12 Sorting Data in Ascending/Descending Order Within a DataGrid
       1.13 Combining Sorting and Paging in a DataGrid
       1.14 Editing Data Within a DataGrid
       1.15 Formatting Columnar Data in a DataGrid
       1.16 Allowing Selection Anywhere Within a DataGrid Row
       1.17 Adding a Delete Confirmation Pop Up
       1.18 Displaying a Pop-Up Details Window
       1.19 Adding a Totals Row to a DataGrid

2. Validation
       2.1 Requiring that Data be Entered in a Field
       2.2 Requiring Data to Be In a Range
       2.3 Requiring that Two Data Input Fields Match
       2.4 Requiring that Data Matches a Predefined Pattern
       2.5 Requiring that a Drop-Down List Selection Be Made
       2.6 Requiring Data to Match a Database Entry

3. Forms
       3.1 Using the Enter Key to Submit a Form
       3.2 Using the Enter Key to Submit a Form After Validation
       3.3 Submitting a Form to a Different Page
       3.4 Simulating Multipage Forms
       3.5 Setting the Initial Focus to a Specific Control
       3.6 Setting the Focus to a Control with a Validation Error

4. User Controls
       4.1 Sharing a Page Header on Multiple Pages
       4.2 Creating a Customizable Navigation Bar
       4.3 Reusing Code-Behind Classes
       4.4 Communicating Between User Controls
       4.5 Adding User Controls Dynamically

5. Custom Controls
       5.1 Combining HTML Controls in a Single Custom Control
       5.2 Creating a Custom Control with Attributes
       5.3 Creating a Custom Control with State
       5.4 Customizing an ASP.NET TextBox Server Control

6. Maintaining State
       6.1 Maintaining Information Needed by All Users of an Application
       6.2 Maintaining Information about a User Throughout a Session
       6.3 Preserving Information Between Postbacks
       6.4 Preserving Information Across Multiple Requests for a Page

7. Error Handling
       7.1 Handling Errors at the Method Level
       7.2 Handling Errors at the Page Level
       7.3 Handling Errors at the Application Level
       7.4 Displaying User-Friendly Error Messages

8. Security
       8.1 Restricting Access to All Application Pages
       8.2 Restricting Access to Selected Application Pages
       8.3 Restricting Access to Application Pages by Role
       8.4 Using Windows Authentication

9. Configuration
       9.1 Overriding Default HTTP Runtime Parameters in web.config
       9.2 Adding Custom Application Settings in web.config
       9.3 Displaying Custom Error Messages
       9.4 Maintaining Session State Across Multiple Web Servers
       9.5 Accessing Other web.config Configuration Elements
       9.6 Adding Your Own Configuration Elements to web.config

10. Tracing and Debugging
       10.1 Uncovering Page-Level Problems
       10.2 Uncovering Problems Application Wide
       10.3 Pinpointing the Cause of an Exception
       10.4 Uncovering Problems Within Web Application Components
       10.5 Uncovering Problems Within Dual-Use Components
       10.6 Writing Trace Data to the Event Log with Controllable Levels
       10.7 Using a Breakpoint to Stop Execution of an Application When a Condition Is Met
       10.8 Stress Testing a Web Application or Service

11. Web Services
       11.1 Creating a Web Service
       11.2 Consuming a Web Service
       11.3 Creating a Web Service That Returns a Custom Object
       11.4 Setting the URL of a Web Service at Runtime

12. Dynamic Images
       12.1 Drawing Button Images on the Fly
       12.2 Creating Bar Charts on the Fly
       12.3 Displaying Images Stored in a Database
       12.4 Displaying Thumbnail Images

13. Caching
       13.1 Caching Pages
       13.2 Caching Pages Based on Query String Parameter Values
       13.3 Caching Pages Based on Browser Type and Version
       13.4 Caching Pages Based on Developer-Defined Custom Strings
       13.5 Caching User Controls
       13.6 Caching Application Data

14. Internationalization
       14.1 Localizing Request/Response Encoding
       14.2 Providing Multiple Language Support
       14.3 Overriding Currency Formatting

15. File Operations
       15.1 Downloading a File from the Web Server
       15.2 Uploading a File to the Web Server
       15.3 Processing an Uploaded File Without Storing It on the Filesystem
       15.4 Storing the Contents of an Uploaded File in a Database

16. Performance
       16.1 Reducing Page Size by Selectively Disabling the ViewState
       16.2 Speeding up String Concatenation with a StringBuilder
       16.3 Speeding Up Read-Only Data Access
       16.4 Speeding Up Data Access to a SQL Server Database Using the SQL Provider

17. HTTP Handlers
       17.1 Creating a Reusable Image Handler
       17.2 Creating a File Download Handler

18. Assorted Tips
       18.1 Accessing HTTP-Specific Information from Within a Class
       18.2 Executing External Applications
       18.3 Transforming XML to HTML
       18.4 Determining the User's Browser Type
       18.5 Dynamically Creating Browser-Specific Stylesheets
       18.6 Saving and Reusing HTML Output
       18.7 Sending Mail
       18.8 Creating and Using Page Templates

Index