Helloworld Demo

Demo Single page

Demo code behind
Demo compiled code

POST back and View state

ASP.NET controls automatically retain their data when a page is sent to the server in
response to an event (such as a user clicking a button). Microsoft calls this
persistence of data view state.
Demo 1 -> viewstate.asp
Demo 2 -> viewstate.aspx
ASP.NET pages maintain view state by encrypting the data within a hidden form field.
<input type="hidden" name="__VIEWSTATE" id="__VIEWSTATE"
value="/wEPDwUKLTEwNDY1Nzg0MQ90fMCR+FN5P6v5pkTQwNEl5xhBk" />

This is a standard HTML hidden form field. All information thats relevant to the view
state of the page is stored within this hidden form field as an encrypted string. View
state is enabled for every page by default. If you dont intend to use view state, you
can turn it off, which will result in a slight performance gain in your pages.
To do this, set the EnableViewState property of the Page directive to false:
<%@ Page EnableViewState="False" %>
View state can also be disabled for particular controls in a page: simply set
theirEnableViewState property to false

Page Events
Whenever you request an ASP.NET page, a particular set of events is raised in a
particular
sequence. This sequence of events is called the page execution lifecycle.
For example, we have already used the Page Load event in previous code samples in
this
chapter. You normally use the Page Load event to initialize the properties of controls
contained in a page. However, the Page Load event is only one event supported by the
Page class.
Here is the sequence of events that are raised whenever you request a page:
1. PreInit
2. Init
3. InitComplete
4. PreLoad
5. Load
6. LoadComplete
7. PreRender
8. PreRenderComplete
9. SaveStateComplete

10. Unload
Demo Showevents.aspx

Event Arguments Demo

Demo ShowEventArgs.aspx

Page.IsPostBack Property
The Page class includes a property called the IsPostBack property, which you can use to
detect whether the page has already been posted back to the server.
Because of View State, when you initialize a control property, you do not want to initialize
the property every time a page loads. Because View State saves the state of control properties
across page posts, you typically initialize a control property only once, when the page
first loads.

Demo ispostback.aspx (comment if and see effect)

Tracing Page Execution

If you want to output trace messages while a page executes, then you can enable tracing
for a particular page or an entire application. The ASP.NET Framework supports both pagelevel
tracing and application-level tracing

Demo pagetrace.aspx

WebForms
There are several types of controls in ASP.NET:
HTML server controls
web server controls
web user controls
master pages

HTML Server Controls

HTML server controls are outwardly identical to plain old HTML tags, but include a
runat="server" attribute. This gives the ASP.NET runtime control over the HTML server
controls, allowing us to access them programmatically. For example, if we have an
<a> tag in a page and we want to be able to change the address to which it links
dynamically, using VB or C# code, we use the runat="server" attribute. A server-side
HTML server control exists for each of HTMLs most common elements. Creating
HTML server controls is easy: we simply stick a runat="server" attribute on the end of
a normal HTML tag to create the HTML control version of that tag.

All the HTML server control classes are contained within the System.Web.UI.HtmlControls namespace. As theyre processed on the server side by the ASP.NETruntime,
we can access their properties through code elsewhere in the page

Demo : HTMLControls.aspx

Web Server Controls

Web server controls can be seen as advanced versions of HTML server controls. Web
server controls are those that generate content for youyoure no longer in control
of the HTML being used. While having good knowledge of HTML is useful, its not a
necessity for those working with web server controls.

Unlike HTML server controls, web server controls dont have a direct, one-to-one
correspondence with the HTML elements they generate. For example, we can us
eeither of two web server controlsthe DropDownList control, or the ListBox con-trol
to generate a select element.
Web server controls follow the same basic pattern as HTML tags, but the tag nameis
preceded by asp:, and is capitalized using Pascal Casing. Pascal Casing is a formthat
capitalizes the first character of each word (such as TextBox). The object IDsare
usually named using Camel Casing, where the first letter of each word exceptthe first
is capitalized (e.g. usernameTextBox).
To sum up, the key points to remember when youre working with web servercontrols
are:
Web server controls must be placed within a <form runat="server"> tag tofunction
properly.
Web server controls require the runat="server" attribute to function properly.
We include web server controls in a form using the asp: prefix.
There are more web server controls than HTML controls. Some offer advanced features that simply arent available using HTML alone, and some generate
quitecomplex HTML code for you. Well meet many web server controls as we
workthrough this and future chapters.

Standard Web Server Controls

The standard set of web server controls that comes with ASP.NET mirrors the HTML
server controls in many ways. However, web server controls offer some new
refinements and enhancements, such as support for events and view state, a more
consistent set of properties and methods, and more built-in functionality
Page No : 107-126 website using asp.net + VB

User Controls
As you build real-world projects, youll frequently encounter pieces of the user
interface that appear in multiple placesheaders or footers, navigation links, and
login boxes are just a few examples. Packaging their forms and behaviors into your
own controls will allow you to reuse these components just as you can reuse ASP
.NETs built-in controls.
A web user control is represented by a class that inherits from
System.Web.UI.UserControl, and contains the basic functionality that you need to
extend to create your own controls.

Demo
Smartbox.ascx
ControlTest.aspx

Validation Controls
The beauty of ASP.NET validation controls is that they determine whether or not the
browser is capable of supporting client-side validation. If it is, ASP.NET automatically
includes the necessary client-side JavaScript; if not, its omitted and the form is
validated on the server.
A nice feature of ASP.NET is that we can make it set the focus automatically to the
first input control that causes a validation error. We activate this feature by setting
the SetFocusOnError property of the validation control to True.

Page.isValid property
Display property of validation control
i. None
None makes the validator invisibleno space is reserved, and the error messageis
never shown. You may want to set this option when using the ValidationSummary
control
ii. Static
Static is the default display mode. With this mode, the validator occupiesspace on the
generated form even if it doesnt display anything.
iii. Dynamic
The Dynamic mode causes the validation control to display if any validationerrors
occur, but ensures that it doesnt generate any output

Demo Required.aspx (Enable and disable java script and see results)
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator
id="passwordReq"
ControlToValidate="passwordTextBox"
ErrorMessage="Password
SetFocusOnError="True" Display="Dynamic" />

runat="server"
is
required!"

<asp:CompareValidator
id="comparePasswords"
runat="server"
ControlToCompare="passwordTextBox"
ControlToValidate="confirmPasswordTextBox" ErrorMessage="Your passwords do
not match up!" Display="Dynamic" />
<asp:RangeValidator id="birthDateRangeTest" runat="server" Type="Date"
ControlToValidate="birthDateTextBox" MinimumValue="1/1/1970"
MaximumValue="12/31/1979" ErrorMessage="You must've been born in the 1970s
to use this web site!" />
<asp:ValidationSummary id="vSummary" runat="server"
showmessagebox=true />
<asp:RegularExpressionValidator id="emailValidator" runat="server"
ControlToValidate="emailTextBox" ValidationExpression="^\S+@\S+\.\S+$"
ErrorMessage="You must enter a valid email address!" />

<asp:CustomValidator ID="usernameUnique" runat="server"

ControlToValidate="usernameTextBox" OnServerValidate="CheckUniqueUserName"
ErrorMessage="This username already taken!" />

Demo Customvalidator.aspx

Validation Groups
validation groups allow us to validate individual parts of a web page independently of
its other sections. This capability proves particularly handy when youre working with
complex pages that contain many functional components. For example, consider the
scenario of a single page that contains a login form and a quick registration form,
each with its own Submit button and its own set of validation controls. Certainly we
dont want the functionality of the login forms Submit button to be affected by the
data in the registration form; nor can we allow the login forms data to affect
submission of the registration form.

Master Pages
Unleashed book ch-5 page 238

Master Page enables you to share the same content among multiple content pages in a
website. You can use a Master Page to create a common page layout. For example, if you want
all the pages in your website to share a three column layout, you can create the layout once in
a Master Page and apply the layout to multiple content pages. You also can use Master Pages
to display common content in multiple pages. For example, if you want to display a standard
header and footer in each page in your website,
then you can create the standard header and footer in a Master Page. By taking advantage of
Master Pages, you can make your website easier to maintain, extend, and modify. If you need
to add a new page to your website that looks just like the other pages in your website, then
you simply need to apply the same Master Page to the new content page. If you decide to
completely modify the design of your website, you do not need to change every content page.
You can modify just a single Master Page to dramatically change the appearance of all the
pages in your application.

Demo SimpleMaster.master
SimpleContent.content
Demo (Master page with default content)
DefaultMaster.master
DefaultContent.aspx
Demo (Nester Master pages)
Site.master
SectionProducts.master
SecrionServices.master
Products.aspx
Services.aspx
Demo (Exposing master page properties)
PropertyMaster.master
PropertyContent.aspx
Demo (dynamic master pages)
Dynamic1.master
Dynamic2.master
Dynamiccontent.aspx

Themes
Ch-6 unleashed book page 270

An ASP.NET Theme enables you to apply a consistent style. You use a Theme to control the
appearance of both the HTML elements and ASP.NET controls that appear in a page. Themes
are different than Master Pages. A Master Page enables you to share content across multiple
pages in a website. A Theme, on the other hand, enables you to control the appearance of the
content.

Demo (simple skin applicable to all controls)

Simple folder in App_Themes
Showskin.aspx
Demo (named skin)
Simple2 folder in App_Themes
Shoenamedskin.aspx
Demo (Themes Versus StyleSheetThemes)

Showskintheme.aspx (theme overrides page level attribute)

Showskinstylesheettheme.aspx (theme overridden in page)

See difference between page directives in PAGE directive

Enable and disable theming in control
Demo (Simple CSS in themes folder)
StyleTheme folder in app_themes
ShowSimpleCSS.aspx

Because an ASP.NET control renders HTML, the Style Sheet also styles the
HTML rendered by the ASP.NET Label, TextBox, and Button controls. An
ASP.NET Label control renders an HTML <label> tag and the Style Sheet
formats all <label> tags in bold. Both a TextBox control and a Button
control render HTML <input> tags. The Style Sheet modifies the border and
background color of the <input> tag. Notice that the Button control includes
a CssClass attribute. By providing a control with a CssClass attribute, you
can target a particular control (or set of controls) in a Cascading Style Sheet.
In this case, the background color of the <input> tag rendered by the Button
control is set to the value #eeeeee (light gray).
I recommend that you do all your web page design by using the method
discussed in this section. You should place all your page design in an
external Cascading Style Sheet located in a Theme folder. In particular, you
should not modify the appearance of a control by modifying its properties.
Furthermore, you should avoid using Skin files. The advantage of using
Cascading Style Sheets is that they result in leaner and faster loading pages.
The more content that you can place in an external Style Sheet, the less
content must be loaded each time you make a page request. The contents of
an external Style Sheet can be loaded and cached by a browser and applied
to all pages in a web application. If, on the other hand, you modify the
appearance of a control by modifying its properties, then additional content
must be rendered to the browser each time you make a page request. For

example, if you modify a Label controls BackColor property, then an

additional Style attribute is rendered when the Label control is rendered.
Using Skins is no different than setting control properties. Skins also
result in bloated pages. For example, if you create a Skin for a Label control,
then the properties of the Label Skin must be merged with each Label
control on each page before the Label is rendered

CSS versus Skin files

o CSS usually deals with HTML code. You cannot apply CSS to certain ASP.NET
specific server controls which are not present in HTML.
o You can apply Themes and skins to all ASP.NET controls with less effort. Themes and
skins can be uniformly applied on both windows and asp.net applications.
o You can apply single theme to each page where as multiple style sheets can be applied
to each page.
o Themes don't override or cascade style definitions by default the way CSS generally do.
But you can selectively override local property settings for a control using style Sheet
Time attribute in Themes.
o You can include CSS files in Themes which is applied as part of Theme structure but
not vice-versa.
You can apply theming for only those properties that have ThemeableAttribute attribute
set to true in their control class.

Skins
Generally, Themes contain skins. A skin file contains style definitions for the individual
server controls. You can define skin settings for a control using similar markup which we
use to add server controls to web page. Only difference you may find between skinned
versions of control is that skinned version do not include ID attribute for control. You
should retain properties for which you want to configure through Themes. We create .skin
files in Theme folder. We can also mix all server controls style definition in a single skin
file. Make sure all style definition files like CSS, skin files, Image files and other
resources are included in Themes folder in your application directory.
<asp:button runat="server" BackColor="lightblue" BorderColor="AliceBlue" Font-Bold
="true"
ForeColor="black"/>
Skin
file
There are two types of control skins based on their scope. They are:
Default Skins: Control skin for which SkinID attribute is not set which means control
skin is applied automatically for the controls of same type. For example: if you create a

default skin for button then default button control skin will be applied for all the buttons
on the page. The scope of default skin depends on where you define default skin.
Named Skins: Named Skins will have SkinID property set which means you can use
named skins with a control only by setting control's SkinID property to specific named
skinID. Named Skins do not apply for the controls by type.
Demo:
Dynamically loading thems (code folder)

State Management (Ch 24 unleashed)

Cookies
Demo
Setcookie.aspx
Getcookie.aspx
Demo
Setpersistentcookie.aspx
(location at C:\Documents and
Settings\admin\ApplicationData\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\c4q3qqwa.default in firefox)
Getcookie.aspx
Demo
Deletecookie.aspx
Demo
Setcookievalues.aspx (preferences)
getcookievalues.aspx

Sessions (ch 24 Unleashed)

Demo (In process session state)
Sessionset.aspx
Demo
Sessionget.aspx (retrieve session value and session id and call abandon method)
Demo
Session timeout in web.config file
Sessionset.aspx
Sessionget.aspx
Demo
Session in SQL server
Sessionset.aspx
Sessionget.aspx
Using SqlServer studio check tables and rows created
c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC>aspnet_regsql.exe -S chirag\sqle
xpress -E -ssadd -sstype p
Demo
Session in State Server
- start aspnetstate server process from services
- set registry key properly for remote connection
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\aspnet_state\Parameters\P
ort set to 1
Check port no as well

pause service and see effect

Profiles
ASP.NET provides a feature called profile properties, which allows you to store
user-specific data. This feature is similar to session state, except that the profile data
is not lost when a user's session expires. The profile-properties feature uses an
ASP.NET profile, which is stored in a persistent format and associated with an
individual user. The ASP.NET profile allows you to easily manage user information
without requiring you to create and maintain your own database. In addition, the
profile makes the user information available using a strongly typed API that you can
access from anywhere in your application. You can store objects of any type in the
profile. The ASP.NET profile feature provides a generic storage system that allows
you to define and maintain almost any kind of data while still making the data
available in a type-safe manner.
Demo : showprofile.aspx (create profile)
Open aspnet database and see rows of dbo.aspnet_profile table
Demo:
Showanonymounsidentification.aspx

ADO .NET
Steps to write database program
1. Import the necessary namespaces.
2. Define a connection to your database with an SqlConnection object.
3. When youre ready to manipulate your database, set up the appropriate queryin an
SqlCommand object.
4. Open the connection and execute the SQL query to return the results into
aSqlDataReader
object.
5. Extract relevant database data from the SqlDataReader object and display it onyour
web
page.
6. Close the database connection.

Demo : connectedDB.aspx
Demo : disconnectedDB.aspx