Beginning ASP.NET 4.5: in C# and VB

The ultimate programming guide to ASP.NET 4.5, by popular author and Microsoft MVP Imar Spaanjaars Updated for ASP.NET 4.5, this introductory book is filled with helpful examples and contains a user-friendly, step-by-step format. Written by popular author and Microsoft ASP.NET MVP Imar Spaanjaars, this book walks you through ASP.NET, Microsoft's technology for building dynamically generated web pages. This edition retains the highly accessible approach to building the Planet Wrox website example, an online community site featuring product reviews, picture sharing, bonus content for registered users, and more. Contains the comprehensive guide to the latest technology additions to ASP.NET 4.5 Shows how to build basic ASP.NET web pages and configure their server Includes information on how to add features with pre-built server controls Reveals how to design pages and make them consistent Contains the information needed for getting user input and displaying data Beginning ASP.NET 4.5 in C# and VB uses Spaanjaars's distinct writing style to put you at ease with learning ASP.NET 4.5. Beginning ASP.NET 4.5: in C# and VB 7 Contents 17 Chapter 1: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4.5 47 Microsoft Visual Studio Express for Web 48 Getting Visual Studio 49 Installing Visual Studio Express (VSEW) 49 Creating Your First ASP.NET 4.5 Website 51 An Introduction to ASP.NET 4.5 56 Understanding HTML 57 HTML Elements and Tags 57 HTML Attributes 60 HTML Comments 60 The Rules of HTML5 60 A First Look at ASP.NET Markup 62 A Tour of the IDE 62 The Main Development Area 63 Choosing Your Development Profile 63 The Main Menu 64 The Toolbar Area 64 The Toolbox 64 The Solution Explorer 64 The Database Explorer 65 The Properties Grid 65 The Document Window 65 The Start Page 66 Informational Windows 68 The Error List 68 The Output Window 68 The Find Results Window 69 Customizing the IDE 69 Rearranging Windows 69 Modifying the Toolbox 70 Customizing the Document Window 72 Customizing Toolbars 73 Enabling and Disabling Toolbars 73 Editing Existing Toolbars 73 Creating Your Own Toolbars 73 Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts 73 Resetting Your Changes 74 Resetting the Window Layout 74 Resetting the Toolbox 74 Resetting All Settings 74 The Sample Application 74 Practical Tips on Visual Studio 76 Summary 77 Chapter 2: Building an ASP.NET Website 79 Creating Websites with Visual Studio 2012 80 Different Project Types 80 Web Application Projects 80 Web Site Projects 80 Choosing between Web Site Projects and Web Application Projects 81 Choosing the Right Website Template 81 ASP.NET Web Forms Site 82 ASP.NET Web Site (Razor v1 / Razor v2) 82 ASP.NET Empty Web Site 82 ASP.NET Dynamic Data Entities Web Site 82 WCF Service 82 Creating and Opening a New Website 83 Creating New Websites 83 Opening Existing Websites 85 Working with Files in Your Website 86 The Many File Types of an ASP.NET 4.5 Website 87 Web Files 87 Code Files 89 Data Files 90 Adding Existing Files 90 Organizing Your Site 92 Special File Types 93 Working with Web Forms 93 The Different Views on Web Forms 93 Choosing between Code Behind and Pages with Inline Code 95 Adding Markup to Your Page 100 Inserting and Formatting Text 100 Adding Tables and Other Markup 103 Connecting Pages 106 Practical Tips on Working with Web Forms 108 Summary 109 Chapter 3: Designing Your Web Pages 111 Why Do You Need CSS? 112 Problems of HTML Formatting 112 How CSS Fixes Formatting Problems 113 An Introduction to CSS 113 CSS-The Language 118 The Style Sheet 118 Selectors 119 Properties 121 Values 122 Using Shorthand 123 The CSS Box Model 124 Adding CSS to Your Pages 131 Choosing among External, Embedded, and Inline Style Sheets 132 Working with CSS in Visual Studio 133 Using the CSS Editor 134 Creating Embedded and Inline Style Sheets 139 Applying Styles 144 Managing Styles 146 Practical Tips on Working with CSS 148 Summary 149 Chapter 4: Working with ASP.NET Server Controls 153 Introduction to Server Controls 154 A Closer Look at ASP.NET Server Controls 158 Defining Controls in Your Pages 158 Common Properties for All Controls 159 Types of Controls 162 Standard Controls 162 Simple Controls 162 List Controls 163 Container Controls 169 Other Standard Controls 176 HTML Controls 178 How to Choose between Standard and HTML Controls 178 Data Controls 178 Validation Controls 179 Navigation Controls 179 Login Controls 179 Ajax Extensions 179 WebParts 179 Dynamic Data 180 The ASP.NET State Engine 180 What Is State and Why Is It Important? 180 How the State Engine Works 181 Not All Controls Rely on View State 185 A Note about View State and Performance 186 Practical Tips on Working with Controls 187 Summary 188 Chapter 5: Programming Your ASP.NET Web Pages 191 Introduction to Programming 192 Data Types and Variables 193 Converting and Casting Data Types 196 Using Arrays and Collections 199 Defining and Working with Arrays 199 Defining and Working with Collections 200 An Introduction to Generics 202 Statements 203 Operators 204 Assignment Operators 204 Arithmetic Operators 204 Comparison Operators 207 Concatenation Operators 209 Logical Operators 210 Making Decisions 212 If, If Else, and ElseIf Constructs 212 Select Case/switch Constructs 214 Loops 219 The For Loop 219 The For Each/foreach Loop 221 The While Loop 221 Exiting Loops Prematurely 222 Organizing Code 223 Methods: Functions and Subroutines 223 The App_Code Folder 226 Organizing Code with Namespaces 230 Writing Comments 232 Commenting Code Inline 232 Writing XML Comments 233 Object Orientation Basics 235 Important OO Terminology 235 Objects 235 Classes 236 Fields 236 Properties 237 Methods 240 Constructors 241 Inheritance 243 Access Modifiers 246 Events 247 Practical Tips on Programming 248 Summary 249 Chapter 6: Creating Consistent Looking Websites 253 Consistent Page Layout with Master Pages 254 Creating Master Pages 256 Creating Content Pages 258 A Closer Look at Master Pages 261 Nesting Master Pages 262 Master Page Caveats 263 Using a Centralized Base Page 264 An Introduction to the ASP.NET Page Life Cycle 265 Implementing the Base Page 267 Creating Reusable Page Templates 271 Themes 275 Different Types of Themes 276 Choosing Between Theme and StyleSheetTheme 276 Applying Themes 276 Extending Themes 281 Dynamically Switching Themes 284 Skins 291 Creating a Skin File 292 Named Skins 294 Disable Theming for Specific Controls 295 Practical Tips on Creating Consistent Pages 295 Summary 296 Chapter 7: Navigation 299 Different Ways to Move Around Your Site 300 Understanding Absolute and Relative URLs 300 Relative URLs 301 Absolute URLs 302 Understanding Default Documents 303 Using the Navigation Controls 303 Architecture of the Navigation Controls 304 Examining the Web.sitemap File 304 Key Elements of the Web.sitemap File 305 Using the Menu Control 307 Using the Rendering Mode 308 Creating a Basic Version of the Menu Control 308 Styling the Menu Control 311 Using the TreeView Control 316 Using the SiteMapPath Control 320 Programmatic Redirection 322 Programmatically Redirecting the Client to a Different Page 322 Server-Side Redirects 325 Practical Tips on Navigation 327 Summary 328 Chapter 8: User Controls 331 Introduction to User Controls 332 Creating User Controls 333 Adding User Controls to a Content Page or Master Page 336 Sitewide Registration of User Controls 339 User Control Caveats 341 Understanding and Managing Client IDs 341 Introducing ClientIDMode 342 Adding Logic to Your User Controls 342 Creating Your Own Data Types for Properties 343 Implementing View State Properties 348 View State Considerations 354 Practical Tips on User Controls 354 Summary 355 Chapter 9: Validating User Input 357 Gathering Data from the User 358 Validating User Input in Web Forms 359 The ASP.NET Validation Controls 359 A Warning on Client-Side Validation 360 Using the Validation Controls 360 Using the HTML5 Data Types 363 The Standard Validation Controls 366 The CustomValidator and ValidationSummary Controls 373 Understanding Request Validation 378 Processing Data at the Server 380 Sending E-mail from Your Website 380 Configuring Your Website for Sending E-mail 380 Creating E-mail Messages 382 Reading from Text Files 386 Practical Tips on Validating Data 391 Summary 392 Chapter 10: ASP.NET AJAX 395 Introducing Ajax 396 Using ASP.NET AJAX in Your Projects 397 Creating Flicker-Free Pages 398 The UpdatePanel Control 398 A Closer Look at the UpdatePanel 401 The ScriptManager Control 402 Providing Feedback to Users 404 The UpdateProgress Control 404 The Timer Control 408 Using Web Services and Page Methods in Ajax Websites 409 What Are Web Services? 410 Introducing WCF 410 Calling Services from Client-Side Code 411 Exchanging Complex Objects with WCF 412 Creating Web Services 415 Configuring the ScriptManager 418 Introducing Page Methods 424 Practical Ajax Tips 427 Summary 428 Chapter 11: jQuery 431 An Introduction to jQuery 432 Introducing NuGet 433 Using the Manage NuGet Packages Dialog Box 433 Using the Package Manager Console 435 Choosing the Location for Your jQuery Reference 437 Different Ways to Include the jQuery Library 438 jQuery Syntax 441 jQuery Core 442 Selecting Items Using jQuery 443 Basic Selectors 443 Basic Filters 446 Advanced Filters 448 Modifying the DOM with jQuery 450 CSS Methods 450 css(name, value) 450 css(name) 450 css(properties) 450 addClass, removeClass, and toggleClass 450 attr(attributeName) 451 attr(attributeName, value) 451 Handling Events 451 Miscellaneous jQuery Functionality 453 Common Mistakes When Working with jQuery 454 Your ID Selectors Don't Work 454 Your ID Selectors Don't Work, Even with a Hash Symbol 454 None of Your Code Seems to Run 454 Effects with jQuery 454 jQuery and Validation 460 Practical Tips on jQuery 464 Summary 464 Chapter 12: Introduction to Databases 467 What Is a Database? 468 Different Kinds of Relational Databases 469 Installing SQL Server 2012 Express 470 Using SQL to Work with Database Data 471 Retrieving and Manipulating Data with SQL 474 Reading Data 474 Selecting Data 474 Filtering Data 475 Ordering Data 476 Joining Data 480 Creating Data 483 Updating Data 484 Deleting Data 484 Creating Your Own Tables 487 Data Types in SQL Server 487 Understanding Primary Keys and Identities 488 Creating Relationships Between Tables 492 Practical Database Tips 496 Summary 497 Chapter 13: Displaying and Updating Data 499 Data Controls 499 Data-Bound Controls 500 List Controls 500 Single Item Controls 501 Paging Controls 501 Data Source Controls 502 Other Data Controls 502 Data Source and Data-bound Controls Working Together 502 Displaying and Editing Data with GridView 502 Inserting Data with DetailsView 509 Storing Your Connection Strings in Web.config 510 Filtering Data 512 Customizing the Appearance of the Data Controls 518 Configuring Columns or Fields of Data-bound Controls 519 Updating and Inserting Data 525 Using DetailsView to Insert and Update Data 525 Practical Tips for Displaying and Updating Data 539 Summary 540 Chapter 14: LINQ and the ADO.NET Entity Framework 543 Introducing LINQ 544 LINQ to Objects 545 LINQ to XML 545 LINQ to ADO.NET 545 Introducing the ADO.NET Entity Framework 546 Mapping Your Data Model to an Object Model 547 Introducing Query Syntax 553 Standard Query Operators 553 Select 554 From 554 Order By 554 Where 555 Sum, Min, Max, Average, and Count 555 Take, Skip, TakeWhile, and SkipWhile 555 Single and SingleOrDefault 556 First, FirstOrDefault, Last, and LastOrDefault 557 Shaping Data with Anonymous Types 557 Using Server Controls with LINQ Queries 563 Using Data Controls with the Entity Framework 563 Introducing the EntityDataSource Control 563 Introducing the ListView Control 570 Using Strongly Typed Data-Bound Controls 582 Introducing the DataPager Control 590 A Few Notes about Performance 595 Practical LINQ and ADO.NET Entity Framework Tips 596 Summary 596 Chapter 15: Working with Data- Advanced Topics 599 Formatting Your Controls Using Styles 600 An Introduction to Styles 601 Combining Styles, Themes, and Skins 605 Handling Events 609 The ASP.NET Page and Control Life Cycles Revisited 610 The ASP.NET Page Life Cycle and Events in Data Controls 615 Handling Errors that Occur in the Data Source Controls 620 Hand-Coding Data Access Code 625 Caching 635 Common Pitfalls with Caching Data 635 Avoiding Stale Data 636 Don't Rely on the Data Being There 636 Different Ways to Cache Data in ASP.NET Web Applications 636 Output Caching 637 Caching with Data Source Controls 638 Programmatic Caching 639 Practical Data Tips 646 Summary 646 Chapter 16: Security in Your ASP.NET 4.5 Website 649 Introducing Security 650 Identity: Who Are You? 650 Authentication: How Can You Prove Who You Are? 650 Authorization: What Are You Allowed to Do? 651 An Introduction to the ASP.NET Application Services 651 Introducing the Login Controls 653 The Login Controls 658 Login 658 LoginView 660 LoginStatus 661 LoginName 661 CreateUserWizard 663 PasswordRecovery 667 ChangePassword 667 Configuring Your Web Application 670 The Role Manager 673 The Role Manager Configuration 673 Managing Users with the WSAT 674 Configuring the Web Application to Work with Roles 678 Programmatically Checking Roles 682 Practical Security Tips 686 Summary 687 Chapter 17: Personalizing Websites 689 Understanding Profile 690 Configuring the Profile 691 Creating Simple Profile Properties 691 Creating Profile Groups 692 Using Non-Standard Data Types 693 Using the Profile 698 Other Ways of Dealing with Profile 716 Anonymous Identification 716 Cleaning Up Old Anonymous Profiles 717 Looking at Other Users' Profiles 718 Practical Personalization Tips 721 Summary 721 Chapter 18: Exception Handling, Debugging, and Tracing 725 Exception Handling 726 Different Types of Errors 726 Syntax Errors 726 Logic Errors 727 Runtime Errors 728 Catching and Handling Exceptions 728 Global Error Handling and Custom Error Pages 736 The Basics of Debugging 744 Tools Support for Debugging 747 Moving Around in Debugged Code 747 Debugging Windows 748 Watching Variables 748 Other Windows 750 Debugging Client-Side Script 755 Debugging with the Page Inspector 758 Introducing the Page Inspector 758 Using the Page Inspector 759 Tracing Your ASP.NET Web Pages 764 Using the Standard Tracing Capabilities 765 Tracing with Individual Pages 765 Tracing the Entire Website 766 Adding Your Own Information to the Trace 769 Tracing and Performance 771 A Security Warning 771 Practical Debugging Tips 771 Summary 772 Chapter 19: Deploying Your Website 775 Preparing Your Website for Deployment 776 Avoiding Hard-Coded Settings 776 The Web.config File 777 Expression Syntax 777 The WebConfigurationManager Class 778 Introducing Bundling and Minification 784 Copying Your Website 787 Creating a Simple Copy of Your Website 788 Publishing Your Website 791 Running Your Site under IIS 792 Installing and Configuring the Web Server 792 Making Sure IIS Is Installed 793 Installing and Configuring ASP.NET 794 Understanding Security in IIS 799 NTFS Settings for Planet Wrox 800 Troubleshooting Web Server Errors 803 Moving Data to a Remote Server 805 Exporting Your Data to a File 806 Re-Creating the Database 808 The Deployment Checklist 809 What's Next 810 Summary 811 Appendix A: Exercise Answers 813 Appendix B: Configuring SQL Server 2012 839 Configuring SQL Server 2012 839 Terminology and Concepts 839 SQL Server Authentication 840 Windows Authentication 840 Choosing between Windows and Server Authentication 841 Using SQL Server Management Studio 841 Enabling Remote Connections in SQL Server 841 Attaching Databases to SQL Server 842 Connecting Your Application to SQL Server 2012 844 Scenario 1-Using SQL Server Authentication 845 Scenario 2-Using Windows Authentication with IIS and the Database on the Same Machine 849 Configuring Application Services 851 Index 853 Advertisement 888