ASP.NET Unleashed

Author: Stephen Walther

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ASP.NET

Stephen Walther

Unleashed

ASP.NET Unleashed Copyright ©2002 by Sams Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Rosemarie Graham

MANAGING EDITOR Charlotte Clapp

PROJECT EDITOR George E. Nedeff

COPY EDITOR Chuck Hutchinson

INDEXER

International Standard Book Number: 0-672-32068-1

Larry Sweazy

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-108313

PROOFREADER

Printed in the United States of America

TECHNICAL EDITORS

First Printing: June 2001 04

03

02

01

Plan-it Publishing

J. Boyd Nolan 4

3

2

1

Donny Mack

Trademarks

Doug Seven

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

TEAM COORDINATOR

Warning and Disclaimer

INTERIOR DESIGNER

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the CD or programs accompanying it.

Gary Adair

Lynne Williams

MEDIA DEVELOPER Dan Scherf

COVER DESIGNER Aren Howell

PAGE LAYOUT D&G Limited

Contents at a Glance Introduction 1

Part I

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms

9

1

Building ASP.NET Pages 11

2

Building Forms with Web Server Controls

3

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls 149

4

Advanced Control Programming 197

Part II

57

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development

249

5

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls 251

6

Separating Code From Presentation 277

7

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls 309

8

Using Third-Party Controls 359

Part III 9

Working with ADO.NET

415

Introduction to ADO.NET 417

10

Binding Data to Web Controls

11

Using the DataList and DataGrid Controls 513

12

Working with DataSets 587

13

Working with XML 637

14

Using ADO.NET to Create a Search Page 667

Part IV

473

Working with ASP.NET Applications

15

Creating ASP.NET Applications 707

16

Tracking User Sessions 747

17

Caching ASP.NET Applications 771

18

Application Tracing and Error Handling 811

Part V

Securing ASP.NET Applications

859

19

Using Forms-Based Authentication 861

20

Using Windows-Based Authentication 911

21

Encrypting Data over the Network 927

705

Part VI

Building ASP.NET Web Services

22

Creating an XML Web Service 957

23

Advanced XML Web Services 995

Part VII

955

Leveraging the .NET Framework

1043

24

Working with Collections and Strings 1045

25

Working with the File System 1099

26

Sending E-mail and Accessing the Network 1127

27

Creating Graphics On-the-Fly with GDI+ 1165

PART VIII

Building Custom ASP.NET Controls

28

Developing Custom Controls 1215

29

Advanced Control Development 1259

Part IX

Sample ASP.NET Applications

30

Creating a Job Site 1295

31

Creating an Online Store 1321

Part X

Appendices

1293

1343

A

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET 1345

B

HTML Control Reference 1357

C

Web Control Reference 1371 Index 1405

1213

Table of Contents Introduction

PART I

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms

1 9

1

Building ASP.NET Pages 11 ASP.NET and the .NET Framework......................................................12 The .NET Framework Class Library................................................12 Understanding Namespaces..............................................................13 Standard ASP.NET Namespaces ......................................................14 .NET Framework-Compatible Languages........................................15 Introducing ASP.NET Controls ............................................................17 A Simple ASP.NET Page ................................................................17 Benefits of ASP.NET Controls ........................................................22 Overview of ASP.NET Controls ......................................................28 Adding Application Logic to an ASP.NET Page ..................................36 Handling Control Events ..................................................................36 Handling Page Events ......................................................................41 The Structure of an ASP.NET Page ......................................................45 Directives..........................................................................................45 Code Declaration Blocks..................................................................49 ASP.NET Controls............................................................................51 Code Render Blocks ........................................................................51 Server-side Comments......................................................................52 Server-side Include Directives..........................................................53 Literal Text and HTML Tags............................................................53 Summary ................................................................................................55

2

Building Forms with Web Server Controls 57 Building Smart Forms............................................................................58 Using Label Controls ......................................................................58 Using the TextBox Control ..............................................................60 Using Button Controls ....................................................................69 Using the RadioButton and RadioButtonList Controls ..................78 Using the CheckBox and CheckBoxList Controls ............................96 Using the DropDownList Control....................................................110 Using the ListBox Control ............................................................120 Controlling Page Navigation ..............................................................131 Submitting a Form to a Different Page ..........................................132 Using the Redirect() Method ......................................................133 Working with the HyperLink Control ............................................135

vi

ASP.NET UNLEASHED Applying Formatting to Controls ........................................................136 Base Web Control Properties..........................................................136 Applying Styles to Web Controls ..................................................141 Summary ..............................................................................................147 3

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls 149 Using Client-side Validation ................................................................150 Configuring Client-side Validation ................................................151 Enabling and Disabling Client-side Validation ..............................152 Requiring Fields: The RequiredFieldValidator Control ..................153 Comparing to an Initial Value ........................................................157 Validating Expressions: The RegularExpressionValidator Control ..............................................................................................159 Validating E-Mail Addresses ..........................................................161 Validating Usernames and Passwords ............................................163 Validating Phone Numbers ............................................................165 Validating Web Addresses ..............................................................166 Checking for Entry Length ............................................................169 Validating ZIP Codes......................................................................170 Comparing Values: The CompareValidator Control ..........................171 Comparing the Value of One Control to the Value of Another ....................................................................................173 Comparing the Value of a Control to a Fixed Value ......................174 Performing a Data Type Check ......................................................176 Checking for a Range of Values: The RangeValidator Control ..............................................................................................177 Summarizing Errors: The ValidationSummary Control ......................181 Displaying Pop-Up Error Messages ..............................................185 Performing Custom Validation: The CustomValidator Control ..............................................................................................188 Validating Credit Card Numbers ....................................................192 Disabling Validation ............................................................................194 Summary ..............................................................................................195

4

Advanced Control Programming 197 Working with View State ....................................................................198 Disabling View State ......................................................................199 Adding Values to View State ..........................................................202 Displaying and Hiding Content ..........................................................203 Using the Visible and Enabled Properties ....................................203 Using the Panel Control ................................................................207 Simulating Multipage Forms..........................................................209 Adding Controls Programmatically................................................213 Adding Controls to a Page ............................................................216

CONTENTS The PlaceHolder Control ..............................................................218 Dynamically Generating Forms ....................................................219 Dynamically Generating List Items ..............................................222 Using Rich Controls ............................................................................225 Displaying Interactive Calendars with the Calendar Control ........................................................................................225 Rendering Calendar Days ..............................................................233 Displaying Banner Advertisements with the AdRotator Control ........................................................................................239 Accepting File Uploads with the HTMLInputFile Control ............244 Summary ..............................................................................................247

PART II

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development

249

5

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls 251 Including Standard Content with User Controls ................................252 Exposing Properties and Methods in User Controls ..........................257 Exposing Web Controls in User Controls............................................260 Exposing Events in User Controls ......................................................268 Loading User Controls Programmatically ..........................................269 Summary ..............................................................................................275

6

Separating Code from Presentation 277 Creating Business Components ..........................................................278 Creating a Simple Business Component ........................................279 Creating Multitiered Web Applications ..............................................290 Using Code-Behind..............................................................................296 How Code-Behind Really Works ..................................................299 Compiling Code-Behind Files........................................................300 Inheriting Multiple Pages from a Code-Behind File......................300 Compiling a Complete ASP.NET Page ..........................................304 Summary ..............................................................................................307

7

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls 309 Using Mobile Device Software Simulators ........................................310 Introduction to the Wireless Application Protocol ..............................312 Building WML Pages ..........................................................................313 Configuring Internet Information Server ......................................313 WML and XML..............................................................................314 Creating a Deck of Cards ..............................................................314 Linking Files with WML................................................................316 Using ASP.NET Mobile Controls........................................................317 Creating Mobile Forms ..................................................................318 Dynamically Activating a Mobile Form ........................................320 Displaying Text ..............................................................................321 Displaying Lists..............................................................................325

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ASP.NET UNLEASHED Creating Text Boxes ......................................................................338 Validating User Input......................................................................341 Displaying Images ..........................................................................344 Placing Phone Calls........................................................................346 Displaying Advertisements with Mobile Controls ........................347 Displaying Calendars with Mobile Controls..................................348 Creating Cross-Device-Compatible Mobile Pages ..............................350 Detecting Mobile Capabilities........................................................351 Choosing Devices with DeviceSpecific ......................................353 Using Form Template Sets ............................................................356 Summary ..............................................................................................357 8

PART III 9

Using Third-Party Controls 359 Using the Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls ..........................360 Using the TreeView Control ..........................................................360 Using the Toolbar Control ............................................................376 Using the TabStrip Control ..........................................................382 Using the Superexpert Controls ..........................................................390 Using the Content Rotator Control ..............................................390 Using the SuperDataGrid Control..................................................398 Using the DataForm Control ..........................................................404 Summary ..............................................................................................414 Working with ADO.NET

415

Introduction to ADO.NET 417 An Overview of ADO.NET ................................................................418 Performing Common Database Tasks ................................................420 Opening a Database Connection ....................................................421 Retrieving Records from a Database Table....................................423 Using Parameters with Queries ......................................................431 Adding Records to a Database ......................................................437 Updating Database Records ..........................................................441 Deleting Database Records ............................................................445 Improving Database Performance ......................................................449 Using SQL Stored Procedures........................................................449 Retrieving Return Values and Output Parameters ..........................454 Executing Complex Stored Procedures..........................................457 Improving Performance with Connection Pooling ........................461 Advanced Database Topics ..................................................................462 Executing Database Commands in a Transaction ..........................462 Specifying a Command Behavior ..................................................466 Retrieving Table Schema Information............................................469 Summary ..............................................................................................470

CONTENTS 10

Binding Data to Web Controls 473 Overview of Data Binding ..................................................................474 Binding a Server Control to a Data Source ........................................481 Binding to the Repeater Control....................................................481 Using Templates ............................................................................484 View State and the Repeater Control ............................................487 Binding to the DropDownList Control ............................................487 Binding to the RadioButtonList Control ......................................490 Binding to the CheckBoxList Control ............................................492 Binding to a ListBox Control ........................................................494 Binding to Other Controls ..............................................................496 Creating Master/Detail Forms ............................................................503 Creating Single-Page Master/Detail Forms....................................504 Creating Multipage Master/Detail Forms ......................................507 Summary ..............................................................................................511

11

Using the DataList and DataGrid Controls 513 Overview of the DataList and DataGrid Controls..............................514 Understanding Event Bubbling ......................................................514 Using Templates ............................................................................516 Using the DataKeys Collection ......................................................517 Using the DataList Control ................................................................517 Displaying Data in a DataList ......................................................517 Using Templates with a DataList ..................................................520 Using Styles with a DataList ........................................................522 Creating Multiple Columns in a DataList ....................................525 Capturing Events Raised in a DataList Control............................527 Selecting Items in a DataList Control ..........................................530 Using the DataKeys Collection with the DataList Control ..........533 Creating a Master/Detail Form with a DataList Control ..............534 Editing Items in a DataList Control ..............................................537 Using the DataGrid Control ................................................................545 Creating Columns in a DataGrid Control ......................................547 Using Styles with a DataGrid ........................................................562 Sorting Columns in a DataGrid Control ........................................565 Paging Through Records in a DataGrid ........................................569 Selecting Rows in a DataGrid Control ..........................................575 Editing Items in a DataGrid Control ..............................................578 Editing Items in a DataGrid Control with Templates ....................581 Summary ..............................................................................................585

ix

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ASP.NET UNLEASHED 12

Working with DataSets 587 Understanding DataSets ......................................................................588 Elements of DataSets ....................................................................590 Adding DataTables to a DataSet ..................................................590 Binding Controls to a DataSet ......................................................593 Understanding DataTables ..................................................................595 Creating DataTables Programmatically ........................................595 Setting DataTable Properties..........................................................597 Setting Column Properties in a DataTable ....................................599 Computing Column Values in a DataTable....................................609 Defining Relationships Between DataTables ................................611 Retrieving DataTable Schema Information ..................................613 Updating Records in a DataTable ..................................................616 Understanding DataViews ....................................................................619 Filtering Rows in a DataView ........................................................620 Sorting Rows in a DataView ..........................................................623 Finding Rows in a DataView ..........................................................625 Using DataSets with ASP.NET Pages ................................................626 Caching DataSets ..........................................................................626 Displaying Cached Data ................................................................627 Filtering Cached Data ....................................................................630 Finding a Row in a Cached DataSet ..............................................633 Summary ..............................................................................................636

13

Working with XML 637 Overview of the XML Classes ............................................................638 Using XML with DataSets ..................................................................640 Reading an XML Document into a DataSet ..................................640 Using a Schema with ReadXml........................................................642 Writing an XML Document from a DataSet ................................647 Using XMLDataDocuments with DataSets ......................................651 Transforming XML with XSL Stylesheets..........................................656 Using the ASP.NET Xml Control ........................................................656 Using the XslTransform Class ............................................................660 Using Strongly Typed DataSets ..........................................................662 Summary ..............................................................................................666

14

Using ADO.NET to Create a Search Page 667 Using SQL Server Full-Text Search ....................................................668 Configuring the Full-Text Search Service......................................668 Performing Free Text Queries with Database Data........................671 Performing Boolean Queries with Database Data ........................677 Using the CONTAINSTABLE Function................................................680 Uploading and Indexing Binary Documents..................................684

CONTENTS Using the Microsoft Indexing Service ................................................692 Configuring the Microsoft Indexing Service ................................693 Configuring SQL Server to Use Microsoft Indexing Service..........................................................................................694 Retrieving Document Properties ....................................................695 Performing Free Text Queries with File System Data ..................697 Performing Boolean Queries with File System Data ....................700 Performing Queries with Document Properties ............................702 Summary ..............................................................................................703

PART IV

Working with ASP.NET Applications

705

15

Creating ASP.NET Applications 707 Overview of ASP.NET Applications....................................................708 Using Application State ......................................................................710 Understanding Application State and Synchronization..................711 Using the Global.asax File............................................................715 Understanding Context and Using the Global.asax File..............716 Handling the Application Start and Init Events..........................717 Handling the Application_BeginRequest Event ..........................720 Using the Web.Config File ..................................................................725 Examining the Configuration Sections ..........................................726 Modifying Configuration Settings..................................................728 Setting the Configuration Location ................................................729 Locking Configuration Settings ....................................................730 Adding Custom Configuration Information ..................................731 Using HTTP Handlers and Modules ..................................................733 Working with HTTP Handlers ......................................................733 Working with HTTP Modules........................................................737 Creating the WhosOn Application ....................................................740 Summary ..............................................................................................746

16

Tracking User Sessions 747 Using Browser Cookies ......................................................................748 How Cookies Work ........................................................................749 Creating and Reading Session Cookies..........................................750 Creating and Reading Persistent Cookies ......................................753 Setting Cookie Properties ..............................................................754 Examining Limitations of Cookies ................................................755 Using Session State..............................................................................756 Adding Items to Session State........................................................757 Removing Items from Session State ..............................................758 Starting a User Session ..................................................................758 Ending a User Session....................................................................759 Handling Session Events ................................................................760

xi

xii

ASP.NET UNLEASHED Storing Session State in Process ....................................................763 Storing Session State in a Windows Service..................................763 Storing Session State in a Database Table ....................................765 Disabling Session State ..................................................................767 Using Cookieless Sessions ..................................................................768 Enabling Cookieless Sessions ........................................................768 Examining Limitations of Cookieless Sessions ............................769 Summary ..............................................................................................770 17

Caching ASP.NET Applications 771 Using Page Output Caching ................................................................772 Varying Cache Contents by Parameter ..........................................774 Varying Cache Contents by Header ..............................................777 Varying the Cache Contents by a Custom String ..........................781 Setting the Cache Location ............................................................783 Working with the HttpCachePolicy Class ....................................783 Using Page Fragment Caching ............................................................784 Varying Page Fragment Caching by Parameter ............................787 Examining the Limitations of Page Fragment Caching ................790 Using Page Data Caching ....................................................................791 Adding Items to the Cache ............................................................792 Adding Cache File Dependencies ..................................................794 Adding Cache Trigger Dependencies ............................................797 Adding Cache Key Dependencies ..................................................799 Creating an Absolute Expiration Policy ........................................801 Creating a Sliding Expiration Policy..............................................803 Setting Cache Item Priorities..........................................................804 Creating a Cache Callback Method................................................805 Summary ..............................................................................................809

18

Application Tracing and Error Handling 811 Responding to Errors ..........................................................................812 Viewing Error Information ............................................................816 Page-Level Error Handling ............................................................820 Application-Level Error Handling ................................................825 Tracing and Monitoring Your Application ..........................................828 Tracing Page Execution..................................................................828 Monitoring the ASP.NET Process ..................................................837 Retrieving Process Information......................................................840 Logging Events ....................................................................................842 Using Performance Counters..........................................................845

CONTENTS Using the Debugger ............................................................................853 Attaching the Debugger..................................................................854 Creating Breakpoints ......................................................................854 Creating Watches ............................................................................855 Stepping Through an ASP.NET Page ............................................856 Summary ..............................................................................................856

PART V

Securing ASP.NET Applications

859

19

Using Forms-Based Authentication 861 Working with Forms Authentication ..................................................862 Enabling Forms Authentication......................................................863 Configuring Forms Authentication ................................................868 Configuring Forms Authorization ..................................................870 Retrieving User Information ..........................................................871 Creating a Sign Out Page ..............................................................874 Authenticating Users with the Web.Config File ............................875 Authenticating Users with an XML File........................................879 Authenticating Users with a Database Table..................................885 Implementing Roles-based Authentication ....................................892 Creating a Custom Authentication Ticket ......................................895 Using Forms Authentication and Web Farms ................................899 Working with Passport Authentication ................................................899 Enabling Passport Authentication ..................................................900 Enabling Users to Sign In and Sign Out ........................................902 Retrieving User Information ..........................................................906 Summary ..............................................................................................909

20

Using Windows-Based Authentication 911 Working with Windows Authentication ..............................................912 Configuring Internet Information Server Security ........................913 Configuring Microsoft Windows Security ....................................914 Configuring Windows Authentication ............................................915 Configuring Windows Authorization..............................................916 Configuring Custom Roles ............................................................919 Retrieving User Information ..........................................................921 Impersonating User Accounts..............................................................922 Executing ASP.NET Pages under a User Account ........................923 Setting Security Policies ......................................................................925 Summary ..............................................................................................926

xiii

xiv

ASP.NET UNLEASHED 21

PART VI 22

Encrypting Data over the Network 927 Using the Secure Sockets Layer ..........................................................928 Encryption ......................................................................................928 Authentication ................................................................................929 Data Integrity..................................................................................931 How Secure Is SSL? ......................................................................931 Configuring Your Server to Use SSL ..................................................931 Generating a Certificate Request File ............................................932 Applying for a Server Certificate ..................................................933 Installing Your Server Certificate ..................................................934 Using SSL in ASP.NET Pages ............................................................934 Using .NET Encryption Classes ..........................................................936 Using Hash Algorithms ..................................................................937 Using Symmetric Encryption Algorithms ......................................940 Using Asymmetric Encryption ......................................................945 Summary ..............................................................................................952 Building ASP.NET Web Services

955

Creating an XML Web Service 957 Overview of XML Web services ........................................................958 XML Web Services Facilitate Communication..............................959 XML Web Services Enable Aggregation ......................................960 Creating a Simple XML Web Service ................................................961 Setting WebMethod Attributes ..........................................................962 Setting WebService Attributes ........................................................963 Precompiling an XML Web Service ..............................................964 Testing an XML Web Service from a Browser ..................................965 Invoking an XML Web Service with HTTP-Get ..........................967 Invoking an XML Web Service with HTTP-Post ..........................968 Invoking an XML Web Service with SOAP ..................................968 Accessing an XML Web service Through a Proxy Class ..................969 Generating an XML Web Service Proxy Class..............................970 Using an XML Web Service Proxy Class ......................................971 Working with the Web Services Discovery Tool............................973 Setting Proxy Class Properties ......................................................974 Transmitting Complex Data in an XML Web service ........................975 XML Web Services and Arrays......................................................975 XML Web Services and Classes ....................................................978 Web Services and DataSets ..........................................................981 Web Services and Binary Files ......................................................983

CONTENTS Examining XML Web Service and Web Site Interaction....................987 XML Web Services and Application State ....................................987 XML Web Services and Session State ..........................................989 Summary ..............................................................................................993 23

PART VII 24

Advanced XML Web Services 995 Using the WebService Behavior ..........................................................996 Examining Limitations of the WebService Behavior ....................996 Creating a Simple Page with a WebService Behavior....................997 Using a WebService Behavior Callback Function........................1001 Catching Errors in a WebService Behavior..................................1003 Using a WebService Behavior to Perform Partial Page Updates ..................................................................1005 Using the WebService Behavior to Retrieve Database Data ............................................................................1008 Securing an XML Web Service ........................................................1012 Overview of the Secure XML Web Service ................................1013 Creating the Database Tables ......................................................1014 Creating the Login() Method ......................................................1014 Retrieving the Custom SOAP Header ..........................................1018 Authenticating the Session Key ..................................................1019 Caching the Session Keys ............................................................1019 Building the Secure XML Web Service ......................................1020 Accessing the Secure Web Service ..............................................1023 Using HTML Pattern Matching ........................................................1025 Creating the WSDL Document ....................................................1026 Specifying the Regular Expression Pattern ..................................1028 Creating a Simple HTML Pattern Matching Service ..................1029 Using Input Parameters with HTML Pattern Matching ..............1033 Building the Six Degrees Web Service ........................................1036 Summary ............................................................................................1040 Leveraging the .NET Framework

1043

Working with Collections and Strings 1045 Working with Collections ..................................................................1046 Using the ArrayList Collection ..................................................1046 Using the HashTable Collection ..................................................1054 Working with Strings ........................................................................1062 Formatting Strings ........................................................................1062 Using String Methods and Properties ..........................................1072 Using the StringBuilder Class ..................................................1077 Appending Strings to a StringBuilder ......................................1078

xv

xvi

ASP.NET UNLEASHED Working with Regular Expressions ..................................................1082 Using Regular Expression Classes ..............................................1082 Examining Elements of a Regular Expression ............................1086 Matching Single Characters ........................................................1086 Matching Special Characters........................................................1087 Matching Alternative Sequences of Characters............................1089 Matching with Quantifiers............................................................1090 Identifying Regular Expressions and Greed ................................1091 Capturing and Backreferences......................................................1092 Using Replacement Patterns ........................................................1094 Setting Regular Expression Options ............................................1095 Summary ............................................................................................1097 25

Working with the File System 1099 Using Files and Directories ..............................................................1100 Creating and Reading Text Files ..................................................1101 Creating and Reading Binary Files ..............................................1104 Displaying the Contents of a Directory........................................1107 Retrieving Path Information ........................................................1108 Using Serialization ............................................................................1110 Using Binary Serialization ..........................................................1111 Using XML Serialization ............................................................1119 Summary ............................................................................................1126

26

Sending E-Mail and Accessing the Network 1127 Sending E-mail From an ASP.NET Page ..........................................1128 The Microsoft SMTP Service ......................................................1128 Sending a Simple E-mail Message ..............................................1131 Using the MailMessage Class ......................................................1134 Adding Attachments to an E-mail Message ................................1135 Sending HTML E-Mail ................................................................1136 Using Message Queuing ....................................................................1141 Configuring Microsoft Message Queuing....................................1142 Working with Message Queues....................................................1143 Sending Messages to a Queue......................................................1145 Retrieving Messages from a Queue ............................................1148 Displaying the Body of a Message ..............................................1151 Sending and Receiving Complex Messages ................................1152 Accessing Other Web Sites with the HTTP Protocol........................1157 Using the WebClient Class ..........................................................1158 Using the HttpWebRequest Class..................................................1159 Resolving Domain Names............................................................1162 Summary ............................................................................................1163

CONTENTS 27

PART VIII 28

Creating Graphics On-the-Fly with GDI+ 1165 Building Simple Images ....................................................................1166 Drawing Objects with GDI+..............................................................1169 Creating a Bitmap ........................................................................1170 Working with the Graphics Object ..............................................1171 Setting Graphics Quality ..............................................................1173 Using Colors ................................................................................1174 Using Brushes ..............................................................................1177 Using Pens ....................................................................................1185 Setting Pen Cap Styles ................................................................1189 Drawing a Rectangle ....................................................................1194 Drawing a Line ............................................................................1194 Drawing an Ellipse ......................................................................1194 Drawing a Curve ..........................................................................1195 Drawing a String of Text ..................................................................1197 Building Sample GDI+ Applications ................................................1200 Creating an ASP.NET Paint Application ......................................1200 Creating a Simple Chart Application ..........................................1206 Summary ............................................................................................1211 Building Custom ASP.NET Controls

1213

Developing Custom Controls 1215 Creating a Simple Control ................................................................1216 Using HtmlTextWriter ......................................................................1219 Adding Properties and Methods to Controls ....................................1220 Using Property Accessor Functions ............................................1222 Using Methods with Controls ......................................................1224 Parsing Inner Content ........................................................................1226 Adding Child Controls to a Control ..................................................1227 Creating a Custom Control Builder..............................................1231 Examining Custom Controls and Events ..........................................1234 Adding Custom Events to a Control ............................................1235 Participating in Postbacks..................................................................1238 Handling Postback Events............................................................1244 Creating Composite Controls ............................................................1247 Handling Events in a Composite Control ....................................1250 Inheriting from Existing Controls......................................................1253 Accessing the Current Context ..........................................................1254 Debugging Controls ..........................................................................1256 Summary ............................................................................................1258

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ASP.NET UNLEASHED 29

PART IX

Advanced Control Development 1259 Adding Templates to a Control..........................................................1260 Creating Multiple Instances of a Template ..................................1263 Adding Multiple Templates to a Control ....................................1265 Creating DataBound Controls ............................................................1269 Implementing Different Data Sources..........................................1270 Implementing a Simple DataBound Control ................................1270 Using DataBound Controls and Templates....................................1273 Using DataBound Controls and State............................................1276 Binding a Custom Control to a DataSet ......................................1279 Using Custom Controls and Web Services........................................1286 Creating the Featured Products Web Service ..............................1287 Creating the Featured Products Custom Control ........................1288 Displaying the Featured Products Control ..................................1290 Summary ............................................................................................1291 Sample ASP.NET Applications

1293

30

Creating a Job Site 1295 Installing the Job Site ........................................................................1297 Creating the Home Page ....................................................................1298 Authenticating Users..........................................................................1301 Creating Vanity URLs........................................................................1307 Listing and Updating Jobs ................................................................1310 Creating the Jobs XML Web Service ................................................1312 Summary ............................................................................................1320

31

Creating an Online Store 1321 Overview of the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store ........................1322 Installing the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store ............................1324 Building the Navigation System........................................................1325 Caching the Product Data ..................................................................1328 Building the Shopping Cart ..............................................................1330 Dynamically Loading Product Templates ........................................1337 Using the LoadControl Method ..................................................1338 The Code-Behind Product Template ..........................................1340 Summary ............................................................................................1341

CONTENTS

PART X

Appendices

1343

A

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET 1345 ASP.NET Pages End with the Extension .aspx ................................1346 Option Explicit Is On by Default ....................................................1347 No More Variants ..............................................................................1348 Use Parentheses When Passing Parameters to Subroutines and Methods ....................................................................................1349 Functions and Subroutines Must Be Declared in Tags ....1350 Parameters Are Passed by Value........................................................1351 Forms Should Post Back to the Same Page ......................................1352 Only One Server-Side Form per Page ..............................................1353 Don’t Use Set and Let When Working with Objects........................1353 Apartment-Threaded Components Are Not Supported ....................1354 No Nonindexed Default Properties....................................................1355 ASP.NET Pages Can Contain Only a Single Language ....................1355 Differences in Request, Request.Form, and Request.QueryString ....................................................................1355

B

HTML Control Reference

1357

C

Web Control Reference

1371

Index

1405

xix

About the Author Stephen Walther has been involved with Active Server Pages from the beginning. Since 1997, he has been running the Superexpert Web site (www.superexpert.com), a popular Active Server Pages resource on the Web and the first “live” Web site created with ASP.NET. His training company, AspWorkshops (www.AspWorkshops.com), conducted the first training class on ASP.NET. He also lectures regularly on ASP and ASP.NET. Stephen got his start working with Active Server Pages by developing two large commercial Web sites. First, he created the Collegescape Web site, used by more than 200 colleges—including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT—to accept online college applications (Collegescape was bought out by Petersons). Next, he created the CityAuction Web site, used by both Snap! and CitySearch (CityAuction was acquired by CitySearch). Stephen received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a Ph.D. candidate in Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he became involved with the World Wide Web.

Dedication This book is dedicated to Ruth Walther.

Acknowledgments I want to thank my sister, Sue Walther-Jones, for once again reading and commenting on all the chapters of this book. I also want to thank Scott Guthrie and Rob Howard at Microsoft for taking the time to meet with me and answering my questions about ASP.NET. Charles Carroll (LearnASP.com) also provided many valuable suggestions for improving this book. Finally, I want to thank Rosemarie Graham, Brad Jones, and Chris Webb for all the support and encouragement they gave me while I was writing this book.

Tell Us What You Think! As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what we’re doing right, what we could do better, what areas you’d like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you’re willing to pass our way. As an associate publisher for Sams Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can e-mail or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn’t like about this book— as well as what we can do to make our books stronger. Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book, and that due to the high volume of mail I receive, I might not be able to reply to every message. When you write, please be sure to include this book’s title and author as well as your name and phone or fax number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

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Sams Publishing Mark Taber Sams Publishing 800 East 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Introduction ASP.NET, the latest version of Active Server Pages, is Microsoft’s technology for building dynamic, database-driven Web sites. Active Server Pages is one of the most popular languages for building scalable, interactive Web sites. Several of the highest traffic Web sites on the Internet employ Active Server Pages. Examples include Dell Online, Barnes and Noble, 1-800-Flowers, and the Microsoft site itself. ASP.NET represents a radical departure from previous versions of Active Server Pages. If you have programmed with earlier versions of Active Server Pages and you have not been exposed to the new features of ASP.NET, prepare to be shocked. Following are some of the significant new features of ASP.NET: • ASP.NET uses compiled code written in Common Language Runtime languages such as Visual Basic and C#. Unlike previous versions of Active Server Pages, this version does not use interpreted scripting languages such as VBScript. • ASP.NET pages are built out of server-side controls. Web server controls enable you to represent and program against Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) elements using an intuitive object model. • ASP.NET includes a new technology called Web Services. You can use Web Services to access methods and properties and transfer database data across the Internet. • ASP.NET is part of Microsoft’s .NET framework. You can access thousands of .NET classes in your code that enable you to perform such wondrously diverse tasks as generating images on-the-fly and saving an array to a file. • ASP.NET includes page and data caching mechanisms that enable you to easily and dramatically improve the performance of your Web site.

Who Should Read This Book? ASP.NET Unleashed is intended for professional programmers who need to create a Web site. This book is a comprehensive reference for building Web sites with ASP.NET. The CD that accompanies this book contains hundreds of code samples that you can start using immediately while building your Web site. If you are new to building Web sites with Active Server Pages, you can use this book to teach yourself everything you need to know to build a Web site with ASP.NET. If you

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are an experienced Active Server Pages programmer, you can use this book to learn about the new features of ASP.NET. The final part of this book contains two complete sample applications: a job site and an online store. The complete code for these applications is included on the CD that accompanies this book.

What Do You Need to Know Before You Read This Book? This book assumes that you know HTML and that you have experience with a programming language, such as Visual Basic (VB) or VBScript. Almost all the code discussed in this book was written with Visual Basic. However, if you are familiar with VBScript, you should have very little trouble understanding the code samples. To get the most from the database chapters, you should have some experience working with a database, such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or Microsoft Access.

How This Book Is Organized Although I encourage you to read this book from start to finish, reading chapter by chapter, I realize that not everyone has time to do so. If necessary, you can use this book solely as a reference and jump to a chapter only when the need arises. It might be helpful, therefore, to have an idea of the overall organization of this book. • Part I: Working with ASP.NET Web Forms—The chapters in this part provide you with detailed information on building ASP.NET pages with form and validation controls. All the controls used for constructing interactive HTML forms are discussed. • Part II: Advanced ASP.NET Page Development—These chapters discuss how to create your own controls with user controls, how to use mobile controls to create Web pages that work with cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), how to divide the code from the design content on a page, and how to use third-party controls in your ASP.NET pages. • Part III: Working with ADO.NET—The chapters in this part provide you with a detailed understanding of ADO.NET. You learn how to perform basic database tasks, such as saving form data to a database. You also learn how to use the specialized database Web controls, such as the DataList and DataGrid controls.

INTRODUCTION

• Part IV: Working with ASP.NET Applications—These chapters discuss features of an ASP.NET application. For example, you learn how to configure your ASP.NET application with the Web.config file and work with both application and session state. • Part V: Securing ASP.NET Applications—These chapters provide you with an overview of the security features built into ASP.NET. For example, you learn how to use form-based security to password-protect pages on your site. You also learn how to use the .NET classes for performing encryption. • Part VI: Building ASP.NET Web Services—The chapters in this part explain how to use an exciting new technology included with this release of Active Server Pages. In these chapters, you learn how to create Web Services and integrate the Web Services into your Web site. • Part VII: Leveraging the .NET Framework—These chapters discuss many of the useful .NET classes that you can use in your pages. For example, you learn how to generate images on-the-fly, work with collections and regular expressions, and send e-mail from an ASP.NET page. • Part VIII: Building Custom ASP.NET Controls—These chapters discuss how you can extend the ASP.NET Framework with custom controls. You learn how to create your own ASP.NET controls. • Part IX: Sample Applications—The final part of this book contains two complete sample applications. You learn how to build a job site and an online store.

Code Naming Conventions Used in This Book The topic of variable naming and code conventions is a touchy one. Programmers tend to develop their personal naming conventions and don’t like others dictating how they should write their code. Nevertheless, having a common convention is valuable when code must be read by multiple people in an organization (think code reviews). Having a common convention also makes it easier to read your own code if you return to it at a later date. The most popular variable naming convention is called Hungarian Notation. It was originally developed by Charles Simonyi at Microsoft and has been used internally at Microsoft for a number of years. According to this convention, you should name all variables starting with a standard three or four letter prefix that represents the variable’s data type. For example, an integer variable used to represent a customer’s age should be named intCustomerAge.

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Microsoft recommends that you do not follow this convention in the case of the .NET Framework and ASP.NET. The motivation for this recommendation is that they expect you to use an advanced editor, such as Microsoft Visual Studio, to write your code. Visual Studio automatically provides you with information about a variable’s type. However, in this book, I will not assume that you are using Visual Studio to write your ASP.NET pages. In practice, developers use a wide variety of editors—such as TextPad, UltraEdit, and Notepad—to write code. Since I am not assuming that you are using Visual Studio, a variable naming convention is necessary. Furthermore, in my experience, many companies require their programmers to follow a strict naming convention that is typically some variation on the Hungarian Notation. I’ll be using a variation of Hungarian Notation for the naming conventions used in this book. I’ve created a set of prefixes and naming conventions for the basic variable data types, ASP.NET Web Controls, ADO.NET classes, and event-handling subroutines. These conventions are listed in the tables below. My goal is not to provide a standard prefix for each and every class in the .NET Framework. That would require over 3,400 standard prefixes! The goal is to provide standard prefixes for the most common types that you would use in ASP.NET. Variable Naming Conventions

Type

Prefix

Example

Array

arr

arrShoppingList

Boolean

bln

blnIsPostBack

Byte

byt

bytPixelValue

Char

chr

chrDelimiter

DateTime

dtm

dtmStartDate

Decimal

dec

decAverageHeight

Double

dbl

dblSizeOfUniverse

Integer

int

intRowCounter

Long

lng

lngBillGatesIncome

Object

obj

objReturnValue

Short

shr

shrAverage

Single

sng

sngMaximum

String

str

strFirstName

INTRODUCTION WebControls

Type

Prefix

Example

AdRotator

adrt

adrtTopAd

Button

btn

btnSubmit

Calendar

cal

calMeetingDates

CheckBox

chk

chkBlue

CheckBoxList

chkl

chklFavColors

CompareValidator

valc

valcValidAge

CustomValidator

valx

valxDBCheck

DataGrid

dgrd

dgrdTitles

DataList

dlst

dlstTitles

DropDownList

drop

dropCountries

HyperLink

lnk

lnkDetails

Image

img

imgAuntBetty

ImageButton

ibtn

ibtnSubmit

Label

lbl

lblResults

LinkButton

lbtn

lbtnSubmit

ListBox

lst

lstCountries

Panel

pnl

pnlForm2

PlaceHolder

plh

plhFormContents

RadioButton

rad

radFemale

RadioButtonList

radl

radlGender

RangeValidator

valg

valgAge

RegularExpression Validator

vale

valeEmail

Repeater

rpt

rptQueryResults

RequiredFieldValidator

valr

valrFirstName

Table

tbl

tblCountryCodes

TableCell

tblc

tblcGermany

TableRow

tblr

tblrCountry

TextBox

txt

txtFirstName

ValidationSummary

vals

valsFormErrors

XML

xmlc

xmlcTransformResults

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ASP.NET UNLEASHED ADO.NET

Type

Prefix

Example

Connection

con

conNorthwind

Commmand

cmd

cmdReturnProducts

Parameter

parm

parmProductID

DataAdapter

dad

dadProducts

DataReader

dtr

dtrProducts

DataSet

dst

dstNorthwind

DataTable

dtbl

dtblProduct

DataRow

drow

drowRow98

DataColumn

dcol

dcolProductID

DataRelation

drel

drelMasterDetail

DataView

dvw

dvwFilteredProducts

Event Handling Subroutines The name of an event handling subroutine will consist of the id of the control that raised the event followed by the type of event being handled. For example, a subroutine named btnSubmit_Click handles the Click event of a Button control named btnSubmit. When a control that raises an event is not assigned an id, the type of the control is used instead of the id. For example, the subroutine named Button_Click handles the Click event of a Button control without an id.

Conventions Used in This Book The following typographic conventions are used in this book: • Code lines, commands, statements, variables, and any text you type or see onscreen appears in a mono typeface. Bold mono typeface is often used to represent the user’s input. • Placeholders in syntax descriptions appear in an italic mono typeface. Replace the placeholder with the actual filename, parameter, or whatever element it represents. • Italics highlight technical terms when they’re being defined.

INTRODUCTION

• The ➥ icon is used before a line of code that is really a continuation of the preceding line. Sometimes a line of code is too long to fit as a single line on the page. If you see ➥ before a line of code, remember that it’s part of the line immediately above it. • The book also contains Notes, Tips, and Cautions to help you spot important or useful information more quickly. • The notes include comments for experienced ASP users who are upgrading to ASP.NET. These notes are labeled “ASP Classic Note.”

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PART

I IN THIS PART 1 Building ASP.NET Pages

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2 Building Forms with Web Server Controls

57

3 Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls 149 4 Advanced Control Programming

197

CHAPTER 1

Building ASP.NET Pages

IN THIS CHAPTER • ASP.NET and the .NET Framework • Introducing ASP.NET Controls

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• Adding Application Logic to an ASP.NET Page 36 • The Structure of an ASP.NET Page

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In this chapter, you learn how to build basic ASP.NET Web Forms Pages. Don’t let the Forms part of the name mislead you. Web Forms Pages can do much more than display standard HTML forms. Most, if not all, the pages of your ASP.NET application will be Web Forms Pages, which enable you to create pages with interactive, dynamic, or database-driven content. Web Forms Pages are pieced together out of two building blocks. First, you assemble the dynamic portion of the user interface by using ASP.NET controls. ASP.NET controls enable you to display “smart” HTML forms, for example, and present interactive grids of database data. The first part of this chapter provides an overview of all the ASP.NET controls. The second building block of a Web Forms Page is the application logic, which includes the code that executes when you click a form button, or the code that retrieves the database data displayed within a control. In the second part of this chapter, you learn how to add application logic to your Web Forms Pages to handle both control and page events. Finally, in the last part of this chapter, you are formally introduced to the structure of an ASP.NET Web Forms Page. You learn about the different sections of a Web Forms Page and the type of content appropriate to each section. After reading this chapter, you can start creating dynamic Web sites by building interactive, dynamic pages using ASP.NET controls and handling control and page events with application logic.

ASP.NET and the .NET Framework ASP.NET is part of Microsoft’s overall .NET framework, which contains a vast set of programming classes designed to satisfy any conceivable programming need. In the following two sections, you learn how ASP.NET fits within the .NET framework, and you learn about the languages you can use in your ASP.NET pages.

The .NET Framework Class Library Imagine that you are Microsoft. Imagine that you have to support multiple programming languages—such as Visual Basic, JScript, and C++. A great deal of the functionality of these programming languages overlaps. For example, for each language, you would have to include methods for accessing the file system, working with databases, and manipulating strings.

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

Finally, most programming languages have similar variable data types. In most languages, you have some means of representing strings and integers, for example. The maximum and minimum size of an integer might depend on the language, but the basic data type is the same. Maintaining all this functionality for multiple languages requires a lot of work. Why keep reinventing the wheel? Wouldn’t it be easier to create all this functionality once and use it for every language? The .NET Framework Class Library does exactly that. It consists of a vast set of classes designed to satisfy any conceivable programming need. For example, the .NET framework contains classes for handling database access, working with the file system, manipulating text, and generating graphics. In addition, it contains more specialized classes for performing tasks such as working with regular expressions and handling network protocols. The .NET framework, furthermore, contains classes that represent all the basic variable data types such as strings, integers, bytes, characters, and arrays. Most importantly, for purposes of this book, the .NET Framework Class Library contains classes for building ASP.NET pages. You need to understand, however, that you can access any of the .NET framework classes when you are building your ASP.NET pages.

Understanding Namespaces As you might guess, the .NET framework is huge. It contains thousands of classes (over 3,400). Fortunately, the classes are not simply jumbled together. The classes of the .NET framework are organized into a hierarchy of namespaces. ASP Classic Note In previous versions of Active Server Pages, you had access to only five standard classes (the Response, Request, Session, Application, and Server objects). ASP.NET, in contrast, provides you with access to over 3,400 classes!

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

Furthermore, these languages contain similar programming constructs. Every language, for example, can represent loops and conditionals. Even though the syntax of a conditional written in Visual Basic differs from the syntax of a conditional written in C++, the programming function is the same.

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A namespace is a logical grouping of classes. For example, all the classes that relate to working with the file system are gathered together into the System.IO namespace. The namespaces are organized into a hierarchy (a logical tree). At the root of the tree is the System namespace. This namespace contains all the classes for the base data types, such as strings and arrays. It also contains classes for working with random numbers and dates and times. You can uniquely identify any class in the .NET framework by using the full namespace of the class. For example, to uniquely refer to the class that represents a file system file (the File class), you would use the following: System.IO.File System.IO

refers to the namespace, and File refers to the

particular class. Note You can view all the namespaces of the standard classes in the .NET Framework Class Library by viewing the Reference Documentation for the .NET Framework.

Standard ASP.NET Namespaces The classes contained in a select number of namespaces are available in your ASP.NET pages by default. (You must explicitly import other namespaces.) These default namespaces contain classes that you use most often in your ASP.NET applications: System—Contains all the base data types and other useful classes such as those related to generating random numbers and working with dates and times. System.Collections—Contains classes for working with standard collection types such as hash tables, and array lists. System.Collections.Specialized—Contains classes that represent specialized collections such as linked lists and string collections. System.Configuration—Contains classes for working with configuration files (Web.config files). System.Text—Contains classes for encoding, decoding, and manipulating the contents of strings. System.Text.RegularExpressions—Contains classes for performing regular expression match and replace operations.

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

.NET Framework-Compatible Languages For purposes of this book, you will write the application logic for your ASP.NET pages using Visual Basic as your programming language. It is the default language for ASP.NET pages (and the most popular programming language in the world). Although you stick to Visual Basic in this book, you also need to understand that you can create ASP.NET pages by using any language that supports the .NET Common Language Runtime. Out of the box, this includes C# (pronounced See Sharp), JScript.NET (the .NET version of JavaScript), and the Managed Extensions to C++. Dozens of other languages created by companies other than Microsoft have been developed to work with the .NET Framework. Some examples of these other languages include Python, SmallTalk, Eiffel, and COBOL. This means that you could, if you really wanted to, write ASP.NET pages using COBOL. Regardless of the language that you use to develop your ASP.NET pages, you need to understand that ASP.NET pages are compiled before they are executed. This means that ASP.NET pages can execute very quickly. The first time you request an ASP.NET page, the page is compiled into a .NET class, and the resulting class file is saved beneath a special directory on your server named Temporary ASP.NET Files. For each and every ASP.NET page, a corresponding class file appears in the Temporary ASP.NET Files directory. Whenever you request the same ASP.NET page in the future, the corresponding class file is executed. When an ASP.NET page is compiled, it is not compiled directly into machine code. Instead, it is compiled into an intermediate-level language called Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL). All .NET-compatible languages are compiled into this intermediate language.

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

System.Web—Contains the basic classes for working with the World Wide Web, including classes for representing browser requests and server responses. System.Web.Caching—Contains classes used for caching the content of pages and classes for performing custom caching operations. System.Web.Security—Contains classes for implementing authentication and authorization such as Forms and Passport authentication. System.Web.SessionState—Contains classes for implementing session state. System.Web.UI—Contains the basic classes used in building the user interface of ASP.NET pages. System.Web.UI.HTMLControls—Contains the classes for the HTML controls. System.Web.UI.WebControls—Contains the classes for the Web controls.

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An ASP.NET page isn’t compiled into native machine code until it is actually requested by a browser. At that point, the class file contained in the Temporary ASP.NET Files directory is compiled with the .NET framework Just in Time (JIT) compiler and executed. The magical aspect of this whole process is that it happens automatically in the background. All you have to do is create a text file with the source code for your ASP.NET page, and the .NET framework handles all the hard work of converting it into compiled code for you. ASP Classic What about VBScript? Before ASP.NET, VBScript was the most popular language for developing Active Server Pages. ASP.NET does not support VBScript, and this is good news. Visual Basic is a superset of VBScript, which means that Visual Basic has all the functionality of VBScript and more. So, you have a richer set of functions and statements with Visual Basic. Furthermore, unlike VBScript, Visual Basic is a compiled language. This means that if you use Visual Basic to rewrite the same code that you wrote with VBScript, you can get better performance. If you have worked only with VBScript and not Visual Basic in the past, don’t worry. Since VBScript is so closely related to Visual Basic, you’ll find it easy to transition between the two languages.

Note Microsoft includes an interesting tool named the IL Disassembler (ILDASM) with the .NET framework. You can use this tool to view the disassembled code for any of the ASP.NET classes in the Temporary ASP.NET Files directory. It lists all the methods and properties of the class and enables you to view the intermediate-level code. This tool also works with all the ASP.NET controls discussed in this chapter. For example, you can use the IL Disassembler to view the intermediate-level code for the TextBox control (located in a file named System.Web.dll).

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

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Introducing ASP.NET Controls

1

ASP.NET controls provide the dynamic and interactive portions of the user interface for your Web application. The controls render the content that the users of your Web site actually see and interact with. For example, you can use controls to create HTML form elements, interactive calendars, and rotating banner advertisements.

BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

ASP.NET controls coexist peacefully with HTML content. Typically, you create the static areas of your Web pages with normal HTML content and create the dynamic or interactive portions with ASP.NET controls. The best way to understand how ASP.NET controls work in an HTML page is to look at a simple Web Forms Page.

A Simple ASP.NET Page Let’s start by looking at a normal, everyday HTML page. You’ll convert this page into an ASP.NET page in a moment. First, open Notepad on your computer and enter the HTML page contained in Listing 1.1. After you finish entering the HTML page into Notepad, save it with the name SimpleHTML.aspx in your inetpub/wwwroot directory. Note When you create ASP.NET pages, be sure to save them in a directory that your Web server can access. You need to save your pages in the inetpub/wwwroot directory, a subdirectory of the inetpub/wwwroot directory, or within a virtual directory of your Web server. After you save a page, do not open the page directly in your Web browser by typing the file path of the page. If your Web server is located on the same computer as your Web browser, open the page by entering the page’s address in the Address Bar of your browser. For example, if the page is named simpleHTML.aspx, open the page by typing the following text into your browser’s Address Bar: http://localhost/simplePage.aspx

For purposes of this book, I’ll assume that you are using Notepad to create your Web pages. However, there is nothing wrong with using other text editors or Web development environments such as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft Visual Interdev, Allaire’s Homesite, or TextPad. Any program that can save a file as plain text will work fine.

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Tip When you’re saving a file with Notepad, remember to pick All Types as the value in the Save As Type box in the Save As dialog box. If you don’t choose this option, Notepad automatically adds the extension .txt to the name of your file. An alternative method of preventing .txt from being appended to your filename is to place the filename in quotation marks when saving the file.

LISTING 1.1

SimpleHTML.aspx

Simple HTML Page Username:

Comments:

The page in Listing 1.1 contains a simple HTML form that includes a text field for a username and a text area for comments. This form might be used, for example, in a simple guest book application at a Web site. You might notice that the HTML form posts back to itself (the ACTION attribute of the tag submits the form data to SimpleHTML.aspx). So, when the Add Comment button is clicked, the same form appears once again. The HTML form in Listing 1.1 doesn’t contain any ASP.NET controls. Now open the page in a Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator); then try entering a username and some comments and submitting the form. Notice that the data you enter into the form fields disappears every time you submit the form. Now modify the page in Listing 1.1 so that it uses ASP.NET controls rather than the standard HTML form elements. You’re going to convert the form fields into “smart”

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

LISTING 1.2

SimpleASPX.aspx

Simple ASPX Page Username:

Comments:

Notice the four modifications to this page. First, you rename the page from SimpleHTML. to SimpleASPX.aspx. The particular name of the file is not important, but the .aspx extension is very important. Your Web server detects that the page is an ASP.NET page and not a normal HTML page or other type of page because of the special .aspx extension. You create all your ASP.NET pages with this special extension. aspx

ASP Classic Note What about files that end with the extension .asp? Classic ASP developers (users of versions of ASP before ASP.NET) named all their ASP files with the extension .asp instead of .aspx. You can continue to name your ASP files with the extension .asp, but they do not gain any of the new functionality of ASP.NET. Files with the .asp extension continue to be executed as classic ASP files. By default, files with the extension .asp are mapped by Internet Information Server (IIS) to asp.dll, and files with the extension .aspx are mapped to aspnet_eisapi.dll. So, both classic ASP files and ASP.NET files can happily live and work together on the same Web server.

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

server-side form fields. Enter the page contained in Listing 1.2 and save the file with the name SimpleASPX.aspx in a directory that your Web server can access.

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Note You might want to use an extension other than .aspx for your ASP.NET pages in several situations. For example, you might have a Web site with hundreds of existing pages with names that end with the extension .htm or .html and that have already been indexed by a search engine such as AltaVista or Google. You might not want to change the extensions of these filenames because you fear that you’ll lose ranking in the search engines. You can, in fact, use any extension that you please for ASP.NET pages. See the first appendix at the back of this book, Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET, for details on how to do this.

Second, notice that the attribute Runat=”Server” is added to all the form tags. For example, instead of using

to create the username form field, you use the following tag instead:

The Runat=”Server” attribute converts these standard HTML tags into “smart” serverside HTML tags. When the SimpleASPX.aspx page is opened in a Web browser, the form tags with this attribute are executed on the Web server before any content is rendered to the Web browser. The Runat=”Server” attribute converts these standard HTML tags into ASP.NET controls. Third, notice that instead of using the NAME attribute to name the form fields, you give the form fields a unique identifier with the ID attribute. You use the ID attribute because you are no longer treating the form fields as simple HTML tags; you are converting the form fields into server-side objects. Finally, notice that you modify Listing 1.1 so that you can open the HTML form using

rather than the standard

If you want to convert any of the form fields within an HTML form into ASP.NET controls, you must use the Runat=”Server” attribute with the opening form tag.

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

Note By default, the standard HTML form tag’s Method attribute has the value GET. When a form is submitted with the Method=”Get” attribute, the form data is submitted as query string variables. Because a lot of form data cannot be passed in a query string (it’s browser-dependent, but typically not more than 1,000 to 2,000 characters), most people add a Method=”POST” to the form tag whenever they create an HTML form. The ASP.NET version of the form tag has the opposite behavior. By default, form data is posted with Method=”POST”. This version is nice because it saves some typing (I’ve spent the past six years typing Method=”POST” whenever I create a form). If you really want to, however, you can override this behavior and specify Method=”Get”.

Furthermore, notice that an Action attribute is not specified. The ASP.NET HTML Form control automatically posts back to the same page (SimpleASPX.aspx). Therefore, the server-side version of the form tag performs the same way as the original form tag, but with less typing on your part. In short, to convert a standard HTML file into an ASP.NET page, you make four modifications to the page: 1. You rename the file so that the filename ends with the extension .aspx. 2. You add the attribute Runat=”Server” to each of the form tags. 3. Instead of using the NAME attribute for the form tags, you use ID instead. 4. You convert the opening tag from to the simpler . Now that you’ve converted a standard HTML form into a “smart” ASP.NET form, what do you get out of it? Open the page in Listing 1.2 (SimpleASPX.aspx) in a Web browser and try submitting the form. Notice that all the form data (any text you type into the username and comments fields) is preserved between form posts. Now try to post the form over and over again. Notice that the form data does not disappear. Whenever I demonstrate a smart ASP.NET form to people, I always receive what I call the Yawn Reaction. “Okay,” a typical response goes, “the form saves the data, but what’s

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

Notice that the Method attribute of the form tag is not used with the control version of the form tag. By default, the ASP.NET HTML Form control automatically includes this attribute.

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the big deal?” Users of earlier versions of ASP inevitably respond, “I could do the same thing with a couple lines of script in any case.” In the next section, I try to convince you that something interesting is, in fact, happening here. The ASP.NET page contained in Listing 1.2 is doing a lot of complicated work in the background that opens up several exciting programming possibilities.

Benefits of ASP.NET Controls In the preceding section, you took a standard HTML form and converted it into a smart ASP.NET form. You did so by converting all the form tags into server-side HTML tags. Why bother? Why use ASP.NET controls at all? Using these controls provides four important benefits: • ASP.NET controls expose the HTML elements of a page in an intuitive object model. • ASP.NET controls automatically retain the value of their properties by participating in view state. • ASP.NET controls enable you to cleanly separate the design content of a page from the application logic. • ASP.NET controls enable you to maintain browser compatibility while still supporting advanced browser features such as JavaScript. You look in greater detail at each of these benefits of ASP.NET controls in the following sections.

An Intuitive Object Model Normally, a Web server ignores the HTML tags in a page. From a Web server’s perspective, these tags are just meaningless strings of text sent to a Web browser. It’s the browser and not the server that performs all the hard work of parsing the tags in a Web page and displaying bold as bold. However, after an HTML tag is converted into an ASP.NET control, the tag is no longer a meaningless string of text to the Web server. The tag has become a server-side object with properties, methods, collections, and events that you can program against. Converting standard HTML tags into server-side objects opens up many programming possibilities. After the HTML elements of a page have been exposed as server-side objects, you can manipulate the properties of the objects through server-side code. You can write application logic that reads or modifies the properties of the objects. You can even programmatically add new objects to a page or hide existing ones.

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

Listing 1.3 contains a form that has two fields (labeled field1 and field2). If you enter text into the first form field and click the submit button, the text is copied to the second field. Now try the page (it’s included on the CD with the name CopyField.aspx). LISTING 1.3

CopyField.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) field2.Value = field1.Value End Sub CopyField.aspx

Field 1:

Field 2:

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

For example, after the username form field has been converted into an ASP.NET control, you can set and read the username control’s Value property. The Value property determines the text that is displayed by the control. You can write application logic that assigns any value to the username control that you wish. Or you can write code that reads the Value property and saves it to a file or database.

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The text is copied from the first field to the second with the following line of code: field2.Value = field1.Value

This statement assigns the Value property of field1 to the Value property of field2. Notice how intuitive the code is. By exposing the elements of an HTML page as serverside objects, you gain control over all the properties of a page in an easy-to-understand manner. Also notice how controls enable you to use an event-driven programming model. Clicking the submit button raises the Click event and the Button_Click subroutine executes. In classic Active Server Pages, you could only write pages that execute from top to bottom. ASP.NET, on the other hand, enables you to write code that executes in response to events raised by particular user actions. Once again, this is a much more intuitive programming model.

View State As you saw in the preceding section, when you submit a form built from ASP.NET controls, the data entered into all the form fields is preserved when the form is displayed again. Microsoft calls this automatic persistence of data view state. ASP.NET controls automatically preserve view state. When you started with the simple HTML form, you did not get any of the benefits of view state. With a standard HTML form, you don’t notice any difference between the first time the form is submitted and the seventh time; you must start over with empty form fields every time. Note that view state does not apply only to the ASP.NET controls that correspond to form elements; all the standard ASP.NET controls preserve their state. For example, you can take a standard HTML tag and make it into an ASP.NET control like this:

In this line, you magically convert the tag into an ASP.NET control by adding an ID attribute and a Runat=”Server” attribute. Now that the tag is a server-side control, any text assigned to it is preserved every time a Web Forms Page that contains the tag is posted back to itself. This is illustrated in the page contained in Listing 1.4. LISTING 1.4

Guestbook.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) entries.innerHtml = “” & username.Value & “

” & comments.Value &

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1 LISTING 1.4

continued

Guestbook.aspx Username:

Comments:

The page in Listing 1.4 contains the same guest book form as in Listing 1.2. Like the form in Listing 1.2, the text entered into the username and comments form fields is preserved whenever the form is submitted. The view state of the username and comments controls is automatically preserved. Furthermore, you should notice that all the previous entries into the guest book are also preserved at the bottom of the form (see Figure 1.1). These entries are stored in the tag’s view state. (The tag with the entries ID.) Every time the form is posted, the contents of the Username and Comments fields are added to the tag’s view state. The contents of the Username and Comments fields are added to the text displayed by the tag by modifying the tag’s innerHTML property. Every time a new guest book entry is added, the following code is executed: entries.innerHTML = “” & username.Value & “

” & comments.Value & ➥entries.innerHTML

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

entries.innerHTML End Sub

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FIGURE 1.1 Preserving view state.

How is the view state of the tag preserved? When you look at the source of the HTML page (in Microsoft Internet Explorer, select View, Source, or in Netscape Navigator, select View, Page Source), you notice a hidden form field that looks something like this:

This long, ugly hidden form field contains all the previous entries in the guest book. The view state of all the controls contained in a Web Forms Page is preserved in the hidden form field named __VIEWSTATE. View state is preserved only if a form is posted back to itself. If you leave the Guestbook.aspx page and visit the Yahoo home page and return again, the view state of Guestbook.aspx is lost (and all the guest book entries disappear into the ether). Or, if a form posts to another page, all the view state information also is lost. Why is view state useful? One situation in which view state is important is form validation. Suppose that you create a user registration form and the form has several required form fields. For example, you don’t want anyone to be able to submit the form without entering a first and last name.

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

Separating Code from Content Good programmers are not necessarily good designers. Most companies divide the task of developing a Web site between a design team and an engineering team. The design team is responsible for making a Web site pretty; the engineering team is responsible for making the Web site work. This division of labor was difficult to carry out with previous versions of Active Server Pages. The problem was that there was no clean way to separate the application logic of a Web page from its design elements. Designers had a tendency to mess up programming code. Engineers had no easy way to integrate design elements. The code and content were jumbled together in the same page. ASP.NET controls provide you with a clean method of dividing the code (application logic) from the content (design elements of the page). Designers can place ASP.NET controls into a page without worrying about the application logic. They can concentrate on layout and graphics. After the page is designed, it can be handed off to the engineering team. The application logic can be added to a separate section of the page or, better yet, to a separate file. Designers can even piece together an ASP.NET page using a visual development environment such as Visual Studio. You can drag and drop ASP.NET controls from a toolbar and quickly create a complicated page. Using a tool such as Visual Studio, you can design ASP.NET pages in the same way that Visual Basic or Visual C++ programmers have traditionally created complicated Windows forms.

Browser Compatibility ASP.NET pages are executed on the server, not on the browser. When a browser requests an ASP.NET page, a standard HTML page is retrieved. This means that an ASP.NET page can be made to be compatible with any browser. The fact that ASP pages generate plain old HTML has always been a big advantage of developing Web pages with Active Server Pages. You don’t have to assume that a browser supports VBScript, Java, or JavaScript to display an Active Server Page. However, with versions of ASP before ASP.NET, this was both an advantage and a burden.

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

Now imagine that someone submits the user registration form without completing the required form fields. In this situation, you want to display an appropriate error message. Furthermore, you want to redisplay all the form information that the user has already entered. Making the user start over from scratch every time a problem occurs with the data the user submitted is not a very nice thing to do. View state, as you have seen, automatically preserves the form information that the user previously entered.

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It was a burden because people really like client-side JavaScript. When JavaScript is used correctly in a page, it can create a better user experience. For example, when completing an HTML form, you can use JavaScript to display error messages while the user is in the process of completing the form. If you don’t use JavaScript, the form must be submitted back to the server before the error message can be displayed. ASP.NET controls can automatically detect whether a browser supports JavaScript and render JavaScript content only if the browser is able to support it. You don’t have to add any JavaScript code yourself to take advantage of this feature of ASP.NET controls. The controls make the decision of whether to use JavaScript and render the JavaScript code for you. You also have the option of preventing a control from ever using JavaScript. You can set a property so that an ASP.NET control always renders plain HTML without JavaScript. You examine some examples of controls that use JavaScript in Chapter 3, “Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls,” where the ASP.NET Validation controls are discussed.

Overview of ASP.NET Controls You can add more than 50 standard ASP.NET controls to your Web Forms Pages. These controls can be divided into two types: HTML controls and Web controls. The next two sections provide an overview of each type of control. To view a complete reference on the properties and methods of each control, see Appendix B, “HTML Control Reference,” and Appendix C, “Web Control Reference.”

ASP.NET HTML Controls You’ve already seen some examples of the HTML controls in earlier sections of this chapter. The HTML controls are server-side replicas of the standard HTML tags. Corresponding to the standard HTML text tag, for example, is the HTMLInputText control:

And corresponding to the standard HTML tag is the HTMLImage control:

You get the idea. For each of the most common HTML tags, a server-side HTML control corresponds to it. Just stick a Runat=”Server” attribute on the end of the tag, and you have created the HTML control version of it. Furthermore, any HTML tags that are not represented by a distinct server control can be represented with the

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1 HtmlGenericControl. You

Note The HTML controls can represent any HTML tag through the HtmlGenericControl control. This means that if new HTML tags are introduced with a future version of HTML, you still can represent the new tags with HtmlGenericControl. You can even use HTMLGenericControl to represent a tag that you make up yourself—for example, the tag. There is nothing wrong with creating a server-side tag like this:

You might be curious about how the HTML controls handle new or obscure HTML attributes. For example, suppose that you add an attribute called myAttribute to the standard HtmlInputText control like this:

This attribute does not cause an error. If you add a strange attribute to an HTML control, the control simply passes the attribute with its value unaltered to the Web browser when the control is rendered. This guarantees that the HTML controls remain compatible with future versions of HTML.

HtmlAnchor HtmlAnchor

creates a server-side HTML anchor tag, as shown in this example:

Click Here

HtmlButton creates a server-side HTML 4.0 button tag. Don’t confuse the HtmlButton control with the HTMLInputButton control used for creating form buttons. The HtmlButton control renders an HTML 4.0–compliant tag, as shown here: HtmlButton

Click Here

HtmlForm HtmlForm creates a server-side HTML tag. You must use this control, as shown here, if you want to include other ASP.NET controls in the Web Forms Page:

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

can use the HTML controls to quickly convert any existing HTML document into a “smart” ASP.NET Web Forms Page. The following sections provide a complete list of the ASP.NET HTML controls.

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HtmlGenericControl creates a server-side control for HTML tags that do not have an HTML control that directly corresponds to them. For example, if you use a , , or tag with the Runat=”Server” attribute, as shown here, an instance of the HTMLGenericControl is created: HtmlGenericControl

Hello World!

HtmlImage HtmlImage

creates a server-side tag, as in this example:

HtmlInputButton creates a server-side , ,

HtmlInputCheckBox HtmlInputCheckBox

creates a server-side

tag, as in this

example: Do you like this Web Site?

HtmlInputFile HtmlInputFile creates a server-side

tag used for accepting file

HtmlInputHidden HtmlInputHidden

creates a server-side

tag, as in this example:

HtmlInputImage HtmlInputImage

creates a server-side

tag, as in this example:

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

HtmlInputRadioButton creates a server-side form radio button, as in this example:

Gender? Male Female

HtmlInputText creates a server-side or type=”password”> tag, as in this example:

HtmlInputText

Tip Instead of working with include directives, consider working with user controls instead. User controls provide you with more flexibility. For example, you can create custom properties and methods with a user control. To learn more about user controls see Chapter 5, “Creating Custom Controls with User Controls.”

Literal Text and HTML Tags The final type of element that you can include in an ASP.NET page is HTML content. The static portion of your page is built with plain old HTML tags and text.

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

--%>

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

You might be surprised to discover that the HTML content in your ASP.NET page is compiled along with the rest of the elements. HTML content in a page is represented with the LiteralControl class. You can use the Text property of the LiteralControl class to manipulate the pure HTML portion of an ASP.NET page. The HTML content contained in the page in Listing 1.17, for example, is reversed when it is displayed (see Figure 1.6). The Page_Load subroutine walks through all the controls in a page (including the LiteralControl) and reverses the value of the Text property of each control. LISTING 1.17

Literal.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim litControl As LiteralControl For each litControl in Page.Controls litControl.Text = strReverse( litControl.Text ) Next End Sub Literal.aspx This text is reversed

Building ASP.NET Pages CHAPTER 1

FIGURE 1.6

Summary This first chapter covered a great deal of material. At the beginning of this chapter, you learned how ASP.NET fits into the overall .NET framework, and you learned about the languages that you can use to build ASP.NET applications. Next, you learned about the two building blocks of an ASP.NET page. You were provided with an overview of ASP.NET controls. You also learned how to add application logic to respond to control and page events to your pages. Finally, you were introduced to the structure of an ASP.NET page. You learned about the standard elements that you can include in a page.

1 BUILDING ASP.NET PAGES

Reversing the contents of a page.

55

CHAPTER 2

Building Forms with Web Server Controls IN THIS CHAPTER • Building Smart Forms

58

• Controlling Page Navigation

131

• Applying Formatting to Controls

136

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

This chapter focuses on the ASP.NET controls that you use most often in your ASP.NET pages: the basic Web controls. In the first section, you learn how to use Web controls to build interactive HTML forms. This section provides a detailed overview of Web controls such as TextBox, RadioButton, DropDownList, and Button. Next, you learn how to handle page navigation between your ASP.NET pages. You learn how to automatically redirect a user to a new page by using the Response.Redirect() method. You also learn how to use the HyperLink control to link multiple ASP.NET pages. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

Finally, you learn how to apply formatting to your controls. The final major section provides an overview of the formatting properties common to all Web controls. You also learn how to apply styles to controls.

Building Smart Forms You use several of the basic Web controls to represent standard HTML form elements such as radio buttons, text boxes, and list boxes. You can use these controls in your ASP.NET pages to create the user interface for your Web application. The following sections provide detailed overviews and programming samples for each of these Web controls. Note See Appendix C, “Web Control Reference,” for a detailed reference of all the properties, methods, and events of the Web controls.

Using Label Controls The easiest way to add static text to your Web Forms Page is simply to add the text to the body of the page. However, if you want to be able to modify the text displayed on a

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2

59

page within your code, you need to display the text within a Label control. See Table 2.1 for a list of all the properties and methods of this control. TABLE 2.1

Label Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

Text

Gets or sets the text displayed by the Label control

Methods

Description

2

None

Description

None

The Label control has one important property: Text. You can assign any text or HTML content that you wish to this property. When the Label control is rendered on a page, any text assigned to the Text property is displayed in place of the control. You can assign a value to the Text property in two ways: declaratively or programmatically. First, you can assign a value to the Label control when you declare it on the page like this:

Alternatively, you can assign the text within the code of the page. For example, the page in Listing 2.1 displays different content in a Label control depending on the time of day. LISTING 2.1

Label.text

Sub Page_Load If TimeOfDay < #12:00pm# Then lblMessage.Text = “Good Morning!” Else lblMessage.Text = “Good Day!” End If End Sub

BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

Events

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 2.1

continued

Label.aspx

In Listing 2.1, the Text property is assigned the value “Good “Good Day!” depending on the time of day.

Morning!”

or the value

The contents of a Label control are rendered within a tag (you can see this if you click View Source on your browser). This means that you must be careful about where you use the Label control in a page. For example, using the Label control in the tag of your page would not be a good idea because the literal text also would appear in the title.

Using the TextBox Control The TextBox control can render any one of three different HTML tags. The control can be used to display a standard HTML text input field, an HTML password input field, or an HTML text area. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.2. TABLE 2.2

TextBox Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the text box whenever a change is made to the contents of the text box.

Columns

Indicates the horizontal size of the text box in characters.

MaxLength

Specifies the maximum number of characters that you can add to the text box (does not work with multiline text boxes).

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2 TABLE 2.2

continued

Description

ReadOnly

Indicates whether the text box is readonly or can be modified.

Rows

Indicates the vertical size of a multiline text box in characters.

Text

Gets or sets the text displayed by the TextBox control.

TextMode

Specifies one of these possible values: MultiLine, Password, and SingleLine.

Wrap

Determines how text in a multiline text box word-wraps. If True, word wrapping is enabled.

Methods

Description

OnTextChanged

Raises the TextChanged event.

Events

Description

TextChanged

This event is raised when the contents of a text box have been changed.

The ASP.NET page in Listing 2.2 illustrates how you can use the TextBox control to display a single-line text box, password text box, and multi-line text box. textbox.aspx

TextBox.aspx Username:

Password:

2 BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

Properties

LISTING 2.2

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 2.2

continued

Comments:

Even though the same Web control—TextBox—is used to create the Username, Password, and Comments fields on the page in Listing 2.2, very different user interface elements are displayed (see Figure 2.1). The different user interface elements are determined by the TextMode property of the TextBox control. FIGURE 2.1 A TextBox control with different TextMode

properties.

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63

The TextMode property can have any one of the following three values: •

Single—This

is the default value. When the TextMode property is assigned the value Single, a normal single-line input text field is displayed.

•

Password—When the TextMode property is assigned the value Password, a password input field is displayed and the contents of the text box field are obscured (typically with * characters).

•

MultiLine—When the TextMode property is assigned the value MultiLine, a text area is displayed.

The values of the TextMode property are mutually exclusive. This means that you cannot have a multiline password text box. This fact shouldn’t be surprising because an ASP.NET control can display only HTML, and there is no such thing as a multiline password HTML element.

Notice that, unlike an HTML tag, the TextBox control does not use a Size property. Instead, the horizontal size of a text box is determined by the Columns property. In the case of a multiline text box, the vertical size is specified by the Rows property. Both the Columns and Rows properties specify the size in characters. Note You also can specify the horizontal and vertical size of a text box by using the Width and Height properties of the base WebControl class. The advantage of using these properties is that you can use units other than characters such as pixels or percentages. For more information, see the section “Base Web Control Properties” later in this chapter.

A TextBox control also has a MaxLength property, which you can use to limit the number of characters that can be entered into a text box. This property works only with singleline and password text boxes. You cannot use MaxLength with multiline text boxes. If you need to limit the number of characters entered into a multiline text box, use either the RegularExpressionValidator or CustomValidator validation control. (See “Validating Expressions: The RegularExpressionValidator Control” in the next chapter for a code sample.)

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Note

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

Assigning Text to a Text Box You use the Text property of a TextBox control to assign a value to a text box or read a value that a user has entered into it. You can use this property in two ways. First, you can use the Text property when declaring the control to provide the text box with a default value like this:

Alternatively, you can assign or read a value from a text box in code. For example, in Listing 2.3, the Country text box is assigned the default value “United States” when the page is first loaded. LISTING 2.3

TextBoxText.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If Not IsPostBack Then txtCountry.Text = “United States” End If End Sub TextBoxText.aspx Please enter the name of your country:

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65

Note How do you assign a string that contains a quotation mark to a text box? For example, suppose that you want to assign the value He said “Good Morning!” to a text box named Comments. If you try to use the following statement, you receive an error: Comments.Text = “He said “Good Morning!” “

To assign a string that contains a quotation mark to the Text property, you need to double your quotation marks like this: When the quotation marks are actually rendered on the page, the quotation marks appear as " characters.

Handling the TextBox Control’s TextChanged Event The TextBox control has a TextChanged event, which is raised whenever the contents of the text box are changed and the form containing the text box has been posted back to the server. For example, the page in Listing 2.4 uses the TextChanged event to report whether the contents of the text box contained in the form have been changed. LISTING 2.4

TextBoxChanged.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblMessage.Text = “” End Sub Sub txtSomeText_TextChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblMessage.Text = “You changed the value!” End Sub TextBoxChanged.aspx

When the contents of the txtSomeText control are changed in Listing 2.4, the txtSomeText_TextChanged subroutine is executed. This subroutine displays the text You changed the value! in the Label control named lblMessage. Notice that the Page_Load subroutine clears the value of the Label control every time the page is loaded. The Page_Load subroutine always executes before the TextChanged event. You need to use the Page_Load event because the Label control participates in the form’s view state. If this control were not cleared on every page load, it would automatically retain the same value between posts. It would continue to display You changed the value! even when the value of the text box wasn’t changed.

The TextBox Control’s AutoPostBack Property The TextBox control also has an AutoPostBack property. When AutoPostBack has the value True, the form containing the text box is automatically posted whenever the contents of the text box are changed. When AutoPostBack is enabled, JavaScript code is sent to the browser when the page is rendered to capture TextBox onChange events. Because the AutoPostBack property relies on JavaScript, you cannot use this property with older browsers. (It works fine on the latest versions of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, however.) The page in Listing 2.5, for example, uses the AutoPostBack property to create a simple game. This page contains three text boxes. To win the game, you must enter the word Apple into all three text boxes.

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2 LISTING 2.5

67

TextBoxAutoPostBack.aspx

Sub ChangeBox1( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) txtBox1.Text = strReverse( txtBox1.Text ) CheckWin End Sub Sub changeBox3( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) txtBox3.Text = strReverse( txtBox3.Text ) CheckWin End Sub

TextboxAutoPostBack.aspx Enter the word Apple into all three TextBoxes:

The AutoPostBack property for each of the three text boxes has the value True. If you change the text in a text box, the form containing the text boxes is automatically submitted, and the subroutine associated with that text box is executed. If you change the text contained in the second text box, for example, the changeBox1 subroutine is executed. This subroutine reverses the text contained in the first text box. If you successfully enter the word Apple into all three text boxes, the message “You is displayed in the Label control named lblMessage (see Figure 2.2).

Win!”

FIGURE 2.2 The TextBox control’s AutoPostBack

property.

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69

Using Button Controls You can add three types of buttons to a form by using Web controls: •

Button—Displays

a standard HTML form button

•

ImageButton—Displays

•

LinkButton—Displays

an image form button

a hypertext link

All three buttons do the same thing when they are clicked: They submit the form that contains the button to the Web server.

By default, the Button control renders the same form submit button as rendered by the normal HTML tag: the gray pushbutton box. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.3. TABLE 2.3

Button Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

Text

Gets or sets the text displayed on the button.

CommandName

Passes this value to the Command event when the button is clicked.

CommandArgument

Passes this value to the Command event when the button is clicked.

CausesValidation

When False, the form submitted by the button is not validated. Default value is True.

Methods

Description

OnClick

Raises the Click event.

OnCommand

Raises the Command event.

Events

Description

Click

This event is raised when the button is clicked and the form containing the button is submitted to the server.

Command

This event also is raised when the button is clicked. However, the values of the CommandName and CommandArgument properties are passed with this event.

BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

The Button Control

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When a button is clicked, the form containing the button is submitted, and both Click and Command events are raised. To handle a Click event, you add a subroutine to your page as follows: Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) End Sub

To handle a Command event, add a subroutine to your page like this: Sub Buttom_Command( s As Object, e As CommandEventArgs ) End Sub

The only difference between a Click event and a Command event is that additional information—the values of the CommandName and CommandArgs properties—is passed to the Command event. In Listing 2.6, for example, the btnCounter_Click subroutine is associated with the control’s Click event. This subroutine adds one to the value of the Button control’s Text property. Button

LISTING 2.6

Button.aspx

Sub btnCounter_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) btnCounter.Text += 1 End Sub Button.aspx

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If you need to add multiple buttons to a form, and you want to pass different information depending on which buttons are clicked, you can use the Command event instead of the Click event. For example, the page in Listing 2.7 displays different values depending on which buttons are clicked. LISTING 2.7

ButtonCommand.aspx

Sub Button_Command( s As Object, e As CommandEventArgs ) Dim intAmount As Integer

ButtonCommand.aspx

BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

intAmount = e.CommandArgument If e.CommandName = “Add” Then lblCounter.Text += intAmount Else lblCounter.Text -= intAmount End If End Sub

2

72

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 2.7

continued

When you click the first button in Listing 2.7, the value of the Label control named lblCounter is incremented by five. The CommandName property of the first button has the value Add, and the CommandArgument property has the value 5. When you click the second button, the value of the Label control named lblCounter is decremented by 10. The CommandName property of the second button has the value Subtract, and the CommandArgument property has the value 10. The values of both the CommandName and CommandArgument properties are retrieved from the CommandEventArgs parameter. It is the second parameter passed to the subroutine that handles the Button control’s Command event (the Button_Command subroutine). You can assign anything you please to either the CommandName or CommandArgument properties. These properties accept any string value.

The ImageButton Control An ImageButton control is similar to a Button control except for the fact that you can use an ImageButton control to display an image. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.4. TABLE 2.4

ImageButton Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AlternativeText

Gets or sets the text displayed when a browser does not support images.

CommandName

Passes this value to the Command event when the button is clicked.

CommandArgument

Passes this value to the Command event when the button is clicked.

CausesValidation

When False, the form submitted by the button is not validated. Default value is True.

ImageAlign

Specifies one of these possible values: AbsBottom, AbsMiddle, Baseline, Bottom, Left, Middle, NotSet, Right, TextTop, and Top.

ImageURL

Specifies the URL of the image to use for the button.

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2 TABLE 2.4

continued

Description

OnClick

Raises the Click event.

OnCommand

Raises the Command event.

Events

Description

Click

This event is raised when the button is clicked and the form containing the button is submitted to the server.

Command

This event also is raised when the button is clicked. However, the values of the CommandName and CommandArgument properties are passed to this event.

For example, Listing 2.8 displays a simple Click

Here!

image button (see Figure 2.3).

FIGURE 2.3 The ImageButton control.

ImageButton.aspx

Sub ImageButton_Click( s As Object, e As ImageClickEventArgs ) Dim RanNum As New Random Select Case RanNum.Next( 3 ) Case 0

2 BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

Methods

LISTING 2.8

73

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 2.8

continued

lblMessage.Text = “Boom!” Case 1 lblMessage.Text = “Zap!” Case 2 lblMessage.Text = “Yikes!” End Select End Sub ImageButton.aspx

Notice that the event handling routine for an ImageButton control looks like this: Sub ImageButton_Click( s As Object, e As ImageClickEventArgs ) End Sub

The ImageButton control uses an ImageClickEventArgs parameter because additional information is passed to the event-handling subroutine when an image button is clicked. When you click an image button, the x,y coordinate of the mouse-click location is passed. Why would you use this information? You can use one ImageButton control to represent multiple buttons by creating a simple imagemap. The multiple buttons can be drawn in a single image. You can detect which buttons are clicked by examining the X and Y properties of the ImageClickEventArgs parameter.

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The page in Listing 2.9, for example, contains one ImageButton control that represents three different buttons (see Figure 2.4). When you click any of the three buttons, the ImageButton_Click subroutine is executed. The X property of the ImageClickEventArgs parameter detects which of the three buttons is clicked. FIGURE 2.4 The ImageButton control’s X and Y properties.

2 BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

LISTING 2.9

ImageButtonEventArgs.aspx

Sub ImageButton_Click( s As Object, e As ImageClickEventArgs ) Select Case e.X Case Is < 95 lblMessage.Text = txtSomeText.Text.ToUpper() Case Is < 185 lblMessage.Text = txtSomeText.Text.ToLower() Case Is < 289 lblMessage.Text = “” End Select End Sub ImageButtonEventArgs.aspx

76

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 2.9

continued

The LinkButton Control A LinkButton control is similar to both the Button and ImageButton controls except for the fact that a LinkButton control renders a hypertext link. When you click the hypertext link, all the fields in the form that contains the link button are submitted to the server. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.5. TABLE 2.5

LinkButton Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

Text

Gets or sets the text displayed as the label for the link.

CommandName

Passes this value to the Command event when the link is clicked.

CommandArgument

Passes this value to the Command event when the link is clicked.

CausesValidation

When False, the form submitted by the button is not validated. Default value is True.

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2 TABLE 2.5

77

continued

Description

OnClick

Raises the Click event.

OnCommand

Raises the Command event.

Events

Description

Click

This event is raised when the link is clicked and the form containing the link is submitted to the server.

Command

This event also is raised when the link is clicked. However, the values of the CommandName and CommandArgument properties are passed to this event.

The LinkButton control does not work on browsers that do not support JavaScript (or browsers that have JavaScript disabled). If you attempt to use this type of control on a browser that does not support JavaScript, nothing happens when you click the link button. Listing 2.10 demonstrates how you can use a link button to submit a form. This page tells you your fortune. When you enter your name and click the link button, the LinkButton_Click subroutine is executed, and one of four random fortunes is displayed. LISTING 2.10

LinkButton.aspx

Sub LinkButton_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim RanNum As New Random Select Case RanNum.Next( 4 ) Case 0 lblFortune.Text = txtUsername.Text & “, good things are coming!” Case 1 lblFortune.Text = txtUsername.Text & “, you are doomed!” Case 2 lblFortune.Text = txtUsername.Text & “, invest in Microsoft!” Case 3 lblFortune.Text = txtUsername.Text & “, this book will change your life!” End Select End Sub LinkButton.aspx

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Enter your name to receive your fortune:

Using the RadioButton and RadioButtonList Controls Radio buttons represent a group of mutually exclusive options. Each radio button can be either checked or unchecked. No more than one radio button in a group can be checked at the same time. You can use two Web controls to add radio buttons to a page: RadioButton and RadioButtonList. The RadioButton control provides you with more control over the layout of individual radio buttons. The RadioButtonList control, on the other hand, enables you to easily display a list of radio buttons from a database table or collection.

The RadioButton Control You can add individual radio buttons one by one to a page by using the RadioButton control. Radio buttons are grouped together using the GroupName property. Only one radio button in a group can be checked at a time. However, nothing is wrong with having multiple groups of radio buttons with different GroupName properties. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.6.

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RadioButton Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the radio button whenever a new radio button is selected from the radio button group.

Checked

Has the value True when the radio button is checked and False otherwise.

GroupName

Specifies the name of the group that contains the radio button.

Text

Gets or sets the text label associated with the radio button.

TextAlign

Determines how the text label for the radio button is aligned relative to the radio button. Possible values are Left and Right; the default value is Right.

Methods

Description

OnCheckedChanged

Raises the CheckedChanged event.

Events

Description

CheckedChanged

This event is raised when the radio button changes from being checked to unchecked or unchecked to checked.

You can determine when a radio button is checked in two ways. First, you can use the Checked property. In Listing 2.11, a group of RadioButton controls representing cities is displayed. When a button is clicked, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. The Checked property of each RadioButton control is examined one by one to find the radio button that was checked. LISTING 2.11

RadioButton.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If radSeattle.Checked Then lblCity.Text = radSeattle.Text ElseIf radSanFran.Checked Then lblCity.Text = radSanFran.Text ElseIf radBoston.Checked Then lblCity.Text = radBoston.Text End If End Sub

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RadioButton.aspx Enter the name of your favorite city, please select only one:

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You also can use the CheckChanged event to determine which radio button has been checked. It’s much easier to use the CheckChanged event when you have a large group of radio buttons. The page in Listing 2.12 illustrates how you can use this event. LISTING 2.12

RadioButtonChanged.aspx

Sub City_Changed( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblCity.Text = s.Text End Sub

RadioButtonChanged.aspx Enter the name of your favorite city, please select only one:

Each RadioButton control in Listing 2.12 is associated with the City_Changed subroutine by using the OnCheckedChanged method. If a new radio button is selected, the City_Changed subroutine will be executed when the form is posted. The first parameter passed to the City_Changed subroutine represents the particular control that raised the event. You can use this parameter to retrieve the Text property of the newly checked radio button and display the proper city. RadioButton

Warning Remember that the CheckedChanged event occurs only when a new RadioButton control is checked. If you submit a form with the default radio button still checked, the CheckedChanged event doesn’t happen.

Finally, the RadioButton control supports the AutoPostBack property. When AutoPostBack is enabled for a RadioButton control, the form containing the radio button is automatically posted to the server whenever a new radio button is selected. Warning The AutoPostBack property requires client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, AutoPostBack doesn’t work.

The page in Listing 2.13 displays different background colors depending on which radio button is selected. Notice that the page does not contain a submit button. Because the

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property has the value True for each RadioButton control, the page is automatically posted whenever a new radio button is selected.

AutoPostBack

LISTING 2.13

RadioButtonAutoPostBack.aspx

Dim strBackGroundColor As String = “white” Sub BackColor_Changed( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) strBackGroundColor = s.Text End Sub

RadioButtonAutoPostBack.aspx Select a background color:

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The RadioButtonList Control The RadioButtonList control, like the RadioButton control, represents radio buttons. However, the RadioButtonList control represents a list of radio buttons. Each list item in a RadioButtonList represents an individual radio button. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.7. TABLE 2.7

RadioButtonList Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the RadioButtonList whenever a new radio button is selected.

CellPadding

Sets the number of pixels between the border and a particular radio button.

CellSpacing

Sets the number of pixels between individual radio buttons in the RadioButtonList.

DataMember

Identifies the particular table in a data source to bind to the control.

DataSource

Identifies the data source for the items listed in the RadioButtonList.

DataTextField

Identifies the field from the data source to use for the radio button labels.

DataTextFormatString

Gets or sets a format string that determines how the DataTextField is displayed.

DataValueField

Identifies the field from the data source to use for the radio button values.

Items

Represents the collection of items in the RadioButtonList.

RepeatColumns

Determines the number of columns used to display the radio buttons.

RepeatDirection

Indicates the direction the radio buttons should be repeated. Possible values are Horizontal and Vertical.

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Description

RepeatLayout

Determines how the radio buttons are formatted. Possible values are Table and Flow; Table is the default.

SelectedIndex

Specifies the index number of the currently checked radio button.

SelectedItem

Represents the selected radio button.

TextAlign

Indicates the alignment of the radio button label relative to the radio button. Possible values are Left and Right.

Methods

Description

DataBind

Binds the RadioButtonList to its data source. Loads the items from the data source into the items collection.

OnSelectedIndexChanged

Raises the SelectedIndexChanged event.

Events

Description

SelectedIndexChanged

This event is raised when a new radio button is selected in the RadioButtonList.

You can add radio buttons to a RadioButtonList in three ways: You can list the radio buttons when you declare the RadioButtonList control, you can add items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of the RadioButtonList control, or you can bind a RadioButtonList to a data source. First, you can simply list the radio buttons as list items when you declare the control like this:

This RadioButtonList contains three radio buttons: one labeled Red, one labeled Blue, and one labeled Green. The Blue radio button is selected (checked) by default. Second, you can add list items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of a For example, in Listing 2.14, three colors are added to a RadioButtonList in the Page_Load subroutine. RadioButtonList.

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RadioButtonList.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If Not IsPostBack Then radlFavoriteColor.Items.Add( “Red” ) radlFavoriteColor.Items.Add( “Blue” ) radlFavoriteColor.Items.Add( “Green” ) End If End Sub RadioButtonlist.aspx

Finally, you can bind the RadioButtonList control to a data source such as a database table or an existing collection. Data binding is covered in detail in Chapter 10, “Binding Data to Web Controls,” but I’ll show you a quick example in Listing 2.15. LISTING 2.15

RadioButtonListDataBind.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList If Not IsPostBack Then colArrayList.Add( “Red” ) colArrayList.Add( “Blue” ) colArrayList.Add( “Green” ) radlFavoriteColor.DataSource = colArrayList radlFavoriteColor.DataBind() End If End Sub

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RadioButtonListDataBind.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 2.15, an ArrayList named colArrayList is created. The values Red, Blue, and Green are added to the ArrayList. Next, the ArrayList is assigned to the RadioButtonList control’s DataSource property, and the DataBind() method is called. After this method is called, all the items in the ArrayList are loaded into the ListItemCollection collection of the RadioButtonList. Note An ArrayList is a collection. Think of it as an array without any fixed size. Collections are discussed in detail in Chapter 24, “Working with Collections and Strings.”

Tip When you bind a RadioButtonList to a data source, you can use the DataTextFormatString property to format the text of each radio button. For example, the following RadioButtonList prefixes the string “The color is” to the text of each radio button displayed:

To learn more about format strings see Chapter 24.

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Detecting the Selected Item in a RadioButtonList You can detect which radio button is checked in a RadioButtonList in two ways. You can use either the SelectedIndex or SelectedItem property. The SelectedIndex property returns the index number of the currently checked radio button. For example, if the first radio button in the list is checked, SelectedIndex returns 0; if the second radio button is checked, SelectedIndex returns 1; and so on. The SelectedItem property, on the other hand, returns the actual list item in the collection that is currently selected. You can use this property to return the Text property for the selected radio button. ListItemCollection

When you select a radio button in Listing 2.16, for example, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties for the selected radio button are displayed (see Figure 2.5). FIGURE 2.5 The RadioButtonList

control’s SelectedIndex

and SelectedItem properties.

LISTING 2.16

RadioButtonListSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = radlFavoriteColor.SelectedIndex lblSelectedItem.Text = radlFavoriteColor.SelectedItem.Text End Sub

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RadioButtonListSelected.aspx

Selected Index:

Selected Item:

Assigning Different Text and Values to a RadioButtonList Imagine that you are using a RadioButtonList to display a list of states. For example, you might display a list of radio buttons for California, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Now, imagine that you want the RadioButtonList to return the state abbreviation rather than the full state name when a radio button is selected. You can do so by using the Value property of a list item.

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You can assign the Value property to list items when you create a RadioButtonList like this:

You also can assign a different Value property than Text property when explicitly adding list items to the ListItem collection, as illustrated in Listing 2.17. LISTING 2.17

RadioButtonListValue.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then radlStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “California”, “CA” ) ) radlStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Massachusetts”, “MA” ) ) radlStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Ohio”, “OH” ) ) End If End Sub RadioButtonListValue.aspx

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If you want a different Text property than Value property when working with a data source, you must specify both the DataTextField and DataValueField properties. The page in Listing 2.18 demonstrates how you can use these properties when binding to a DataTable. LISTING 2.18

RadioButtonListDataValueField.aspx

dtblStates.Columns.Add(New DataColumn( “StateName”, GetType( String ) ) ) dtblStates.Columns.Add(New DataColumn( “StateAbbr”, GetType( String ) ) ) drowNewState = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewState( “StateName” ) = “California” drowNewState( “StateAbbr” ) = “CA” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewState ) drowNewState = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewState( “StateName” ) = “Massachusetts” drowNewState( “StateAbbr” ) = “MA” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewState ) drowNewState = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewState( “StateName” ) = “Ohio” drowNewState( “StateAbbr” ) = “OH” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewState ) radlStateOfResidence.DataSource = dtblStates radlStateOfResidence.DataTextField = “StateName” radlStateOfResidence.DataValueField = “StateAbbr” radlStateOfResidence.DataBind End If End Sub RadioButtonListDataValueField.aspx

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Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim dtblStates As New DataTable Dim drowNewState As DataRow

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After you specify a distinct Value property, you can use it in your code. When you click a radio button in Listing 2.19, the list item’s Index, Text, and Value properties are displayed. LISTING 2.19

RadioButtonListValueSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = radlStateOfResidence.SelectedIndex lblSelectedText.Text = radlStateOfResidence.SelectedItem.Text lblSelectedValue.Text = radlStateOfResidence.SelectedItem.Value End Sub RadioButtonListValueSelected.aspx

Selected Index:

Selected Value:

Controlling the Layout of a RadioButtonList A RadioButtonList has several properties that you can use to control its layout. Two of the more interesting ones are RepeatLayout and RepeatDirection. You can use these properties to display the radio buttons in a RadioButtonList in multiple columns. For example, the page in Listing 2.20 displays 50 radio buttons. (The 50 radio buttons are created in the For..Next loop in the Page_Load subroutine.) The RadioButtonList control’s RepeatColumns property is assigned the value 3. When the radio buttons are displayed, they appear in three columns (see Figure 2.6). In Listing 2.20, the RepeatDirection property has the value Vertical. The radio buttons are rendered down each column and then across to a new column. You also can assign the value Horizontal to the RepeatDirection property. In that case, the radio buttons would be rendered horizontally across the columns and then down to a new row.

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Selected Text:

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FIGURE 2.6 Displaying a RadioButtonList

with multiple columns.

LISTING 2.20

RadioButtonListColumns.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim intCounter As Integer Dim strSomeListItem As String If Not IsPostBack Then For intCounter = 1 To 50 strSomeListItem = “Radio Button “ & intCounter radlRadioButtons.Items.Add( strSomeListItem ) Next End If End Sub RadioButtonListColumns.aspx

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The RadioButtonList Control’s AutoPostBack Property

Warning The AutoPostBack property uses client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, AutoPostBack does not work.

The page contained in Listing 2.21 contains a RadioButtonList control with its AutoPostBack property enabled. When a new radio button is checked, the SelectedIndexChanged event is raised. This event is associated with the radlColors_ SelectedIndexChanged subroutine. So, whenever a new button is checked, the radlColors_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine is executed. LISTING 2.21

RadioButtonListAutoPostBack.aspx

Dim strBackGroundColor As String = “white” Sub radlColors_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) strBackGroundColor = radlColors.SelectedItem.Text End Sub RadioButtonListAutoPostBack.aspx

Using the CheckBox and CheckBoxList Controls You can use a check box to represent a simple yes or no value. If you group multiple check boxes together, you can use the check boxes to represent a list of nonmutually exclusive options. Multiple check boxes, unlike multiple radio buttons, can be checked at the same time. You can use two Web controls to represent check boxes in your ASP.NET pages: CheckBox and CheckBoxList.

The CheckBox Control You can use a single CheckBox control to create a simple check box on a Web Forms Page. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.8. TABLE 2.8

CheckBox Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the check box whenever it is checked or unchecked.

Checked

Has the value True when the check box is checked and False otherwise.

Text

Gets or sets the text label associated with the check box.

TextAlign

Determines how the text label for the check box is aligned relative to the check box. Possible values are Left and Right; the default value is Right.

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Methods

Description

OnCheckedChanged

Raises the CheckedChanged event.

Events

Description

CheckedChanged

This event is raised when the check box changes from being checked to unchecked or unchecked to checked.

Listing 2.22 illustrates how you can add a CheckBox control to a page. CheckBox.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If chkLikeSite.Checked Then lblResponse.Text = “Thank you!” Else lblResponse.Text = “Go Away!” End If End Sub CheckBox.aspx

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When the form is submitted, the Checked property of the CheckBox control is examined to determine whether the check box was checked. Depending on the value of Checked, different messages are displayed. You can use the AutoPostBack property to automatically submit the form containing a check box whenever it is checked or unchecked. For example, the page in Listing 2.23 contains two check boxes that control the formatting of the text in the Label control. When the first check box is checked, the text in the label appears in bold, and when the second check box is checked, the text in the label appears in italics. Warning The AutoPostBack property uses client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, the AutoPostBack property does not work.

LISTING 2.23

CheckBoxAutoPostBack.aspx

Sub Page_Load If chkFormatBold.Checked Then lblMessage.Font.Bold = True Else lblMessage.Font.Bold = False End If If chkFormatItalic.Checked Then lblMessage.Font.Italic = True Else lblMessage.Font.Italic = False End If End Sub CheckBoxAutoPostBack.aspx

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Select among the following formatting options:

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The CheckBoxList Control The CheckBoxList control, like the CheckBox control, represents check boxes. However, the CheckBoxList control represents a list of check boxes. Each list item in a CheckBoxList represents an individual check box. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.9. TABLE 2.9

CheckBoxList Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the CheckBoxList whenever a new check box is selected or unselected.

CellPadding

Sets the number of pixels between the border and a particular check box.

CellSpacing

Sets the number of pixels between individual check boxes in the CheckBoxList.

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Properties

Description

DataMember

Identifies the particular table in a data source to bind to the control.

DataSource

Indicates the data source for the items listed in the CheckBoxList.

DataTextField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the check box labels.

DataTextFormat String

Gets or sets a format string that determines how the DataTextField is displayed.

DataValueField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the check box values.

Items

Represents the collection of items in the CheckBoxList.

RepeatColumns

Determines the number of columns used to display the check boxes.

RepeatDirection

Indicates the direction the check boxes should be repeated. Possible values are Horizontal and Vertical.

RepeatLayout

Determines how the check boxes are formatted. Possible values are Table and Flow; Table is the default.

SelectedIndex

Specifies the index number of the currently checked check box.

SelectedItem

Represents the selected check box.

TextAlign

Indicates the alignment of the check box label relative to the check box. Possible values are Left and Right.

Method

Description

DataBind

Binds the CheckBoxList to its data source. Loads the items from the data source into the ListItem collection.

OnSelectedIndexChanged

Raises SelectedIndexChanged event.

Events

Description

SelectedIndexChanged

This event is raised whenever a new check box is checked or unchecked in the CheckBoxList.

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Unlike a RadioButtonList, a CheckBoxList can have multiple check boxes checked at the same time. A CheckBoxList can represent nonmutually exclusive options. You can add individual check boxes to a CheckBoxList in three ways: You can list the check boxes when you declare the CheckBoxList control, you can add items directly to the ListItem collection of the CheckBoxList control, or you can bind a CheckBoxList to a data source. First, you can simply list the check boxes as list items when you declare the control like this:

This CheckBoxList contains three check boxes: one labeled Pizza, one labeled Hamburgers, and one labeled Pasta. The Hamburgers check box is selected (checked) by default. Second, you can add list items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of a CheckBoxList. For example, in Listing 2.24, types of food are added to a CheckBoxList in the Page_Load subroutine. LISTING 2.24

CheckBoxList.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then chklFavoriteFoods.Items.Add( “Pizza” ) chklFavoriteFoods.Items.Add( “Hamburgers” ) chklFavoriteFoods.Items.Add( “Pasta” ) End If End Sub CheckBoxList.aspx

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Finally, you can bind the CheckBoxList control to a data source such as a database table or an existing collection. Data binding is covered in detail in Chapter 10, but I’ll show you a quick example of binding a collection to a CheckBoxList in Listing 2.25. LISTING 2.25

checkboxlist2.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList If Not IsPostBack Then colArrayList.Add( “Pizza” ) colArrayList.Add( “Hamburgers” ) colArrayList.Add( “Pasta” ) chklFavoriteFoods.DataSource = colArrayList chklFavoriteFoods.DataBind() End If End Sub CheckBoxListDataBind.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 2.25, an ArrayList named colArrayList is created. The values Pizza, Hamburgers, and Pasta are added to the ArrayList. Next, the ArrayList is assigned to the CheckBoxList control’s DataSource property, and the

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method is called. After this method is called, all the items in the ArrayList are loaded into the ListItem collection of the CheckBoxList. DataBind()

Note An ArrayList is a collection. Think of it as an array without any fixed size. Collections are discussed in detail in Chapter 24.

Like the RadioButtonList control, the CheckBoxList control supports the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties. The SelectedIndex property returns the index number of the currently selected item in the CheckBoxList, and the SelectedItem property returns the actual item that has been selected. Unlike a RadioButtonList, however, a CheckBoxList can have multiple items selected at a time. If multiple items are checked in a CheckBoxList, the SelectedIndex property returns the index number of the first item selected, and the SelectedItem property returns the first item selected. To retrieve a list of all the items selected, you need to iterate through the ListItemCollection collection itself. For each list item, you can determine whether the item is checked by examining the item’s Selected property. The page in Listing 2.26 illustrates how you can check whether multiple check boxes are checked. LISTING 2.26

CheckBoxListMultiSelect.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim itmFood As ListItem Dim strList As String For each itmFood in chklFavoriteFoods.Items If itmFood.Selected Then strList &= “

” & itmFood.Text End If Next lblSelectedFoods.Text = strList End Sub

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CheckBoxListMultiSelect.aspx

You picked:

Assigning Different Text and Values to a CheckBoxList Imagine that you are using a CheckBoxList to display a list of products that someone can purchase from your Web site. Now, imagine that you want the CheckBoxList to display the names of the products but return product codes when a product is selected. You can do so by using the Value property of a list item. You can assign the Value property to list items when you create a CheckBoxList like this:

You also can assign a different Value property than Text property when explicitly adding list items to the ListItemCollection collection, as illustrated in Listing 2.27. CheckBoxListValue.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then chklProducts.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Hair Dryer”, “A8999” ) ) chklProducts.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Shaving Cream”, “S7777” ) ) chklProducts.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Electric Comb”, “E23234” ) ) End If End Sub CheckBoxListValue.aspx

If you want a different Text property than Value property when working with a data source, you must specify both the DataTextField and DataValueField properties. The page in Listing 2.28 demonstrates how you can use these properties when binding to a collection of classes.

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CheckBoxListDataValue.aspx

Public Class Product Private _strProductName, _strProductCode As String Sub New( strProductName As String, strProductCode As String ) _strProductName = strProductName _strProductCode = strProductCode End Sub Public ReadOnly Property ProductName As String Get Return _strProductName End Get End Property Public ReadOnly Property ProductCode As String Get Return _strProductCode End Get End Property End Class Sub Page_Load Dim colProducts As New ArrayList If Not IsPostBack Then colProducts.Add( New Product( “Hair Dryer”, “A8999” ) ) colProducts.Add( New Product( “Shaving Cream”, “S7777” ) ) colProducts.Add( New Product( “Electric Comb”, “E23234” ) ) chklProducts.DataSource = colProducts chklProducts.DataTextField = “ProductName” chklProducts.DataValueField = “ProductCode” chklProducts.DataBind End If End Sub CheckBoxListDataValue.aspx

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After you specify a distinct Value property, you can use it in your code. When you submit the form contained in Listing 2.29, the list item’s Text and Value properties are displayed for each of the check boxes selected.

2 CheckBoxListValueSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim itmProduct As ListItem Dim strTextList, strValueList As String For each itmProduct in chklProducts.Items If itmProduct.Selected Then strTextList &= “

” & itmProduct.Text strValueList &= “

” & itmProduct.Value End If Next lblSelectedText.Text = strTextList lblSelectedValue.Text = strValueList End Sub CheckBoxListValueSelected.aspx

Selected Text:

Selected Value:

Controlling the Layout of a CheckBoxList You can control the layout of the check boxes in a CheckBoxList by modifying the values of the RepeatLayout and RepeatDirection properties. These properties enable you to specify the number of columns to use when displaying the check boxes, and whether the check boxes are ordered horizontally or vertically. The page in Listing 2.30, for example, displays 50 check boxes arranged in three columns. LISTING 2.30

CheckBoxListColumns.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim intCounter As Integer Dim strListItem As String

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continued

If Not IsPostBack Then For intCounter = 1 To 50 strListItem = “Checkbox “ & intCounter chklCheckBoxList.Items.Add( strListItem ) Next End If End Sub

The CheckBoxList Control’s AutoPostBack Property If you enable the AutoPostBack property of the CheckBoxList control, the form containing the CheckBoxList is submitted automatically whenever a check box is checked or unchecked. Warning The AutoPostBack property uses client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript, or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, AutoPostBack does not work.

The page in Listing 2.31 contains a CheckBoxList control with its AutoPostBack property enabled. When a new check box is checked, the SelectedIndexChanged event is raised. This event is associated with the chklFavoriteFoods_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine. So, whenever a new check box is checked, the page is automatically submitted to the server, and the chklFavoriteFoods_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine is executed.

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CheckBoxListColumns.aspx

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CheckBoxListAutoPostBack.aspx

Sub chklFavoriteFoods_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim itmFood As ListItem Dim strList As String For each itmFood in chklFavoriteFoods.Items If itmFood.Selected Then strList &= “

” & itmFood.Text End If Next lblFoodList.Text = strList End Sub CheckBoxListAutoPostBack.aspx You like to eat:

Using the DropDownList Control A DropDownList control is similar to a RadioButtonList control except for the fact that it occupies less screen real estate. Like a RadioButtonList, a DropDownList can

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represent a set of mutually exclusive options. Unlike a RadioButtonList, a DropDownList’s options are displayed in a single-line picklist widget. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.10. TABLE 2.10

DropDownList Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the DropDownList whenever a new option is selected.

DataMember

Identifies the particular table in a data source to bind to the control.

DataSource

Indicates the data source for the items listed in the DropDownList.

DataTextField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the option text.

DataTextFormatString

Gets or sets a format string that determines how the DataTextField is displayed.

DataValueField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the option values.

Items

Represents the collection of items in the DropDownList.

SelectedIndex

Specifies the index number of the selected option.

SelectedItem

Represents the selected option.

Method

Description

DataBind

Binds the DropDownList to its data source. Loads the items from the data source into the ListItem collection.

OnSelectedIndexChanged

Raises the SelectedIndexChanged event.

Events

Description

SelectedIndexChanged

This event is raised whenever a new option is selected in the DropDownList.

A DropDownList control contains a ListItemCollection collection that represents the options displayed in the DropDownList. Each list item in the collection represents one option.

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You can add options to a DropDownList in three ways: You can list the options when you declare the DropDownList control, you can add items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of the DropDownList control, or you can bind a DropDownList to a data source. First, you can simply list the options as list items when you declare the control like this:

This DropDownList contains three options: one labeled Country Music, one labeled Rock Music, and one labeled Classical Music. The Rock Music option is selected by default. Second, you can add list items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of a DropDownList. For example, in Listing 2.32, three options are added to a DropDownList in the Page_Load subroutine. LISTING 2.32

DropDownList.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then dropCategory.Items.Add( “Country Music” ) dropCategory.Items.Add( “Rock Music” ) dropCategory.Items.Add( “Classical Music” ) End If End Sub DropDownList.aspx

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Finally, you can bind the DropDownList control to a data source such as a database table or an existing collection. Data binding is covered in detail in Chapter 10, but I’ll show you a quick example of binding a collection to a DropDownList in Listing 2.33. LISTING 2.33

DropDownListDataBind.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList

dropCategory.DataSource = colArrayList dropCategory.DataBind() End If End Sub DropDownListDataBind.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 2.33, an ArrayList named colArrayList is created. The values Country Music, Rock Music, and Classical Music are added to the ArrayList. Next, the ArrayList is assigned to the DropDownList control’s DataSource property, and the DataBind() method is called. After this method is called, all the items in the ArrayList are loaded into the ListItemCollection collection of the DropDownList.

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If Not IsPostBack Then colArrayList.Add( “Country Music” ) colArrayList.Add( “Rock Music” ) colArrayList.Add( “Classical Music” )

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Note An ArrayList is a collection. Think of it as an array without any fixed size. Collections are discussed in detail in Chapter 24.

Detecting the Selected Item in a DropDownList You can detect which option is selected in a DropDownList in two ways. You can use either the SelectedIndex or SelectedItem property. The SelectedIndex property returns the index number of the currently selected option. For example, if the first option in the list is selected, SelectedIndex returns 0; if the second option is selected, SelectedIndex returns 1; and so on. The SelectedItem property, on the other hand, returns the actual list item in the ListItemCollection collection that is currently selected. You can use this property to return the Text property for the selected option. When you select an option in Listing 2.34, for example, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties for the selected option are displayed. LISTING 2.34

DropDownListSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = dropCategory.SelectedIndex lblSelectedItem.Text = dropCategory.SelectedItem.Text End Sub DropDownListSelected.aspx

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Selected Index:

Selected Item:

Assigning Different Text and Values to a DropDownList Imagine that you are using a DropDownList to display a list of categories. For example, you might display a list of music category options, such as Country Music, Rock Music, and Classical Music. Now, imagine that you want the DropDownList to return a category ID rather than the full category name when an option is selected. You can do so by using the Value property of a list item. You can assign the Value property to list items when you create a DropDownList like this:

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You also can assign a different Value property than Text property when explicitly adding list items to the ListItemCollection collection, as illustrated in Listing 2.35. LISTING 2.35

DropDownListValue.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then dropCategory.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Country Music”, “country” ) ) dropCategory.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Rock Music”, “rock” ) ) dropCategory.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Classical Music”, “classical” ) ) End If End Sub DropDownListValue.aspx

If you want a different Text property than Value property when working with a data source, you must specify both the DataTextField and DataValueField properties. The page in Listing 2.36 demonstrates how you can use these properties when binding to a DataTable. Note To learn more about the DataTable class see Chapter 12, “Working with DataSets.”

LISTING 2.36

DropDownListDataValue.aspx

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Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim dtbMusic As New DataTable Dim drowNewRows As DataRow

dropCategory.DataSource = dtbMusic dropCategory.DataTextField = “CategoryName” dropCategory.DataValueField = “CategoryID” dropCategory.DataBind End If End Sub DropDownListDataValue.aspx

After you specify a distinct Value property, you can use it in your code. When you select an option from the DropDownList in Listing 2.37, the Index, Text, and Value properties of the selected option are displayed.

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dtbMusic.Columns.Add( _ New DataColumn( “CategoryName”, GetType( String ) ) ) dtbMusic.Columns.Add( _ New DataColumn( “CategoryID”, GetType( String ) ) ) drowNewRows = dtbMusic.NewRow() drowNewRows( “CategoryName” ) = “Country Music” drowNewRows( “CategoryID” ) = “country” dtbMusic.Rows.Add( drowNewRows ) drowNewRows = dtbMusic.NewRow() drowNewRows( “CategoryName” ) = “Rock Music” drowNewRows( “CategoryID” ) = “rock” dtbMusic.Rows.Add( drowNewRows ) drowNewRows = dtbMusic.NewRow() drowNewRows( “CategoryName” ) = “Classical Music” drowNewRows( “CategoryID” ) = “classical” dtbMusic.Rows.Add( drowNewRows )

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DropDownListValueSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = dropCategory.SelectedIndex lblSelectedText.Text = dropCategory.SelectedItem.Text lblSelectedValue.Text = dropCategory.SelectedItem.Value End Sub DropDownListValueSelected.aspx Selected Index:

Selected Text:

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continued

Selected Value:

2 If you enable the AutoPostBack property of the DropDownList control, the form containing the DropDownList is submitted automatically whenever a new option is selected. Warning The AutoPostBack property uses client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript, or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, AutoPostBack does not work.

The page in Listing 2.38 contains a DropDownList control with its AutoPostBack property enabled. When a new option is selected, the SelectedIndexChanged event is raised. This event is associated with the dropColors_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine. So, whenever a new option is selected, the form is submitted, and the dropColors_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine is executed. LISTING 2.38

DropDownListAutoPostBack.aspx

Dim strBackGroundColor As String = “white” Sub dropColors_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) strBackGroundColor = dropColors.SelectedItem.Text End Sub DropDownListAutoPostBack.aspx

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continued

Using the ListBox Control You can use a ListBox control to present a list of options. You can create a list box that enables a user to select only one option at a time, or you can create a multiselect list box. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.11. TABLE 2.11

ListBox Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AutoPostBack

When True, automatically posts the form containing the list box whenever a new option is selected.

DataMember

Identifies the particular table in a data source to bind to the control.

DataSource

Indicates the data source for the items listed in the list box.

DataTextField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the option text.

DataTextFormatString

Gets or sets a format string that determines how the DataTextField is displayed.

DataValueField

Indicates the field from the data source to use for the option values.

Items

Represents the collection of items in the list box.

Rows

Indicates the number of rows to display in the list box. The default value is 4.

SelectedIndex

Specifies the index number of the selected option.

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Description

SelectedItem

Represents the selected option.

SelectionMode

Determines whether a user can select more than one list item at a time. Possible values are Multiple and Single.

Method

Description

DataBind

Binds the ListBox to its data source. Loads the items from the data source into the ListItem collection.

OnSelectedIndexChanged

Raises the SelectedIndexChanged event.

Events

Description

SelectedIndexChanged

This event is raised whenever a new option is selected in the list box.

A ListBox control has a collection, represented by its Items property, that represents all the individual options in the list box. You can add options to a list box in three ways: You can list the options when you declare the ListBox control, you can add items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of the ListBox control, or you can bind a list box to a data source. First, you can simply list the options as list items when you declare the control like this:

This list box contains three options that represent different products: one labeled Hair Dryer, one labeled Shaving Cream, and one labeled Electric Comb. The Shaving Cream option is selected by default. Second, you can add list items directly to the ListItemCollection collection of a list box. For example, in Listing 2.39, three options are added to a list box in the Page_Load subroutine.

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ListBox.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then lstProducts.Items.Add( “Hair Dryer” ) lstProducts.Items.Add( “Shaving Cream” ) lstProducts.Items.Add( “Electric Comb” ) End If End Sub ListBox.aspx

Finally, you can bind the ListBox control to a data source such as a database table or an existing collection. Data binding is covered in detail in Chapter 10, but I’ll show you a quick example of binding a collection to a list box in Listing 2.40. LISTING 2.40

ListBoxDataBind.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList If Not IsPostBack Then colArrayList.Add( “Hair Dryer” ) colArrayList.Add( “Shaving Cream” ) colArrayList.Add( “Electric Comb” ) lstProducts.DataSource = colArrayList lstProducts.DataBind() End If End Sub

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ListBoxDataBind.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 2.40, an ArrayList named colArrayList is created. The values Hair Dryer, Shaving Cream, and Electric Comb are added to the ArrayList. Next, the ArrayList is assigned to the ListBox control’s DataSource property, and the DataBind() method is called. After this method is called, all the items in the ArrayList are loaded into the ListItemCollection collection of the ListBox. Note An ArrayList is a collection. Think of it as an array without any fixed size. Collections are discussed in detail in Chapter 24.

Creating a Multiselect List Box By default, you can select only one option in a list box. However, you can set the SelectionMode property to enable you to pick multiple options at a time. Listing 2.41 illustrates how you can create a multiselect list box. LISTING 2.41

ListBoxMultiSelect.aspx

ListBoxMultiSelect.aspx

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When SelectionMode is assigned the value Multiple, you can choose multiple options by using the Shift or Ctrl key. The Shift key enables you to choose a range of options at a time. The Ctrl key enables you to pick multiple options even if the options do not appear next to one another.

Detecting the Selected Item in a List Box If you are working with a single-select list box, you can use either the SelectedIndex or SelectedItem property to determine which option is selected. The SelectedIndex property returns the index number of the currently selected option. For example, if the first option in the list is selected, SelectedIndex returns 0; if the second option is selected, SelectedIndex returns 1; and so on. The SelectedItem property, on the other hand, returns the actual list item in the ListItemCollection collection that is currently selected. You can use this property to return the Text property for the selected option. When you select an option in Listing 2.42, for example, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and both the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties for the selected option are displayed. LISTING 2.42

ListBoxSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = lstProducts.SelectedIndex lblSelectedItem.Text = lstProducts.SelectedItem.Text End Sub

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ListBoxSelected.aspx

Selected Index:

Selected Item:

When you’re working with a multiselect list box, the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties return only the first index and first item selected. If you need to determine all the items selected, you need to walk through the ListItem collection and check whether each item is selected. The page in Listing 2.43 illustrates how you would go through this list.

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ListBoxSelectedMultiple.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim itmProduct As ListItem Dim strList As String For each itmProduct in lstProducts.Items If itmProduct.Selected Then strList &= “

” & itmProduct.Text End If Next lblList.Text = strList End Sub ListBoxSelectedMultiple.aspx Selected Item(s):

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Assigning Different Text and Values to a ListBox Imagine that you are using a list box to display a list of states. For example, you might want to provide a user with the choice of whether to list a resume in California, Massachusetts, and/or Ohio. Now, imagine that you want the list box to return the state abbreviation rather than the full state name when an option is selected. You can do so by using the Value property of a list item. You can assign the Value property to list items when you create an option in a list box like this:

You also can assign a different Value property than Text property when explicitly adding list items to the ListItem collection, as illustrated in Listing 2.44. LISTING 2.44

ListBoxValue.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then lstStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “California”, “CA” ) ) lstStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Massachusetts”, “MA” ) ) lstStateOfResidence.Items.Add( New ListItem( “Ohio”, “OH” ) ) End If End Sub ListBoxValue.aspx

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continued

asp:ListBox ID=”lstStateOfResidence” Runat=”Server”/>

If you want a different Text property than Value property when working with a data source, you must specify both the DataTextField and DataValueField properties before you bind to the data source. The page in Listing 2.45 demonstrates how you can use these properties when binding to a DataTable. LISTING 2.45

ListBoxDataValue.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim dtblStates As New DataTable Dim drowNewRow As DataRow dtblStates.Columns.Add(New DataColumn( “StateName”, GetType( String ) ) ) dtblStates.Columns.Add(New DataColumn( “StateAbbr”, GetType( String ) ) ) drowNewRow = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewRow( “StateName” ) = “California” drowNewRow( “StateAbbr” ) = “CA” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewRow ) drowNewRow = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewRow( “StateName” ) = “Massachusetts” drowNewRow( “StateAbbr” ) = “MA” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewRow ) drowNewRow = dtblStates.NewRow() drowNewRow( “StateName” ) = “Ohio” drowNewRow( “StateAbbr” ) = “OH” dtblStates.Rows.Add( drowNewRow ) lstStateOfResidence.DataSource = dtblStates lstStateOfResidence.DataTextField = “StateName” lstStateOfResidence.DataValueField = “StateAbbr” lstStateOfResidence.DataBind End If End Sub

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ListBoxDataValue.aspx

2

After you specify a distinct Value property, you can use it in your code. When you click a radio button in Listing 2.46, the list item’s Index, Text, and Value properties are displayed. LISTING 2.46

ListBoxValueSelected.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblSelectedIndex.Text = lstStateOfResidence.SelectedIndex lblSelectedText.Text = lstStateOfResidence.SelectedItem.Text lblSelectedValue.Text = lstStateOfResidence.SelectedItem.Value End Sub ListBoxValueSelected.aspx

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continued

Selected Index:

Selected Text:

Selected Value:

The ListBox Control’s AutoPostBack Property If you enable the AutoPostBack property of the ListBox control, the form containing the list box is submitted automatically whenever a new option is selected. Warning The AutoPostBack property uses client-side JavaScript. If a browser does not support JavaScript, or JavaScript is disabled on the browser, AutoPostBack does not work.

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The page contained in Listing 2.47 contains a ListBox control with its AutoPostBack property enabled. When a new option is selected, the SelectedIndexChanged event is raised. This event is associated with the lstColors_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine. So, whenever a new option is selected, the form is submitted, and the subroutine is executed (the lstColors_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine displays a different background color). LISTING 2.47

ListBoxAutoPostBack.aspx

Sub lstColors_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) strBackGroundColor = lstColors.SelectedItem.Text End Sub ListboxAutoPostBack.aspx

Controlling Page Navigation In the following sections, you learn how to control how a user moves from one ASP.NET page to another. First, you learn how to submit an HTML form to another page and retrieve form information. Next, you learn how to use the Redirect() method to automatically transfer a user to a new page. Finally, you learn how to link pages together with the HyperLink control.

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Dim strBackGroundColor As String = “white”

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Submitting a Form to a Different Page You might not have noticed, but all the ASP.NET pages discussed up to this point in the book have posted back to themselves. There is a good reason for this. Most of the ASP.NET controls take advantage of a page’s view state to retain information between posts. If you use the server-side version of the tag, you cannot post a form to a different page. You can, if you have a pressing need, post a form to a new page by using the standard HTML form tags instead of ASP.NET controls as illustrated in the page contained in Listing 2.48. LISTING 2.48

Form.aspx

Form.aspx Username:

Comments:

In Listing 2.48, the Action attribute of the tag is assigned the name of a new page, Results.aspx, where the form information is posted. Because the form information is posted to a different page, you cannot retrieve that information by using ASP.NET controls. For example, you cannot refer to the Username control within the Results.aspx page. Instead, you need to use the Params collection of the HTTPRequest class.

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Note You also can use the Form collection of the HTTPRequest class to grab form data. The difference between the Params and Form collections is that the Params collection also represents QueryStrings, ServerVariables, and Cookies.

The Results.aspx page in Listing 2.49 demonstrates how you can use the Params collection to retrieve values of the Username and Comments form fields. Results.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblUsername.Text = Request.Params( “Username” ) lblComments.Text = Request.Params( “Comments” ) End Sub Results.aspx wrote

Using the Redirect() Method Normally, you do not want to post form data to a separate page. In most cases, you should take advantage of view state and have the form post back to itself. So, the question remains, how do you transfer a user to a new page after the user has successfully completed a form?

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LISTING 2.49

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The best way to transfer the user is to use the Response.Redirect() method. You can use this method to automatically transfer a user to any page on your Web site. You can even use it to transfer a user to a page on another Web site (such as the home page of Yahoo.com). The page in Listing 2.50 demonstrates how you use the Response.Redirect() method with a form. After the form is submitted, the Redirect() method transfers the user to a page named ThankYou.aspx. Typically, you would save the form data to a file or database table right before the Redirect() method is called. LISTING 2.50

Redirect.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) ‘ Save Form Data to Database Table Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End Sub Redirect.aspx Username:

Comments:

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Working with the HyperLink Control You can link one ASP.NET page to another by adding a HyperLink control to a page. It can display either text or an image as a link. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 2.12. TABLE 2.12

HyperLink Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

ImageUrl

The URL of an image to display for the link.

NavigateUrl

The URL of the page to which the user is transferred when the link is clicked.

Target

The target window or frame for the link. Possible values are _top, _self, _parent, _search, or _blank.

Text

The text label for the link.

Methods

Description

None

Events

Description

None

The advantage of using a HyperLink control rather than a simple HTML link is that you can manipulate its properties in your code. For example, the HyperLink control in Listing 2.51 links to different pages depending on the time of day. After 5:00 p.m., the HyperLink control links to a page named AfterHoursHelp.aspx and before 5:00 p.m., it links to Help.aspx. LISTING 2.51

HyperLink.aspx

Sub Page_Load If TimeOfDay > #5:00pm# Then lnkHelpLink.NavigateUrl = “AfterHoursHelp.aspx” lnkHelpLink.Text = “After Hours Help” Else lnkHelpLink.NavigateURL = “Normalhelp.aspx” lnkHelpLink.Text = “Help” End If End Sub

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Properties

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HyperLink.aspx Click on the link below to receive a list of contact phone numbers for help information:

Applying Formatting to Controls In the following sections, you learn how to make more attractive Web forms. First, you look at an overview of the formatting properties common to all Web controls; they are the formatting properties of the base control class. Next, you learn how to apply Cascading Style Sheet styles and classes to Web controls.

Base Web Control Properties All Web controls inherit from the base Web control class (the WebControl class). The base Web control class contains a number of properties that you can use to modify the appearance of any Web control. These properties are listed in Table 2.13. TABLE 2.13

Base Web Control Formatting Properties

Properties

Description

AccessKey

Indicates a keyboard shortcut for selecting a control. Use a single letter or number when holding down the Alt key.

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Description

BackColor

Indicates the color that appears behind the text of a control. This value can be specified by name (red, blue) or by RGB value (#FF0000, #0000FF).

BorderStyle

Sets the appearance of the border. Possible values are Dashed, Dotted, Double, Groove, Inset, None, NotSet, Outset, Ridge, and Solid.

BorderWidth

Indicates the thickness of a control’s border in pixels.

Font-Bold

Displays text in bold.

Font-Italic

Displays text in italic.

Font-Name

Indicates the name of the typeface for formatting text.

Font-Names

Specifies a list of names of typefaces for formatting text. If the first typeface is not available, the second typeface is applied, and so on.

Font-Overline

Draws a line above the text.

Font-Size

Sets the size of a font in points or pixels.

Font-Strikeout

Draws a line through the text.

Font-Underline

Draws a line under the text.

ForeColor

Specifies the text color.

Height

Sets the height of the control in pixels.

TabIndex

Indicates the tab order of the controls (works only with Internet Explorer 4.0 and higher).

ToolTip

Sets the text that appears when the mouse pointer hovers over the control.

Width

Sets the width of the control in pixels or percentage.

Not all these properties work with all browsers. Some of them depend on Cascading Style Sheets, which not all browsers support. Furthermore, some of these properties depend on features specific to Microsoft Internet Explorer. The page in Listing 2.52 demonstrates how you can use several of these properties to format controls (see Figure 2.7).

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FIGURE 2.7 Using base Web control properties.

LISTING 2.52

BaseWebControl.aspx

BaseWebControl.aspx Field1:

Field 2

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The page in Listing 2.52 contains three TextBox controls. Each text box is assigned an access key so that you can navigate directly to it. For example, to move to the third text box, you would press Alt+3. Each TextBox control is assigned a yellow background and blue forecolor. When you type text into the text box, the text appears in a blue font. The first text box is assigned a dashed border. The BorderWidth property is assigned the value 4 so that the border is easier to see. The second text box is provided with a ToolTip. If you hover your mouse pointer over the text box, the text “Enter some data” appears in a bubble.

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The Width property of the third text box has the value 100%. When the text box is rendered, it fills the width of the screen. Finally, several of the formatting properties of the Button control are modified in Listing 2.52. For example, the button is assigned a double border. You also can modify the properties of a Web control within the code of the page. For example, the page in Listing 2.53 enables you to pick both the background color and font size of the text that appears in the text box. LISTING 2.53

BaseWebControlDynamic.aspx

Sub dropBackColor_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strBackColor As Color strBackColor = Color.FromName( dropBackColor.SelectedItem.Text ) txtTextBox.BackColor = strBackColor End Sub Sub dropFontSize_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) txtTextBox.Font.Size = FontUnit.Parse( dropFontSize.SelectedItem.Text ) End Sub BaseWebControlDynamic.aspx

BackColor:

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Applying Styles to Web Controls The Cascading Style Sheets standard contains many more attributes than can be captured by the limited number of properties discussed in the previous sections. Fortunately, you can use any Cascading Style Sheet attribute with a Web control in the same way as you would use the attribute with a normal HTML tag. For example, you can use the Text-Transform attribute to automatically capitalize the first letter of every word in a string of text. You can use this attribute with the Style property of the Label Web control like this:

When this Label control is rendered, a tag that includes the Style attribute is generated. The following tag is displayed: this is some text

You also can use the CssClass property to assign a Cascading Style Sheet class to a Web control. The page in Listing 2.54 demonstrates how to use the CssClass property.

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Font Size:

142

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Style.aspx

.myClass { text-align: justify; font: 14pt Script; } Style.aspx

Finally, you can modify either the Style or CssClass properties within the code of an ASP.NET page. For example, the page in Listing 2.55 contains three link buttons. Clicking each link button applies a different style to the Label control. Different styles are applied by modifying the control’s Style property (see Figure 2.8). LISTING 2.55

StyleDynamic.aspx

Sub lbtnCapitalize_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblLabel.Style( “text-transform” ) = “capitalize” End Sub Sub lbtnUppercase_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblLabel.Style( “text-transform” ) = “uppercase” End Sub Sub lbtnLowercase_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblLabel.Style( “text-transform” ) = “lowercase”

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End Sub StyleDynamic.aspx

In the same manner in which you can modify the Style property programmatically, you can modify the CssClass property programmatically. The page in Listing 2.56 demonstrates how you can programmatically modify the Cascading Style Sheet class assigned to a control. The page contains two classes named myClass1 and myClass2. When the first LinkButton control is clicked, the myClass1 class is assigned to the Label control. When the second LinkButton control is clicked, the myClass2 class is assigned to the Label control.

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FIGURE 2.8 Applying different Style classes.

LISTING 2.56

CssClassDynamic.aspx

Sub lbtnScript_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) myLabel.CssClass = “myClass1” End Sub Sub lbtnVerdana_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) myLabel.CssClass = “myClass2” End Sub .myClass1 { font: 18pt script; color: blue; } .myClass2 {

Building Forms with Web Server Controls CHAPTER 2 LISTING 2.56

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continued

font: 24pt verdana; color: red; } CssClassDynamic.aspx

The Style Class In the previous section, you learned how to apply client-side style sheets to controls. The ASP.NET Framework also supports server-side styles through the Style class. If you want to apply the same formatting properties to several controls, you can explicitly create an instance of the Style class and apply it to multiple controls. For example, in Listing 2.57, the same instance of the Style class is applied to three TextBox controls.

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StyleClass.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim myStyle As New Style myStyle.BackColor = myStyle.ForeColor = myStyle.BorderStyle myStyle.BorderWidth

Color.Yellow Color.Green = BorderStyle.Dashed = New Unit(4)

txtTextBox1.ApplyStyle( myStyle ) txtTextBox2.ApplyStyle( myStyle ) txtTextBox3.MergeStyle( myStyle ) End Sub StyleClass.aspx

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In Listing 2.57, the Style class is applied to the first two TextBox controls with the ApplyStyle() method. This method overrides any existing properties of the controls. In this example, the ApplyStyle() method overrides the red back color of the TextBox controls and assigns the new back color yellow. The MergeStyle() method applies the style to the third test box. This method does not override existing properties. Therefore, the third text box continues to appear with a red back color (see Figure 2.9). FIGURE 2.9

Summary This chapter discussed all the basic Web controls. You learned how to add Web controls such as TextBox, DropDownList, and RadioButton to your ASP.NET pages. You also learned how to write subroutines to capture the events that these controls raise. Next, you learned how to work with multiple pages in your ASP.NET application and use the Response.Redirect() method to automatically redirect a user to a new page. You also learned how to link two pages together with the HyperLink control. Finally, you learned how to apply formatting to Web controls by using the formatting properties in the base Web control class. You also learned how to apply Cascading Style Sheet classes and attributes to Web controls.

2 BUILDING FORMS WITH WEB SERVER CONTROLS

Using the Style class.

CHAPTER 3

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls IN THIS CHAPTER • Using Client-side Validation

150

• Requiring Fields: The RequiredFieldValidator Control

153

• Validating Expressions: The RegularExpressionValidator

Control

159

• Comparing Values: The CompareValidator Control

171

• Checking for a Range of Values: The RangeValidator Control 177 • Summarizing Errors: The ValidationSummary Control

181

• Performing Custom Validation: The CustomValidator Control 188 • Disabling Validation

194

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In this chapter, you learn how to use the Validation Web controls to validate the information that a user enters into an HTML form. You can use the Validation controls to perform very different types of form validation tasks. For example, you can use the Validation controls to check whether a form field has a value, check whether the data in a form field falls in a certain range, or check whether a form field contains a valid e-mail address or phone number. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site at: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

At the end of this chapter, you also learn how to create custom validation functions by using the CustomValidator control. Even if you need to perform a very specialized form validation task, you can do so by using this control.

Using Client-side Validation Traditionally, Web developers have faced a tough choice when adding form validation logic to their pages. You can add form validation routines to your server-side code, or you can add the validation routines to your client-side code. The advantage of writing validation logic in client-side code is that you can provide instant feedback to your users. For example, if a user neglects to enter a value in a required form field, you can instantly display an error message without requiring a roundtrip back to the server. People really like client-side validation. It looks great and creates a better overall user experience. The problem, however, is that it does not work with all browsers. Not all browsers support JavaScript, and different versions of browsers support different versions of JavaScript, so client-side validation is never guaranteed to work. For this reason, in the past, many developers decided to add all their form validation logic exclusively to server-side code. Because server-side code functions correctly with any browser, this course of action was safer. Fortunately, the Validation controls discussed in this chapter do not force you to make this difficult choice. The Validation controls automatically generate both client-side and

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server-side code. If a browser is capable of supporting JavaScript, client-side validation scripts are automatically sent to the browser. If a browser is incapable of supporting JavaScript, the validation routines are automatically implemented in server-side code. You should be warned, however, that client-side validation works only with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 and higher. In particular, the client-side scripts discussed in this chapter do not work with any version of Netscape Navigator.

Configuring Client-side Validation The Validation controls make use of a JavaScript script library that is automatically installed on your server when you install the .NET framework. This library is located in a file named WebUIValidation.js.

FIGURE 3.1 Error from missing validation file.

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

By default, WebUIValidation.js is installed in a directory named aspnet_client located beneath your Web server’s wwwroot directory. If you change the location of your root directory, you need to copy the aspnet_client directory to the new directory; otherwise, the validation script will not work. If WebUIValidation.js can’t be found, you receive the error Warning! Unable to find script library ‘WebUIValidation.js’ (see Figure 3.1).

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Note The exact location of the WebUIValidation.js file is determined by your machine.config file (in the section). To learn more about the machine.config file, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

Microsoft includes a command line tool with the ASP.NET Framework named aspnet_regiis that you can use to automatically install and uninstall the script library. To install the script library execute aspnet_regiis -c, to uninstall the library execute aspnet_regiis -e. The aspnet_regiis tool is located in your \WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\ directory.

Enabling and Disabling Client-side Validation If you request a page that contains a validation control, and you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher, JavaScript code is automatically sent to your browser. If, for whatever reason, you want to disable client-side form validation, you can do so by adding the following directive at the top of your page:

This directive disables client-side form validation. Unfortunately, however, it also prevents all the ASP.NET controls on the page from rendering any non-HTML 3.2 compatible content. For example, the directive also prevents the rendering of Cascading Style Sheet attributes to the page. Note The ClientTarget attribute accepts a string value that corresponds to one of the entries in the section of the machine.config file. In the machine.config file, uplevel is defined as Internet Explorer 4.0 and downlevel is defined as the Unknown browser. The Unknown browser is assumed to not support Cascading Style Sheets.

Alternatively, you can disable client-side validation for individual validation controls by setting the EnableClientScript property to the value False. Since all validation

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controls share the EnableClientScript property, you can use this property to disable client-side scripts for particular validation controls or for all validation controls. Finally, you can disable validation, both client and server validation, when certain buttons are pushed. You’ll need to do this when creating a Cancel button. See the last section of this chapter, Disabling Validation, for sample code that demonstrates how to do this.

Requiring Fields: The RequiredFieldValidator

Control You use RequiredFieldValidator in a Web form to check whether a control has a value. Typically, you use this control with a TextBox control. However, nothing is wrong with using RequiredFieldValidator with other input controls such as RadioButtonList. All the properties and methods of this control are listed in Table 3.1. RequiredFieldValidator Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

ControlToValidate

Specifies the ID of the control that you want to validate.

Display

Sets how the error message contained in the Text property is displayed. Possible values are Static, Dynamic, and None; the default value is Static.

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

ErrorMessage

Specifies the error message that is displayed in the ValidationSummary control. This error message is displayed by the validation control when the Text property is not set.

InitialValue

Gets or sets the initial value of the control specified by the ControlToValidate property.

IsValid

Has the value True when the validation check succeeds and False otherwise.

Text

Sets the error message displayed by the control.

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TABLE 3.1

3

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continued

Methods

Description

Validate

Performs validation and updates the IsValid property.

Events

Description

None

The page in Listing 3.1, for example, contains two TextBox controls named txtUsername and txtComments. Each TextBox control has a RequiredFieldValidator control associated with it. If you attempt to submit the form without entering data into both TextBox controls, you get an error. LISTING 3.1

RequiredFieldValidator.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RequiredFieldValidator.aspx Username:

Comments:

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.1

155

continued

If you do not enter any text into the TextBox controls and you submit the form, the RequiredFieldValidator controls display error messages, and the IsValid property has the value False. Otherwise, the Button_Click subroutine automatically redirects you to a page named ThankYou.aspx.

3

When performing form validation, you can check the IsValid property for each Validation control to check whether each form field was completed successfully. Alternatively, you can simply check the IsValid property of the page. The Page.IsValid property is True only if the IsValid property is True for every Validation control on the page.

PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

The RequiredFieldValidator controls are associated with the TextBox controls through the ControlToValidate property. For example, the first RequiredFieldValidator control is associated with the txtUsername control because its ControlToValidate property has the value txtUsername. The error message that each RequiredFieldValidator displays is determined by the Text property. By default, the text is displayed in a red font. You can determine precisely how the error message is formatted by using the formatting properties discussed in the final section of the preceding chapter, “Building Forms with Web Server Controls.” If you want to display a blue error message using a Script font, for example, you would declare RequiredFieldValidator with the following properties:

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You also can control how the error messages appear by modifying the Display property. By default, screen real estate is reserved for an error message, even if the error message is not displayed. However, if you assign the value Dynamic to the Display property, the error message pushes away any content surrounding it. The page in Listing 3.2, for example, contains two RequiredFieldValidator controls. The first RequiredFieldValidator control has its Display property set to Static; the second has its Display property set to Dynamic. LISTING 3.2

RequiredFieldValidatorDisplay.aspx

RequiredFieldValidatorDisplay.aspx Field 1: Here is Some Text

Field 2: Here is Some Text

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.2

157

continued

The text, Here is Some Text, is written next to each RequiredFieldValidator. Notice how the text after the first RequiredFieldValidator control is pushed to the right (see Figure 3.2). FIGURE 3.2 The difference between Dynamic and Static.

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

Comparing to an Initial Value You also can use RequiredFieldValidator to check whether a user has entered a value other than an initial value. You might want to display a sample of the type of input that a user should enter into a form field, but require a different value to be entered into the form field before the form is submitted. For example, you might want to display the text Enter Some Text within a text box. However, you would not want the user to actually submit the value Enter Some Text when the form is submitted. The page in Listing 3.3 demonstrates how to use the InitialValue property of the RequiredFieldValidator control.

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RequiredFieldValidatorInitialValue.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RequiredFieldValidatorInitialValue.aspx Comments:

When the form in Listing 3.3 is first requested, the text Enter Some Text appears in the TextBox control. If you attempt to submit the form without changing this value, an error is displayed.

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Validating Expressions: The RegularExpressionValidator

Control You can use RegularExpressionValidator to match the value entered into a form field to a regular expression. You can use this control to check whether a user has entered, for example, a valid e-mail address, telephone number, or username or password. Samples of how to use a regular expression to perform all these validation tasks are provided in the following sections. The properties and methods of this control are listed in Table 3.2. TABLE 3.2

RegularExpressionValidator Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

ControlToValidate

Specifies the id of the control that you want to validate.

Display

Sets how the error message contained in the Text property is displayed. Possible values are Static, Dynamic, and None; the default value is Static.

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

ErrorMessage

Specifies the error message that is displayed in the ValidationSummary control. This error message is displayed by the control when the Text property is not set.

IsValid

Has the value True when the validation check succeeds and False otherwise.

Text

Sets the error message displayed by the control.

ValidationExpression

Specifies the regular expression to use when performing validation.

Methods

Description

Validate

Performs validation and updates the IsValid property.

Events

Description

None

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

Properties

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Note Regular expressions are discussed in detail in Chapter 24, “Working with Collections and Strings.”

You assign the regular expression that you want to use when performing validation to the ValidationExpression property. You can perform complex types of validation by using the correct regular expression. Warning Regular expressions work somewhat differently in JavaScript than they do in the .NET framework. So, in certain circumstances, the client-side validation code used for matching regular expressions might return different results than the server-side validation code. Even worse, a valid .NET regular expression might generate a JavaScript error. For example, the syntax for using regular expression options inline—such as the i option—differs between JavaScript and the .NET classes.

You can submit the form in Listing 3.4, for example, only if you enter a product code that starts with the uppercase letter P and contains no more, or no fewer, than four numerals in a row. The RegularExpressionValidator control uses the regular expression P[0-9]{4}. LISTING 3.4

RegularExpressionValidator.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidator.aspx

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.4

161

continued

Product Code:

3

The only way to require a value is to combine RegularExpressionValidator with RequiredFieldValidator. Nothing prevents you from associating multiple Validator controls with the same control.

Validating E-Mail Addresses One of the most common and difficult validation tasks that arise when performing form validation is validating an e-mail address. This task is actually much more difficult than you might assume because the e-mail standard is so complicated. Note You can find the specification for e-mail addresses in RFC 822, Standard for ARPA Internet Text Messages, at the following location: ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc822.txt

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If you experiment with the page contained in Listing 3.4, you’ll quickly discover that you can submit the form without entering any text into the text box. The RegularExpressionValidator control does not require a value.

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Even if a perfect e-mail validation regular expression is beyond your grasp, however, you can still hope to validate simple e-mail addresses. For example, you can use the following regular expression to check that an e-mail address starts with one or more nonwhitespace characters, followed by an @ sign, followed by one or more nonwhitespace characters, followed by a period, followed by one or more nonwhitespace characters: \S+@\S+\.\S+

So, this regular expression would match the following e-mail addresses: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

However, it would fail to match e-mail addresses like steve@aol steve smith@aol

which is what you want. If you want to exclude all e-mail addresses that do not end with a top-level domain name between two and three characters—such as .com, .net, and .ws—you would use this expression: \S+@\S+\.\S{2,3}

The page in Listing 3.5 demonstrates how you would use this regular expression with the RegularExpressionValidator control. LISTING 3.5

RegularExpressionValidatorEmail.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionvalidatorEmail.aspx Email Address:

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.5

163

continued

3 Typically, Web sites require you to enter a username and password containing only alphanumeric characters or the underscore character. You can perform this type of validation using a regular expression that looks like this: \w+

This regular expression matches any expression that contains one or more word characters (a word character can be a letter, number, or the underscore character). You also can specify a minimum and maximum length for a password by using a regular expression that looks like this: \w{8,20}

This regular expression matches only expressions that are between 8 and 20 characters long. Finally, some Web sites require you to use at least one number and one letter in your password. You can use the following regular expression to satisfy this requirement: [a-zA-Z]+\w*\d+\w*

This regular expression requires you to enter at least one letter, followed by any number of word characters, followed by at least one number, followed by any number of word characters.

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Validating Usernames and Passwords

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Listing 3.6 demonstrates how you can combine two RegularExpressionValidator controls and a RequiredFieldValidator control to validate a password. The Validation controls require you to enter a password that starts with at least one letter and contains one number and between 3 and 20 characters (special characters, such as # and ?, are not allowed). LISTING 3.6

RegularExpressionValidatorPassword.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “thankyou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidatorPassowrd.aspx Password:

Validating Phone Numbers Phone numbers are difficult to validate—especially when you take into consideration foreign area codes and phone number extensions. Even if you ignore these problems and concentrate on U.S. phone numbers without extensions, many different formats still are used when entering a phone number. For example, the following formats are all commonly used:

You can create a regular expression that matches all three of the preceding expressions, as follows: $?\s*\d{3}\s*[$\.\-]?\s*\d{3}\s*[\-\.]?\s*\d{4}

The page in Listing 3.7 illustrates how you can use this regular expression with RegularExpressionValidator. LISTING 3.7

RegularExpressionValidatorPhone.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidatorPhone.aspx

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

(555) 555-5555 555.555.5555 555 555-555

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 3.7

continued

Phone Number:

Validating Web Addresses You also might need to validate URLs that users enter into a form at your Web site. For example, you might have a registration form that contains a field for the URL of a user’s home page. You can use the following regular expression to check for a valid URL: http://\S+\.\S+

This regular expression matches any string that begins with the characters http:// followed by one or more nonwhitespace characters, followed by a period, followed by one or more nonwhitespace characters. The page in Listing 3.8 demonstrates how you can use this regular expression with RegularExpressionValidator.

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167

RegularExpressionWeb.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “thankyou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidatorWeb.aspx

One problem with the code in Listing 3.8 concerns case-sensitivity. The RegularExpressionValidator control uses case-sensitive comparisons. So, the regular expression discussed in this section matches http://www.superexpert.com

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

Enter the address of your homepage:

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but does not match HTTP://www.superexpert.com

Unfortunately, RegularExpressionValidator does not have a property that you can set to enable regular expression options such as the i option (an option which enables caseinsensitive matches). You cannot use the i option inline because the syntax for doing so with JavaScript is different from the syntax for doing so with the .NET classes. A not completely satisfactory workaround to this problem is illustrated by the page in Listing 3.9. The RegularExpressionValidator in this page performs a case insensitive match by using the i option. Furthermore, the RegularExpressionValidator disables client-side validation to prevent conflicts with JavaScript. This is not a perfect workaround to the problem since the page must be submitted back to the server before the RegularExpressionValidator will validate the expression. LISTING 3.9

RegularExpressionIgnoreCase.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “thankyou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidatorIgnoreCase.aspx Enter the address of your homepage:

Checking for Entry Length

To check for a certain entry length, use regular expression quantifiers like this: .{0,10}

This expression matches any entry (including spaces) that contains between 0 and 10 characters. If you want to restrict the entry to a string of nonwhitespace characters that has a certain length, you would use a regular expression that looks like this: \S{0,10}

The page in Listing 3.10 demonstrates how you can use this regular expression with RegularExpressionValidator. LISTING 3.10

RegularExpressionValidatorLength.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub

3 PERFORMING FORM VALIDATION

You also can use RegularExpressionValidator to check whether a form field contains more than a certain number of characters. This type of validation is especially useful when you’re working with MultiLine TextBox controls. Because a MultiLine TextBox control does not have a MaxLength property, there is nothing to prevent a user from typing any number of characters in the text box.

170

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continued

RegularExpressionValidatorLength.aspx Enter your last name: (no more than 10 characters)

Validating ZIP Codes You also can use the RegularExpressionValidator control to validate ZIP codes. For example, if you want to require that a ZIP code entered into a form field contains exactly five digits, you would use the following regular expression: \d{5}

This expression matches strings that have no more or no fewer than five digits. The page in Listing 3.11 demonstrates how you would use this regular expression with the RegularExpressionValidator control.

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171

RegularExpressionValidatorZip.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RegularExpressionValidatorZip.aspx ZIP Code:

Comparing Values: The CompareValidator Control The CompareValidator control performs comparisons between the data entered into a form field and another value. The other value can be a fixed value, such as a particular

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number, or a value entered into another control. All the properties and methods of the CompareValidator are listed in Table 3.3. TABLE 3.3

CompareValidator Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

ControlToCompare

Specifies the id of the control to use for comparing values.

ControlToValidate

Specifies the id of the control that you want to validate.

Display

Sets how the error message contained in the Text property is displayed. Possible values are Static, Dynamic, and None; the default value is Static.

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

ErrorMessage

Specifies the error message that is displayed in the ValidationSummary control. This error message is displayed by the control when the Text property is not set.

IsValid

Has the value True when the validation check succeeds and False otherwise.

Operator

Gets or sets the comparison operator to use when performing comparisons. Possible values are Equal, NotEqual, GreaterThan, GreaterThanEqual, LessThan, LessThanEqual, DataTypeCheck.

Text

Sets the error message displayed by the control.

Type

Gets or sets the data type to use when comparing values. Possible values are Currency, Date, Double, Integer, and String.

ValueToCompare

Specifies the value used when performing the comparison.

Methods

Description

Validate

Performs validation and updates the IsValid property.

Events

Description

None

You can use CompareValidator, for example, to check whether a user entered a number greater than 7, check to see whether a date entered into one control is greater than a date

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entered into another control, or check whether a currency amount is less than a certain specified amount. also can be used to check whether a form field contains a particular data type. For example, you can use the control to check whether a user entered a valid date, number, or currency value.

CompareValidator

Comparing the Value of One Control to the Value of Another Imagine that you have two form fields for entering dates: one labeled Start Date and one labeled End Date. Now, imagine that you want to make sure that any date entered into the second form field is later than any date entered in the first form field. You can perform this type of form validation by using the CompareValidator control. To compare two dates, you need to set the ControlToValidate, ControlToCompare, Operator, and Type properties of the CompareValidator control. The page in Listing 3.12 illustrates how you can check whether one date is later than another.

3 CompareValidator.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub CompareValidator.aspx Start Date: End Date:

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LISTING 3.12

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 3.12

continued

The CompareValidator control in Listing 3.12 uses the ControlToValidate and ControlToCompare properties to indicate the controls to use for the comparison. The Operator property has the value GreaterThan. CompareValidator checks whether the value entered into the txtEndDate control is greater than the value entered into the txtStartDate control. Finally, the Type property has the value Date. The control compares the two values as date values rather than string or integer values. does not check whether values are actually entered into the controls that it is comparing. If either the txtStartDate or txtEndDate controls are left blank, the form passes the validation check. CompareValidator

Comparing the Value of a Control to a Fixed Value Instead of using CompareValidator to compare the values of two controls, you can use it to compare a value in one control to a fixed value. For example, suppose that you are building an auction Web site, and you want a user to enter a bid higher than a certain amount. You can use CompareValidator to compare a bid to the previous highest bid. The page in Listing 3.13 illustrates how you would do so.

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.13

175

CompareValidatorValue.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub CompareValidatorValue.aspx

If the user attempts to enter a bid less than $2,344.89, an error message is displayed. The fixed value is assigned to CompareValidator by using its ValueToCompare property.

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Minimum Bid: $2,344.89 Enter your bid:

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Performing a Data Type Check A common validation task involves performing data type checks. For example, you might need to check whether a user has entered a date in a date field, a string in a string field, or a number in a number field. You can perform this type of validation with the CompareValidator control by using the DataTypeCheck value of the Operator property. Imagine that you have a form field for a user’s birth date. The page in Listing 3.14 illustrates how you can check for a valid date. LISTING 3.14

CompareValidatorDataTypeCheck.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub CompareValidatorDataTypeCheck.aspx Enter your birth date:

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177

continued

In Listing 3.14, the CompareValidator control’s Operator property is assigned the value DataTypeCheck, and the Type property is assigned the value Date. If an invalid date is entered into the txtBirthDate form field, the CompareValidator control displays an error. Warning The CompareValidator is pretty particular about the dates that it will accept. For example, the following dates are not considered valid: January 1, 2001 Jan 1, 2001

The CompareValidator requires a date that looks like this: 1-1-2001

If you want to be more inclusive when performing date validation, then you’ll need to use the CustomValidator (described later in this chapter in the section entitled “Performing Custom Validation: The CustomValidator Control”).

Checking for a Range of Values: The RangeValidator Control You can use the RangeValidator control to check whether the value of a form field falls between a minimum and maximum value. The minimum and maximum values can be dates, numbers, currency amounts, or strings. All the properties and methods of this control are listed in Table 3.4. TABLE 3.4

RangeValidator Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

ControlToValidate

Specifies the ID of the control that you want to validate.

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1/1/2001

3

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continued

Properties

Description

Display

Sets how the error message contained in the Text property is displayed. Possible values are Static, Dynamic, and None; the default value is Static.

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

ErrorMessage

Specifies the error message that is displayed in the ValidationSummary control. This error message is displayed by the control when the Text property is not set.

IsValid

Has the value True when the validation check succeeds and False otherwise.

MaximumValue

Specifies the maximum value in the range of permissible values.

MinimumValue

Specifies the minimum value in the range of values.

Text

Sets the error message displayed by the control.

Type

Gets or sets the data type to use when comparing values. Possible values are Currency, Date, Double, Integer, and String.

Methods

Description

Validate

Performs validation and updates the IsValid property.

Events

Description

None

You can use RangeValidator, for example, to check whether a form field contains a date that falls within a certain range. The page in Listing 3.15 checks whether the date entered is greater or equal to today’s date, but less than three months in the future. LISTING 3.15

RangeValidator.aspx

Sub Page_Load valgMeetingDate.MinimumValue = Now.Date valgMeetingDate.MaximumValue = Now.Date.AddMonths( 3 ) End Sub

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.15

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continued

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub RangeValidator.aspx Choose a meeting date in the next three months:

The Page_Load subroutine in Listing 3.15 assigns values to the MinimumValue and MaximumValue properties of the RangeValidator control. Today’s date is assigned to the MinimumValue property, and a date three months in the future is assigned to the MaximumValue property. If you need to detect whether a value entered into a form field falls within a certain range determined by the values of other form fields, you should use the CompareValidator

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rather than the RangeValidator. The CompareValidator, unlike RangeValidator, enables you to compare the values of different controls. For example, the page in Listing 3.16 contains three TextBox controls. You must enter a number greater than or equal to the value entered into the first control, and less than or equal to the value entered into the last control; otherwise, you receive an error. LISTING 3.16

CompareValidatorRange.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “Thankyou.aspx” ) End If End Sub CompareValidatorRange.aspx Minimum Value:

Maximum Value:

Value:

3

Summarizing Errors: The ValidationSummary Control Imagine that you have a form with 50 form fields. If you use only the Validation controls discussed in the previous sections of this chapter to display errors, seeing an error message on the page might be difficult. For example, you might have to scroll down to the 48th form field to find the error message. Fortunately, Microsoft includes a ValidationSummary control with the Validation controls. You can use this control to summarize all the errors at the top of a page, or wherever else you wish. All the properties and methods of this control are listed in Table 3.5. TABLE 3.5

ValidationSummary Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

DisplayMode

Sets the formatting for the error messages displayed by the control. Possible values are BulletList, List, and SingleParagraph.

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continued

Properties

Description

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

HeaderText

Sets the text that is displayed at the top of the summary.

ShowMessageBox

When True, displays error messages in a pop-up message box.

ShowSummary

Enables or disables the summary of error messages.

Methods

Description

None

Events

Description

None

The page in Listing 3.17 illustrates how you can use the ValidationSummary control to display a summary of errors (see Figure 3.3). FIGURE 3.3 Summarizing errors with the ValidationSummary

control.

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.17

183

ValidationSummary.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub ValidationSummary.aspx

First Name:

Last Name:

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continued

Occupation:

Notice how each Validation control is assigned an error message with the ErrorMessage property. These error messages are displayed in the ValidationSummary control whenever a problem occurs with a form field. Don’t confuse the ErrorMessage and Text properties. Typically, you use the Text property of a Validation control to display an error message next to a form field, and you use the ErrorMessage property to display a message in the ValidationSummary control. By default, the ValidationSummary control displays error messages in a bulleted list. However, you also have the option of displaying the messages in a nonbulleted list or within a single paragraph. To control how the ValidationSummary control formats its summary of errors, modify its DisplayMode property. Figure 3.4 shows how the ValidationSummary control displays error messages with each of the different settings of the DisplayMode property.

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3

185

FIGURE 3.4 Different ValidationSummary

display modes.

3 Have you ever seen those obnoxious pop-up error messages that some sites use to report validation errors? You can provide these messages for your users, too! You can enable the ValidationSummary control’s ShowMessageBox property to display error messages in a dialog box. Listing 3.18 demonstrates how you can enable this property (see Figure 3.5 for the output). Note If you want to show the error message summary only in the pop-up dialog box and not on the page itself, set the ValidationSummary control’s ShowSummary property to False.

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Displaying Pop-Up Error Messages

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

FIGURE 3.5 Enabling the ValidationSummary

control’s ShowMessageBox

property.

LISTING 3.18

ValidationSummaryPopUp.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub ValidationSummaryPopUp.aspx

First Name:

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.18

187

continued

Last Name:

Occupation:

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Performing Custom Validation: The CustomValidator Control The Validation controls included with ASP.NET enable you to handle a wide range of validation tasks. However, you cannot perform certain types of validation with the included controls. To handle any type of validation that is not covered by the standard validation controls, you need to use the CustomValidator control. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 3.6. TABLE 3.6

CustomValidator Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

ClientValidationFunction

Specifies the name of a client-side validation function.

ControlToValidate

Specifies the ID of the control that you want to validate.

Display

Sets how the error message contained in the Text property is displayed. Possible values are Static, Dynamic, and None; the default value is Static.

EnableClientScript

Enables or disables client-side form validation. This property has the value True by default.

Enabled

Enables or disables both server and client-side validation. This property has the value True by default.

ErrorMessage

Specifies the error message that is displayed in the ValidationSummary control. This error message is displayed by the control when the Text property is not set.

IsValid

Has the value True when the validation check succeeds and False otherwise.

Text

Sets the error message displayed by the control.

Methods

Description

OnServerValidate

Raises the ServerValidate event.

Validate

Performs validation and updates the IsValid property.

Events

Description

ServerValidate

Represents the function for performing the server-side validation.

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189

You cannot use any of the included Validation controls, for example, with information that is stored in a database table. Typically, you want users to enter a unique username and/or e-mail address when completing a registration form. To determine whether a user has entered a unique username or e-mail address, you must perform a database lookup. Using the CustomValidator control, you can write any subroutine for performing validation that you wish. The validation can be performed completely server-side. Alternatively, you can write a custom client-side validation function to use with the control. You can write the client-side script using either JavaScript or VBScript. To create the server-side validation routine, you’ll need to create a Visual Basic subroutine that looks like this: Sub CustomValidator_ServerValidate( s As object, e As ServerValidateEventArgs ) End Sub

This subroutine accepts a special ServerValidateEventArgs parameter that has the following two properties: IsValid—When this property is assigned the value True, the control being validated passes the validation check.

•

Value—The

value of the control being validated.

Warning The custom validation subroutine is not called when the control being validated does not contain any data. The only control that you can use to check for an empty form field is the RequiredFieldValidator control.

For this example, create a custom validation subroutine that checks for the string ASP.NET Unleashed. If you enter text into a TextBox control and it does not contain the name of this book, it fails the validation test. First, you need to create a server-side version of the validation subroutine: Sub CustomValidator_ServerValidate( s As Object, e As ServerValidateEventArgs ) Dim strValue As String strValue = e.Value.ToUpper() If strValue.IndexOf( “ASP.NET UNLEASHED” ) > -1 Then e.IsValid = True Else e.IsValid = False End If End Sub

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•

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This subroutine checks whether the string ASP.NET Unleashed appears in the value of the control being validated. If it does, the value True is assigned to the IsValid property; otherwise, the value False is assigned. You could just implement custom validation with the server-side validation subroutine, which is all you need to get the CustomValidator control to work. However, if you want to get really fancy, you could implement it in a client-side script as well. Be fancy. This VBScript client-side script implements the validation subroutine: Sub CustomValidator_ClientValidate( s, e ) Dim strValue strValue = UCase( e.Value ) If Instr( strValue, “ASP.NET UNLEASHED” ) > 0 Then e.IsValid = True Else e.IsValid = False End If End Sub

This subroutine performs exactly the same task as the previous server-side validation subroutine; however, it is written in VBScript rather than Visual Basic. After you create your server-side and client-side subroutines, you can hook them up to your CustomValidator control by using the OnServerValidate and ClientValidationFunction properties. The page in Listing 3.19 illustrates how you can use the custom validation subroutines you just built. LISTING 3.19

CustomValidator.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub Sub CustomValidator_ServerValidate( s As Object, e As ServerValidateEventArgs ) Dim strValue As String strValue = e.Value.ToUpper() If strValue.IndexOf( “ASP.NET UNLEASHED” ) > -1 Then e.IsValid = True

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.19

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continued

Else e.IsValid = False End If End Sub Sub CustomValidator_ClientValidate( s, e ) Dim strValue

CustomValidator.aspx Enter the name of your favorite book:

0 Then e.IsValid = True Else e.IsValid = False End If End Sub

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 3.19

continued

Text=”Submit!” OnClick=”Button_Click” Runat=”Server” />

Validating Credit Card Numbers In this section, you look at a slightly more complicated but more realistic application of the CustomValidator control. You learn how to write a custom validation function that checks whether a credit card number is valid. The function uses the Luhn algorithm xto check whether a credit card is valid. This function does not check whether credit is available in a person’s credit card account. However, it does check whether a string of credit card numbers satisfies the Luhn algorithm, an algorithm that the numbers in all valid credit cards must satisfy. The page in Listing 3.20 contains a TextBox control that is validated by a If you enter an invalid credit card number, the validation check fails and an error message is displayed. CustomValidator.

Note You can test the form contained in Listing 3.20 by entering your personal credit card number or by entering the number 8 repeated 16 times.

LISTING 3.20

CustomValidatorLuhn.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “Thankyou.aspx” ) End If End Sub Sub ValidateCCNumber( s As Object, e As ServerValidateEventArgs ) Dim intCounter As Integer Dim strCCNumber As String Dim blnIsEven As Boolean = False

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.20

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continued

Dim strDigits As String = “” Dim intCheckSum As Integer = 0 ‘ Strip away everything except numerals For intCounter = 1 To Len( e.Value ) If IsNumeric( MID( e.Value, intCounter, 1 ) ) THEN strCCNumber = strCCNumber & MID( e.Value, intCounter, 1 ) End If Next ‘ If nothing left, then fail If Len( strCCNumber ) = 0 Then e.IsValid = False Else

‘ Calculate CheckSum For intCounter = 1 To Len( strDigits ) intCheckSum = intCheckSum + cINT( MID( strDigits, intCounter, 1 ) ) Next ‘ Assign results e.IsValid = (( intCheckSum Mod 10 ) = 0 ) End If End Sub CustomValidatorLuhn.aspx Enter your credit card number:

Disabling Validation Typically, a form includes a Cancel button that enables you to stop working on the form and navigate to a new page. Implementing a Cancel button in a form that includes validation controls, however, is more difficult than you might expect. The problem is that the client-side validation scripts can prevent any subroutine associated with the Cancel button from ever executing. To get around this problem, you need to use a special property of the Button, LinkButton, and ImageButton controls named the CausesValidation property. You can use the CausesValidation property to enable or disable validation when a particular button is clicked. For example, the page in Listing 3.21 contains both a Submit and Cancel button. The CausesValidation property is assigned the value False in the case of the Cancel button. LISTING 3.21

CausesValidation.aspx

Sub btnSubmit_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End If End Sub

Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls CHAPTER 3 LISTING 3.21

195

continued

Sub btnCancel_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Response.Redirect( “Cancel.aspx” ) End Sub CausesValidation.aspx Enter your first name:

Summary This chapter covered all the ASP.NET validation controls. You learned how to make required form fields by using the RequiredFieldValidator control, how to perform

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complex pattern validation by using the RegularExpressionValidator control, how to compare values and data types by using the CompareValidator control, and how to check for a range of values by using the RangeValidator control. You also learned how to summarize validation errors by using the ValidationSummary control. You learned how to summarize errors within the page itself and how to display the summary in a pop-up dialog box. Finally, you learned how to implement custom server-side and client-side validation functions by using the CustomValidator control. You should now be ready to handle any conceivable Web site validation task.

CHAPTER 4

Advanced Control Programming

IN THIS CHAPTER • Working with View State

198

• Displaying and Hiding Content • Using Rich Controls

225

203

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In this chapter, you examine several advanced methods of working with controls in your ASP.NET pages. First, you delve deeper into the details of view state. You learn how to enable and disable view state for particular controls on a page, and how to disable view state for a whole page. You also learn how to store your own variables in view state. Next, you learn how to gain programmatic access to the controls in your pages and set control properties to hide and display controls. You also learn how to programmatically add new controls to a page. This skill enables you to create pages with complex interactions between the form elements. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site at: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

Finally, you examine several of the rich controls included with ASP.NET. You learn how to use the Calendar control to create interactive calendars, use the AdRotator control to display rotating banner advertisements, and use the HTMLInputFile control to accept file uploads at your Web site.

Working with View State By default, almost all ASP.NET controls retain the values of their properties between form posts. For example, if you assign text to a Label control and submit the form, when the page is rendered again, the contents of the Label control are preserved. The magic of view state is that it does not depend on any special server or browser properties. In particular, it does not depend on cookies, session variables, or application variables. View state is implemented with a hidden form field called __VIEWSTATE that is automatically created in every Web Forms Page. When used wisely, view state can have a dramatic and positive effect on the performance of your Web site. For example, if you display database data in a control that has view state enabled, you do not have to return to the database each time the page is posted back to the server. You can automatically preserve the data within the page’s view state between form posts.

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Disabling View State In certain circumstances, you might want to disable view state for an individual control or for an ASP.NET page as a whole. For example, you might have a control that contains a lot of data (imagine a RadioButtonList control with 1,000 options). You might not want to load the data into the hidden __VIEWSTATE form field if you are worried that the form data would significantly slow down the rendering of the page. Note In Chapter 18, “Application Tracing and Error Handling,” you learn how to determine how each control affects the total size of a page’s view state.

You also might want to disable view state if you need to automatically reinitialize a control every time a page is loaded. For example, through view state, a Label control retains whatever text you assign to it across multiple form posts. Note Form controls, such as TextBox and RadioButtonList, retain their values between posts even when view state is disabled. The values of these controls do not need to be preserved in the __VIEWSTATE hidden form field because they are actually being submitted to the server on each form post.

LISTING 4.1

ViewState.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then lblMessage.Text = “Hello!” End If End Sub

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Consider the page in Listing 4.1. It contains a single Label control and a single Button control. When the page is first loaded, a message is assigned to the Label control’s Text property. If you click the button and reload the page, however, the label continues to display the message. The Label control’s Text property is automatically preserved through view state.

200

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.1

continued

ViewState.aspx

You can disable view state for an individual control by modifying the EnableViewState property. You can use this property to disable view state for both HTML and Web controls. The page in Listing 4.2, for example, uses the EnableViewState property to disable view state for a Label control. When the page is first loaded, a message is assigned to the Label control and the message is displayed. If you click the button, however, and reload the page, the text disappears from the label. LISTING 4.2

EnableViewState.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then lblMessage.Text = “Hello!” End If End Sub EnableViewState.aspx

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201

continued

Instead of disabling view state control by control, you also can disable view state for the whole page. You should do so when you are not taking advantage of view state and the controls in a page contain a lot of data. To disable view state for an entire page, modify the EnableViewState attribute of the Page directive. The page in Listing 4.3 demonstrates how you would do so. LISTING 4.3

PageViewState.aspx

PageViewState.aspx

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then lblMessage.Text = “Hello!” End If End Sub

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.3

continued

Adding Values to View State You can take advantage of view state within your code by adding values to the state bag class. If you add values to this class, they are automatically added to the hidden VIEWSTATE form variable; therefore, they are available across multiple form posts. To add a value to the state bag, use a statement such as the following: ViewState( “SomeItem” ) = “Some Value”

This statement adds a new item to the state bag class named SomeItem with the value Some Value. Warning ViewState is case-sensitive. The following two statements are not equivalent: Response.Write( ViewState( “Count” ) ) Response.Write( ViewState( “count” ) )

The page in Listing 4.4, for example, uses the state bag class to record the number of times the button on the form is clicked. After you click the button five times, a message is displayed. LISTING 4.4

StateBag.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) ViewState( “TotalCount” ) += 1 If ViewState( “TotalCount” ) = 5 Then lblCount.Text = “You clicked 5 times!” End If End Sub

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203

continued

StateBag.aspx

Displaying and Hiding Content Imagine that you are creating a form with an optional section. For example, imagine that you are creating an online tax form, and you want to display or hide a section that contains questions that apply only to married tax filers.

Finally, imagine that you want to break the tax form into multiple pages so that a person views only one part of the tax form at a time. In the following sections, you learn about the properties that you can use to hide and display controls in a form. You learn how to use the Visible and Enabled properties with individual controls and groups of controls to hide and display page content.

Using the Visible and Enabled Properties Every control, including both HTML and Web controls, has a Visible property that determines whether the control is rendered. When a control’s Visible property has the value False, the control is not displayed on the page; the control is not processed for either prerendering or rendering.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Or, imagine that you want to add an additional help button to the tax form. You might want to hide or display detailed instructions for completing form questions depending on a user’s preferences.

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Web controls (but not every HTML control) have an additional property named Enabled. When Enabled has the value False and you are using Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher, the control appears ghosted and no longer functions. When used with other browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, the control might not appear ghosted, but it does not function. The page in Listing 4.5 illustrates how both the Visible and Enabled properties affect the appearance of controls. See Figure 4.1 for the output of the page on Internet Explorer 5.5. FIGURE 4.1 The Visible and Enabled properties.

LISTING 4.5

Display.aspx

Sub lbtnVisible_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If txtTextBox.Visible = True Then txtTextBox.Visible = False lnkHyperLink.Visible = False lbtnLinkButton.Visible = False btnButton.Visible = False lbtnVisible.Text = “Make Visible!” Else txtTextBox.Visible = True lnkHyperLink.Visible = True lbtnLinkButton.Visible = True

Advanced Control Programming CHAPTER 4 LISTING 4.5

205

continued

btnButton.Visible = True lbtnVisible.Text = “Make Invisible!” End If End Sub Sub lbtnEnabled_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If txtTextBox.Enabled = True Then txtTextBox.Enabled = False lnkHyperLink.Enabled = False lbtnLinkButton.Enabled = False btnButton.Enabled = False lbtnEnabled.Text = “Make Enabled!” Else txtTextBox.Enabled = True lnkHyperLink.Enabled = True lbtnLinkButton.Enabled = True btnButton.Enabled = True lbtnEnabled.Text = “Make Disabled!” End If End Sub Display.aspx

HyperLink:

LinkButton:

Button:

The page in Listing 4.5 contains two LinkButton controls initially labeled Make and Make Disabled! If you click the Make Invisible! link, the Visible property of all the controls is set to False. All the controls disappear from the page when the page is rendered.

Invisible!

Clicking the Make Disabled! link has different effects when used with different browsers. When you use this link with Internet Explorer, you cannot enter any text into form controls that have been disabled. Furthermore, the Button control appears ghosted, and it no longer can be clicked. Note Exactly how the Enabled property affects the rendering of a form control depends on how a browser interprets the HTML Disabled attribute, which is part of the HTML 4.0 standard (see http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/). According to the standard, it should apply to all the standard HTML form tags.

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When used with Netscape Navigator, on the other hand, the Disabled property has no effect on the appearance of any form elements. In particular, you can still click the form button and the form will be submitted. Regardless of the browser you use, the Disabled property never has an effect on the function of the HyperLink control. If you disable a hyperlink, you can still click it and navigate to a page (Internet Explorer version 6.0 and higher displays a ghosted hyperlink in gray, but it still functions). Finally, the Disabled property always modifies the appearance of a link button. When a link button is disabled on either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, the LinkButton control is rendered as text and not as a HyperText link.

Using the Panel Control Instead of setting the Visible property for controls one by one, you can use the Panel control to hide controls as a group. All the properties of this control are listed in Table 4.1. TABLE 4.1

Panel Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

BackImageURL

Gets or sets the URL of a background image to be displayed behind the contents of the panel.

HorizontalAlign

Sets the horizontal alignment of the contents of a panel. Possible values are Center, Justify, Left, NotSet, and Right.

Wrap

When True, wraps the contents of the panel. The default value is True.

Methods

Description

None

Events

Description

None

Suppose that you have a form which contains a RadioButtonList control that enables users to pick their favorite Web site. Now, imagine that one option on the list is labeled Other Site. If someone picks Other Site, you want to display a text box that enables the person to enter the name of the new Web site.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Properties

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You can hide and display a group of controls by using the Panel control. The page in Listing 4.6 demonstrates how you can set the Visible property of a Panel control to display and hide a text box when the Other Site option is selected (see Figure 4.2). FIGURE 4.2 Hiding and displaying content with the Panel control.

LISTING 4.6

Panel.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If dropFavSite.SelectedIndex = 3 Then pnlOtherSite.Visible = True Else pnlOtherSite.Visible = False End If End Sub Panel.aspx Select your favorite ASP Web site:

Other Site:

4

Simulating Multipage Forms Imagine that you have a form, which contains 50 questions that you want to break up into multiple pages. One way to do so would be to actually create a separate ASP.NET page for each group of questions. Creating a form that spans multiple ASP.NET pages, however, would take a lot of work. You would need some method of storing the answers that a user entered for page 1 when the user is on page 5. You could use hidden form fields or Session variables, but there is an easier way.

ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

The Panel control acts as a container for other controls. Hiding a panel by setting its Visible property to False also hides all the controls that the panel contains.

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Instead of breaking the form into multiple ASP.NET pages, you can place all the questions within a single ASP.NET page. You can use the Panel control to display and hide different sections of the form at a time. The advantage of this approach is that all the answers entered into the form are automatically preserved. When the Panel control displays the questions for page 5, the answers to the questions for page 1 are still safely tucked away in an invisible panel. The page in Listing 4.7 demonstrates how you would use this method to create a simulated three-page form. LISTING 4.7

PanelMultiPage.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) = 1 End If End Sub Sub btnNextPage_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim pnlPanel As Panel Dim strPanelName AS String ‘ Hide Previous Panel strPanelName = “pnlForm” & ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) pnlPanel = FindControl( strPanelName ) pnlPanel.Visible = False ‘ Show Current Panel ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) += 1 strPanelName = “pnlForm” & ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) pnlPanel = FindControl( strPanelName ) pnlPanel.Visible = True End Sub Sub btnPrevPage_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim pnlPanel As Panel Dim strPanelName AS String ‘ Hide Current Panel strPanelName = “pnlForm” & ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) pnlPanel = FindControl( strPanelName ) pnlPanel.Visible = False ‘ Show Previous Panel ViewState( “CurrentPage” ) -= 1 strPanelName = “pnlForm” & ViewState( “CurrentPage” )

Advanced Control Programming CHAPTER 4 LISTING 4.7

211

continued

pnlPanel = FindControl( strPanelName ) pnlPanel.Visible = True End Sub Sub btnFinish_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) pnlForm3.Visible = False pnlForm4.Visible = True lblSummary.Text = “You entered:” lblSummary.Text &= “

First Name=” & txtFirstname.Text lblSummary.Text &= “

Last Name=” & txtLastname.Text lblSummary.Text &= “

Color=” & txtFavColor.Text lblSummary.Text &= “

Philosopher=” & radlFavPhilosopher.SelectedItem.Text End Sub PanelMultiPage.aspx

Page of 3 Favorite Color: ” OnClick=”btnNextPage_Click” Runat=”Server” />

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.7

continued

Runat=”Server” /> ” OnClick=”btnNextPage_Click” Runat=”Server” /> Page of 3 Favorite Philosopher: 1 Then For intCounter = 2 To ViewState( “ProductFieldCount” ) AddProductField( intCounter ) Next End If End Sub Sub AddProductFieldCount( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) ViewState( “ProductFieldCount” ) += 1 AddProductField( ViewState( “ProductFieldCount” ) ) End Sub

Advanced Control Programming CHAPTER 4 LISTING 4.12

221

continued

Sub AddProductField( strFieldNum As String ) Dim litLabel As LiteralControl Dim txtTextBox As TextBox ‘ Add Literal Control litLabel = New LiteralControl litLabel.Text = “

Product “ & strFieldNum & “: “ plhProductFields.Controls.Add( litLabel ) ‘ Add TextBox Control txtTextBox = New TextBox txtTextBox.ID = “txtProduct” & strFieldNum plhProductFields.Controls.Add( txtTextBox ) End Sub Sub btnSubmit_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End Sub DynamicForm.aspx Customer Name:

Product 1:

Dynamically Generating List Items The various list controls—such as RadioButtonList, CheckBoxList, DropDownList, and ListBox—discussed in Chapter 2, “Building Forms with Web Server Controls,” present a special case. You can dynamically add and remove items from these controls by working with the properties and methods of the ListItemCollection collection. The properties and methods of the ListItemCollection collection are described in Table 4.2. TABLE 4.2

ListItemCollection Collection Properties and Methods

Properties

Description

Count

Returns a count of the number of list items in the collection

Item

Returns a list item at the specified index

Methods

Description

Add

Adds a new list item to the ListItem collection

AddRange

Adds an array of list items

Clear

Removes all the items from the ListItem collection

Contains

Returns True if the ListItem collection contains the specified list item

CopyTo

Copies all the list items to an array

FindByText

Returns a list item by its Text value

FindByValue

Returns a list item by its Value value

GetEnumerator

Returns an enumerator for the list items

IndexOf

Returns the index number of the list item

Advanced Control Programming CHAPTER 4 TABLE 4.2

223

continued

Methods

Description

Insert

Inserts a list item at a particular index location in the ListItem collection

Remove

Removes a list item from the ListItem collection

RemoveAt

Removes a list item at a particular index location in the ListItem collection

You can use the properties and methods of the list controls to create complex interactions between the elements of a form. For example, the page contained in Listing 4.13 contains two ListBox controls: one labeled Products and one labeled Shopping Cart. When you click an item listed in the Products list box, the item is automatically added to the Shopping Cart list box (see Figure 4.7). FIGURE 4.7 Manipulating the ListItem collection.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

The Shopping Cart list box has Remove Item and Remove All buttons. Clicking Remove Item removes the selected item from the Shopping Cart list box, and clicking Remove All removes all the items from the list box.

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.13

ListItemCollection.aspx

Sub lstProducts_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lstCart.Items.Add( lstProducts.SelectedItem ) End Sub Sub btnRemove_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lstCart.Items.Remove( lstCart.SelectedItem ) End Sub Sub btnRemoveAll_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lstCart.Items.Clear() End Sub ListItemCollection.aspx Products:

Shopping Cart:

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continued

Using Rich Controls In the following sections, you learn how to use three of the more feature-rich controls in the ASP.NET framework. You learn how to use the Calendar control to display interactive calendars, the AdRotator control to display rotating banner advertisements, and the HTMLInputFile control to accept file uploads.

Displaying Interactive Calendars with the Calendar Control You can use the ASP.NET Calendar control to display an interactive calendar on a page. This control enables you to select particular days, weeks, or months. You can also display custom content on each day. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 4.3. TABLE 4.3

Calendar Properties, Methods, and Events

Description

CellPadding

Specifies the number of pixels between the contents of a cell and its border.

CellSpacing

Specifies the number of pixels between cells.

DayNameFormat

Sets the format of the day names. Possible values are FirstLetter, FirstTwoLetters, Full, and Short; the default is Short.

FirstDayOfWeek

Specifies the day of the week that is displayed in the calendar’s first column. Possible values are Default, Friday, Monday, Saturday, Sunday, Thursday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; the default is Default, which uses the server’s local settings.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Properties

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I TABLE 4.3

continued

Properties

Description

NextMonthText

If ShowNextPrevMonth is True, specifies the text for the Next Month hyperlink.

NextPrevFormat

Specifies the format of the Next and Previous hyperlinks. Possible values are CustomText, FullMonth, and ShortMonth; the default is CustomText.

PrevMonthText

If ShowNextPrevMonth is True, specifies the text for the Previous Month hyperlink.

SelectedDate

Contains a DateTime value that specifies the highlighted day. The default value is TodaysDate.

SelectedDates

Contains a collection of DateTime items that represent the highlighted days on the calendar.

SelectionMode

Determines whether days, weeks, or months can be selected. Possible values are Day, DayWeek, DayWeekMonth, and None; the default is Day.

SelectMonthText

Contains HTML text displayed for selecting months when SelectionMode has the value DayWeekMonth.

SelectWeekText

Contains HTML text displayed for selecting weeks when SelectionMode has the value DayWeek or DayWeekMonth.

ShowDayHeader

If True, displays the names of the days of the week.

ShowGridLines

If True, renders the calendar with lines around the days.

ShowNextPrevMonth

If True, displays Next Month and Previous Month links.

ShowTitle

If True, displays the calendar’s title.

TitleFormat

Determines how the month name appears in the title bar. Possible values are Month and MonthYear.

TodaysDate

Specifies a DateTime value that sets the calendar’s current date.

VisibleDate

Specifies a DateTime value that sets the month to display.

Methods

Description

OnDayRender

Raises DayRender event.

OnSelectionChanged

Raises the SelectionChanged event.

OnVisibleMonthChanged

Raises the VisibleMonthChanged event.

Advanced Control Programming CHAPTER 4 TABLE 4.3

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continued

Events

Description

DayRender

Raised before each day cell is rendered on the calendar.

SelectionChanged

Raised when a new day, month, or week is selected.

VisibleMonthChanged

Raised by clicking the Next Month or Previous Month link.

Typical uses for the Calendar control include displaying a schedule of events. You can customize the appearance of each cell in the calendar as it is displayed. You can even display a hyperlink to more information within each calendar day. Another common use of the Calendar control is scheduling. Because you can select particular days, weeks, or months on the calendar, you can use the control to reserve dates for meetings or events. A complex calendar can be added to a page with very few lines of code. For example, Listing 4.14 displays the default calendar displayed by the Calendar control (see Figure 4.8). FIGURE 4.8 Calendar control with default properties.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

228

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.14

Calendar.aspx

calendar.aspx

Customizing the Appearance of the Calendar Control You can customize the appearance of the Calendar control in three ways: You can use the formatting properties common to all controls, you can use the general formatting properties of the Calendar control, or you can apply one or more custom style objects to the control. The Calendar control supports all the common Web control formatting properties described in Chapter 2. For example, you can modify Calendar properties such as BackColor, ForeColor, Border, Font, Height, and Width by modifying the base Web control formatting properties. Note All the common Web control formatting properties are listed under the base Web control properties in Appendix C, “Web Control Reference.”

The page contained in Listing 4.15 illustrates how you can modify several of these properties (see Figure 4.9 for the output). LISTING 4.15

CalendarBaseFormatting.aspx

CalendarBaseFormatting.aspx

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continued

FIGURE 4.9 A calendar with different base Web control formatting properties.

4

To change the way the next and previous month links are displayed, for example, you can modify the NextPrevFormat, NextMonthText, PrevMonthText, and ShowNextPrevMonth properties. You can even use images for the link to the next and previous months by setting the properties like this:

ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

You also can modify the general formatting properties of the Calendar control itself. Examples of these properties are ShowGridLines, NextMonthText, PrevMonthText, and TitleFormat. You can find a list of all these properties in Table 4.3.

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

To modify the way the list of weekdays appears in the calendar, modify the DayNameFormat property. When this property has the value FirstLetter, only the first letter of each day is shown. When this property has the value FirstTwoLetters, only the first two letters of each day are shown. When this property has the value Full, the full day name is shown. When this property has the value Short, three letters are shown for each day. You also can modify the format of a Calendar control by applying any one of several style objects to the calendar. The Calendar control supports the style objects listed in Table 4.4. TABLE 4.4

Calendar Style Objects

Object

Description

DayHeaderStyle

The style of the weekdays listed at the top of the calendar

DayStyle

The style applied to each day in the calendar

NextPrevStyle

The style applied to the next and previous month links

OtherMonthDayStyle

The style applied to days from other months that appear in the current month

SelectedDayStyle

The style applied to the currently selected day

SelectorStyle

The style applied to the link for selecting the week or month

TitleStyle

The style applied to the calendar’s title bar

TodayDayStyle

The style applied to the current date

WeekendDayStyle

The style applied to weekend days

All the style objects, with the exception of the TitleStyle object, support the properties of the TableItemStyle style class. (The properties of this class are listed in Appendix C.) The TitleStyle object supports all the styles of the base style class (also listed in Appendix C). Suppose that you want to display most days in blue, but show weekends in green, today in yellow, and the selected date in orange. You can do so by modifying the style objects. Listing 4.16 contains a (very ugly) Calendar control formatted with these properties.

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231

CalendarStyle.aspx

CalendarStyle.aspx

Selecting Days, Weeks, and Months with the Calendar Control By default, the Calendar control enables you to pick a particular day on the calendar. However, you can modify the properties of the Calendar control so that it enables you to select weeks or months. You can even set the Calendar control so that it does not allow you to pick anything. To pick weeks or months, modify the SelectionMode property. You can assign the values Day, DayWeek, DayWeekMonth, or None to this property. For example, the value DayWeekMonth enables you to select either a day, week, or month.

To determine the dates that have been selected on the calendar, use the SelectionChanged event. When this event is raised, you can use the SelectedDate property to determine what date is selected or the SelectedDates property to determine what dates are selected.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

After you modify the SelectionMode property to enable week or month selection, you can modify the SelectWeekText and SelectMonthText properties to display different links for selecting the day or month. You can even assign images to these properties by using syntax like this:

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

The page in Listing 4.17, for example, demonstrates how you can retrieve and display the dates selected on a calendar (see Figure 4.10). FIGURE 4.10 Selecting calendar dates.

LISTING 4.17

CalendarSelected.aspx

Sub Calendar_SelectionChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim dtmDate As DateTime lblDates.Text = “You selected the following date(s):” For Each dtmDate in calCalendar.SelectedDates lblDates.Text &= “

” & dtmDate.ToString( “D” ) Next End Sub CalendarSelected.aspx

When a new day, week, or month is selected, the SelectionChanged event is raised. This event is handled in Listing 4.17 by a subroutine named Calendar_SelectionChanged. This subroutine loops through the collection of dates represented by the Calendar control’s SelectedDates property. Each item in this collection is a DateTime.

Rendering Calendar Days Whenever the Calendar control renders a particular day, the control raises the DayRender event. You can write a subroutine that handles this event and display custom content on each calendar day. To capture the DayRender event, create a subroutine with these parameters: Sub Calendar_DayRender( s As Object, e As DayRenderEventArgs ) End Sub

The second parameter passed to the subroutine, DayRenderEventArgs, has a number of properties that you can use in your code. These properties are listed in Table 4.5. DayRenderEventArgs Properties

Properties

Description

Cell

The table cell containing the day being rendered.

Cell.ColumnSpan

An integer value indicating the number of table columns the cell should span.

Cell.HorizontalAlign

The cell’s horizontal alignment. Possible values are Center, Justify, Left, NotSet, and Right.

Cell.RowSpan

An integer value indicating the number of table rows the cell should span.

Cell.Text

The text that appears in the cell.

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TABLE 4.5

4

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I TABLE 4.5

continued

Properties

Description

Cell.VerticalAlign

The cell’s vertical alignment. Possible values are Bottom, Middle, NotSet, and Top.

Cell.Wrap

If True, the contents of the cell word-wrap.

Day

A CalendarDay object that represents the day being rendered.

Day.Date

A DateTime value that represents the day being rendered.

Day.DayNumberText

A string that represents the number of the day being rendered.

Day.IsOtherMonth

If True, the day being rendered is not a member of the current month.

Day.IsSelectable

If True, this day can be selected.

Day.IsSelected

If True, this day is selected.

Day.IsToday

If True, this day is the current day.

Day.IsWeekend

If True, this day is a Saturday or Sunday.

Listing 4.18 illustrates how you can use the DayRender event to display a daily horoscope in a Calendar control. LISTING 4.18

CalendarHoroscope.aspx

Dim RanNum As New Random( 23 ) Sub Calendar_RenderDay( s As Object, e As DayRenderEventArgs ) Dim ctlCell As TableCell Dim strHoroscope As String ctlCell = e.Cell Select Case RanNum.Next( 4 ) Case 0 strHoroscope = “Good things will happen today!” ctlCell.BackColor = Color.FromName( “Green” ) Case 1 strHoroscope = “You’re doomed! Hide in bed!” ctlCell.BackColor = Color.FromName( “Red” ) Case 2 strHoroscope = “Something unexpected will happen”

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continued

Case 3 strHoroscope = “Look before you leap!” End Select ctlCell.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “

” ) ) ctlCell.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( strHoroscope ) ) End Sub CalendarHoroscope.aspx Horoscope:

Notice how the Controls collection of the calendar cell is used. To add new content to a day, you add new controls to the Controls collection of a calendar cell. In Listing 4.18, you add two LiteralControl controls: One LiteralControl represents an HTML paragraph break, and the other represents the text of the horoscope. Note You can also add text to a particular calendar cell by using the TableCell’s Text property. This works fine for plain text or HTML content. However, you cannot use the Text property to add ASP.NET controls, such as TextBox controls.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

The Calendar_RenderDay subroutine is called for each day rendered on the calendar. This subroutine randomly selects from four possible horoscopes and displays one for the particular day being rendered (see Figure 4.11).

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

FIGURE 4.11 Handling the DayRender event.

Creating an Interactive Meeting Scheduler In this section, you build a more complex application using the Calendar control. You create a Web application that enables you to add notes to any day on the calendar and save the notes between visits. The complete code for this application is contained in Listing 4.19. The ASP.NET page in Listing 4.19 contains Calendar, TextBox, and Button controls. If you want to add a note to a date, you select the date on the calendar, enter the note in the text box, and click the Save Changes button. Every date on the calendar is represented by a two-dimensional array named arrCalendar. The first index of the array represents the month, and the second index represents the day. The Calendar_RenderDay subroutine is called for each day that is rendered on the calendar. This subroutine displays the day with an orange background color if a note is associated with the day. When you click Save Changes, the contents of the arrCalendar array are saved to disk. This is accomplished in the btnSave_Click subroutine. The array is saved to a file named schedule.bin located in the root of the C: drive.

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If you save changes and return to the page on a later date, the notes are preserved. When the page is first loaded, the notes are retrieved from the schedule.bin file saved on disk. After the notes are loaded the first time, they are subsequently retrieved from the cache to improve performance. LISTING 4.19

Dim arrCalendar( 13, 32 ) As String ‘ Get schedule from cache or disk Sub Page_Load Dim strmFileStream As FileStream Dim fmtrBinaryFormatter As BinaryFormatter

‘ Save schedule to file Sub btnSave_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim dtmDate As DateTime Dim strmFileStream As FileStream Dim fmtrBinaryFormatter As BinaryFormatter dtmDate = calSchedule.SelectedDate arrCalendar( dtmDate.Month, dtmDate.Day ) = txtNotes.Text strmFileStream = _ New FileStream( “c:\schedule.bin”, FileMode.Create ) fmtrBinaryFormatter = New BinaryFormatter fmtrBinaryFormatter.Serialize( strmFileStream, arrCalendar ) strmFileStream.Close()

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

If Cache( “arrCalendar” ) Is Nothing Then If File.Exists( “c:\schedule.bin” ) Then strmFileStream = _ New FileStream( “c:\schedule.bin”, FileMode.Open ) fmtrBinaryFormatter = New BinaryFormatter arrCalendar = _ CType( fmtrBinaryFormatter.Deserialize( strmFileStream ), Array ) strmFileStream.Close() Cache( “arrCalendar” ) = arrCalendar End If Else arrCalendar = Cache( “arrCalendar” ) End If End Sub

238

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I LISTING 4.19

continued

Cache( “arrCalendar” ) = arrCalendar End Sub ‘ Pick a date Sub Calendar_SelectionChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim dtmDate As DateTime dtmDate = calSchedule.SelectedDate txtNotes.Text = arrCalendar( dtmDate.Month, dtmDate.Day ) End Sub ‘ Display each calendar day Sub Calendar_RenderDay( s As Object, e As DayRenderEventArgs ) Dim dtmDate As DateTime Dim ctlCell As TableCell dtmDate = e.Day.Date ctlCell = e.Cell If arrCalendar( dtmDate.Month, dtmDate.Day ) “” Then ctlCell.BackColor = Color.FromName( “Orange” ) End If End Sub CalendarSchedule.aspx

Displaying Banner Advertisements with the AdRotator Control You can use the AdRotator control to randomly display banner advertisements on your Web pages. In most cases, you use the AdRotator control with an advertisement file that contains a list of the properties of banner advertisements to display. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 4.6. TABLE 4.6

AdRotator Control Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

AdvertisementFile

The path to an XML file that contains a list of banner advertisements to display.

KeywordFilter

When set, only those banner advertisements that match the filter are returned.

Target

When you click the banner advertisement, the page is displayed in this window or frame. Possible values are _top, _new, _child, _self, _parent, and _blank.

Description

OnAdCreated

Raises the AdCreated event.

Events

Description

AdCreated

Raised after an advertisement is retrieved from the advertisement file and before the banner advertisement is rendered.

The Advertisement File is an XML file with the following format: URL of image to display URL of page to link to

ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Methods

4

240

Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I Text to show as ToolTip keyword used to filter relative weighting of ad

The file enables you to specify the properties for each banner advertisement described in Table 4.7: •

ImageUrl—The

URL of the image to display for the advertisement. It can be either a relative or absolute path.

•

NavigateUrl—The

•

AlternateText—The alternative text that is displayed for browsers that do not support images. This property is also commonly used to display ToolTip text.

•

Keyword—An

optional keyword that you can use to categorize the banner advertisement. It can be used with the KeywordFilter property to display different categories of advertisements from the file.

•

Impressions—The

page you go to when you click an advertisement.

relative frequency that a particular advertisement should be shown in relation to other advertisements in the file. All things being equal, the higher this number, the more times this advertisement will be shown.

All the preceding properties are optional except ImageUrl. For example, if you do not specify a NavigateUrl, the banner advertisement is displayed without a link. Tip You can add your own custom properties to the advertisement file. For example, you can add a Campaign property that indicates the particular banner campaign for the advertisement. An example of a custom property is included in the next section, Tracking AdRotator Impressions.

The page contained in Listing 4.20 illustrates how you can use the AdRotator control with an Advertisement File named myAds.xml, which is included in Listing 4.21. LISTING 4.20

AdRotator.aspx

AdRotator.aspx

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continued

LISTING 4.21

myAds.xml

AspWorkshopsBanner.gif http://www.AspWorkshops.com Need ASP.NET Training? 2 SuperexpertBanner.gif http://www.superexpert.com Click here to visit Superexpert.com! 1

4 If you add a subroutine to handle the AdCreated event, you can track the number of times each banner advertisement is displayed. You can use this subroutine to record advertisement statistics to a database table, an XML file, or the file system. When the AdCreated event is raised, an instance of the AdCreatedEventArgs class is passed to the subroutine that handles the event. The properties of the AdCreatedEventArgs class are listed in Table 4.8.

ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Tracking AdRotator Impressions

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I TABLE 4.8

AdCreatedEventArgs Properties

Properties

Description

AdProperties

A collection of all the attributes for the current advertisement retrieved from the advertisement file. This collection includes any custom properties in the advertisement file.

AlternateText

Gets or sets any alternative text for the advertisement.

ImageUrl

Gets or sets the path to the image for the current advertisement.

NavigateUrl

Gets or sets the path to the page you go to when you click the current advertisement.

For example, the page in Listing 4.22 records statistics on the number of times each advertisement is displayed to the file system. The page uses the advertisement file in Listing 4.23. Each advertisement in the advertisement file has a custom Campaign property. When the AdRotator in Listing 4.22 displays an advertisement, the AdRotator_ subroutine updates the statistics for the advertisement. For example, if the AspWorkshops advertisement is displayed, then the number of impressions for this advertisement is recorded to a file named AspWorkshops.imp. The name of the file corresponds to the Campaign property in the advertisement file.

AdCreated

LISTING 4.22

AdRotatorImpressions.aspx

Sub AdRotator_AdCreated( s As Object, e As AdCreatedEventArgs ) Dim intImpressions As Integer = 0 Dim strFileName As String Dim strmStreamReader As StreamReader Dim strmStreamWriter As StreamWriter ‘ Assign file name strFileName = e.AdProperties( “Campaign” ).Trim & “.imp” If strFileName = “” Then strFileName = “default.imp” End If ‘ Read current impressions If File.Exists( MapPath( strFileName ) ) Then strmStreamReader = File.OpenText( MapPath( strFileName ) ) intImpressions = Cint( strmStreamReader.ReadLine )

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continued

strmStreamReader.Close End If ‘ Write current impressions strmStreamWriter = File.CreateText( MapPath( strFileName ) ) strmStreamWriter.Write( intImpressions + 1 ) strmStreamWriter.Close End Sub AdRotatorImpressions.aspx

LISTING 4.23

AdCampaigns.xml

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

AspWorkshops AspWorkshopsBanner.gif http://www.AspWorkshops.com Need ASP.NET Training? 2 Superexpert SuperexpertBanner.gif http://www.superexpert.com Click here to visit Superexpert.com! 1

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

Accepting File Uploads with the HTMLInputFile Control In many situations, you need to enable the users of your Web site to upload files to your Web server. For example, you might want to create a form that provides your users with a means to upload images if you are constructing an image library. Or you might want to build a central document repository to store Microsoft Word documents. You can use the HTMLInputFile control to enable users to transfer any type of file from their hard drive to your Web site. You can upload images, HTML files, Microsoft Word documents, MPEG files, or video files with the HTMLInputFile control. All the properties, methods, and events of this control are listed in Table 4.9. TABLE 4.9

HTMLInputFile Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

Accept

Specifies a comma-delimited list of the MIME types of files acceptable for upload. For example, use image/gif for GIF files or image/* for any type of image file.

MaxLength

Specifies the maximum number of characters that can be entered into the upload text box.

PostedFile

Returns the file uploaded by the user.

Size

Indicates the size of the upload text box.

Methods

Description

None

Events

Description

None

The page in Listing 4.24 illustrates how you can create a simple upload form that enables you to upload an image file (GIF file). Any file uploaded with this form is saved with the name NewFile.gif in a folder named c:\uploads (You’ll need to create this folder yourself). LISTING 4.24

HtmlInputFile.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) inpFileUp.PostedFile.SaveAs( “c:\Uploads\NewFile.gif” ) End Sub

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continued

HtmlInputFile.aspx

The HTMLInputFile is an HTML control (not a Web control). The control is declared on the page with the following tag:

On Internet Explorer (version 3.02 and higher), or Netscape Navigator (version 3.0 or higher), this tag renders a text box field accompanied by a Browse button that enables you to select a file to upload from your hard drive (see Figure 4.12). FIGURE 4.12

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Creating a file upload form with the HTMLInputFile control.

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Working with ASP.NET Web Forms PART I

If you include an HTMLInputFile control in a form, you must change the default encoding format used by the form. You can change the encoding format by modifying the form’s EncType property. The form in Listing 4.24 is created with the following tag:

When the button is clicked and the file is uploaded, the Button_Click subroutine saves the file to disk. The file is saved with the following statement: inpFileUp.PostedFile.SaveAs( “c:\Uploads\NewFile.gif” )

The PostedFile property refers to whatever file was uploaded. Technically, this property refers to an instance of the HttpPostedFile class. Here, you are calling the SaveAs() method of the HttpPostedFile class to save the uploaded file to disk. The properties and methods of the HttpPostedFile class are listed in Table 4.10. TABLE 4.10

HttpPostedFile Properties, Methods, and Events

Properties

Description

ContentLength

Specifies the size of the uploaded file in bytes

ContentType

Specifies the MIME content type of the uploaded file

FileName

Specifies the full path of the uploaded file on the client’s machine

InputStream

Returns a stream that represents the raw contents of the uploaded file

Methods

Description

SaveAs

Saves the uploaded file to disk

Events

Description

None

You can use the properties of the HttpPostedFile class to retrieve additional information about an uploaded file. For example, you can use the ContentLength property to check the size of a file and not save it when the file is too big. You can use the ContentType property to determine whether an uploaded file is an image file, a Microsoft Word document, or some other type of file.

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Summary In this chapter, you learned how to use several of the advanced methods and properties of ASP.NET controls. First, you learned how to take advantage of view state in your ASP.NET pages and disable view state for a single control or a whole page. You also learned how to save the values of your own variables in view state. Next, you learned how to hide and disable individual controls in a page by using the Visible and Enabled properties. You also learned how to use the Panel control to hide and display a group of controls at a time. You also delved deeper into the structure of an ASP.NET page. You learned how to add and remove controls from a page through code. You also examined methods of adding and removing items from list controls such as PlaceHolder, DropDownList and ListBox. Finally, you examined three of the more advanced controls included in the .NET framework. You learned how to build interactive calendars by using the Calendar control, randomly display banner advertisements by using the AdRotator control, and accept files uploaded by using the HtmlFileInput control.

4 ADVANCED CONTROL PROGRAMMING

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development

PART

II IN THIS PART 5 Creating Custom Controls with User Controls 6 Separating Code from Presentation

277

7 Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls 309 8 Using Third-Party Controls

359

251

CHAPTER 5

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls IN THIS CHAPTER • Including Standard Content with User Controls 252 • Exposing Properties and Methods in User Controls 257 • Exposing Web Controls in User Controls 260 • Exposing Events in User Controls • Loading User Controls Programmatically 269

268

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II

In this chapter, you learn how to create and work with user controls. A user control is an ASP.NET page that has been converted into a control. User controls enable you to easily reuse the same content and programming logic on multiple ASP.NET pages. In the first section, you learn how to use user controls to display the same content on multiple ASP.NET pages. For example, you learn how to construct a standard page header and footer with a user control and display them on multiple pages. Next, you learn how to use user controls to package multiple controls into a single control. For example, you learn how to package multiple Web controls into a single user control that represents an address form. Finally, you learn how to dynamically load user controls into an ASP.NET page. You also learn how to set properties and call methods of a dynamically loaded user control. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site at: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

Including Standard Content with User Controls You can use a user control to redisplay static content on multiple ASP.NET pages. For example, most Web sites have a standard header and footer that appear at the top and bottom of every page. With user controls, you can create the standard header and footer once and use the same user controls on multiple pages. The advantage of using user controls to display the same content on multiple pages is that you can easily update the content if it ever changes. For example, if your Web site logo changes, you need to change only one file rather than hundreds of files. ASP Classic Note In previous versions of Active Server Pages, #INCLUDE files were used to display static content on multiple pages. You can still use #INCLUDE files with ASP.NET, but user controls offer much more functionality.

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To build a user control, you simply need to create a file that has the extension .ascx. You can place any static content in a user control file that you wish. Note User controls have the special .ascx extension so that they cannot be opened directly in a Web browser. Being able to open a user control file directly would create potential security risks. If you attempt to open a user control file, you receive a This type of page is not served. message.

Listing 5.1 contains a simple user control that represents a standard Web site page header. LISTING 5.1

SimpleHeader.ascx

Global Super Company Global Super Company We mean business!

Notice that Listing 5.1 does not contain anything special. It includes standard opening HTML tags and a little bit of text. After you create a user control, you can include it in any other ASP.NET page in your Web site. For example, the page in Listing 5.2 contains the SimpleHeader.ascx user control. LISTING 5.2

HomePage.aspx

5

Welcome to our home page!

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II

When the page in Listing 5.2 is displayed, the contents of the user control are also displayed (see Figure 5.1). FIGURE 5.1 Registering a user control.

The first line of Listing 5.2 contains a Register directive. You must register a user control on a page before you can start using it. The page in this listing uses three attributes of the Register directive: •

TagPrefix—The

•

TagName—The

•

Src—The

alias to associate with the user control’s namespace

alias to associate with the user control’s class

virtual path to the file containing the user control

The TagPrefix attribute enables you to assign a unique namespace to the user control. If you add another user control to the page with the same TagName, you could still distinguish between the controls with the TagPrefix. The TagName attribute enables you to name your custom control. You use this name when creating an instance of the user control on the page. The Src attribute specifies the path to the user control file. If the user control is located in the same directory as the containing page, you can simply provide the filename. If the user control is located in another directory, you need to provide either a relative or absolute path to the file.

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After you register the user control on the page, you can start using the control just like any other ASP.NET control. In Listing 5.2, you declared the control on the page by using the following tag:

When the page is rendered, the control displays the contents of the SimpleHeader.ascx file. Note You do not always need to include a user control within a tag. You need to include a user control within a form tag only when you want the control to participate in view state or when it includes other controls that require it.

You can use the same user control multiple times within a single ASP.NET page. The only requirement is that each instance has a unique ID. Imagine that you created a complicated page divider using multiple HTML elements. You can place all the HTML elements into a user control and redisplay the divider multiple times on a page. Listing 5.3 contains a user control that represents a page divider built from an HTML

tag. LISTING 5.3

Divider.ascx

CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

This divider is displayed multiple times in the page contained in Listing 5.4 (see Figure 5.2 for the output of this page).

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UserControlsDivider.aspx

UserControlsDivider.aspx Here is some text... Here is some more text... Yet some more text...

FIGURE 5.2 Displaying a single user control multiple times.

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Exposing Properties and Methods in User Controls In the preceding section, you learned how to use a user control to display a standard header on multiple ASP.NET pages. There is one problem with this header user control; however, it displays the exact same page title on each page. Fortunately, you can find an easy way around this problem, and the solution illustrates the flexibility and power of user controls. User controls do not need to be simple static files. You can expose properties in a user control and set and read these properties in the containing page. You can, for example, expose a property in the header user control that represents the title of the page. The modified header user control in Listing 5.5 demonstrates how you can do so. LISTING 5.5

HeaderTitle.ascx

Public PageTitle As String = “Global Super Company” Global Super Company We mean business!

The header user control in Listing 5.5 contains a script that declares a public variable named PageTitle. Because the variable is declared as public, it can be accessed within any page that contains the user control. The PageTitle variable displays the title of the page. The value of the variable is rendered within the opening and closing tags. The variable is given a default value of Global Super Company. If no other value is assigned to the variable, it displays this default title.

CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Now that you’ve declared the public variable, you can set the variable in any page that contains the user control, as illustrated in Listing 5.6.

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HomePageTitle.aspx

Welcome to our home page!

Notice how a value is assigned to the header user control when the user control tag is declared. The value is assigned within the declaration of the header user control. When the page in Listing 5.6 is displayed, the title of the page is The Home Page. You also can assign a value to the PageTitle user control property programmatically. Suppose that you want to display the current date in the page title. The page in Listing 5.7 assigns a value to the PageTitle variable in the Page_Load subroutine. LISTING 5.7

HomePageDate.aspx

Sub Page_Load ctlHeader.PageTitle = “Date: “ & Now.ToString( “D” ) End Sub Welcome to our home page!

All public variables declared in the user control file are exposed as properties of the user control. Functions and subroutines contained in the user control file can also be exposed.

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However, functions and subroutines are exposed not as properties, but as methods of the user control. The user control contained in Listing 5.8, for example, repeats a word a certain number of times. It has one property called Word, which represents the word to be repeated, and one method called Repeat(), which causes the word to repeated. LISTING 5.8

WordRepeater.ascx

Public Word As String Sub Repeat( intNumTimes As Integer ) Dim intCounter As Integer For intCounter = 0 to intNumTimes - 1 Response.Write( Word ) Next End Sub

The Repeat() method is implemented in the user control as a subroutine. It’s a subroutine that has one parameter that represents the number of times the word should be repeated. The page in Listing 5.9 demonstrates how you call the Repeat() method to display the word Hello! 50 times. LISTING 5.9

DisplayWordRepeater.aspx

Sub Page_Load myWordRepeater.Repeat( 50 ) End Sub

Exposing Web Controls in User Controls A user control can contain both HTML and Web controls. For example, you can place multiple Web Form controls in a user control and expose them as a single control. Why would you want to use controls this way? Imagine that you need to display the same group of Web controls over and over again in different pages at your Web site. For example, many forms contain multiple form fields for address information. You can build a single Web control that contains all the necessary form fields and use the control whenever you need to request address information. The user control in Listing 5.10 illustrates how you can create one control for address information. LISTING 5.10

Address.ascx

Street Address:

City:

State:

ZIP:

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls CHAPTER 5 LISTING 5.10

261

continued

After you create the address user control, you can use it in multiple forms, or you can even use it multiple times in the same form. The page in Listing 5.11 uses the address control twice, once for the shipping address and once for the billing address (see Figure 5.3). LISTING 5.11

DisplayAddress.aspx

DisplayAddress.aspx Billing Address Shipping Address

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Notice how both address controls are declared within the form contained in Listing 5.11. You should never declare a form within the user control itself. Instead, you should always create the form in the page that contains the user control.

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FIGURE 5.3 Displaying multiple address forms with a single user control.

Now that you have added the address controls to the page, you need a method of accessing the values of the form fields from within the containing page. For example, you might want to submit the customer’s shipping and billing address information to a database table. Retrieving the values of the address form fields is more difficult than you might think. The TextBox controls for the address form fields are located within the user control. You cannot access the properties of these controls outside the user control. For example, you cannot read the Text property of the TextBox control named txtCity directly from the containing page. To retrieve the values from the TextBox controls within the address user control, you need to add properties to the user control that expose the properties of the form controls. The page contained in Listing 5.12 illustrates how you can create the necessary properties. LISTING 5.12

AddressProperties.ascx

Public Property Street As String Get Return txtStreet.Text End Get

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263

continued

Set txtStreet.Text = Value End Set End Property Public Property City As String Get Return txtCity.Text End Get Set txtCity.Text = Value End Set End Property Public Property State As String Get Return txtState.Text End Get Set txtState.Text = Value End Set End Property Public Property ZIP As String Get Return txtZIP.Text End Get Set txtZIP.Text = Value End Set End Property

Street Address:

City:

CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

State:

ZIP:

The modified version of the address user control in Listing 5.12 uses property accessor functions to expose the properties of the TextBox controls. Each property on the page is declared with both Get and Set functions. When you read a property, the Get function is called, and when you set a property, the Set function is called. The Street property, for example, acts as a proxy for the Text property of the TextBox control named txtStreet. The Street property is declared as follows: Public Property Street As String Get Return txtStreet.Text End Get Set txtStreet.Text = Value End Set End Property

When you read the Street property, the Steet’s Get function retrieves the correct value from the Text property of the TextBox control named txtStreet. When you set the Street property, the Street’s Set function sets the Text property of the TextBox control. After you create proxy properties for each control contained within the user control, you can access the address information from the containing page. The page contained in Listing 5.13 illustrates how you can do so. LISTING 5.13

DisplayAddressProperties.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblOutput.Text = “You entered the following values:” lblOutput.Text &= “Billing Address:” lblOutput.Text &= “

Street: “ & ctlBillingAddress.Street lblOutput.Text &= “

City: “ & ctlBillingAddress.City

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265

continued

lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text End Sub

&= &= &= &= &= &= &= &=

“

State: “ & ctlBillingAddress.State “

ZIP: “ & ctlBillingAddress.ZIP “

” “Billing Address:” “

Street: “ & ctlShippingAddress.Street “

City: “ & ctlShippingAddress.City “

State: “ & ctlShippingAddress.State “

ZIP: “ & ctlShippingAddress.ZIP

DisplayAddressProperties.aspx Billing Address Shipping Address

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When you click the Submit button on the page contained in Listing 5.13, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. This subroutine displays the values of the properties of the shipping and billing address user controls within a Label control.

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Creating a proxy property for every TextBox control in a user control can be a long and tedious process. For example, if a user control contains 20 form fields, you would have to create 20 properties. Instead of creating a separate property for each control, you can create one property that represents the values of all the controls. The page in Listing 5.14 illustrates how you would do so. LISTING 5.14

AddressHashTable.ascx

Public ReadOnly Property Values As HashTable Get Dim colHashTable As New HashTable Dim ctlControl As Control Dim txtTextBox As TextBox For each ctlControl in Controls If TypeOf ctlControl Is TextBox Then txtTextBox = ctlControl colHashTable.Add( txtTextBox.ID, txtTextBox.Text ) End If Next Return colHashTable End Get End Property

Street Address:

City:

State:

ZIP:

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls CHAPTER 5 LISTING 5.14

267

continued

The address user control in Listing 5.14 returns the values of the TextBox controls in a HashTable. The user control has a single read-only property named Values. In the Get function of the Values property, a HashTable is constructed by looping through all the TextBox controls. Note A HashTable is a collection of key and value pairs. The HashTable collection is covered in detail in Chapter 24, “Working with Collections and Strings.”

To retrieve the TextBox control values in the containing page, you must read the values from the HashTable returned by the Values property. The page in Listing 5.15 retrieves and displays each value from the HashTable returned by the user control. The values of the ctlShippingAddress are retrieved by name. The values of the ctlBillAddress are retrieved within a For...Each loop. LISTING 5.15

DisplayAddressHashTable.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objItem As Object ‘ Show Billing lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text lblOutput.Text

Information = “You entered the following values:” &= “Billing Address:” &= “

Street: “ & ctlBillingAddress.Values( &= “

City: “ & ctlBillingAddress.Values( &= “

State: “ & ctlBillingAddress.Values( &= “

ZIP: “ & ctlBillingAddress.Values( &= “

”

5 CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

‘ Show Shipping Information lblOutput.Text &= “Shipping Address:”

“Street” ) “City” ) “State” ) “ZIP” )

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continued

For Each objItem in ctlShippingAddress.Values lblOutput.Text &= “

“ & objItem.Key & “: “ & objItem.Value Next End Sub DisplayAddressHashTable.aspx Billing Address Shipping Address

Exposing Events in User Controls A user control can contain the same event-handling subroutines as a normal ASP.NET page. For example, you can add a Page_Load subroutine to a user control that executes before any content in the body of the control is rendered. The Page_Load subroutine

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contained in the user control is completely distinct from the Page_Load subroutine in the parent page. The user control in Listing 5.16 randomly displays one of three quotes every time it is displayed. LISTING 5.16

UserControlEvents.ascx

Sub Page_Load Dim RanNum As New Random Select Case RanNum.Next( 3 ) Case 0 lblQuote.Text = “A penny saved is a penny earned” Case 1 lblQuote.Text = “Look before you leap” Case 2 lblQuote.Text = “He who hesitates is lost” End Select End Sub

The page in Listing 5.17 uses this user control to randomly display a quotation. LISTING 5.17

DisplayControlEvents.aspx

Loading User Controls Programmatically

CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Instead of declaring a user control in a page, you can add the user control programmatically in your code. For example, imagine that you want to add a featured product section to the home page of your Web site. Imagine, furthermore, that each featured product has

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different layout requirements. You can create user controls that correspond to each featured product and randomly load one of the controls each time the home page is displayed. Listing 5.18 and 5.19 contain two featured products. LISTING 5.18

FeaturedProduct1.ascx

Public BackColor As String = “lightgreen”

Hammers on Sale! Quality hammers are now on sale in the hardware department.

LISTING 5.19

FeaturedProduct2.ascx

Public BackColor As String = “lightgreen”

Blenders on Sale! See our selection of blenders in the home appliance deparment.

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The page in Listing 5.20 demonstrates how you can randomly display one of the featured products. LISTING 5.20

DisplayFeaturedProduct.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strFeatured As String Dim RanNum As New Random Dim ctlControl As Control strFeatured = “FeaturedProduct” & RanNum.Next( 1, 3 ) & “.ascx” ctlControl = LoadControl( strFeatured ) plhFeatured.Controls.Add( ctlControl ) End Sub DisplayFeaturedProduct.aspx

The page in Listing 5.20 uses the LoadControl() method to dynamically load a user control. This method takes the path to a user control as its only parameter. Note An example of an application that makes extensive use of programmatically loaded user controls is the IBuySpy Portal application. This application, developed by Microsoft and Vertigo Software, enables you to configure a custom portal Web site by choosing among a standard set of modules. It includes announcement, discussion, and contacts modules. The modules are implemented as dynamically loaded user controls. For more information on the IBuySpy portal application, visit http://www.IBuySpy.com.

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Specifying the Type of a User Control One problem with the LoadControl method used in the previous section is that it returns an object of type Control. It does not return the actual type of the user control. This means that you cannot set any of the properties or call any of the methods of a user control loaded with the LoadControl method without doing a little extra work. For example, the featured product user controls in Listings 5.18 and 5.19 both have a property. Since the LoadControl method returns these user controls as generic Control objects, you cannot assign a value to BackColor.

BackColor

Before you set a property of a dynamically loaded user control, you must cast the user control to the proper type. If you reexamine Listing 5.18 and 5.19, you’ll notice that both Listings begin with a directive that specifies the user control’s ClassName. The ClassName attribute declares the user control’s type. The page in Listing 5.21 illustrates how you can convert a dynamically loaded user control to the proper type and set its properties. LISTING 5.21

DisplayFeaturedProductType.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strFeatured As String Dim RanNum As New Random Dim ctlControl As Control Select RanNum.Next( 1, 3 ) Case 1 ctlControl = LoadControl( “FeaturedProduct1.ascx” CType( ctlControl, FeaturedProduct1 ).BackColor = Case 2 ctlControl = LoadControl( “FeaturedProduct2.ascx” CType( ctlControl, FeaturedProduct2 ).BackColor = End Select plhFeatured.Controls.Add( ctlControl ) End Sub

) “Yellow” ) “Yellow”

DisplayFeaturedProductType.aspx

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls CHAPTER 5 LISTING 5.21

273

continued

The CType function is used in Listing 5.21 to convert the user control being displayed to the proper type. Notice that you must register any user control that you might use in the page with a Register directive. The top of Listing 5.21 contains the following two Register directives:

If you neglect to register a user control, you’ll receive a Type is not defined error message when you attempt to convert the user control to a particular type.

Code-Behind and User Controls Instead of registering each and every user control that you might use on a page, you can derive multiple user controls from a single class. For example, you can create a single FeaturedProduct class that has a BackColor property. Next, you can derive all of the FeaturedProduct user controls from this class. After you do this, you can set the BackColor property for any featured product by converting the user control to an instance of the FeaturedProduct class. Note In the next chapter, “Separating Code From Presentation,” the topic of building custom classes and code-behind files is discussed in detail.

The first step is to create the FeaturedProduct class. This class is contained in Listing 5.22. FeaturedProduct.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web.UI Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls

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LISTING 5.22

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continued

Public Class FeaturedProduct Inherits UserControl Public BackColor As String = “lightgreen” End Class

Notice that the FeaturedProduct class inherits from the UserControl class. The class contains a single BackColor property. After you create the source file for the class, you’ll need to compile it. You can compile the class in Listing 5.22 by executing the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll FeaturedProduct.vb

Next, you’ll need to copy the compiled FeaturedProduct class file, FeaturedProduct.dll, to the bin directory located under your application’s root directory (If this bin directory does not exist, you can create it). Now that you have a FeaturedProduct class, you can derive each of the featured product user controls from this class as illustrated in Listing 5.23 and 5.24. LISTING 5.23

Featured1.ascx

Hammers on Sale! Quality hammers are now on sale in the hardware department.

LISTING 5.24

Featured2.ascx

Blenders on Sale!

Creating Custom Controls with User Controls CHAPTER 5 LISTING 5.24

275

continued

See our selection of blenders in the home appliance deparment.

Both of the user controls contained in Listing 5.23 and 5.24 contain an Inherits attribute that indicates that both classes are derived from the base FeaturedProduct class. Finally, Listing 5.25 illustrates how you can use the featured product user controls in an ASP.NET page. Notice that you do not need to include Register directives before using the controls. LISTING 5.25

DisplayFeaturedProductCodeBehind.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strFeatured As String Dim RanNum As New Random Dim ctlControl As Control strFeatured = “Featured” & RanNum.Next( 1, 3 ) & “.ascx” ctlControl = LoadControl( strFeatured ) Ctype( ctlControl, FeaturedProduct ).BackColor=”Orange” plhFeatured.Controls.Add( ctlControl ) End Sub DisplayFeaturedProductCodeBehind.aspx

5

In this chapter, you learned how to create and work with user controls. First, you learned how to use user controls to include the same content on multiple ASP.NET pages.

CREATING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Summary

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Next, I discussed how you could combine multiple Web Forms controls into a single user control. You learned how to create a standard address user control that you can reuse on multiple pages or multiple times on the same page. You also examined two methods of exposing the properties of a control: by declaring public variables and by declaring property accessor functions. Finally, you learned how to dynamically load user controls in an ASP.NET page. You also learned how to set properties and call methods of a dynamically loaded user control.

CHAPTER 6

Separating Code from Presentation

IN THIS CHAPTER • Creating Business Components • Creating Multitiered Web Applications 290 • Using Code-Behind

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Web developers are not necessarily good designers. Most companies divide the task of building Web sites between two teams. Normally, one team is responsible for the design content of a page, and the other team is responsible for the application logic. Maintaining this separation of tasks is difficult when both the design content and application logic are jumbled together on a single page. A carefully engineered ASP.NET page can be easily garbled after being loaded into a design program. Likewise, a beautifully designed page can quickly become mangled in the hands of an engineer. In this chapter, you learn two methods of dividing your application code from your presentation content. In other words, you learn how to keep both your design and engineering teams happy. First, you learn how to package application code into custom business components. Using a business component, you can place all your application logic into a separate Visual Basic class file. You also learn how to use business components to build multitiered Web applications. Next, you learn how to take advantage of a feature of ASP.NET pages named codebehind. Using code-behind, you can place all your application logic into a file and create one or more ASP.NET pages that inherit from this file. Code-behind is the technology used by Visual Studio.NET to divide presentation content from application logic. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site at: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

Creating Business Components In this section, you learn how to create business components using Visual Basic and use the components in an ASP.NET page. Business components have a number of benefits: • Business components enable you to separate presentation content from application logic. You can design an attractive ASP.NET page and package all the page’s application logic into a business component. • Business components promote code reuse. You can write a library of useful subroutines and functions, package them into a business component, and reuse the same code on multiple ASP.NET pages.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

Creating a Simple Business Component A business component is a Visual Basic class file. Whenever you create a component, you need to complete each of the following three steps: 1. Create a file that contains the definitions for one or more Visual Basic classes and save the file with the extension .vb. 2. Compile the class file. 3. Copy the compiled class file into your Web application’s /BIN directory. Start by creating a simple component that randomly displays different quotations. You can call this component the quote component. First, you need to create the Visual Basic class file for the component. The quote component is contained in Listing 6.1. LISTING 6.1

Quote.vb

Imports System Namespace myComponents Public Class Quote Dim myRand As New Random Public Function ShowQuote() As String Select myRand.Next( 3 ) Case 0 Return “Look before you leap” Case 1 Return “Necessity is the mother of invention” Case 2 Return “Life is full of risks”

FROM

• Business components enable you to build multitiered Web applications. For example, you can use components to create a data layer that abstracts away from the design specifics of a particular database. Or you can write a set of components that encapsulate your business logic.

PRESENTATION

• Business components can be written in multiple languages. Some developers like working with Visual Basic, some prefer C# or C++, and some even like COBOL and Perl. You can write components with different languages and combine the components into a single ASP.NET page. You can even call methods from a component written in one language from a component written in another language.

6 SEPARATING CODE

• Business components are compiled. You therefore can distribute a component without worrying about the source code being easily revealed or modified.

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continued

End Select End Function End Class End Namespace

The first line in Listing 6.1 imports the System namespace. You need to import this namespace because you use the Random class in your function, and the Random class is a member of the System namespace. Note You don’t have to import the System, System.Collections, System. Collections.Specialized, System.Configuration, System.Text, System.Text. RegularExpressions, System.Web, System.Web.Caching, System.Web.Security, System.Web.SessionState, System.Web.UI, System.Web.UI.HTMLControls, or System.Web.UI.WebControls namespaces in an ASP.NET page because these namespaces are automatically imported by default. However, a Visual Basic class file does not have default namespaces.

Next, you need to create your own namespace for the class file. In Listing 6.1, you created a new namespace called myComponents. You could have created a namespace with any name you pleased. You need to import this namespace when you create the ASP.NET page that uses this component. Note If you don’t create a namespace for a class, the class is added to something called the global namespace. In general, it’s not a good idea to add classes to the global namespace since it increases the likelihood of naming conflicts.

The remainder of Listing 6.1 contains the declaration for your Visual Basic class. The class has a single function, named ShowQuote(), that randomly returns one of three quotations. This function is exposed as a method of the Quote class. After you write your component, you need to save it in a file that ends with the extension .vb. Save the file in Listing 6.1 with the name Quote.vb.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

FIGURE 6.1 Compiling a component.

Note If you use either Web or HTML controls in your component, you need to add a reference to the system.web.dll assembly when you compile the component like this: vbc /t:library /r:system.web.dll quote.vb

All the classes in the .NET framework are contained in assemblies. If you use a specialized class, you need to reference the proper assembly when you compile the component. If you lookup a particular class in the .NET Framework SDK Documentation, it will list the assembly associated with the class.

If no errors are encountered during compilation, a new file named Quote.dll should appear in the same directory as the Quote.vb file. You now have a compiled business component. The final step is to move the component to a directory where the Web server can find it. To use the component in your ASP.NET pages, you need to move it to a special directory named /BIN. If this directory does not already exist, you can create it.

FROM

The /t option tells the compiler to create a DLL file rather than an EXE file.

SEPARATING CODE

vbc /t:library quote.vb

6 PRESENTATION

The next step is to compile your Quote.vb file by using the vbc command-line compiler included with the .NET framework. Open a DOS prompt, navigate to the directory that contains the Quote.vb file, and execute the following statement (see Figure 6.1):

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ASP Classic Note You do not need to register the component in the server’s Registry by using a tool such as regsvr32.exe. Information about ASP.NET components is not stored in the Registry. This means that you can copy a Web application to a new server, and all the components immediately work on that new server.

The /BIN directory must be an immediate subdirectory of your application’s root directory. By default, the /BIN directory should be located under the wwwroot directory. However, if your application is contained in a Virtual Directory, you must create the /BIN directory in the root directory of the Virtual Directory. Immediately after you copy the component to the /BIN directory, you can use it in your ASP.NET pages. For example, the page in Listing 6.2 uses the quote component to assign a random quote to a Label control. ASP Classic Note Great news! You no longer need to stop and restart your Web server to use a component whenever you modify it. As soon as you move a component into the /BIN directory, the new component will be used for all new page requests. ASP.NET components are not locked on disk because the Web server maintains shadow copies of all the components in a separate directory. When you replace a component in the /BIN directory, the Web server completes all the current page requests using the old version of the component in the shadow directory. As soon as all the current requests are completed, the shadow copy of the old component is automatically replaced with the new component.

LISTING 6.2

ShowQuote.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim myQuote As New Quote lblOutput.Text = myQuote.ShowQuote() End Sub

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.2

continued

283

6

The first line in Listing 6.2 imports the namespace. After the namespace is imported, you can use your component just like any .NET class. In the Page_Load subroutine, you create an instance of your component. Next, you call the ShowQuote() method of the component to assign a random quotation to the Label control (see Figure 6.2). FIGURE 6.2 Output of the quote component.

FROM

And the quote is...

PRESENTATION

ShowQuote.aspx

SEPARATING CODE

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Using Properties in a Component You can add properties to a component in two ways. Either you can create public variables, or you can use property accessor syntax. Adding properties by using public variables is the easiest method. For example, the component in Listing 6.3 has two variables named FirstValue and SecondValue. Because these variables are exposed as public variables, you can access them as properties of the object. LISTING 6.3

Adder.vb

Imports System Namespace myComponents Public Class Adder Public FirstValue As Integer Public SecondValue As Integer Function AddValues() As Integer Return FirstValue + SecondValue End Function End Class End Namespace

The component in Listing 6.3 is named the adder component. It simply adds together the values of whatever numbers are assigned to its properties and returns the sum in the AddValues() function. The ASP.NET page in Listing 6.4 illustrates how you can use the adder component to add the values entered into two TextBox controls. LISTING 6.4

AddValues.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim myAdder As New Adder myAdder.FirstValue = txtVal1.Text myAdder.SecondValue = txtVal2.Text

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.4

continued

Value 1:

Value 2:

Output:

You also can expose properties in a component by using property accessor syntax. Using this syntax, you can define a Set function that executes every time you assign a value to a property and a Get function that executes every time you read a value from a property. You can then place validation logic into the property’s Get and Set functions to prevent certain values from being assigned or read.

FROM

AddValues.aspx

SEPARATING CODE

6 PRESENTATION

lblOutput.Text = myAdder.AddValues() End Sub

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The modified version of the adder component in Listing 6.5, for example, uses property accessor syntax. LISTING 6.5

AdderProperties.vb

Imports System Namespace myComponents Public Class AdderProperties Private _firstValue As Integer Private _secondValue As Integer Public Property FirstValue As Integer Get Return _firstValue End Get Set _firstValue = Value End Set End Property Public Property SecondValue As Integer Get Return _secondValue End Get Set _secondValue = Value End Set End Property Function AddValues() As Integer Return _firstValue + _secondValue End Function End Class End Namespace

The modified version of the adder component in Listing 6.5 works in exactly the same way as the original adder component. When you assign a new value to the FirstValue property, the Set function executes and assigns the value to a private variable named _firstValue. When you read the FirstValue property, the Get function executes and returns the value of the private _firstvalue variable. The advantage of using accessor functions with properties is that you can add validation logic into the functions. For example, if you never want someone to assign a value less than 0 to the FirstValue property, you can declare the FirstValue property like this:

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

You can use components to move some, but not all, of the application logic away from an ASP.NET page to a separate compiled file. Imagine, for example, that you want to create a simple user registration form with an ASP.NET page. When someone completes the user registration form, you want the information to be saved in a file. You also want to use a component to encapsulate the logic for saving the form data to a file. Listing 6.6 contains a simple user registration component. This component has a subroutine named doRegister that accepts three parameters: FirstName, LastName, and FavColor. The component saves the values of these parameters to a file named userlist.txt. Note File access in the .NET framework is discussed in detail in Chapter 25, “Working with the File System.”

LISTING 6.6

Register.vb

Imports System Imports System.IO Namespace myComponents Public Class Register

FROM

Using a Component to Handle Events

SEPARATING CODE

This Set function checks whether the value passed to it is less than 0. If the value is, in fact, less than 0, the value 0 is assigned to the private _firstValue variable.

6 PRESENTATION

Public Property firstValue As Integer Get Return _firstValue End Get Set If value < 0 Then _firstValue = 0 Else _firstValue = Value End If End Set End Property

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 6.6

continued

Shared Sub doRegister( FirstName As String, LastName As String, FavColor As String ) Dim strPath As String = “c:\userlist.txt” Dim strmFile As StreamWriter strmFile = File.AppendText( strPath ) strmFile.Write( “first name: “ & firstname & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “last name: “ & lastname & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “favorite Color: “ & favColor & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “=============” & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Close End Sub End Class End Namespace

After you compile the Register.vb file and copy the compiled component to the /BIN directory, you can use the component in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 6.7 demonstrates how you can use the register component. LISTING 6.7

UserRegistration.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Register.doRegister( txtFirstName.Text, txtLastName.Text, txtFavColor.Text ) End Sub UserRegistration.aspx First Name:

Last Name:

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.7

continued

When someone completes the form and clicks the button, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. This subroutine calls the doRegister() method to save the form data to a file. Note In Listing 6.7, you do not need to create an instance of the Register component before calling its doRegister() method. You don’t need to create an instance of the component since the doRegister() method is declared as a shared method. Typically, when you declare a method, you declare instance methods. Instance methods operate on a particular instance of a class. A shared method, however, operates on the class itself.

Notice that you must still place some of the application logic in the UserRegistration. aspx page. In the Button_Click subroutine, you must pass the values entered into each of the TextBox controls to the doRegister() method. You are forced to do so because you cannot refer directly to the controls in UserRegistration.aspx from the register component.

FROM

SEPARATING CODE

Favorite Color:

6 PRESENTATION

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Later in this chapter, in the discussion of code-behind, you learn how to move all your application logic into a separate compiled file.

Creating Multitiered Web Applications You can use components to divide your Web application into multiple layers, thereby creating a multitiered application. For example, in a two-tiered application, you might have a user interface layer built from ASP.NET pages and a data layer built from components. In a three-tiered application, you might introduce a third layer, representing your application’s business logic, between the user interface and data layers. Why would you want to create multiple layers? The advantage of dividing an application into multiple layers is that you can more easily manage and change the application. In the preceding section, for example, you created a component that enables you to save form information to a file. In essence, you created a single component for the data layer. Now suppose that your needs change, and you decide to save the data to a database table instead of a file. In that case, you need to modify only the component. You don’t have to touch a line of code in the ASP.NET page itself. In other words, you can isolate changes in the data layer from changes in the user interface layer. An additional benefit of dividing an application into multiple layers is that doing so makes it easier for multiple teams of programmers to work on the same application at the same time. If all the application logic is contained in a single page, you face the problem of multiple programmers stumbling over each other while performing modifications. To illustrate these points, you can construct a simple three-tiered Web application consisting of user interface, business, and data layers to create a simple order entry application. The application consists of the following three objects: •

OrderForm.aspx—This ASP.NET

•

BizObject—This

•

DataObject—This

page represents the user interface layer.

component represents the business layer. component represents the data layer.

First, build the user interface layer. The ASP.NET page for the user interface is contained in Listing 6.8. The page requests five pieces of information: the customer name, product, unit price of the product, quantity, and customer’s state of residence (see Figure 6.3).

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

FIGURE 6.3

6

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim myBizObject As New BizObject If isValid Then Try myBizObject.CheckOrder( _ txtCustomer.Text, _ dropProduct.SelectedItem.Text, _ txtUnitPrice.Text, _ txtQuantity.Text, _ dropState.SelectedItem.Text ) Catch expException As Exception lblError.Text = expException.Message End Try End If End Sub OrderForm.aspx

FROM

OrderForm.aspx

SEPARATING CODE

PRESENTATION

A simple order form.

LISTING 6.8

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continued

Enter an Order:

Customer Name:

Product:

Unit Price:

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.8

continued

Customer State:

When all the information is entered into the form, and the Place Order button is clicked, the Button_Click subroutine executes. This subroutine creates an instance of the BizObject component and passes all the form information to the component’s CheckOrder() method. The business component is contained in Listing 6.9.

FROM

SEPARATING CODE

6 PRESENTATION

Quantity:

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 6.9

BizObject.vb

Imports System Namespace myComponents Public Class BizObject Sub CheckOrder( _ Customer As String, _ Product As String, _ UnitPrice As Double, _ Quantity As Integer, _ State As String ) If Quantity 100 Then Throw New ArgumentException( “Invalid Quantity!” ) End If If State = “California” And Product=”Hair Dryer” Then Throw New ArgumentException( “Californians cannot own Hair Dryers!” ) End IF If State = “Washington” Then unitPrice += unitPrice * .06 End If Dim myDataObject As New DataObject myDataObject.SaveOrder( customer, product, unitPrice, quantity, state ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

The business component contains all the business rules for the application. The component encapsulates the following rules: 1. The product quantity must be greater than 0 and less than 100. 2. People who live in California cannot buy hair dryers. 3. People who live in Washington must pay an additional 6% sales tax. If an order fails either of the first two requirements, an exception is raised. The error is caught in the OrderEntry.aspx page and displayed in a Label control. For example, Figure 6.4 displays what happens when you try to order more than 100 products.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

FIGURE 6.4

6

Exceptions and Try...Catch blocks are discussed in detail in Chapter 18, “Application Tracing and Error Handling.”

If an order satisfies all the business rules, it is passed to the SaveOrder() method of the DataObject component, which saves the order to disk. This component is contained in Listing 6.10. DataObject.vb

Imports System Imports System.IO Namespace myComponents Public Class DataObject Sub SaveOrder( _ Customer As String, _ Product As String, _ UnitPrice As Double, _ Quantity As Integer, _ State As String )

FROM

Note

SEPARATING CODE

PRESENTATION

Raising an exception in the order form.

LISTING 6.10

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 6.10

continued

Dim strPath As String = “c:\orders.txt” Dim strmFile As StreamWriter strmFile = File.AppendText( strPath ) strmFile.Write( “customer: “ & customer & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “product: “ & product & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “unit price: “ & unitPrice.ToString() & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “quantity: “ & quantity.ToString() & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “state: “ & state & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Write( “=============” & Environment.NewLine ) strmFile.Close End Sub End Class End Namespace

Remember that you must compile both the BizObject and DataObject components and copy them to your application’s /BIN directory before you can use them. The order of compilation is important. Because the BizObject component refers to the DataObject component, you must create the DataObject component first. You can compile this component by using the following statement (executed from a DOS prompt): vbc /t:library DataObject.vb

After you copy the DataObject.dll file to your application’s /BIN directory, you can compile the BizObject component by using the following statement: vbc /t:library /r:DataObject.dll bizObject.vb

Notice the /r option used when compiling the BizObject component; it references the DataObject.dll file. If you don’t include this reference, you receive the error User-defined type not defined: DataObject.

Using Code-Behind Using components is an excellent method of moving your application logic outside your ASP.NET pages. However, as you have seen, components have one serious shortcoming. Because you cannot directly refer to the controls contained in an ASP.NET page from a component, you cannot move all your application logic out of the page. In this section, you learn about a second method of dividing presentation content from code that remedies this deficiency. You learn how to take advantage of a feature of ASP.NET pages called code-behind.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

Jumble.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblMessage.Text = “Hello!” End Sub Jumble.aspx

The page in Listing 6.11 contains one Button control and one Label control. When you click the button, the Button_Click subroutine executes and a message is assigned to the label. Now, you can divide this page into separate presentation and code-behind files. The presentation file is simple; it just contains everything but the Button_Click subroutine. It also contains an additional page directive at the top of the file.

FROM

LISTING 6.11

SEPARATING CODE

Start with a page that has both its presentation content and application code jumbled together in one file. This page is shown in Listing 6.11.

6 PRESENTATION

You can use code-behind to cleanly divide an ASP.NET page into two files. One file contains the presentation content, and the second file, called the code-behind file, contains all the application logic.

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Presentation.aspx

Presentation.aspx

The code-behind file, contained in Listing 6.13, is a little more complicated. It consists of an uncompiled Visual Basic class file.

Listing 6.13 Imports Imports Imports Imports

myCodeBehind.vb

System System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls System.Web.UI.HtmlControls

Public Class myCodeBehind Inherits Page Protected WithEvents lblMessage As Label Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblMessage.Text = “Hello!” End Sub End Class

That’s it. That’s all you need to do to cleanly divide a page into separate files for presentation content and application logic. If you save the Presentation.aspx and

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 myCodeBehind.vb

If you look closely at the Visual Basic class declared in the code-behind file in the preceding section, you notice that the myCodeBehind class inherits from the Page class. The class definition for myCodeBehind begins with the following statement: Inherits Page

When you create a code-behind file, you are actually creating an instance of an ASP.NET page. You’re explicitly building a new ASP.NET page in a class file by inheriting from the Page class. Code-behind pages use an additional level of inheritance. The page used for the presentation content in the preceding section, Presentation.aspx, inherits from the code-behind file. The first line of Presentation.aspx is as follows:

The presentation page inherits all the properties, methods, and events of the code-behind file. When you click the button, the Button_Click subroutine executes because the presentation page is inherited from a class that contains this subroutine. So, the code-behind file inherits from the Page class, and the presentation file inherits from the code-behind file. Because this hierarchy of inheritance exists, all the properties, methods, and events of the Page class are available in the code-behind file, and all the properties, methods, and events in the code-behind file are available to the presentation file. When using code-behind files, you must be careful to declare an instance of each control used in the presentation file within the code-behind file. For example, in the code-behind file, you refer to the lblMessage control in the Button_Click subroutine. So, you have to explicitly declare the control in the code-behind file like this: Protected WithEvents lblMessage As Label

If you neglected to include this declaration, you would receive the error The name when attempting to open the presentation page in a browser. ‘lblMessage’ is not declared

FROM

How Code-Behind Really Works

PRESENTATION

Notice that you do not even have to compile the code-behind file. The Visual Basic class contained in the code-behind file is compiled automatically when you request the Presentation.aspx page.

6 SEPARATING CODE

files anywhere on your Web server, you can immediately open the file in a Web browser, and the page will work as expected.

Presentation.aspx

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Compiling Code-Behind Files You don’t need to compile a code-behind file. The class file contained in a code-behind file is compiled automatically when you request the presentation page. If you prefer, however, there is nothing to prevent you from compiling it. For example, to compile a code-behind file named CodeBehind.vb, execute the following statement from a DOS prompt in the same directory as your code-behind file: vbc /t:library /r:system.dll,system.web.dll CodeBehind.vb

This statement compiles a code-behind file named CodeBehind.vb into a file named CodeBehind.dll. The /t option indicates that a DLL file should be created. The /r option references the system.dll assembly and system.web.dll assembly. (All the Web control classes inhabit this assembly.) After you compile the code-behind file into CodeBehind.dll, you need to move this file to your application’s /BIN directory. Finally, modify the page directive on the presentation page. Change the page directive from

to

You no longer need the src attribute because the compiled code-behind file is located in the /BIN directory. The compiled classes in the /BIN directory are automatically available to use in all the ASP.NET pages in an application.

Inheriting Multiple Pages from a Code-Behind File You can inherit multiple presentation pages from the same code-behind file. In fact, if you really want to, you could inherit all the pages in your Web site from a single codebehind file. Why is this capability useful? Imagine that you have a set of functions and subroutines that you need to call in almost every page. You can place the functions and subroutines in your code-behind file, and they are immediately available in any page that inherits from the code-behind file. The code-behind file in Listing 6.14, for example, has one subroutine and one function. The subroutine is the standard Page_Load subroutine that executes whenever a page is first loaded. The utility function named HeaderMessage() returns the current date.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.14

Protected WithEvents lblHeader As Label Overridable Sub Page_Load lblHeader.Text = HeaderMessage() End Sub

Function HeaderMessage() As String Dim strMessage As String strMessage = “Welcome to this Web site!” strMessage &= “The current date is “ strMessage &= DateTime.Now.ToString( “D” ) Return strMessage End Function End Class

Any page that derives from the code-behind file in Listing 6.14 inherits both the Page_Load subroutine and HeaderMessage() function. For example, the presentation page in Listing 6.15 automatically uses the Page_Load subroutine from the code-behind file. LISTING 6.15

PresentationMultiple1.aspx

PresentationMultiple1.aspx Page 1

FROM

Public Class CodeBehindMultiple Inherits Page

6 SEPARATING CODE

System System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls System.Web.UI.HtmlControls

PRESENTATION

Imports Imports Imports Imports

CodeBehindMultiple.vb

301

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 6.15

continued

When you open the page contained in Listing 6.15, the Page_Load subroutine from the code-behind file executes, and the header Label is assigned the text from the HeaderText() function. Now, imagine that you want to use the Page_Load subroutine declared in the code-behind file in some pages that inherit from the code-behind file but not others. Because you declared the Page_Load subroutine as Overridable, you can override it in a presentation page. The page in Listing 6.16, for example, overrides the Page_Load subroutine with its own Page_Load subroutine and displays a custom message in the header Label. LISTING 6.16

PresentationMultiple2.aspx

Overrides Sub Page_Load lblHeader.Text = “Who cares about the current date?” End Sub

PresentationMultiple2.aspx Page 2

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

LISTING 6.17

PresentationMultiple3.aspx

Overrides Sub Page_Load myBase.Page_Load lblHeader.Text &= “And the current time is “ lblHeader.Text &= Now.ToString( “t” ) End Sub PresentationMultiple3.aspx.aspx Page 3

In Listing 6.17, the Page_Load subroutine overrides the Page_Load subroutine from the code-behind file. However, notice this statement: myBase.Page_Load

FROM

The presentation page in Listing 6.17 illustrates how you would do so.

SEPARATING CODE

Now, try one last example. Imagine that you want to create a page that executes the subroutine in the code-behind file, but also executes a Page_Load subroutine of its own. You can extend the subroutine in the code-behind file within a presentation file by overriding the original subroutine and calling the original subroutine in the new subroutine. In other words, you can extend the code-behind subroutine in your presentation file.

Page_Load

6 PRESENTATION

Notice that the Page_Load subroutine uses the Overrides modifier, which overrides the Page_Load subroutine declared in the code-behind file. You can set it up this way because the Page_Load subroutine was declared with the Overridable modifier.

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This statement invokes the Page_Load subroutine in the code-behind file. The Visual Basic myBase keyword refers to the base class that the current class is derived from. Therefore, when the page contained in Listing 6.17 is opened in a browser, the Page_Load subroutines in both the code-behind file and presentation file are executed. The page in Figure 6.5 is displayed. FIGURE 6.5 Extending a codebehind subroutine.

Compiling a Complete ASP.NET Page In this chapter, you have examined various methods of moving the application logic out of an ASP.NET page and placing it in a separate file. In this section, I want to discuss an extreme case. How would you go about compiling all of an ASP.NET page, including both the presentation content and application code? You might want to compile a complete page in several circumstances. For example, imagine that you have developed an e-Commerce Web site, and you want to sell the site to multiple clients. When you distribute the site, you might not want the clients to be able to easily view the source code. If you compile all the pages in your application, all the Visual Basic source code is hidden from view. You can compile an ASP.NET page by placing all its contents into a code-behind file. In the code-behind file, you must explicitly declare all the controls and all the static content that appears in the page.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6

System System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls System.Web.UI.HtmlControls

Public Class myPage Inherits Page Dim txtTextBox As New TextBox Dim lblLabel As New Label Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls ‘ Add Opening HTML Tags Dim strOpenHTML As String strOpenHTML = “My Page” strOpenHTML &= “Enter some text:” Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( strOpenHTML ) ) ‘ Add HTMLForm Tag Dim frmForm As New HTMLForm frmForm.ID = “myForm” Controls.Add( frmForm )

‘ Add a TextBox txtTextBox.ID = “myTextBox” frmForm.Controls.Add( txtTextBox ) ‘ Add a Button Dim btnButton As New Button btnButton.Text = “Click Here!” AddHandler btnButton.Click, AddressOf Button_Click frmForm.Controls.Add( btnButton ) ‘ Add Page Break frmForm.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “

” ) ) ‘ Add a Label lblLabel.ID = “myLabel” frmForm.Controls.Add( lblLabel ) ‘ Add Closing HTML Tags Dim strCloseHTML As String

FROM

Imports Imports Imports Imports

myPage.vb

PRESENTATION

LISTING 6.18

6 SEPARATING CODE

The code-behind file in Listing 6.18 contains a complete ASP.NET page in a Visual Basic class.

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 6.18

continued

strCloseHTML = “” Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( strCloseHTML ) ) End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblLabel.Text = txtTextBox.Text End Sub End Class

The bulk of the code in Listing 6.18 is contained in a subroutine called CreateChildControls. In this subroutine, you create each of the controls that you want to appear in your ASP.NET page. To add static content to the page, you use the LiteralControl control. For example, you use LiteralControl to create the opening HTML tags at the beginning of the CreateChildControls subroutine and the closing HTML tags at the end of the subroutine. You also add all the Web controls to the page within the CreateChildControls subroutine. First, you add an HTMLForm control to the page’s Controls collection. Next, you add TextBox, Button, and Label controls to the HTMLForm’s Controls collection. Finally, your page class contains a subroutine named Button_Click. This subroutine is executed when you click the button. The Button_Click subroutine assigns whatever text was entered into the TextBox control to the Label control. To wire up the Button_Click control to the Button control, you use the following statement: AddHandler btnButton.Click, AddressOf Button_Click

This statement adds an event handler to the Click event of the Button control. It associates the Button_Click subroutine with the Click event. So, whenever the button is clicked, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. After you create the page class in Listing 6.18, you can compile it by using the following statement: vbc /t:library /r:system.dll,system.web.dll myPage.vb

After the page is compiled, you need to move it to your application’s /BIN directory. Finally, to request the compiled page in a Web browser, you have to create one additional file. This file is contained in Listing 6.19.

Separating Code from Presentation CHAPTER 6 LISTING 6.19

ShowMyPage.aspx

307

6

In this chapter, you examined two methods of dividing a page’s application logic from its design content. First, you learned how to create custom business components using Visual Basic class files and discovered how to use components to create multitiered Web applications. In the second half of this chapter, you learned how to take advantage of code-behind. You learned how to divide an ASP.NET page into a presentation file and a code-behind file. Finally, you examined a method of compiling a complete ASP.NET page.

FROM

Summary

PRESENTATION

As you can see, the ShowMyPage.aspx file contains a single line; it’s a page directive indicating that the current page should inherit from the myPage class. When you open ShowMyPage.aspx in a Web browser, the ASP.NET page created in the code-behind file is displayed.

SEPARATING CODE

CHAPTER 7

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls IN THIS CHAPTER • Using Mobile Device Software Simulators 310 • Introduction to the Wireless Application Protocol 312 • Building WML Pages

313

• Using ASP.NET Mobile Controls

317

• Creating Cross-Device-Compatible Mobile Pages 350

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In this chapter, you’ll learn how to write ASP.NET pages that work with mobile devices such as cellular phones, Pocket PC devices, and the Palm Pilot Web browser. First, you’ll be provided with an overview of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), a standard for communicating with wireless devices. You’ll also learn the basics of the Wireless Markup Language (WML), the wireless version of HTML. Next, you’ll learn how to leverage your existing ASP.NET skills to create ASP.NET pages that generate content compatible with mobile devices. You’ll be given an overview of the controls included with the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit. Finally, you’ll learn how to create ASP.NET pages that are cross-device compatible. You’ll learn how to detect features of specific devices and exploit their special capabilities. In this chapter, you will learn: • How to configure Internet Information Server to work with WML files • How to create multiple mobile forms in a single page • How to display interactive lists of information • How to accept and validate user input • How to create device-compatible mobile ASP.NET pages

Using Mobile Device Software Simulators You can download software simulators for mobile devices so that you can test your ASP.NET pages from the comfort of your desktop computer. These simulators are a lot of fun to use. They display a mock telephone interface so you can test your pages by clicking phone buttons. One of the easiest simulators to set up is the one provided by Openwave. The Openwave simulator enables you to display a number of different phones by configuring different skins. For example, you can simulate phones from Samsung, Mitsubishi, and Ericsson by applying the proper skin (see Figure 7.1). To download the Openwave phone simulator, go to http://developer.Openwave. and download the OpenWave SDK.

com

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls CHAPTER 7

311

FIGURE 7.1 Openwave simulator with the Alcatel skin.

7 TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

Note This chapter assumes that you have the OpenWave SDK 3.2 installed. Currently, there are two versions of the Openwave SDK available for download: OpenWave SDK 3.2 and OpenWave SDK 4.1. The mobile controls have not been tested with every one of these phone simulators. See the documentation for the Mobile Internet Toolkit for more information.

You can also download phone simulators from Nokia by going to forum.nokia.com. The Nokia Wap Toolkit 2.0 includes simulators for the Nokia 7110 phone and a “Blueprint” phone that has no counterpart in the actual world (it’s a “concept” phone). Currently, the mobile controls will only work with the Nokia 7110 and not the Blueprint simulator (see Figure 7.2). Finally, you can use the Microsoft Mobile Explorer version 2.01 software emulator (see Figure 7.3). This simulator is a free download from the Microsoft Web site (go to www. microsoft.com/mobile/phones/mme/mmemulator.asp). For installation instructions, see http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/phones/mme/MME_2.01_Installation.doc.

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FIGURE 7.2 The Nokia 7110 phone simulator.

FIGURE 7.3 The Microsoft Mobile Explorer emulator.

Introduction to the Wireless Application Protocol Developing pages for mobile devices is a very different challenge than developing pages for standard Web browsers. One of the biggest differences is the available screen space. A typical mobile device (such as a cell phone) can only display 15 characters across and four characters down. A typical desktop Web browser, in contrast, can display 80 characters across and 40 characters down.

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Another challenge concerns bandwidth. Most mobile devices do not have blazing fast connections to a network. When you use a mobile device, you typically get to enjoy watching each character slowly walk across the network and be displayed on your screen. Therefore, sending pages full of rich graphics and sound effects simply won’t work. In response to the unique characteristics of mobile devices, several alternative protocols to HTML were developed that are tailored specifically for mobile devices. In this chapter, we’ll be discussing the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The WAP standard is an open standard developed and maintained by the WAP Forum (www.wapforum.org).

7

The WAP standard encompasses a number of different protocols. It includes a transportlevel protocol named WSP, which performs the same function in the world of mobile devices that HTTP does on the Internet. It also includes an application level-protocol, the Wireless Markup Language (WML), which performs the same function in the wireless world that HTML does on the Internet.

TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

Strictly speaking, you don’t need to know anything about WML to use the mobile controls discussed in this chapter. The controls automatically render the correct WML content for you. However, it helps. The content in a WML file has a special organization, and it is useful to know what is happening under the hood when working with the mobile controls.

Building WML Pages WML is similar to HTML. When building WML pages, you can continue to use familiar tags, such as the , , and tags, with the same effect as in HTML pages. However, there are several significant differences between a WML page and an HTML page. In this section, you’ll learn how to create and use simple WML pages. Note You can read the complete specification for WML at the WAP Forum Web site at www.wapforum.org.

Configuring Internet Information Server You don’t need to configure Internet Information Server to use the ASP.NET mobile controls. So, ignore this section if you plan to generate WML content only with the mobile

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controls. However, if you plan to serve static WML pages directly from your Web site, you’ll need to configure Internet Information Server to use an additional MIME type for WML files. To configure Internet Information Server 5.0 to serve static WML files, follow these steps: 1. Go to Start, Administrative Tools, Internet Services Manager. 2. Open the property sheet for your default Web site. 3. Choose the tab labeled HTTP Headers. 4. Click the button labeled File Types in the MIME Map section. 5. Enter a new file type with the extension .wml and content type text/vnd.wap.wml. After you perform these steps, your server will send WML files with the correct MIME type.

WML and XML Unlike HTML, WML is based on XML (the Extensible Markup Language). This fact has some inconvenient implications. First, because WML is based on XML and XML is case sensitive, WML is case sensitive. Therefore, using the tag in a page will not have the same effect as using the tag. In general, you must use all the tags in lowercase. Second—and this requirement should be familiar to ASP.NET developers—you must be careful to close all the tags in a WML file. This requirement is very strict. For example, if you use the

tag, you must end it with a

tag. If you want to add a line break, you must use the tag. If you neglect to close a tag, an error will be generated. Finally, all WML files must begin with the following document type declaration:

Creating a Deck of Cards WML uses a card metaphor for organizing content. When you request a WML file, you receive a deck of cards. Each card represents a screen of content. Why this weird card metaphor? Remember that mobile devices are typically small and slow. You cannot display very much content at a time on a cell phone, and it takes a long time for the content to arrive. Under these circumstances, it makes a lot of sense to transmit multiple screens to a mobile device in a single file.

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315

A WML card corresponds to an HTML page, and a WML deck corresponds to a group of HTML pages. Because a deck is transmitted as a single WML file, WML enables you to transmit multiple pages at a time. The WML file in Listing 7.1 contains a simple WML deck for selecting a movie. Note

LISTING 7.1

SelectMovie.wml

Select Movie: Star Wars Gone with the Wind Citizen Kane

You selected: Star Wars

You selected: Gone with the Wind

You selected:

7 TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

You can view the page in Listing 7.1 in a phone simulator such as the OpenWave SDK phone simulator. It won’t display property in a normal Web Browser since it is a WML file.

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 7.1

continued

Citizen Kane

The WML file in Listing 7.1 contains a deck with four cards. The first card has a menu of three movies. Each movie is a link to another card (see Figure 7.4). For example, if you click Star Wars, the contents of the second card is displayed. FIGURE 7.4 Output of a simple WML file.

When this WML file is transmitted to a cell phone or other mobile device, all the cards are available in the device’s memory at the same time. This means that the user can happily navigate between the cards, displaying different screens of information, without performing any additional roundtrips to the server.

Linking Files with WML You can create a complete application with a single deck of cards. Typically, you’ll want to do this for the sake of efficiency. However, you can also create links between decks of cards in separate WML files. The WML file in Listing 7.2 illustrates how you would do this. It contains links to two WML files, named SelectMovie.wml and ShowContacts.wml.

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317

SelectApp.wml

The card in Listing 7.2 functions as a menu. It enables you to pick other applications to execute. Notice that the link is created using standard HTML HREF syntax.

Using ASP.NET Mobile Controls The ASP.NET mobile controls were designed to be compatible with a wide variety of mobile devices. The controls will render either WML 1.1 or HTML 3.2 content, depending on the device. Note The mobile controls also support cHTML (compact HTML). cHTML works with i-Mode devices which are very popular in Japan.

For example, if you request a page with a cell phone, the mobile controls will render WML 1.1–compliant content. If you request a page using a Palm Pilot or Pocket PC browser, HTML 3.2 content will be displayed. You can also display ASP.NET pages that contain mobile controls in Internet Explorer 6.0 (or higher). This is useful for debugging pages because full error messages can be displayed. To use the mobile controls, you must install the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit. Currently, the Mobile Internet Toolkit is available as a free download from the Microsoft Web site (go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/net).

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Application: Movies Contacts

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After you install the SDK, you can use the mobile controls in a page by including the following page directives:

All pages that use the mobile controls must inherit from a Code-Behind page called System.Web.UI.MobileControls.MobilePage. The second directive is used to associate the Mobile tag prefix with the mobile control namespace.

Creating Mobile Forms A WML file typically contains multiple cards that represent different screens of content. When you create files with the ASP.NET controls, however, you create multiple screens with forms instead of cards. Warning An ASP.NET page that contains mobile controls is unlike a normal ASP.NET page. A normal ASP.NET page, unlike a mobile form page, cannot have more than one form control.

The page in Listing 7.3 illustrates how to create a simple page that displays movie choices using the mobile controls. LISTING 7.3

SelectMovie.aspx

Citizen Kane

You selected: Star Wars

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319

continued

You selected: Gone with the Wind You selected: Citizen Kane

FIGURE 7.5 A simple mobile ASP.NET page displayed in a cell phone.

The mobile controls ASP.NET page in Listing 7.4 displays almost exactly the same content as the WML file in Listing 7.3. However, the page in Listing 7.4 will work with many more devices. In fact, Listing 7.4 will work with devices that support WML, cHTML or HTML 3.2. In addition to cell phones, the page in Listing 7.4 is compatible with Internet Explorer 6.0 (see Figure 7.6) and the Palm Pilot Web browser. You should notice that each form is created with a mobile form tag. For example, the first form displayed by the page is created with the following tag: ...

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The page in Listing 7.4 contains four forms. The first form is a menu of three movie choices. Each choice is a link to one of the other three forms on the page. For example, if you click the Star Wars link, the mobile form labeled form2 is activated and the text “You selected: Star Wars” is displayed (see Figure 7.5).

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FIGURE 7.6 A simple mobile ASP.NET page displayed in Internet Explorer 6.0.

When you first open a mobile ASP.NET page, the first form in the page automatically becomes the active form. You can cause other forms to become active by linking to them or by modifying a page’s ActiveForm property. The links in Listing 7.4 are created with the Link control. For example, a link to form3 is created with the following tag: Gone with the Wind

When the target of a link begins with the # character, the link activates the corresponding form on the page. This link activates form3.

Dynamically Activating a Mobile Form When you include multiple forms in a mobile control page, you can make any of the forms active by using the ActiveForm property. For example, the page in Listing 7.4 randomly displays one of three forms whenever the page is requested. LISTING 7.4

ShowQuote.aspx

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continued

Look before you leap! He who hesitates is lost The early bird gets the worm

The page in Listing 7.4 randomly displays one of three quotations (see Figure 7.7). Whenever the page is requested, the Page_Load subroutine is executed and one of the three forms in the page is activated. A form is activated using the ActiveForm property. Notice that the ActiveForm property does not take a string as its value. Because the value is a mobile form control, it does not appear within quotation marks.

Displaying Text You have three ways to display text in a mobile form control: • You can display text directly within a form. • You can display text in a Label control. • You can display text within a TextView control.

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Sub Page_Load Dim myRand As New Random Select Case myRand.Next( 3 ) Case 0 ActiveForm = form0 Case 1 ActiveForm = form1 Case 2 ActiveForm = form2 End Select End Sub

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FIGURE 7.7 A Random Quotation Displayed by a Mobile Form.

For example, if you simply need to display some bold text within a form, you can display the text like this: Here is some text: Hello World!

If you want to display a small amount of text without any formatting, and you need to have programmatic access to the text, you can use a Label control. For example, the page in Listing 7.5 displays the phrase “Hello World!” in a Label control. LISTING 7.5

Label.aspx

Hello World!

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One disadvantage of the Label control is that it cannot contain any HTML tags. You cannot use such tags as the or tags within a Label control. You’ll receive an error if you try. The main advantage of a Label control is that you can modify the control’s content within your code. For example, the page in Listing 7.6 displays the current date and time in a Label control. LISTING 7.6

LabelDateTime.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblDateTime.Text = DateTime.Now() End Sub

If you need to programmatically assign text that contains HTML formatting to a control, you can use the TextView control. The TextView control can contain the following HTML tags: •

•

•

•

•

For example, the following declaration of a TextView control is perfectly valid: Here is some text: Hello World!

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Paging through Text If you need to display a relatively large amount of text—such as a movie description or driving directions—you should enable pagination for a form. You enable pagination by setting the Paginate property of a Mobile Form to the value True. For example, the text in Listing 7.7 will be displayed automatically on multiple pages on devices that have small screens (see Figure 7.8). LISTING 7.7

Paginate.aspx

FIGURE 7.8 The output of a Mobile Form with pagination enabled.

Controlling Text Alignment and Wrapping You can control the alignment of the text in either a Label or TextView control by modifying the control’s Alignment property. Possible values for Alignment are NotSet, Left, Center, and Right. The text displayed in the Label control in Listing 7.8 uses Center alignment.

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Alignment.aspx

Hello!

You can control the way that text word-wraps in either a Label or TextView control by modifying the control’s Wrapping property. Possible values for the Wrapping property are NotSet, Wrap, and NoWrap. If you set the Wrapping property to NoWrap, then the lines of text contained in a form are not automatically wrapped to a new line. For example, the page in Listing 7.9 contains a long line of text in a form with wrapping disabled (see Figure 7.9 for the output of this page). LISTING 7.9

Controlling the Wrapping of Text

This is a line of text that goes off the side of the page ➥because it is very long

Displaying Lists Included with the mobile controls is a List control that enables you to display lists of items. Imagine, for example, that you need to display a list of movies currently playing at a movie theater. Listing 7.10 demonstrates how you can display a list of information using the List mobile control.

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FIGURE 7.9 Setting Wrapping to NoWrap.

LISTING 7.10

CurrentMovies.aspx

Now Playing:

The List control is used in Listing 7.10 to display a list of three movies. When the page is opened in a device that supports HTML 3.2, the list is displayed within an HTML table. When displayed in a WML-compatible device, each list item is automatically separated by tags. You can modify the manner in which each list item is displayed by changing the List control’s Decoration property. This property can have the value None, Bulleted, or Numbered. For example, the page in Listing 7.11 displays the three movies in a numbered list.

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ListNumbered.aspx

Figure 7.10 illustrates how the Decoration property modifies the appearance of a List on Internet Explorer 6.0. FIGURE 7.10 Setting Decoration to Numbered on Internet Explorer 6.0.

Note Currently, the Decoration property only affects how a page is rendered in an HTML-compatible device. The Decoration property is ignored when rendering WML content.

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Now Playing:

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Binding a List to a Data Source You can bind a List control to a data source such as a database table or an ArrayList collection. For example, if you were really creating a page that displays a list of movies, you would most likely retrieve the list of movies from a database table rather than include a static list of movies. We cover data binding in detail in Chapter 10, “Binding Data to Web Controls.” However, I’ll include a quick example using mobile controls here. The page in Listing 7.12 demonstrates how you can bind a List control named movies to an ArrayList collection named myArrayList. LISTING 7.11

ListBinding.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Star Wars” ) colArrayList.Add( “Gone with the Wind” ) colArrayList.Add( “Citizen Kane” ) lstMovies.DataSource = colArrayList lstMovies.DataBind() End Sub Now Playing:

In the Page_Load subroutine, an ArrayList collection is created and bound to the List control named lstMovies. When DataBind is called, the items in the List control are populated from the items in ArrayList.

Paging Through a List If you want to display a list that contains a lot of items, you can divide the list into multiple pages. When you enable paging for a form that contains a list, Next and Previous links are automatically created at set intervals in the list.

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For example, the List control in Listing 7.12 displays 50 movies (named movie 1, movie 2, and so on). Because the Mobile Form’s Paginate property has the value True, the list items are divided into multiple pages. LISTING 7.12

ListPaginate.aspx

7

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList Dim intCounter As Integer

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For intCounter = 1 to 50 colArrayList.Add( “movie “ & intCounter.ToString() ) Next lstMovies.DataSource = colArrayList lstMovies.DataBind() End Sub Now Playing:

You can control the user interface displayed for paging through a form by setting properties of the PagerStyle element. For example, if you want to display a page number that indicates the current page, you can do this by displaying the value of the PageLabel property of the PagerStyle element. If you want to specify the text used for the next and previous page links, you can set the value of the NextPageText and PreviousPageText properties (see Figure 7.11). The page in Listing 7.13 illustrates how to set all three of these properties in a form. LISTING 7.13

ListPagerStyle.aspx

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continued

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList Dim intCounter As Integer For intCounter = 1 to 50 colArrayList.Add( “movie “ & intCounter.ToString() ) Next lstMovies.DataSource = colArrayList lstMovies.DataBind() End Sub Now Playing:

FIGURE 7.11 Controlling pagination style.

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Creating Interactive Lists You can also use the List control to display a list of choices. The choices appear as links when displayed in either WML or HTML devices. Note As an alternative to the List control, you can use the SelectionList control to render an interactive list. The SelectionList control, unlike the List control, supports selecting multiple items at a time.

LISTING 7.14

ListLinks.aspx

Sub List_ItemCommand( s As object, e As ListCommandEventArgs ) lblMovie.Text = e.ListItem.Text ActiveForm = form2 End Sub Select Movie: You selected:

TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

For example, the page in Listing 7.14 uses the List control to display a list of movie choices.

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When a List control has an event handler, each list item is displayed as a link (see Figure 7.12). In Listing 7.14, the OnItemCommand method associates the List_ItemCommand subroutine with the ItemCommand event. When you click any of the movie links, the ItemCommand event is raised and the List_ItemCommand subroutine is executed. FIGURE 7.12 Displaying a List of Links.

The List_ItemCommand subroutine retrieves the value of the Text property of the selected item and assigns the text to a Label control named lblMovie. Next, the List_ItemCommand subroutine activates form2, so that the Label control is displayed. Individual list items can have distinct Text and Value properties. The Text property is always displayed when an item is displayed and the Value property is hidden. You can use the Value property to pass additional information when an item is selected. For example, in Listing 7.15, the Value property is used to pass the category of each movie. LISTING 7.15

ListValue.aspx

Sub List_ItemCommand( s As object, e As ListCommandEventArgs ) lblMovie.Text = e.ListItem.Text

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333

continued

lblMovieCategory.Text = e.ListItem.Value ActiveForm = form2 End Sub

You selected: Category:

Each of the three items contained in the List control in Listing 7.15 has both a Text and a Value property. When an item is selected, the ItemCommand event is raised and the List_ItemCommand subroutine is executed. This subroutine assigns the value of the Text property to a Label control named lblMovie and the value of the Value property to a Label control named lblMovieCategory.

Creating Object Lists One significant limitation of the List control is that it enables you to select only one option for each item in the list. You click a list item and something happens. Imagine, however, that you need to display multiple options for each list item. For example, when displaying a list of movies, you might want the user to be able to view the description of the movie or buy a ticket for the movie. In other words, you might want two options associated with each list item.

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Select Movie:

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To create more complicated lists, you need to use the ObjectList control instead of the List control. The ObjectList control is similar to the List control in that it enables you to display a list of links. However, unlike the List control, the ObjectList control enables you to associate multiple commands with each link. Also, unlike the List control, the ObjectList control requires you to bind the list to a data source. Note Data binding is discussed in Chapter 10, “Binding Data to Web Controls.”

The page in Listing 7.16 illustrates how you can use the ObjectList control to associate multiple commands with each list item. LISTING 7.16

ObjectList.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Star Wars” ) colArrayList.Add( “Citizen Kane” ) lstMovies.Datasource = colArrayList lstMovies.Databind() End Sub Sub ObjectList_ItemCommand( s As Object, e As ObjectListCommandEventArgs ) If e.CommandName = “Buy” Then ActiveForm = frmBuyTicket Else ActiveForm = frmShowDesc End If End Sub Great Movie!

The ObjectList control in Listing 7.16 is bound to an ArrayList collection named colArrayList. This ArrayList collection consists of movie titles. Within the ObjectList control, two Command controls are declared. The first command is labeled Buy, and the second command is labeled Desc. If you select a movie title or you select either of the two commands, the ObjectList_ItemCommand subroutine is executed. Exactly how an ObjectList is displayed depends on the device. When the page in Listing 7.16 is displayed in Internet Explorer 6.0, each list item is rendered as a link (see Figure 7.13). When you click a link, the page in Figure 7.14 is displayed. FIGURE 7.13 Displaying ObjectList

Links.

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Buy Ticket!

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FIGURE 7.14 Output of after Clicking Link.

ObjectList

When displayed in a cell phone, such as the Alcatel cell phone, the Go command is displayed. When you press the Go button, a menu displaying Buy and Desc options is displayed (see Figure 7.15). FIGURE 7.15 Output of on Alcatel Phone Simulator.

ObjectList

Unlike the List control, the ObjectList control can display multiple fields from a data source. For example, you can bind an ObjectList to a database table that contains

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movieTitle, movieCat, and ticketPrice columns and displays all these columns by using the ObjectList.

The ObjectList in Listing 7.17 is bound to an ArrayList collection. Each item in the ArrayList collection is an instance of a class defined within the page named the Movie class (we need to create a class so that we can represent multiple fields for each item in the ArrayList collection). The Movie class has movieTitle, movieCat, and ticketPrice properties. When you select an item in the ObjectList, the values of all three of the properties are displayed.

7 ObjectListMultiple.aspx

Public class Movie Private _movieTitle, _movieCat, _ticketPrice As String ReadOnly Property movieTitle As String Get Return _movieTitle End Get End Property ReadOnly Property movieCat As String Get Return _movieCat End Get End Property ReadOnly Property ticketPrice As String Get Return _ticketPrice End Get End Property Sub New( movieTitle As String, _ movieCat As String, _ ticketPrice As String ) _movieTitle = movieTitle _movieCat = movieCat _ticketPrice = ticketPrice End Sub

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LISTING 7.17

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continued

End Class

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( new Movie( “Star Wars”, “SciFi”, “$7.98” ) ) colArrayList.Add( new Movie( “Citizen Kane”, “Drama”, “$4.00” ) ) lstMovies.Datasource = colArrayList lstMovies.Databind End Sub Sub ObjectList_ItemCommand( s As Object, e As ObjectListCommandEventArgs ) ActiveForm = frmSelectMovie End Sub Movie Selected!

Creating Text Boxes Entering text into most mobile devices is a cumbersome experience. For example, entering large amounts of text with a cell phone’s numeric keypad is close to impossible. In most cases, you should enable users to make choices with the List controls discussed in the previous section.

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However, there are certain circumstances in which you have no choice but to force the users of your application to enter text. For example, you might need the user to enter a password, a phone number, or some other type of data that cannot be selected from a list. In these situations, you will need to use the mobile TextBox control. The mobile TextBox control is similar to the ASP.NET TextBox control. However, it does not support multiline input. All text must be entered into a single line (see Figure 7.16). FIGURE 7.16

7

Entering Text on a Cell Phone.

TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

The page in Listing 7.18 illustrates how you can use the TextBox control. The first mobile form contains two mobile TextBox controls: one for a contact name and one for a contact phone. A Command control is used to enable the user to submit the form. When the Command control is clicked, the Command_Click subroutine is executed and the second Mobile Form is displayed. This form simply redisplays the values entered into the txtContactName and txtContactPhone TextBox controls. LISTING 7.18

TextBox.aspx

Sub Command_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblContactName.Text = txtContactName.Text

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continued

lblContactPhone.Text = txtContactPhone.Text ActiveForm = frmDisplayContact End Sub Name: Phone: You Entered:

Displaying Different TextBox Types The Mobile TextBox control has two properties, Numeric and Password, that indicate the type of information that can be entered into the text box. The Password value works with both HTML and WML clients. The Numeric value is unique to WML devices. When the Password property is assigned the value True, any text entered into the text box is hidden (typically, the asterisk character is used to echo each character entered). When the Numeric property is assigned the value True, and the text box is rendered on a WML device, only numerals can be entered into the text box.

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The page in Listing 7.19 illustrates how to use both of these properties. The first TextBox control, labeled txtUsername, has the default values for Password and Numeric (False). The txtUsername TextBox control can accept any text input. The second TextBox control, labeled txtPassword, will hide any text entered into it. The final TextBox control, labeled txtPIN, accepts only numeric values when rendered on a WML device. When rendered on an HTML device, a Numeric TextBox control behaves like a normal text box. LISTING 7.19

TextBoxTypes.aspx

User Name: Password: PIN:

Validating User Input All the ASP.NET Validation controls are shadowed in the mobile controls. For each of the ASP.NET Validation controls, there is a corresponding Mobile Validation control. The six Mobile Validation controls are detailed in the following list: •

CompareValidator.

Compares the value entered into a control to a value or performs a data type check

•

CustomValidator.

Enables you to write a custom function to perform validation

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•

RangeValidator.

Checks whether the value entered into a control falls between a

certain range •

RegularExpressionValidator.

Matches the value entered into a control against a

regular expression •

RequiredFieldValidator.

•

ValidationSummary.

Checks whether a value has been entered into a control

Displays a summary of validation errors

Note To learn more about the standard ASP.NET Validation controls, see Chapter 3, “Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls.”

These mobile Validation controls work almost, but not exactly, like the standard Validation controls. First, unlike the standard Validation controls, the Mobile Validation controls do not use client-side JavaScript to display error messages. Error messages are not automatically displayed as you move from TextBox control to TextBox control. Furthermore, the Mobile ValidationSummary control behaves differently than the standard ASP.NET ValidationSummary control. The Mobile ValidationSummary control is typically placed in a separate form and has a property named FormToValidate that indicates the form against which to perform validation. The page in Listing 7.20 illustrates how to use the mobile RequiredFieldValidator, RangeValidator, and ValidationSummary validation controls. LISTING 7.20

Validation.aspx

Sub Command_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If Not isValid Then ActiveForm = frmBad Else ActiveForm = frmGood End If End Sub

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343

continued

Enter a number between 3 and 12:

Good Job!

The first form in Listing 7.20 contains a mobile TextBox control. Both RequiredFieldValidator and RangeValidator mobile validation controls are associated with the TextBox control. The RequiredFieldValidator validation control is used to check whether a value has been entered into the control. The RangeValidator validation control is used to ensure that the entered value is between 3 and 12.

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When you submit the form, the Command_Click subroutine executes. If the IsValid property is not true, there is an error in the form. In that case, the second form is displayed. This form contains a ValidationSummary control that displays all the validation errors (see Figure 7.17). FIGURE 7.17 Displaying a Validation Summary.

If there are no validation errors, the third form is displayed, which simply displays the message “Good Job!”

Displaying Images Displaying images is a complicated proposition when it comes to mobile devices. The problem is that there are several different incompatible image formats that mobile devices support. Most Web browsers support GIF and JPEG image files. Many mobile devices, on the other hand, only support BMP or WBMP. The mobile controls need to support all these formats. Microsoft’s solution to this problem is elegant—a Mobile Image control. The Image control can detect different devices and display the proper image file format for the detected device. The page in Listing 7.21 illustrates how the Image control can be used with multiple devices. LISTING 7.21

Image.aspx

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continued

By default, the Image control in Listing 7.21 displays the myImage.gif image. However, the Image control also contains a tag. When a device that prefers a BMP image requests the page, a BMP image is displayed instead of the GIF image. Note The element makes use of a filter section in the Web.Config file. (This Web.Config file is included on the CD-ROM.) For more information on the element, see the last section of this chapter, “Creating Cross-Device-Compatible Mobile Pages.”

When an Openwave (Phone.com) compatible cell phone is detected, a BMP image is displayed (see Figure 7.18). When an Internet Explorer 6.0 browser is detected, a GIF image is displayed. Note You have to create an image in each of the formats. The Image control isn’t smart enough to generate the different image types for you.

If a device does not support any of the image formats, text is displayed instead. This alternative text is specified by the AlternateText property of the Image control.

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FIGURE 7.18 Image Displayed in a Cell Phone.

Placing Phone Calls One interesting thing you can do with mobile controls that you cannot do in a normal ASP.NET page is place phone calls. When you use the Call control with a device such as a cell phone, the control enables you to place a call. When the Call control is used with a device that doesn’t support placing phone calls, such as Internet Explorer, either a label or link is displayed. You can use the Call control to automatically call a phone number in a list of contacts. Or, you can imagine adding a customer service number to your mobile application. The page in Listing 7.22 illustrates how to use the Call control. LISTING 7.22

Call.aspx

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Displaying Advertisements with Mobile Controls The Mobile controls include an AdRotator control that corresponds to the standard ASP.NET AdRotator control. The mobile AdRotator control displays links on WML devices and images on HTML devices. Like the standard AdRotator control, the mobile AdRotator control uses an external XML file to list the banner advertisements that it displays. The XML file is contained in Listing 7.23. myAds.xml

ad1.gif ad1.bmp http://www.AspWorkshops.com Click here for ASP.NET Training! 60 ad2.gif ad2.bmp http://www.superexpert.com Click here to visit superexpert.com! 60

This advertisement file contains two banner advertisements. The ImageURL, TargetURL, and AlternateText, as well as the relative number of impressions to display are declared for both banner advertisements. Notice that two images are specified for each advertisement. A GIF image is contained in the ImageUrl tag and a BMP image is contained in the BmpImageUrl tag. After you have created an advertisement file, you can use the file with the mobile AdRotator control by setting the AdRotator control’s AdvertisementFile property. This is illustrated in Listing 7.24. LISTING 7.24

AdRotator.aspx

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LISTING 7.23

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continued

The output of Listing 7.24 is displayed in Figure 7.19. The AdRotator control in Listing 7.24 uses the DeviceSpecific tag to display the appropriate image for different devices. This page depends on the Filter section declared in the Web.Config file. (This Web.Config file is included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book.) FIGURE 7.19 Displaying a Banner Advertisement.

Displaying Calendars with Mobile Controls The mobile controls include a Calendar control that corresponds to the standard ASP.NET Calendar control. You can use the Calendar control to select particular days, weeks, or months. It’s useful for performing such activities as scheduling meetings and appointments.

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When the Mobile Calendar control is displayed in an HTML-compatible device, a full calendar is rendered on the screen (see Figure 7.20). When the Calendar control is displayed in a WML device, you have a couple of options for selecting the date (see Figure 7.21). For example, you can select a date by typing the date or you can go through a series of menus and select a date without ever pressing a single number key. FIGURE 7.20 Calendar Control displayed in Internet Explorer 6.0.

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FIGURE 7.21 Calendar Control displayed in Cell Phone.

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The page in Listing 7.25 illustrates how to add a mobile Calendar control to a form. LISTING 7.25

Calendar.aspx

Sub Calendar_SelectionChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblDate.Text = calSchedule.SelectedDate ActiveForm = frmResults End Sub Schedule Meeting You selected:

When the page in Listing 7.25 is opened, you can select a date. Once a date is selected, the Calendar_SelectionChanged subroutine is executed and the selected date is displayed in the second form.

Creating Cross-Device-Compatible Mobile Pages One of the most difficult challenges that a developer faces when designing HTML pages is the problem of browser compatibility. A page that works well with Internet Explorer

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6.0 on a PC will not necessarily work well with Netscape Navigator 3.0 on the Macintosh. Well, HTML designers have it easy. If you really want a tough challenge, try creating pages that are cross-device compatible rather than simply cross-browser and platform compatible. Making a page that looks good on a cell phone and on a full browser is a real challenge. In this section, you’ll learn about some of the features of mobile controls that you can exploit to detect the capabilities of different mobile devices. You can use these features to construct mobile pages that are cross-device compatible.

When you install the mobile controls, your server’s system machine.config file is also automatically modified. Additional entries are added to the section, which describes the capabilities of various mobile devices. If you are curious, go ahead and open the machine.web file to look at these definitions (you can open the file with Notepad). Note The config.web file is discussed in detail in Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

These entries in the machine.config file are used by the MobileCapabilities class. For example, the page in Listing 7.26 displays a number of features of the current device by displaying properties from the MobileCapabilities class. LISTING 7.26

MobileCapabilities.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim caps AS system.Web.Mobile.MobileCapabilities caps = Request.Browser lblBrowser.Text = caps.Browser lblType.Text = caps.Type

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Detecting Mobile Capabilities

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continued

lblPreferredRenderingType.Text = caps.PreferredRenderingType lblScreenCharactersWidth.Text = caps.ScreenCharactersWidth lblScreenCharactersHeight.Text = caps.ScreenCharactersHeight End Sub Browser: Type: PreferredRenderingType: ScreenCharactersWidth: ScreenCharactersHeight:

The page in Listing 7.26 displays five properties of the current device: Browser, Type, PreferredRenderingType, ScreenCharactersWidth, and ScreenCharactersHeight. The properties are retrieved by retrieving an instance of the MobileCapabilities class from the Browser class. Each property is displayed by assigning the value of each property to a Mobile Label control (see Figure 7.22).

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FIGURE 7.22 Displaying Device Capabilities.

7 TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

The Browser property returns the type of browser used by the device—for example, IE or Phone.com. The Type property returns the general type of the device—IE5 or Pocket Internet Explorer, for example. The PreferredRenderingType property returns the MIME type of the rendering language of the device. Examples are html32 and wml11. Finally, the ScreenCharactersWidth and ScreenCharactersHeight properties return the number of characters that a device can display horizontally and vertically. You can retrieve many more device properties than those returned in Listing 7.26. For example, you can use the IsColor property to detect whether a device is capable of displaying color or the CanInitiateVoiceCall property to detect whether the device can place phone calls. For a complete list of properties supported by the MobileCapabilities class, consult the Mobile Internet Toolkit documentation.

Choosing Devices with DeviceSpecific The MobileCapabilities class can be used to display different content for different devices. You can use the properties from the MobileCapabilities class with a special element named the element. The element works (very roughly) like a Visual Basic Select Case statement. The element can contain multiple elements that match different device criteria. When a element is matched, its content is returned.

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Earlier in this chapter, in the section titled “Displaying Images,” you saw how the element can be used with the Image control to display different image files, depending on the nature of the device that requests the page. You can also use with other controls, such as the List and ObjectList controls. For example, the page in Listing 7.27 displays different content to HTML and WML devices. If the device is an HTML-compatible device, special formatting is applied to the List control’s header and footer. Furthermore, each list item is formatted in the List control’s ItemTemplate. LISTING 7.27

DeviceSpecific.aspx

Sub List_ItemCommand( s As object, e As ListCommandEventArgs ) lblMovie.Text = e.ListItem.Text ActiveForm = form2 End Sub Welcome to the Movie Reservation System!

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls CHAPTER 7 LISTING 7.27

355

continued

All Contents © copyright 2002 by the Company

When the page in Listing 7.27 is displayed in an HTML 3.2–compatible browser, the special formatting in HeaderTemplate and FooterTemplate is displayed. For example, the ItemTemplate shows a Button control for each list item. You should also notice that all the templates use HTML tags that are not WML compatible (see Figure 7.23). FIGURE 7.23 Using Templates with Internet Explorer 6.0.

When the page in Listing 7.27 is displayed in a WML-compatible browser, all the templates are ignored. The List control is displayed with its default formatting.

7 TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

You selected:

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Using Form Template Sets As you saw in the previous section, the element can be used with Image, List, and ObjectList controls. You can also use the element with a Mobile Form control. The Mobile Form control has both a HeaderTemplate and a FooterTemplate. You can create multiple HeaderTemplates and FooterTemplates and place them within different elements. By creating multiple templates, you can display different content for different devices. The page in Listing 7.28 demonstrates how to create three sets of templates. The first set of templates will render on WML-compatible devices, the second set on HTML 3.2–compatible devices, and the final set will render on other devices. LISTING 7.28

FormTemplates.aspx

Welcome to this Web site! All Content Copyrighted 2001

Welcome to this Web site!

All Content Copyrighted © 2001

Targeting Mobile Devices with Mobile Controls CHAPTER 7 LISTING 7.28

357

continued

Welcome to this Web site! Here is the main body of the page.

Summary In this chapter, you learned how to use the Mobile controls to create ASP.NET pages that are compatible with cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices. First, you had an overview of WAP and WML—the standards for communicating with mobile devices. In the next section, you looked at how to use the Microsoft Mobile controls. These Mobile controls can be used to display text, lists, and other display elements, such as images and interactive calendars. Mobile controls can also be used to accept and validate text input with the TextBox control. Finally, you examined how to make pages that are cross-device compatible and how to use the MobileCapabilities class to detect the features of a particular device. As you saw, the element can be used to display different content for devices with different features.

TARGETING MOBILE DEVICES

7

CHAPTER 8

Using Third-Party Controls

IN

THIS CHAPTER • Using the Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls 360 • Using the Superexpert Controls

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When Microsoft’s developers unleashed ASP.NET on the world, they created new possibilities for third-party companies to extend the ASP.NET Framework with custom controls. This chapter explores several of the third-party controls that you can use in an ASP.NET page. The first half of this chapter looks at the controls developed by the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft. These controls are known collectively as the Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls. The Internet Explorer WebControls enable you to create user interface elements, such as tree views, tab strips, and toolbars. In the second half of this chapter, I discuss some of the controls produced by my company, Superexpert. The controls in this group include a Content Rotator control, an enhanced DataGrid control, and a DataForm control that enables you to easily add and update database data.

Using the Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls The Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls are not part of the core ASP.NET Framework. Before you can use these controls, you must first download them from the Microsoft Web site. These controls are available for free download at the following URL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/samples/ ➥internet/asp_dot_net_servercontrols/webcontrols/

After you download the controls, you can execute the setup program to install the controls on any machine configured with the .NET Framework. Note The documentation for the Microsoft Internet Explorer WebControls is located at the MSDN Web site (msdn.microsoft.com). Visit the following URL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/webcontrols/webcontrols_entry.asp

Three main controls are included with the Internet Explorer WebControls: TreeView, Toolbar, and TabStrip. I discuss how you can use each control in an ASP.NET page in the following sections.

Using the TreeView Control You can use the TreeView control to create a user interface that enables users to navigate through a hierarchy of pages or items. For example, you can create a TreeView control

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that represents the table of contents and sections for a book. When a user clicks a node displayed in the tree, he is brought to the proper section of the book. The TreeView control supports both up-level and down-level browsers. When a page containing the TreeView control is requested by Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher), the control uses DHTML behaviors. When it is requested by any other browser, the control renders standard HTML 3.2 content.

Creating a Simple Tree View To create a simple tree view, complete the following steps: 1. Import the proper namespace and register the TreeView control. 2. Add a TreeView control to your page. 3. Add one or more TreeNode controls to the TreeView control. The page in Listing 8.1, for example, displays a parent node, labeled ASP.NET Books, with two child nodes, labeled ASP.NET Unleashed and ASP.NET Tips, Code, and Tutorials.

8 SimpleTreeView.aspx

SimpleTreeView.aspx

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LISTING 8.1

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.1

continued

When you open the page in Listing 8.1, the tree view in Figure 8.1 is displayed in your browser. FIGURE 8.1 A simple tree view.

The first line in Listing 8.1 imports the Microsoft.Web.UI.WebControls namespace. Because the TreeView control is not part of the core ASP.NET Framework, you need to explicitly import this namespace to refer to classes in the Internet Explorer WebControls assembly. Next, you register the tag prefix IE for the Internet Explorer WebControls. Registering the prefix maps the prefix to the proper namespace for the controls. Notice that you use the IE prefix when declaring the TreeView control within the body of the page. The tree view in the body of the page consists of one TreeView control that contains three TreeNode child controls. Each TreeNode has a Text property that specifies the label for the node. The ASP.NET Books node contains the ASP.NET Unleashed and ASP.NET Tips, Code, and Tutorials nodes.

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Detecting TreeView Node Selections In Listing 8.1, you created a simple tree view. If you click the ASP.NET Books node, the node expands to display its child nodes. However, if you click any of the child nodes, nothing happens. You need to add some logic to the page in Listing 8.1 to capture tree view events. The TreeView control supports four events: •

Checked—Raised

when a node’s check box is clicked

•

Collapse—Raised

•

Expand—Raised

•

SelectedIndexChanged—Raised

when a node is collapsed

when a node is expanded when a new node is selected

If you want to detect when users select a particular node, you need to capture the SelectedIndexChanged event. The page in Listing 8.2 illustrates how you can associate a subroutine with this event. LISTING 8.2

TreeViewSelectedIndexChanged.aspx

Sub TreeView_SelectedIndexChanged( s As Object, e As TreeViewSelectEventArgs ) lblSelectedNode.Text = treeBooks.GetNodeFromIndex( e.NewNode ).Text End Sub TreeViewSelectedIndexChanged.aspx

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

364

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.2

continued

In Listing 8.2, you add a property and method to the TreeView control declaration. You set AutoPostBack to the value True and associate the TreeView_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine with the OnSelectedIndexChanged method. When you select a new node in the tree view, the TreeView_SelectedIndexChanged subroutine executes. This subroutine assigns the text from the selected tree node to a Label control named lblSelectedNode. The TreeViewSelectEventArgs parameter has two properties: •

NewNode—Returns

a string representing the index of the selected node

•

OldNode—Returns

a string representing the index of the previous node

Notice that both the NewNode and OldNode properties return a string, not an integer. For example, if you select the first book under the ASP.NET Books node, the NewNode property returns the string value 0.0. If you select the second child node, the property returns the value 0.1. The string represents the location of the node in the tree view hierarchy. In Listing 8.2, the GetNodeFromIndex method returns a TreeView node from its index. After you have the node, you can display its label by using the node’s Text property.

Associating URLs with TreeView Nodes You can associate a URL with any TreeView node. This capability is useful, for example, when you need to create a tree view for navigating your Web site. Listing 8.3 demonstrates how you can use the NavigateUrl property to create a tree view that enables you to display links to other Web sites.

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365

TreeViewNavigateUrl.aspx

TreeViewNavigateUrl.aspx

Associating Images with TreeView Nodes You can associate an image with each node in a tree view by using the TreeView control’s ImageUrl property. By also specifying an ExpandedImageUrl property, you display different images depending on whether a node is expanded or collapsed. The page in Listing 8.4, for example, uses the ImageUrl and ExpandedImageUrl properties to display different folder images next to each node (see Figure 8.2).

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FIGURE 8.2 Tree view with images.

LISTING 8.4

TreeViewImageUrl.aspx

TreeViewImageUrl.aspx

Using Third-Party Controls CHAPTER 8 LISTING 8.4

367

continued

If you want to display different images for different types of nodes, you can use the TreeNodeType control. For example, the page in Listing 8.5 displays different images for the parent and child nodes (see Figure 8.3). FIGURE 8.3 Tree view with multiple images.

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

LISTING 8.5

TreeViewNodeType.aspx

TreeViewNodeType.aspx

The TreeNodeType control associates a particular image with a particular type. Any node declared with the specified type displays the associated image.

Associating Check Boxes with TreeView Nodes You can render a check box next to any node in a tree view by using the CheckBox property. You might, for example, want to use a tree view to display a hierarchical list of products for an online store. The page in Listing 8.6 demonstrates how you can display check boxes next to a list of ice cream flavors (see Figure 8.4).

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FIGURE 8.4 Tree view with check boxes.

8 TreeViewCheckBox.aspx

Sub Page_Load ShowChecked( treeIceCream.Nodes ) End Sub Sub ShowChecked( colNodes As TreeNodeCollection ) Dim tnNode As TreeNode For each tnNode in colNodes If tnNode.Checked = True Then lblCheckedNodes.Text &= “

” & tnNode.Text End If ShowChecked( tnNode.Nodes ) Next End Sub TreeViewCheckbox.aspx

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LISTING 8.6

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.6

continued

The Page_Load subroutine in Listing 8.6 iterates recursively through each node in the tree view. If a node is checked, the value of the node’s Text property is appended to the text displayed by a Label control. The result that is every checked node is listed in the Label control.

Binding the TreeView Control to an External XML File Instead of specifying the nodes of a TreeView within the TreeView control itself, you can bind the TreeView control to an external XML file. To bind a TreeView to an XML file, you use the TreeNodeSrc property.

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The TreeView control in Listing 8.7, for example, is bound to an XML file named TreeNodes.xml. LISTING 8.7

TreeViewNodeSrc.aspx

TreeViewNodeSrc.aspx

8

LISTING 8.8

TreeNodes.xml

You also can bind XML files to individual nodes in a TreeView control. You can even bind a single TreeView control to multiple XML files, as illustrated in Listing 8.9. LISTING 8.9

TreeViewNodeSources.aspx

USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

The contents of the TreeNode.xml file, contained in Listing 8.8, are used to create all the nodes in the tree.

372

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.9

continued

TreeViewNodeSources.aspx

Notice that the TreeNodeSrc property is used with both TreeNode controls instead of the TreeView control. Also, notice that AutoPostBack is set to True. The TreeNode controls bind to the two XML files contained in Listings 8.10 and 8.11. LISTING 8.10

MicrosoftASPNET.xml

LISTING 8.11

CommunityASPNET.xml

Binding the TreeView Control to a Database Table The TreeView control does not directly support binding to a database table. If you want to display database data with the TreeView control, you must trick it into thinking that you are binding it to an XML file. The page in Listing 8.12 illustrates how you can bind the TreeView control to the Categories and Products tables in the Northwind database (see Figure 8.5). FIGURE 8.5 Tree view of the DataSet.

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

LISTING 8.12

TreeViewDataSet.aspx

TreeViewDataSet.aspx

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.12

continued

In Listing 8.12, the TreeNodeSrc property binds the TreeView control to a file named Categories.aspx. The Categories.aspx file dynamically generates an XML file representing all the categories from the Categories table. The Categories.aspx file is included in Listing 8.13. LISTING 8.13

Categories.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdCategories As SqlCommand Dim dstCategories As DataSet Dim strQuery As String conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Northwind” ) strQuery = “select CategoryName As Text, ‘products.aspx?catid=’ ➥ + LTRIM( STR( CategoryID ) ) “ & _ “As TreeNodeSrc from Categories As TreeNode for xml auto, XMLDATA” cmdCategories = New SqlCommand( strQuery, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open() dstCategories = New DataSet dstCategories.ReadXml( cmdCategories.ExecuteXmlReader(), ➥ XmlReadMode.Fragment ) dstCategories.DataSetName = “TREENODES” dstCategories.WriteXml( Response.OutputStream ) conNorthwind.Close() End Sub

The Categories.aspx file renders an XML file within its Page_Load subroutine. First, a SQL SELECT statement that contains a for xml clause is created (this clause works only

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with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and higher). The SELECT statement retrieves the contents of the Categories database table as an XML document. Next, a DataSet is created to represent the database query’s results. Finally, the method is called to output the contents of the DataSet as XML.

WriteXml

When the Categories.aspx page is requested, it renders the following XML document:

Notice that each TreeNode contains a TreeNodeSrc attribute, which points to another file named Products.aspx. Furthermore, a query string parameter representing the category ID is passed to the file.

LISTING 8.14

Products.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdProducts As SqlCommand Dim dstProducts As DataSet Dim strQuery As String conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Northwind” ) strQuery = “select ProductName As Text from Products As TreeNode “ & _ “Where CategoryID=@categoryID for xml auto, XMLDATA “ cmdProducts = New SqlCommand( strQuery, conNorthwind ) cmdProducts.Parameters.Add( New SqlParameter( “@categoryID”, ➥ Request.QueryString( “catID” ) ) ) conNorthwind.Open() dstProducts = New DataSet dstProducts.ReadXml( cmdProducts.ExecuteXmlReader(), XmlReadMode.Fragment ) dstProducts.DataSetName = “TREENODES”

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

The Products.aspx file is contained in Listing 8.14.

376

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.14

continued

dstProducts.WriteXml( Response.OutputStream ) conNorthwind.Close() End Sub

The Products.aspx page is similar to the Categories.aspx page. Like the Categories.aspx page, the Products.aspx page renders an XML document. The Products.aspx page displays product names from the Products database table. When you pass a category ID to the page, an XML document representing the products that match the indicated category is displayed.

Using the Toolbar Control The Toolbar control enables you to add a standard application toolbar to your ASP.NET pages. Like the TreeView control, the Toolbar control supports both up-level and downlevel clients. When used with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, the control uses DHTML behavior. When it is used with a down-level browser, such as Netscape, standard HTML 3.2–compliant content is generated. The Toolbar control itself acts as a container for one or more of the following controls: •

ToolbarButton—Renders

a standard image or text button

•

ToolbarCheckButton—Renders

•

ToolbarCheckGroup—Groups

•

ToolbarDropDownList—Renders

a button that can be selected or unselected

multiple ToolbarCheckButton controls and causes them to function like radio buttons (only one can be selected at a time) a drop-down list that can be used as a simple

menu •

ToolbarLabel—Renders

a text or image label

•

ToolbarSeparator—Renders

•

ToolbarTextBox—Renders

a separator between items in the Toolbar control

a text box

In the following sections, you learn how to assemble a toolbar from these elements.

Creating a Simple Toolbar To add a simple toolbar to a page (see Figure 8.6), you need to complete the following steps: 1. Import the proper namespace and register the Toolbar control. 2. Add a Toolbar control to your page.

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3. Add one or more ToolbarButton, ToolbarCheckButton, ToolbarCheckGroup, ToolbarDropDownList, ToolbarLabel, ToolbarSeparator, or ToolbarTextBox controls to the Toolbar control. FIGURE 8.6 A simple toolbar.

8

LISTING 8.15

SimpleToolbar.aspx

SimpleToolbar.aspx

Each ToolbarButton control in Listing 8.15 has a Text property that contains the label for the button. You can optionally supply an ImageUrl property, which adds an image to the button.

Handling Toolbar Events If you want to perform an action when a user interacts with the Toolbar control, you need to create subroutines that handle Toolbar events. The Toolbar control raises two events: •

ButtonClick—This

event is raised when you click a button in the toolbar.

•

CheckChange—This

event is raised when a ToolbarCheckButton changes state.

The page in Listing 8.16, for example, contains a Toolbar control that contains a ToolbarTextBox, a ToolbarButton, and three ToolbarCheckButton controls. (The three ToolbarCheckButton controls are grouped in a ToolbarCheckGroup control.) Clicking the different buttons modifies the text displayed in a Label control. Clicking the ToolbarButton control assigns new text to the Label control. Clicking the ToolbarCheckButton control changes the color of the text (see Figure 8.7).

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FIGURE 8.7 Capturing toolbar events.

8 ToolbarEvents.aspx

Sub Toolbar_ButtonClick( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblText.Text = txtSampleText.Text Select Case chkgColor.SelectedCheckButton.Text Case “Red” lblText.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red Case “Green” lblText.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green Case “Blue” lblText.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Blue End Select End Sub ToolbarEvents.aspx

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LISTING 8.16

380

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.16

continued

When you click the ToolbarButton control or any of the ToolbarCheckButton controls, the Toolbar_ButtonClick subroutine is executed. This subroutine retrieves the text assigned to the ToolbarTextBox control and assigns it to a Label control named lblText. Next, the subroutine changes the foreground color of the Label control by using the SelectedCheckButton() method to retrieve the currently selected ToolbarCheckButton.

Formatting the Toolbar Control The Toolbar control supports standard style properties, such as Font, Width, Height, BorderWidth, and BorderColor. It also supports a special formatting property named Orientation, which enables you to create a vertical toolbar instead of the default horizontal toolbar. These formatting properties are illustrated by the page in Listing 8.17.

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381

ToolbarStyle.aspx

ToolbarStyle.aspx

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

The toolbar rendered by the page in Listing 8.17 is oriented vertically with an orange background. It also renders text with a 16-point Impact typeface.

Formatting Toolbar Buttons You can format the buttons displayed in a Toolbar control by assigning style attributes to the following properties: • •

DefaultStyle—The

style applied to the Toolbar button when the button is not selected and the mouse pointer is not hovering over the button

SelectedStyle—The

selected

style applied to the Toolbar button when the button is

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•

HoverStyle—The

style applied to the Toolbar button when the mouse pointer is hovering over the button

The page in Listing 8.18, for example, displays unselected buttons with a blue font and selected buttons with a green font. When you hover the mouse pointer over a button, the button appears with a red font. LISTING 8.18

ToolbarButtonStyle.aspx

ToolbarButtonStyle.aspx

Using the TabStrip Control You can use the TabStrip control to create a group of tabs in an ASP.NET page. When used with the MultiPage control, the TabStrip control can display different pages of content when different tabs are selected.

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Like the TreeView and Toolbar controls, the TabStrip control renders different content on up-level and down-level browsers. When used with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, the TabStrip control uses DHTML behavior. When used with other browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, the TabStrip control renders standard HTML 3.2–compliant content. The TabStrip control contains one or more of the following controls: •

Tab—Creates

an individual tab in the TabStrip

•

TabSeparator—Separates

tabs in a TabStrip

Creating a Simple TabStrip To add a TabStrip to a page, you need to complete the following steps: 1. Import the proper namespace and register the TabStrip control. 2. Add a TabStrip control to your page. 3. Add one or more Tab or TabSeparator controls to the TabStrip control. If you want to display different pages of content when different tabs are selected, you also need to add a MultiPage control to your page.

FIGURE 8.8 A simple TabStrip.

USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

Listing 8.19 illustrates how you can add a simple TabStrip to an ASP.NET page (see Figure 8.8).

8

384

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.19

SimpleTabStrip.aspx

SimpleTabStrip.aspx Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Using Third-Party Controls CHAPTER 8 LISTING 8.19

385

continued

The TabStrip in Listing 8.19 contains three Tab controls labeled Tab 1 through Tab 3. A TabSeparator control appears after each Tab control to prevent the tabs from being scrunched together. Finally, the TargetID property of the TabStrip control points to the MultiPage control named mpgPages. The MultiPage control contains three pages that correspond to each of the three tabs. The pages are contained in PageView controls. If you click a tab in an up-level browser, such as Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, the current page is switched on the client. No roundtrip to the server is made. If you click a tab in a down-level browser, such as Netscape, on the other hand, a roundtrip is made.

Formatting a TabStrip

8

Warning The implementation of Cascading Style Sheets in Netscape Navigator is different from the implementation in Internet Explorer. Many of these style properties do not render correctly in the case of Netscape Navigator.

You can set the following style properties for the TabStrip control: •

Style—Specifies

the style attributes applied to the TabStrip control

•

TabDefaultStyle—Specifies

the style attributes applied to each Tab control by

default •

TabSelectedStyle—Specifies

•

TabHoverStyle—Specifies

the style attributes applied to the selected Tab

the style attributes applied to a Tab when the mouse

pointer hovers over it •

SepDefaultStyle—Specifies

control by default

the style attributes applied to each TabSeparator

USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

By default, a TabStrip looks pretty ugly. To make a nicer looking TabStrip, you need to set some style properties. Each TabStrip, Tab, and TabSeparator control has style properties that you can modify.

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In Listing 8.19, for example, you set the style attributes to the following values: Style=”width:400px;font: bold 10pt Arial;height:100%” TabDefaultStyle=”width:50px;border:solid 1px blue;background:#dddddd; ➥padding:5px” TabHoverStyle=”color:red” TabSelectedStyle=”background:white;border-bottom:none” SepDefaultStyle=”width:10px;border-bottom:solid 1px blue;”

You also can set style attributes for individual Tab and TabSeparator controls in a TabStrip. Both the Tab and TabSeparator controls support the following style properties: • •

DefaultStyle—Specifies

the style attributes applied to the control by default

SelectedStyle—Specifies

the style attributes applied to the control when the con-

trol is selected •

HoverStyle—Specifies

the style attributes applied to a control when the mouse

pointer hovers over it

Creating a TabStrip with Images As an alternative to using plain text to label the tabs in a TabStrip, you can use images (see Figure 8.9). The page in Listing 8.20 illustrates how you can create images for both the default and selected tabs. FIGURE 8.9 TabStrip

images.

with

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387

TabStripImage.aspx

TabStripImage.aspx

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

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388

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.20

continued

Two properties of the Tab control set the image used for each tab. The DefaultImageUrl property specifies the default image for the tab, and the SelectedImageUrl property specifies the image used when the tab is selected. You can also, optionally, provide a HoverImageUrl that specifies an image to show when the mouse pointer hovers over a tab.

Creating a Vertical TabStrip By default, the tabs in a TabStrip are rendered horizontally. You can also create a vertical TabStrip by modifying the value of the TabStrip control’s Orientation property (see Figure 8.10). A vertical TabStrip is illustrated in Listing 8.21. FIGURE 8.10 Vertical TabStrip.

LISTING 8.21

TabStripVertical.aspx

Using Third-Party Controls CHAPTER 8 LISTING 8.21

389

continued

TabStripVertical.aspx

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

390

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.21

continued

Using the Superexpert Controls My company, Superexpert, also produces several controls that you can use in the ASP.NET Framework. In this section, you learn how to use three of these controls: Content Rotator, SuperDataGrid, and DataForm. Note Evaluation versions of each control are included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book. However, I recommend that you download the latest versions of these controls from www.SuperexpertControls.com or www.Superexpert.com.

Using the Content Rotator Control The Superexpert Content Rotator control enables you to randomly display content within an ASP.NET page. You can use the control to display a random list of announcements, links, or images. The control supports binding to an external XML file or a database table. It also supports advanced formatting features through the use of style objects and templates. Before you can use the Content Rotator control, you need to unzip the file. Next, you need to copy the Content Rotator assembly (Superexpert.ContentRotator.dll) to the /bin directory located beneath the root directory of your application (if this directory doesn’t exist, you can create it).

ContentRotatorB2.zip

Displaying Content from an XML File You can use the Content Rotator control to randomly display one or more items from an external XML file. The page in Listing 8.22 illustrates how to display items from a file named ContentItems.xml (see Figure 8.11).

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391

FIGURE 8.11 Simple Content Rotator.

8 SimpleContentRotator.aspx

SimpleContentRotator.aspx

Two properties of the Content Rotator control are set in Listing 8.22. The RotatorFile property provides the location of an XML file that contains the items to be displayed. The ItemsDisplayed property specifies the number of items to display at a time. The ContentItems.xml file is contained in Listing 8.23.

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LISTING 8.22

392

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.23

ContentItems.xml

A penny saved is a penny earned. It might have all been different had they met in daylight. Curiosity never killed anything. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Better than nothing, rarely is. The early bird gets the worm. No one’s credit is as good as cash.

The content file in Listing 8.23 consists of opening and closing tags that contain several tags. Each tag contains the text displayed when the item is selected.

Displaying Content from a Database You also can use the Content Rotator control to randomly display items from a database. Currently, the control can display only items from a Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 or higher) database. The page in Listing 8.24, for example, randomly displays book titles from the Titles database table. LISTING 8.24

ContentRotatorDatabase.aspx

ContentRotatorDatabase.aspx

Using Third-Party Controls CHAPTER 8 LISTING 8.24

393

continued

Two properties of the Content Rotator control connect to the database table: ConnectionString and TableName. The ConnectionString property represents a valid Microsoft SQL Server connection string, and the TableName property represents a database table. The DataTextField property indicates which database column to display in the Content Rotator control. In this case, the Title column is displayed.

If you want to display content that is retrieved from multiple database tables, you can use the CommandText property. You can assign any valid SQL SELECT statement to this property.

The ConnectionString property is optional. If you don’t include this property, you can specify the connection string in a web.config file. For example, the following web.config file contains a connection string in its appSettings section:

The ContentRotator control automatically reads the connectionString key.

Displaying Items with Different Priorities You can specify different priorities for the items displayed in the Content Rotator. For example, the content file in Listing 8.25 contains three items with three different priorities.

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.25

ContentPriorities.xml

High Priority 50 Medium Priority 30 Low Priority 20

The first item is displayed 50% of the time; the second item, 30% of the time; and the final item, 20% of the time. You also can display items from a database with different priorities by using the DataPriorityField property. For example, the Content Rotator in Listing 8.26 displays book titles with a higher price more frequently than those with a lower price. LISTING 8.26

ContentRotatorDataPriorityField.aspx

ContentRotatorDataPriorityField.aspx

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Formatting Content Rotator Items You can use the FormatString property to format each item displayed by the Content Rotator control. Imagine, for example, that you want to display a random set of links on the home page of your Web site. The page in Listing 8.27 illustrates how you can use the FormatString property to format items from a content file as links. LISTING 8.27

ContentRotatorFormatString.aspx

ContentRotatorFormatString.aspx

The string assigned to the FormatString property in Listing 8.27 has two parameters. The {0} parameter refers to the contents of the tag, and the {1} parameter refers to the contents of the tag. The FavoriteLinks.xml content file is contained in Listing 8.28. LISTING 8.28

FavoriteLinks.xml

Superexpert.com http://www.superexpert.com AspWorkshops http://www.AspWorkshops.com DotNet Junkies http://www.dotnetjunkies.net

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Using Templates with the Content Rotator Control The Content Rotator control fully supports the use of templates. You can create the following types of templates: •

HeaderTemplate—Formats

the Content •

Rotator

content that appears before all the items displayed in control

ItemTemplate—Formats

the appearance of each item in the Content

Rotator

control •

AlternatingItemTemplate—Formats Content Rotator

•

FooterTemplate—Formats Content Rotator

the appearance of alternating items in the

control content that appears after all the items displayed in the

control

The page in Listing 8.29, for example, uses all four templates to format a random list of links. LISTING 8.29

ContentRotatorTemplates.aspx

ContentRotatorTemplates.aspx Visit these ASP.NET Web sites!

Applying Styles to the Content Rotator Control The Content •

Rotator

TableStyle—A TableStyle Rotator

•

control supports the following style properties:

control

ItemStyle—A TableItemStyle

displayed the Content •

object that specifies the style applied to the Content

Rotator

object that specifies the style applied to each item control

AlternatingItemStyle—A TableItemStyle

•

HeaderStyle—A TableItemStyle

header of the Content •

object that specifies the style applied Rotator control

Rotator

object that specifies the style applied to the control

FooterStyle—A TableItemStyle

footer of the Content

object that specifies the style applied to the Rotator control

The page in Listing 8.30 illustrates how to use these style properties to format the items displayed by the Content Rotator control. LISTING 8.30

ContentRotatorStyle.aspx

ContentRotatorStyle.aspx

Caching Support in the Content Rotator Control The Content Rotator control automatically caches content to improve performance. You can control exactly how the Content Rotator caches items by setting its CacheScope and CacheDuration properties. By default, the items displayed by the Content Rotator are stored in a single application cache shared among all application users. The CacheScope property can accept any of the following three values: •

Application—Caches

•

Session—Caches

•

None—Disables

the same items for all application users (the default value)

the same items for a single application user

all caching of content items

By default, items are stored in the cache for a maximum of 30 minutes. You can modify this default behavior by changing the value of the CacheDuration property. The CacheDuration property accepts a value specifying the amount of time to cache items in minutes.

Using the SuperDataGrid Control The SuperDataGrid control extends the standard DataGrid control included in the ASP.NET Framework. The control makes it easier to perform standard database tasks, such as displaying, sorting, paging through, and editing data. The control works with Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 or higher).

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Note An evaluation of the SuperDataGrid control is included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book (the Beta 2 version). I recommend, however, that you download the latest version from either the www.SuperexpertControls.com or www.Superexpert.com Web site.

Before you can use the SuperDataGrid control, you need to unzip the control from the SuperDataGridB2.zip file included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book. Next, you need to copy the Superexpert.SuperDataGrid.dll file to the /bin directory located under your application root directory (if this directory doesn’t exist, you can create it).

Displaying a Database Table The SuperDataGrid control enables you to easily display the contents of one or more database tables. For example, you can display the contents of the Products database table from the Northwind database by using the page in Listing 8.31.

8 SimpleSuperDataGrid.aspx

SimpleSuperDataGrid.aspx

Notice that the page in Listing 8.31 does not contain any logic for retrieving records from a database. To display the contents of a database table, you need only specify a value for the ConnectionString and TableName properties. The SuperDataGrid control automatically opens a database connection and displays the records from the table specified. If you want to display records retrieved from multiple tables, you can use the SuperDataGrid control’s CommandText property, which accepts any valid SQL SELECT statement as its value. For example, the page in Listing 8.32 displays records from both the Products and Categories tables.

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LISTING 8.31

400

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.32

SuperDataGridMultiple.aspx

SuperDataGridMultiple.aspx

Sorting Columns in the SuperDataGrid Control You can enable users to sort the columns displayed by the SuperDataGrid control by setting the EnableSorting property to the value True. For example, the page in Listing 8.33 enables you to sort the records from the Titles table from the Pubs database. LISTING 8.33

SuperDataGridSorting.aspx

SuperDataGridSorting.aspx

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After you enable sorting, you can sort any column by clicking the column’s header. Notice that you must embed the SuperDataGrid control in a server-side form for the EnableSorting property to function correctly.

Paging Through Records in the SuperDataGrid Control You can divide a query’s results into multiple pages by using the SuperDataGrid control. To do so, set the EnablePaging property to the value True. For example, the page in Listing 8.34 divides the records from the Products database table into multiple pages displaying five products per page. LISTING 8.34

SuperDataGridPaging.aspx

SuperDataGridPaging.aspx

Notice that the PagerStyle property specifies the user interface for paging through the records. In Listing 8.34, the Mode property of PagerStyle is set to NumericPages, which displays a list of page numbers at the bottom of the SuperDataGrid (see Figure 8.12).

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FIGURE 8.12 Paging through SuperDataGrid

records.

Editing Records in the SuperDataGrid Control You can enable users to edit the records displayed by the SuperDataGrid control by setting the EnableEditing property to the value True. For example, the SuperDataGrid control in Listing 8.35 enables users to edit records in the Products table from the Northwind database (see Figure 8.13). FIGURE 8.13 Editing SuperDataGrid

records.

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Warning You can edit records from a table with the SuperDataGrid control only when the table has a primary key defined. Furthermore, you can edit records from only one table at a time.

LISTING 8.35

SuperDataGridEditing.aspx

SuperDataGridEditing.aspx

Caching Support in the SuperDataGrid Control To improve performance, by default, the SuperDataGrid caches the records it displays. The records are cached for all application users. You can modify this default behavior by changing the value of the SuperDataGrid control’s CacheScope property. The CacheScope property can accept the following values: •

Application—The

same records are cached for all application users (the default

value). •

Session—The

records are cached separately for each application user.

•

None—Caching

is completely disabled.

By default, the records are cached for 30 minutes. You can modify the cache duration by changing the value of the CacheDuration property, which accepts a cache duration in minutes.

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Using the DataForm Control The Superexpert DataForm control enables you to automatically save the contents of a form to a database table. You can create a form that contains any number of form fields and call the DataForm control’s Save() method to copy any data entered into the form to a database table. Note Currently, the DataForm control works only with Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 or higher).

You also can use the DataForm control to automatically generate a form from a database table. Without any extra work, the generated form automatically validates form data for required fields and data of the proper data type.

Note The CD-ROM that accompanies this book includes an evaluation version of the Superexpert DataForm control (the Beta 2 version). However, I encourage you to download the latest version by visiting either www.SuperexpertControls.com or www.Superexpert.com.

Before you can use the DataForm control, you need to unzip the DataFormB2.zip file and copy the Superexpert.DataForm.dll file to the /bin directory located under your application’s root directory (if the /bin directory does not exist, you can create it).

Automatically Saving Form Data with the DataForm Control Imagine that you have a database table that is created with the following SQL Create Table statement: Create Table CustomerSurvey ( Customer_ID INT NOT NULL IDENTITY Primary Key, Customer Varchar( 50 ) NOT NULL, Age INT NOT NULL, Birthdate DateTime NOT NULL, Comments Text )

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Now imagine that you want to create a form that enables you to save data from an HTML form to this database table. The page in Listing 8.36 illustrates how you can use the Save() method of the DataForm control to save form data to the CustomerSurvey table. LISTING 8.36

SimpleDataForm.aspx

Sub Form_Submit( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) dfmSurvey.Save() Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End Sub SimpleDataForm.aspx

8

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Customer:

Age:

Birthdate:

406

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.36

continued

Comments:

The DataForm control in Listing 8.36 has both ConnectionString and TableName properties. The ConnectionString property enables the DataForm control to connect to a database. The TableName property indicates the name of the table to which the form data is saved. The DataForm control contains several DataTextBox controls. Each control has a DataField property, which maps the control to a database column. For example, when the form is saved, the contents of the first DataTextBox control are saved to the Customer column. Finally, the DataForm control has a FormSubmit event, which is raised when the is submitted. In Listing 8.36, the FormSubmit event is handled by a subroutine named Form_Submit. The Form_Submit subroutine calls the Save() method, which saves all the data entered into the DataForm. Next, the Form_Submit subroutine redirects the user to a page named ThankYou.aspx. DataForm

Adding DataForm Form Controls In the preceding section, you saw how to customize the appearance of the DataForm control by using DataTextBox controls. You also can add other standard form controls to the DataForm control. The DataForm control can act as a container for one or more of the following controls:

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•

DataTextBox

•

DataRadioButton

•

DataCheckBox

•

DataDropDownList

•

DataRadioButtonList

•

DataCheckBoxList

•

DataLabel

407

These controls extend the standard ASP.NET Web controls with three additional properties: •

DataField—The

name of a field from a database table to update when the DataForm is submitted

•

DataReadOnly—A

•

DataType—A SqlDBType

Boolean value indicating whether the value of this form field is used when updating a database table value indicating the SQL data type of the form field

Displaying Database Errors with the DataForm Control By default, if you use the DataForm control to submit form data to a database table and the database generates an error, the error message is hidden. To display a database error, you need to use the DataError property. The DataForm control’s Save() method returns a Boolean value indicating whether the operation of saving the form data was successful. You can use the DataError property to display the actual text of the database error that occurred. If you submit the form contained in Listing 8.37 with the value apple entered into the Age form field, for example, an error is displayed (see Figure 8.14).

8 USING THIRDPARTY CONTROLS

Typically, you need to specify the value of the DataField property only to update a database table with the DataForm control.

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FIGURE 8.14 Displaying DataForm database errors.

LISTING 8.37

DataFormDataError.aspx

Sub Form_Submit( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If dfmSurvey.Save() Then Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) Else lblError.Text = dfmSurvey.DataError End If End Sub DataFormDataError.aspx

Using Third-Party Controls CHAPTER 8 LISTING 8.37

409

continued

Customer:

Age:

Comments:

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Birthdate:

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Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II

Automatically Updating a Database Table with the DataForm Control You also can use the DataForm control to update an existing record in a database table. To do so, you need to specify values for the following two properties: •

DataKeyField—The

name of a primary key field from the database table being

updated •

DataKeyValue—The

value of the primary key field from the database table being

updated Setting DataKeyField to the value Customer_ID and DataKeyValue to the value 3, for example, updates the third record in the CustomerSurvey table. The page in Listing 8.38 illustrates how to create a form that enables users to update the second record in the CustomerSurvey table. LISTING 8.38

DataFormUpdate.aspx

Sub Form_Submit( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) dfmSurvey.Update() Response.Redirect( “ThankYou.aspx” ) End Sub DataFormUpdate.aspx Customer:

Age:

Birthdate:

In Listing 8.38, the DataKeyField property is assigned the value Customer_ID, the DataKeyValue property is assigned the value 2, and the Update() method is called in the Form_Submit subroutine. The Update() method automatically updates the table specified by the TableName property.

Automatically Generating a Form with the DataForm Control You can use the DataForm control to automatically generate a form that corresponds to the columns in any database table. For example, suppose that you want to add new records to the Titles table in the Pubs database. The DataForm in Listing 8.39 automatically displays the necessary form.

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Comments:

412

Advanced ASP.NET Page Development PART II LISTING 8.39

DataFormAutoGenerate.aspx

DataFormAutoGenerate.aspx

The DataForm in Listing 8.39 automatically generates the form displayed in Figure 8.15. Notice that validation logic is automatically added to this form. For example, if a database table column does not allow Null values, data must be entered into the corresponding form field before the form can be submitted. If a database table column accepts integer values, the corresponding form field must contain an integer. If you attempt to submit the form without entering the proper values, error messages are automatically displayed. FIGURE 8.15 Automatically generating a form.

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413

In Listing 8.39, the Mode property is assigned the value AddRecord. The Mode property accepts the following values: •

AddRecord—Adds

a new record to the database table specified by the TableName

property. •

UpdateRecord—Updates

a record in the database table specified by the TableName property. The DataKeyField and DataKeyValue properties indicate the particular record to update.

•

UpdateTable—Enables

you to update any of the records in the database table specified by the TableName property.

•

Custom—Enables you to perform a custom action when the form is submitted by handling the DataForm control’s Submit event.

When you set Mode to UpdateTable, for example, you can update every record in a database table. The page in Listing 8.40 enables you to update any record in the Titles table (see Figure 8.16). LISTING 8.40

DataFormUpdateTable.aspx

DataFormUpdateTable.aspx

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FIGURE 8.16 Automatically updating a table.

Summary This chapter discussed two groups of third-party controls that you can use with the ASP.NET Framework. In the first half of this chapter, you learned how to use the Internet Explorer WebControls. You learned how to use the TreeView control to display a hierarchical menu of options and the Toolbar control to create an interactive button toolbar. You also learned how to use the TabStrip control to add text and image tabs to an ASP.NET page. In the second half of this chapter, you learned how to use three Superexpert controls. First, you learned how to randomly display content by using the Content Rotator control. Next, you learned how to use the SuperDataGrid control to automate the process of displaying, sorting, paging through, and editing data. Finally, you learned how to use the DataForm control to automate the process of saving form data to a database table.

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PART

III IN THIS PART 9 Introduction to ADO.NET

417

10 Binding Data to Web Controls

473

11 Using the DataList and DataGrid Controls 12 Working with DataSets 13 Working with XML

513

587

637

14 Using ADO.NET to Create a Search Page

667

CHAPTER 9

Introduction to ADO.NET

IN THIS CHAPTER • An Overview of ADO.NET

418

• Performing Common Database Tasks 420 • Improving Database Performance • Advanced Database Topics

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Database access is a crucial component of almost any ASP.NET application. Fortunately, the ASP.NET framework includes a rich set of classes and controls for working with database data in your ASP.NET pages. This chapter introduces ADO.NET, the data access technology built into the .NET framework. It gives detailed explanations of the classes that you need to use most often in your ASP.NET pages. You learn how to retrieve records from a database table, insert new records, update records, and delete records. You also learn how to use the ADO.NET classes when working with Web forms. You learn how to build forms that enable you to insert and modify database records. Finally, this chapter delves into some of the more advanced features of ADO.NET. You learn how to increase the performance of your ADO.NET applications using stored procedures and connection pooling. You also learn how to execute commands in transactions and retrieve database table schema information. Note You can view “live” versions of many of the code samples in this chapter by visiting the Superexpert Web site: http://www.Superexpert.com/AspNetUnleashed/

An Overview of ADO.NET We’ll begin with a quick tour of ADO.NET. The .NET framework contains several namespaces with dozens of classes devoted to database access. However, this chapter concentrates on the classes from just two of the namespaces: System.Data.SqlClient and System.Data.OleDb. The System.Data.SqlClient namespace includes the following three classes: •

SqlConnection

•

SqlCommand

•

SqlDataReader

If you plan to build your ASP.NET application with Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 or higher), you’ll use these classes most often. These classes enable you to execute SQL statements and quickly retrieve data from a database query.

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The SqlConnection class represents an open connection to a Microsoft SQL Server database. The SqlCommand class represents a SQL statement or stored procedure. Finally, the SqlDataReader class represents the results from a database query. The next section of this chapter goes into the details of using each of these classes. ASP Classic Note If you have used ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), these three classes should be familiar to you. The SqlConnection and SqlCommand classes are similar to the ActiveX Data Objects Connection and Command objects, with the important exception that they work only with Microsoft SQL Server. The SqlDataReader class is similar to an ActiveX Data Objects Recordset object opened with a fast, forward-only cursor. However, unlike Recordset, SqlDataReader does not support alternative cursor types, and it works only with Microsoft SQL Server.

The first group of classes, from the System.Data.SqlClient namespace, works only with Microsoft SQL Server. If you need to work with another type of database, such as an Access or Oracle database, you need to use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace. The System.Data.OleDb namespace includes the following classes: •

OleDbConnection

•

OleDbCommand

•

OleDbDataReader

The OleDbConnection class represents an open database connection to a database, the OleDbCommand class represents a SQL statement or stored procedure, and the OleDbReader class represents the results from a database query. Why did Microsoft duplicate these classes, creating one version for SQL Server and one version for every other database? By creating two sets of classes, Microsoft was able to optimize one set of classes for SQL Server. The OleDb classes use OLE DB providers to connect to a database. The SQL classes, on the other hand, communicate with Microsoft SQL Server directly on the level of the Tabular Data Stream (TDS) protocol. TDS is the low-level proprietary protocol used by

INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

Notice that these classes have the same names as the ones in the previous group, except that these class names start with OleDb rather than Sql.

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SQL Server to handle client and server communication. By bypassing OLE DB and ODBC and working directly with TDS, you get dramatic performance benefits. Note You can use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace with Microsoft SQL Server. You might want to do so if you want your ASP.NET page to be compatible with any database. For example, you might want your page to work with both Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. However, you lose all the speed advantages of the SQL specific classes if you use the System.Data.OleDb namespace.

In general, the classes in the two namespaces duplicate the same functionality. Just remember to use the classes from the System.Data.SqlClient namespace when working with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and higher and use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace when working with any other database. Note You examine another important set of ADO.NET classes in Chapter 12, “Working with Data Sets.” The classes in this group are used to represent memory-resident, disconnected database data. These classes include DataSet, DataTable, and DataAdapter.

Performing Common Database Tasks In the following sections, you learn how to perform common database tasks using ADO.NET. First, you learn how to create and open a database connection. Next, you learn how to retrieve and display database records, add new database records, update existing database records, and delete database records. You learn how to perform all these tasks using classes from both the System.Data.SqlClient and System.Data.OleDb namespaces. When you work with SQL Server, you need to import the System.Data.SqlClient namespace by adding the following page directive at the top of your ASP.NET page:

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When working with other databases, such as Microsoft Access or Oracle databases, you need to import the System.Data.OleDb namespace by using the following page directive:

Opening a Database Connection To access a database, you first need to create and open a database connection. Once again, you create the connection in different ways depending on the type of database that you want to access. You would create and open a connection for a Microsoft SQL Server database as shown in Listing 9.1. LISTING 9.1

SqlConnection.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conPubs As SqlConnection conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;uid=sa;pwd=secret;database=pubs” ) conPubs.Open() End Sub Connection Opened!

9

The connection string contains all the necessary location and authentication information to connect to SQL Server. In Listing 9.1, the connection string contains the name of the server, name of the database, SQL Server login, and password.

INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

The first line in Listing 9.1 imports the necessary namespace, System.Data.SqlClient, for working with SQL Server. The connection to SQL Server is created and opened in the Page_Load subroutine. First, an instance of the SqlConnection class named conPubs is created. The conPubs class is initialized by passing a connection string as a parameter to the constructor for the SqlConnection class. Finally, the connection is actually opened by calling the Open() method of the SqlConnection class.

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Note You do not specify a Provider parameter for the connection string when using the SqlConnection class. The classes in the System.Data.SqlClient namespace do not use an OLE DB provider, ADO, ODBC, or any other intermediate interface to SQL Server. The classes work directly with the TDS stream. Furthermore, you cannot use a Data Source Name (DSN) when opening a connection with the SqlConnection class. If you really want to use a DSN with SQL Server, you must use the classes in the System.Data.OleDb namespace instead.

You would use similar code to create a connection to a Microsoft Access database. In Listing 9.2, a database connection is created and opened for a Microsoft Access database named Authors. (This Authors database is included on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 9.2

OleDbConnection.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conAuthors As OleDbConnection conAuthors = New OleDbConnection( “PROVIDER=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;DATA Source=c:\Authors.mdb” ) conAuthors.Open() End Sub Connection Opened!

Because you are creating a connection for Microsoft Access, you must import the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the System.Data.SqlClient namespace. Next, you must create an instance of the OleDbConnection class and initialize it with a connection string appropriate for Microsoft Access. Finally, calling the Open() method of the OleDbConnection class actually opens the database connection. In Listing 9.2, you pass the name of the OLE DB provider for Microsoft Access (Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0) and the path to the Access database on the server. If you want to connect to another type of database, you need to specify a different provider. For example, to connect to an Oracle database, you use the MSDAORA provider.

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Note If you prefer, you can use a Data Source Name (DSN) with the OleDbConnection class to open a database connection. For example, after you create a System DSN named myDSN, you can connect using the following line: conPubs = New OleDbConnection( “DSN=myDSN” )

Realize, however, that opening a connection in this way forces you to use the OLE DB for ODBC provider rather than the native OLE DB provider for your database. Typically, but not always, this results in slower performance.

By default when you call the Open() method with either the SqlConnection or OleDbConnection class, the connection is given 15 seconds to open before timing out. You can override this default behavior by supplying a Connect_Timeout attribute in the connection string. For example, to allow up to 90 seconds for a connection to open in a SQL Server database, you would initialize the connection like this myConnection = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Connect ➥Timeout=90” )

Finally, when you are done using a database connection, closing it as quickly as possible is important. A database has a limited number of connections; closing the connection frees it so that it can be used for other pages. To close either a SqlConnection or OleDbConnection, use a statement like the following: myConnection.Close()

Retrieving Records from a Database Table

9

The SQL statement that you will use most often in your ASP.NET pages is Select. The Select statement enables you to retrieve records that match a certain condition from a database table. The syntax for a basic Select statement is as follows:

INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

SELECT column1, column2... FROM tablename1, tablname2... WHERE search condition

If you want to retrieve the au_fname and au_lname columns, for example, from the Authors table where the au_lname column has the value Smith, you would use the following Select statement: Select au_fname, au_lname FROM Authors WHERE au_lname = ‘Smith’

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Note Notice that you use single quotation marks to indicate the start and end of a string with SQL. This is unlike Visual Basic in which you use double quotation marks.

If you simply want to retrieve all the columns and all the rows from the Authors table, you would use the following Select statement: Select * FROM Authors

The asterisk (*) is a wildcard character that represents all the columns. If you don’t use a WHERE clause, all the rows from the Authors table are automatically returned. Follow these four steps to execute a Select statement in an ASP.NET page: 1. Create and open a database connection. 2. Create a database command that represents the SQL Select statement to execute. 3. Execute the command with the ExecuteReader() method returning a DataReader. 4. Loop through the DataReader displaying the results of the query. When you execute a query using ADO.NET, the results of that query are returned in a DataReader. More accurately, the results of that query are represented by either a SqlDataReader or OleDbDataReader, depending on the database from which you are retrieving the records. A DataReader represents a forward-only stream of database records. This means that the represents only a single record at a time. To fetch the next record in the stream, you must call the Read() method. To display all the records returned from a query, you must call the Read() method repeatedly until you reach the end of the stream. Once you pass a record, there’s no going back.

DataReader

ASP Classic Note If you have used earlier versions of the ADO, you might find it helpful to think of a DataReader as a Recordset opened with a forward-only cursor.

The ASP.NET page in Listing 9.3, for example, displays all the records from a SQL Server database table named Authors (see Figure 9.1).

Introduction to ADO.NET CHAPTER 9 LISTING 9.3

FIGURE 9.1 Displaying the contents of a SqlDataReader.

9 INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

The first line in Listing 9.3 imports the necessary namespace to use the ADO.NET classes for SQL Server. Next, a connection is created and opened for the database located on the local server named Pubs. After the database connection is opened, a SqlCommand object is initialized with a SQL string that contains a SQL Select statement. This statement retrieves all the records from a database table named Authors.

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Next, the command is executed by calling the ExecuteReader() method of the SqlCommand class. This method returns a SqlDataReader class that represents the results of executing the SQL Select statement. When you have a SqlDataReader, you need to loop through its contents to display all the records returned by the query. In Listing 9.3, this is accomplished with a While...End While loop. All the records returned by the Select statement are displayed with the following block of code: While dtrAuthors.Read() Response.Write( “

” ) Response.Write( dtrAuthors( “au_lname” ) ) End While

The Read() method of the SqlDataReader class does two things whenever it is called. First, the method returns the value True if another record exists, but it returns False otherwise. Second, the method advances the DataReader to the next record if a next record exists. By combining these functions, the Read() method enables you to quickly loop through the contents of a DataReader. Warning Remember to call the Read() method at least once before displaying a record with the DataReader. When a DataReader is first returned, the first record is not retrieved until you call the Read() method.

The DataReader class automatically converts the value returned to the proper .NET data type. The value of a SQL Varchar column is returned as a String, the value of a SQL INT column is returned as an Int32 value, the value of a SQL Money column is returned as a Decimal, and so on. The ASP.NET pages in Listing 9.3 work only with Microsoft SQL Server. To use other databases, you must use the System.Data.OleDb classes rather than the System.Data.SqlClient classes. The page in Listing 9.4 illustrates how you would execute a query against a Microsoft Access database. The page retrieves and displays records from an Access table named Authors. LISTING 9.4

Notice that the page in Listing 9.4 is the same as the page in Listing 9.3, with two exceptions. First, the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the System.Data.SqlClient namespace is imported at the top of the page. Second, OleDb classes are used in all the statements instead of Sql classes. After you finish displaying the records from a DataReader, be sure to explicitly close it (using the Close() method). Otherwise, the database connection will continue to be tied up.

Retrieving a Single Database Record In many situations, you need to retrieve only a single record from a database. For example, you might need to look up someone’s password given a username. Or you might want to retrieve the phone number for Andrew Jones from a database table.

In the previous section, you learned how to use a DataReader to represent the results of a database query. If you only need to retrieve a single result from a query, the ExecuteScalar() method is many times more efficient than the ExecuteReader() method. The ExecuteScalar() method returns the value of the first column of the first row returned by a query. The page in Listing 9.5 retrieves a count of the records in the Authors database table. It uses the ExecuteScalar() method to retrieve and display the value of the SQL Count(*) aggregate function (see Figure 9.2).

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Another common situation in which you need to retrieve a single value concerns aggregate functions. SQL Server supports several aggregate functions, such as Count(*), which returns the number of records in a database table, and AVG(), which returns the average value for a column in a table, or MIN(), which returns the minimum value of a column in a table, or MAX(), which returns the maximum value of a column in a table.

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FIGURE 9.2 The ExecuteScalar()

method.

LISTING 9.5

SqlExecuteScalar.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelectCount As SqlCommand conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;database=Pubs” ) conPubs.Open() cmdSelectCount = New SqlCommand( “Select Count(*) From Authors”, conPubs ) lblResults.Text = cmdSelectCount.ExecuteScalar() conPubs.Close() End Sub SqlExecuteScalar.aspx There are

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continued

in the Authors database table.

The page in Listing 9.5 works with a Microsoft SQL Server database (version 7.0 and higher). To rewrite the page to work with an Access or Oracle database, you would need to use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the System.Data.SqlClient namespace.

Executing a Query from a Form Just for fun, we’ll create a simple ASP.NET Web Forms Page that enables you to execute any SQL query and display the results. This exercise gives you some practice working with DataReaders and Web forms. The page displays a form with two TextBox controls. When you enter a SQL Select statement in the top TextBox control and click the Execute Query button, the results of the query are displayed in the bottom TextBox control (see Figure 9.3). FIGURE 9.3 The SQL Query Tool.

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Warning To keep things simple, no error checking code has been added to the form. So, if you enter an invalid Select statement, you receive an error message.

The trick to making this page work is to take advantage of the FieldCount property of the DataReader. The FieldCount property returns the number of columns represented by a DataReader. You can automatically display all the records in a DataReader by using the following code: While dtrResults.Read() txtResults.Text &= vbNewLine For intField = 0 To dtrResults.FieldCount - 1 txtResults.Text &= dtrResults( intField ).ToString().PadRight( 15 ) Next End While

This code fragment uses a While...End While loop to iterate through all the rows in the DataReader. It also uses a For...Next loop to loop through all the columns. It appends the value of each column for each row to a TextBox control named txtResults. The PadRight() method adds some padding around each column when it is displayed. The complete code for the page is contained in Listing 9.6. LISTING 9.6

SqlQueryTool.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim dtrResults As SqlDataReader Dim intField As Integer conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;uid=sa;pwd=secret;database=pubs” ) conPubs.Open() cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( txtQuery.Text, conPubs ) dtrResults = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() txtResults.Text = “” While dtrResults.Read() txtResults.Text &= vbNewLine For intField = 0 To dtrResults.FieldCount - 1 txtResults.Text &= dtrResults( intField ).ToString().PadRight( 15 )

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continued

Next End While dtrResults.Close() conPubs.Close() End Sub SqlQueryTool.aspx

Using Parameters with Queries Typically, you perform queries using parameters. For example, you need to retrieve all the books from the Titles table in a certain category. Or you want to display all the authors who have a certain last name from the table.

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You represent parameters in ADO.NET with either the SqlParameter class (in the case of Microsoft Sql Server) or the OleDbParameter class (in the case of every other database). A Command object has a parameters collection that represents all of its parameters. There are several ways you can create a new parameter and associate it with a Command. For example, the following two statements create and add a new parameter to the SqlCommand object: cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@firstname”, “Fred” ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( New SqlParameter( “@firstname”, “Fred” ) )

These two statements are completely equivalent. Both statements create a new SqlParameter with the name @firstname and the value Fred and add the new parameter to the parameters collection of the SqlCommand object. Notice that we do not specify the SQL data type of the parameter in the case of either statement. If you don’t specify the data type, it is automatically inferred from the value assigned to the parameter. For example, since the value Fred is a String, the SQL data type NVarchar is inferred. In the case of an OleDbParameter, the data type VarWChar would be automatically inferred. Note All the standard ASP.NET form controls, such as the TextBox control, return String values. If you do not explicitly specify the data type when creating a parameter, a String value will be interpreted as either a SqlClient NVarchar, or OleDb VarWChar data type.

In some cases, you’ll want to explicitly specify the data type of a parameter. For example, you might want to explicitly create a Varchar parameter instead of an NVarchar parameter. To do this, you can use the following statement: cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@lname”, SqlDbType.Varchar ).Value = “Johnson”

This statement specifies the SQL data type of the parameter by using a value from the SqlDbType enumeration. The SqlDbType enumeration is located in the System.Data namespace. Each of its values corresponds to a SQL data type. In the case of an OleDbParameter, you would use a value from the OleDbType enumeration like this: cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@lname”, OleDbType.Varchar ).Value = “Johnson”

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The OleDbType enumeration can be found in the System.Data.OleDb namespace. Finally, you can specify the maximum size of a database parameter by using the following statement: cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@lname”, SqlDbType.Varchar, 15 ).Value = “Johnson”

This statement creates a parameter named @lname with a column size of 15 characters. If you don’t explicitly specify the maximum size of a parameter, the size is automatically inferred from the value assigned to the parameter.

Using Parameters with Microsoft SQL Server Queries When executing a SQL statement with the SqlCommand class, you represent parameters in the statement that you want to execute like this: Select phone From Authors Where au_fname = @firstname And au_lname = @lastname

In this statement, @firstname and @lastname represent parameters. You can assign different values to the parameters and execute the SQL Select statement, retrieving different phone numbers for different authors’ first and last names. The page in Listing 9.7, for example, demonstrates how you can execute this parameterized query from a Web form. You can enter the name Ann Dull and retrieve her phone number (see Figure 9.4). FIGURE 9.4 Executing a parameterized query.

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SqlParameterSelect.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conPubs = New SqlConnection( “server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Pubs” ) strSelect = “Select phone From Authors Where au_fname=@firstname And au_lname=@lastname” cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conPubs ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@firstname”, txtFirstname.Text ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@lastname”, txtLastname.Text ) conPubs.Open() lblPhone.Text = cmdSelect.ExecuteScalar() conPubs.Close() End Sub SqlParameterSelect.aspx Author Phone Lookup First Name:

Last Name:

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continued

Phone:

The page in Listing 9.8 contains two TextBox controls named txtFirstname and txtLastname. When you enter values into the two Textbox controls and click Lookup!, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. The Button_Click subroutine creates an instance of the SqlCommand class with a parameterized Select statement. Two instances of the SqlParameter class are created and added to the Parameters collection of the SqlCommand class. For example, the @firstname parameter is created and added with the following statement: cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@firstname”, txtFirstname.Text )

This statement creates a new SqlParameter named @firstname and adds it to the Parameters collection of the SqlCommand class. The parameter is created by passing its name and value. In this case, the value of the parameter is the value of the txtFirstname TextBox control.

cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( _ “@firstname”, SqlDbType.Varchar, 20 ).Value = txtFirstname.Text cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( _ “@lastname”, SqlDbType.Varchar, 20 ).Value = txtLastname.Text

These statements explicitly create Varchar parameters with a maximum size of 20 characters.

Using Parameters with Other Databases When using the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace, you need to create the parameters a little differently. For example, to retrieve a phone number for an author from the Authors table, you would write the SQL statement like this:

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In Listing 9.7, we allowed ADO.NET to infer the data type and size of both the and @lastname parameters. If we wanted to be explicit about the data type and size, we could have created the parameters like this:

@firstname

436

Working with ADO.NET PART III Select phone From Authors Where au_fname = ? And au_lname = ?

Notice that you use a ? character to represent the parameter instead of using a named parameter. The page in Listing 9.8 illustrates how you would use parameterized queries with a Microsoft Access database. You can lookup the phone number for Bertrand Russell. LISTING 9.8

OleDbParameterSelect.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conAuthors As OleDbConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As OleDbCommand conAuthors = New OleDbConnection( “PROVIDER=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;DATA Source=c:\Authors.mdb” ) strSelect = “Select phone From Authors Where au_fname=? And au_lname=?” cmdSelect = New OleDbCommand( strSelect, conAuthors ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@firstname”, txtFirstname.Text ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@lastname”, txtLastname.Text ) conAuthors.Open() lblPhone.Text = cmdSelect.ExecuteScalar() conAuthors.Close() End Sub OleDbParameterSelect.aspx Author Phone Lookup First Name:

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continued

Last Name:

Phone:

Adding Records to a Database You can add new records to a database table by using the SQL Insert command. The syntax for a basic Insert command is as follows: INSERT tablename ( column1, column2... ) VALUES ( value1, value2... )

INSERT Authors ( au_fname, au_lname ) VALUES ( ‘Bertrand’, ‘Russell’ )

Follow these three steps to execute a SQL Insert command in an ASP.NET page: 1. Create and open a database connection. 2. Create a database command that represents the SQL Insert statement to execute. 3. Execute the command with the ExecuteNonQuery() method. The ASP.NET page in Listing 9.9 uses the classes from the System.Data.SqlClient namespace to insert a new record into a SQL Server database table named Products.

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You insert new records into a table by listing the table columns and values that you want to insert into the columns. For example, imagine that you have a table named Authors that has both au_fname and au_lname columns. The following statement inserts a new author named Bertrand Russell:

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Working with ADO.NET PART III LISTING 9.9 New Product Added!

The first statement in Listing 9.9 imports the necessary namespace to use the SqlClient classes. Next, a connection to a SQL database is initialized. Then, a variable named strInsert that has a SQL Insert statement as its value is created. The Insert statement inserts a new record into a table named Products. In the statement that follows, an instance of the SqlCommand class is created. This class is initialized with two parameters: the command to execute and the connection to use for executing the command. Finally, the command is executed by calling the ExecuteNonQuery() method of the SqlCommand class. This method sends the SQL command to the database server, and the database server executes the command. Notice that you use ExecuteNonQuery() rather than ExecuteReader() to execute the command. You need to use the ExecuteNonQuery() method because you are not returning any records from the database. The code in Listing 9.9 works only with Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 or higher). To use other databases, you need to modify the code to use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the System.Data.SqlClient namespace. The ASP.NET page in Listing 9.10 demonstrates how you would add a new record to a Microsoft Access database table.

Introduction to ADO.NET CHAPTER 9 LISTING 9.10 New Author Added!

The code in Listing 9.10 executes an Insert statement that adds a new record to a Microsoft Access table named Authors.mdb. Notice that Microsoft Access requires you to use the keyword Into with the Insert statement. (You use Insert Into Authors rather than Insert Authors.) Note The apostrophe character (‘) can cause problems when you’re inserting data into a database table. For example, imagine that you want to add a new author named O’Leary to the Authors table. You might try to execute the following statement: This statement generates an error because the apostrophe in O’Leary is interpreted as marking the end of the SQL string. To get around this problem, you need to double up your apostrophes. For example, use the following statement to add O’Leary to a database table: INSERT INTO Authors ( Author ) Values ( ‘O’’Leary’ )

Creating a Form to Insert New Records Typically, you insert new records into a database table by using a Web form. The page in Listing 9.11 illustrates how you can create a form that enables you to add new products to the Products database table.

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INSERT INTO Authors ( Author ) Values ( ‘O’Leary’ )

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Working with ADO.NET PART III LISTING 9.11

SqlFormInsert.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strInsert As String Dim cmdInsert As SqlCommand conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;database=Northwind” ) strInsert = “Insert Products ( ProductName, UnitPrice ) Values ( @ProductName, @UnitPrice )” cmdInsert = New SqlCommand( strInsert, conNorthwind ) cmdInsert.Parameters.Add( “@ProductName”, txtProductName.Text ) cmdInsert.Parameters.Add( “@UnitPrice”, SqlDbType.Money ).Value = txtUnitPrice.Text conNorthwind.Open() cmdINsert.ExecuteNonQuery() conNorthwind.Close() End Sub SqlFormInsert.aspx Add New Product Product Name:

Unit Price:

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The form in Listing 9.11 has two TextBox controls named txtProductName and txtUnitPrice. When you click the Add! Button, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and the values entered into the two TextBox controls are inserted into the Products database table. Notice that the data type for the @UnitPrice parameter is explicitly specified. If the data type were not explicitly specified, the SqlCommand would attempt to insert the value of the txtUnitPrice TextBox as an NVarchar value. This would generate an error since SQL Server cannot automatically convert an NVarchar value to a Money value.

Updating Database Records To update existing records in a database table, you use the SQL Update command. The syntax for the basic Update command is as follows: UPDATE tablename SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2... WHERE search condition

You update a table by setting certain columns to certain values where a certain search condition is true. For example, imagine that you have a database table named Authors that has a column named au_lname. The following statement sets the value of the au_lname column to Smith wherever the column has a value of Bennet: UPDATE Authors SET au_lname = ‘Smith’ WHERE au_lname = ‘Bennet’

Updating a row that doesn’t exist does not raise an error. You execute an Update command within an ASP.NET page by completing the following steps:

2. Create a database command that represents the SQL Update statement to execute. 3. Execute the command with the ExecuteNonQuery() method. The ASP.NET page contained in Listing 9.12, for example, updates a record in a SQL Server database table named Authors. LISTING 9.12 Author Updated!

The first statement in Listing 9.12 imports the necessary namespace for working with the SQL ADO.NET classes. Next, a database connection is initialized with the correct connection string for the local server. In the statement that follows, an instance of the SqlCommand class is created by passing a SQL Update command and SqlConnection to the constructor for the class. The SQL Update command is executed when the ExecuteNonQuery() method of the class is called. At this point, the Update statement is transmitted to SQL Server and executed.

SqlCommand

The code in Listing 9.12 works only with Microsoft SQL Server (version 7.0 and higher). If you want to update a record in another type of database, you need to use the ADO.NET classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the System.Data.SqlClient namespace. The ASP.NET page contained in Listing 9.13 modifies a record in a Microsoft Access database. LISTING 9.13 Author Updated!

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One difference between the SQL Update and Insert commands is that the SQL Update command might affect more than one record at a time. When you execute an Update command, it changes every record that satisfies the command’s WHERE clause. You can determine the number of records affected by an Update command within an ASP.NET page by grabbing the value returned by the ExecuteNonQuery() method. The page contained in Listing 9.14 illustrates this method. LISTING 9.14 Records Updated!

Creating a Form to Update Records

LISTING 9.15

SqlFormUpdate.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim strUpdate As String Dim cmdUpdate As SqlCommand Dim intUpdateCount As Integer conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;database=Pubs” ) strUpdate = “Update Authors Set phone=@phone Where au_fname=@firstname And

9 INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

Typically, you execute a SQL Update statement from a Web form. The page in Listing 9.15 illustrates how you can create a Web form that enables you to update records in the Authors database table.

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continued

au_lname=@lastname” cmdUpdate = New SqlCommand( strUpdate, conPubs ) cmdUpdate.Parameters.Add( “@phone”, txtPhone.Text ) cmdUpdate.Parameters.Add( “@firstname”, txtFirstName.Text ) cmdUpdate.Parameters.Add( “@lastname”, txtLastName.Text ) conPubs.Open() intUpdateCount = cmdUpdate.ExecuteNonQuery() conPubs.Close() lblResults.Text = intUpdateCount & “ records updated!” End Sub SqlFormUpdate.aspx Update Phone Number First Name:

Last Name:

New Phone:

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The form in Listing 9.15 has three TextBox controls: one for a first name, last name, and new phone number. When you click the Update Phone Number! button, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and the phone number for the proper author is updated. Finally, the number of records updated is retrieved from the ExecuteNonQuery() method of the SqlCommand class. This result is assigned to a Label control (see Figure 9.5). FIGURE 9.5 Updating database records.

You delete data from a database by using the SQL Delete statement. The syntax for a basic Delete statement is as follows: DELETE tablename WHERE search condition

If, for example, you want to delete all the rows from a table named Authors where the au_lname column has the value Bennet, you would use the following statement: DELETE Authors WHERE au_lname = ‘Bennet’

Deleting rows that do not exist does not result in an error. To execute a SQL Delete statement from within an ASP.NET page, you must complete the following steps:

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Deleting Database Records

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1. Create and open a database connection. 2. Create a database command that represents the SQL Delete statement to execute. 3. Execute the command by calling the ExecuteNonQuery() method. The ASP.NET page in Listing 9.16, for example, demonstrates how you can delete a record from a SQL Server database table named Authors. LISTING 9.16 Records Deleted!

The first line in Listing 9.16 imports the necessary namespace to work with SQL Server. Next, a connection to the SQL Server running on the local machine is initialized. The SqlCommand class is initialized with two parameters: a SQL Delete statement and an instance of the SqlConnection class. Next, the connection is opened, the command is executed by calling ExecuteNonQuery(), and the connection is closed. If you need to work with a database other than Microsoft SQL Server, you would use similar code. However, you must use the classes from the System.Data.OleDb namespace rather than the classes from System.Data.SqlClient. The page contained in Listing 9.17 illustrates how you would delete a record from a Microsoft Access database table named Authors. LISTING 9.17 Records Deleted!

Notice that you must use Delete Microsoft Access database.

From

rather than just Delete when working with a

A SQL Delete statement is similar to a SQL Update statement in that it might affect an unknown number of records. A SQL Delete statement deletes all the records that match the condition specified by the command’s WHERE clause. If you need to determine the number of records affected by a Delete statement, you can grab the value returned by the ExecuteNonQuery() method. The page contained in Listing 9.18 illustrates how to do so. LISTING 9.18 Records Deleted!

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FIGURE 9.6 Deleting database records.

LISTING 9.19

SqlFormDelete.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim strDelete As String Dim cmdDelete As SqlCommand Dim intDeleteCount As Integer conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;database=Pubs” ) strDelete = “Delete Authors Where au_lname=@lastname” cmdDelete = New SqlCommand( strDelete, conPubs ) cmdDelete.Parameters.Add( “@lastname”, txtLastName.Text ) conPubs.Open() intDeleteCount = cmdDelete.ExecuteNonQuery() conPubs.Close() lblResults.Text = intDeleteCount & “ records deleted!” End Sub SqlFormDelete.aspx

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continued

Delete Authors Last Name:

The form contains one TextBox control named txtLastName. When you click the Delete Author! button, the Button_Click subroutine is executed, and the author with the specified last name is deleted from the Authors database table. A count of the number of authors deleted is retrieved from the ExecuteNonQuery() method and assigned to a Label control named lblResults.

Improving Database Performance

Next, you look at both OLE DB and SQL connection pooling. You learn how to configure and take advantage of connection pooling in your Web applications to open database connections faster.

Using SQL Stored Procedures You can execute a SQL statement from within an ASP.NET page in two ways. You can execute the statement directly from code in the page, or you can package the SQL statement as a stored procedure and execute the stored procedure from the page.

9 INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

In the following sections, you learn two methods of increasing the database performance of your ASP.NET pages. First, you learn how to use SQL stored procedures from an ASP.NET page. By packaging your SQL statements in stored procedures, you get faster database performance.

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Building stored procedures takes a little more work than executing SQL statements directly on a page. However, you can significantly increase the performance of a database-driven Web site by using stored procedures. A SQL statement must be parsed, compiled, and optimized by SQL Server whenever it is executed from an ASP.NET page. A stored procedure, on the other hand, needs to be parsed, compiled, and optimized only once. Another advantage of using stored procedures is that you can package multiple SQL statements in a stored procedure and execute them as a group. For example, you can create one stored procedure that contains multiple SQL Update statements so that you can update the records in multiple tables at once. You can use all the programming features of the Transact-SQL language when building stored procedures. Transact-SQL includes support for variables, conditionals, loops and functions. Using these features, you can build very complex mini-programs within a stored procedure. Stored procedures can also be used to shield your ASP.NET pages from the particular implementation of the tables in your database. If you make changes in the database tables that you use in your application, you can change your stored procedures without making any changes to your ASP.NET pages. In any case, after you set up the parameters for a SQL command, executing the command as a stored procedure requires a trivial amount of work. We’ll start with a page that doesn’t use a stored procedure and modify it to use one. Listing 9.20 contains a simple ASP.NET page that inserts a new record into the Products table. LISTING 9.20 New Product Added!

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The page in Listing 9.20 adds a new product to the Products database table. The new record is added by passing values for the ProductName and UnitPrice table columns. To modify the page in Listing 9.20 so that it uses a stored procedure, you need to complete the following four steps: 1. Create a SQL stored procedure that contains the statement that you want to execute. 2. Import the System.Data namespace. 3. Pass the name of the stored procedure to the instance of the SqlCommand class. 4. Set the CommandType property of the SqlCommand class to the value CommandType.StoredProcedure. The first step is to actually create the SQL stored procedure. You can create a stored procedure by using either the Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager or Query Analyzer. For this example, use Query Analyzer. Run Query Analyzer by going to Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server, and then Query Analyzer. Enter your login name and password, and select from the drop-down list the database where you want to create your stored procedure. Next, type the following statement in the Query window: Create Procedure InsertProducts ( @ProductName NVarchar( 80 ), @UnitPrice Money ) As Insert Products ( ProductName, UnitPrice ) Values ( @ProductName, @UnitPrice )

The InsertProducts stored procedure has two input parameters named @ProductName and @UnitPrice. The @ProductName parameter is declared as an NVarchar parameter with a maximum length of 80 characters. The @UnitPrice parameter is declared as a Money parameter. The body of the stored procedure appears after the As keyword. The InsertProducts stored procedure simply executes a SQL Insert statement using the two parameters.

INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

After you enter this statement, click the Execute Query button (the green VCR play button) to execute the statement and create a new stored procedure named InsertProducts (see Figure 9.7).

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FIGURE 9.7 Creating a stored procedure with Query Analyzer.

You need to make three modifications to the page in Listing 9.20 to execute your InsertProducts stored procedure. The modified page appears in Listing 9.21. LISTING 9.21 New Product Added!

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First, notice that you import the System.Data namespace on the second line of the page. You need to import the System.Data namespace to use the CommandType enumeration that you use later in the page. Next, when initializing the SqlCommand class, you pass the name of the InsertProduct stored procedure. When you execute the command, this stored procedure will be executed. Finally, you set the CommandType property of the SqlCommand class to the value CommandType.StoredProcedure. Setting the CommandType causes the command to be interpreted as the name of a stored procedure rather than a standard SQL statement. (The default value of CommandType is Text.) You also can use stored procedures when executing queries with a SQL Select statement and a DataReader. The steps for doing so are exactly the same. For example, the page in Listing 9.22 displays the value of the au_lname column for all the records in the Authors database table. LISTING 9.22

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The SelectAuthors stored procedure takes no parameters. It simply returns all the author last names from the Authors table. The SelectAuthors stored procedure can be created with the following statement: Create Procedure SelectAuthors As Select au_lname From Authors

Retrieving Return Values and Output Parameters In the preceding section, you saw how you can use input parameters with a stored procedure to pass values to a stored procedure from an ASP.NET page. SQL stored procedures also support return values and output parameters for passing information back from a stored procedure.

Using Return Values Every stored procedure exits with a return value, even if you don’t capture it. By default, every stored procedure returns the value 0. However, you can return any integer you please from a stored procedure by using the Return statement. Suppose that you want to retrieve a count of the number of records in the Authors database table by using a stored procedure. One way to do so would be to create the following stored procedure: Create Procedure GetAuthorCount As Return ( Select Count(*) From Authors )

The GetAuthorCount stored procedure returns a count of the number of rows in the Authors database table. This value is passed back from the Return statement. Warning You can use only integers with Return values. You cannot return a Null value.

After you create the GetAuthorCount stored procedure, you can use it in an ASP.NET page by creating a Return parameter. The page in Listing 9.23 illustrates how to do so. LISTING 9.23

SqlGetAuthorCount.aspx

There are records in the Authors table

In Listing 9.23, an instance of the SqlParameter class is created to represent the return value from the GetAuthorCount stored procedure. This parameter is created with the following two statements: parmReturnValue = cmdAuthorCount.Parameters.Add( “ReturnValue”, SqlDbType.Int ) parmReturnValue.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue

The first statement creates a parameter named ReturnValue with a SQL Int data type. This parameter is added to the Parameters collection of the SqlCommand class and assigned to a variable named parmReturnValue.

Using Output Parameters Using output parameters is similar to using return values. However, output parameters have a couple of important advantages. You can use an output parameter to pass Varchar, Int, Money, or values of any other data type from a stored procedure. A return value, on the other hand, can return only integer values. Another advantage of output parameters is that you can include multiple output parameters in a stored procedure. A Microsoft SQL Server stored procedure can have a maximum of 1,024 parameters (including both input and output parameters), but it can have only one return value.

9 INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

The second line assigns a direction to the parameter. By default, parameters are input parameters. Because you want your parameter to represent a return value, you must assign the value ParameterDirection.ReturnValue to the parameter’s Direction property.

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The following stored procedure, for example, can be used to retrieve an author’s last name given the author’s first name. The stored procedure has one input parameter named @firstname and one output parameter named @lastname. (The output parameter is marked with the special SQL keyword Output.) Create Procedure GetLastname ( @firstname Varchar( 20 ), @lastname Varchar( 20 ) Output ) As Select @lastname = au_lname From Authors Where au_fname = @firstname

The page in Listing 9.24 illustrates how you would use this stored procedure in an ASP.NET page. LISTING 9.24 The last name is

In Listing 9.24, the @lastname output parameter is declared with three lines of code. The first line creates the parameter, assigns the parameter a Varchar data type, and adds the parameter to the Parameters collection of the SqlCommand class. The next line specifies the maximum size of the output parameter. Because the @lastname parameter can return 40 characters, the Size property is assigned the value 40. Finally, the direction of the parameter, ParameterDirection.Output, is assigned to the Direction property. After the command is executed, you can capture the value of the output parameter from the Parameters collection. Notice how the IsDBNull() method is used to check whether the output parameter has a value. You don’t want to attempt to assign the value of the parameter to a string variable if nothing is returned. You want to assign the value of the output parameter to the strLastname variable only when an author with that first name exists.

Executing Complex Stored Procedures One important benefit of using stored procedures is that they enable you to package together multiple SQL statements and execute them as a group. In this section, you examine two ASP.NET code samples that use multiple SQL statements.

Create Procedure AddProduct ( @ProductName NVarchar( 80 ), @UnitPrice Money ) As Insert Products ( ProductName, UnitPrice ) Values ( @ProductName, @UnitPrice ) Return @@Identity

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The first sample demonstrates how to use a stored procedure to get the identity value of a new row entered into a table. The following stored procedure adds a new product to the Products database table and returns the value of the identity column for the new record entered in the table:

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The @@Identity global variable contains the last value inserted into a SQL table’s identity column. The AddProduct stored procedure adds a new product to the Products table and returns the value of the @@Identity variable. The page in Listing 9.25 illustrates how you would use the AddProduct stored procedure from an ASP.NET page (see Figure 9.8). FIGURE 9.8 Retrieving the @@Identity value.

LISTING 9.25 The ID for the new product is

The page in Listing 9.25 contains three parameters: two input parameters and a return value. The two input parameters represent the new product name and price. The return value retrieves the value of the identity column when the new product is inserted into the database table. Another situation in which using a stored procedure to execute multiple statements is valuable concerns inserting nonduplicate records in a database. Suppose that you want to insert a product into the Products table only if a record for the product doesn’t already exist. The following stored procedure uses the SQL Exists keyword to check for the existence of a product before inserting a record:

The AddUniqueProduct stored procedure checks whether a product with a product name already exists by using the Exists keyword. If Exists returns True, the stored procedure exits with the value 1. If the product doesn’t already exist, the product is added and the stored procedure exits with its default value of 0.

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Create Procedure AddUniqueProduct ( @ProductName NVarchar( 80 ), @UnitPrice Money ) As If Exists ( Select ProductName From Products Where ProductName = @ProductName ) Return 1 Else Insert Products ( ProductName, UnitPrice ) Values ( @ProductName, @UnitPrice )

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The page in Listing 9.26 illustrates how to use this stored procedure from within an ASP.NET page. LISTING 9.26

The page in Listing 9.26 passes two input parameters to the addUniqueProduct stored procedure and retrieves the return value. If the return value is 0, the message New Product Added! is displayed. Otherwise, the message Product already exists! is displayed.

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Improving Performance with Connection Pooling Opening a connection is a database-intensive task. It can be one of the slowest operations that you perform in an ASP.NET page. Furthermore, a database has a limited supply of connections, and each connection requires a certain amount of memory overhead (approximately 40 kilobytes per connection). If you plan to have hundreds of users hitting your Web site simultaneously, the process of opening a database connection for each user can have a severe impact on the performance of your Web site. Fortunately, you can safely ignore these dire warnings if you take advantage of connection pooling. When database connections are pooled, a set of connections is kept open so that they can be shared among multiple users. When you request a new connection, an active connection is removed from the pool. When you close the connection, the connection is placed back in the pool. Connection pooling is enabled for both OleDb and SqlClient connections by default. OleDb connection pooling is handled by the OLE DB .NET provider. SqlClient connection pooling is handled by Windows 2000 component services. To take advantage of connection pooling, you must be careful to do two things in your ASP.NET pages. First, you must be careful to use the same exact connection string whenever you open a database connection. Only those connections opened with the same connection string can be placed in the same connection pool.

Note The web.config file and Application state are both discussed in Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

9 INTRODUCTION TO ADO.NET

Realize that even very small differences in the connection string can thwart connection pooling. Connections are pooled only when they are opened with connection strings that exactly match character by character. For this reason, it is wise to create your connection string in one place and use the same connection string within all your ASP.NET pages. For example, you can place your connection string in the web.config file and retrieve it from this file whenever you need to open a connection. Another option is to place the connection string in Application state within the Global.asax file.

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To take advantage of connection pooling in your ASP.NET pages, you also must be careful to explicitly close whatever connection you open as quickly as possible. If you do not explicitly close a connection with the Close() method, the connection is never added back to the connection pool. When using SQL connection pooling, you can place additional options in a connection string to modify how connection pooling works. For example, you can specify the minimum and maximum size of the connection pool or even completely disable connection pooling. Here’s a list of the connection pooling options that you can add to the SQL Server connection string: •

Connection Lifetime Destroys a connection after a certain number of seconds. The default value is 0, which indicates that connections should never be destroyed.

•

Connection Reset

•

Enlist Indicates whether a connection should be automatically enlisted in the current transaction context. The default value is true.

•

Max Pool Size

•

Min Pool Size

•

Pooling

Indicates whether connections should be reset when they are returned to the pool. The default value is true.

The maximum number of connections allowed in a single connection pool. The default value is 100. The minimum number of connections allowed in a single connection pool. The default value is 0.

Determines whether connection pooling is enabled or disabled. The default value is true.

Advanced Database Topics In the following sections, we explore three advanced database topics. You learn how to execute database commands in the context of a transaction. You also learn how to modify the behavior of a database command by specifying a CommandBehavior. Finally, you learn how to retrieve schema information from a database table.

Executing Database Commands in a Transaction A database transaction is a series of statements that either succeed or fail as a whole. The standard example of a transaction is transferring money between two bank accounts. If one of the following two statements fail, it would be better if both statements fail: Update BankAccountA Set Balance = Balance - 9999.99 WHERE Customer=’Smith’ Update BankAccountB Set Balance = Balance + 9999.99 WHERE Customer=’Smith’

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The first statement removes $9,999.99 from the balance of bank account A. The second statement adds this amount to the balance of bank account B. If the first statement executes, but the second statement fails, the customer is going to be very unhappy. If the first statement fails, but the second statement executes, the bank is going to be very unhappy. To keep both parties happy, it would be better to execute these statements as a transaction. There are three approaches that you can take to creating transactions. You can create transactions at the database level, at the level of ADO.NET, or at the level of a whole ASP.NET page.

Creating a Database Transaction Microsoft SQL Server itself supports transactions through the BEGIN TRANSACTION, COMMIT TRANSACTION, and ROLLBACK TRANSACTION statements. For example, the following SQL Stored procedure updates Account A and Account B in a transaction: Create Procedure UpdateAccounts As BEGIN TRANSACTION Update AccountA Set Balance = Balance - 999.99 WHERE Customer=’Smith’ Update AccountB Set Balance = Balance + 999.99 WHERE Customer=’Smith’ COMMIT TRANSACTION

If someone unplugs your database server after the first update statement but before the second update statement, the first statement will be automatically rolled back (when the server restarts). In other words, any modifications made by the first statement will be undone. By using transactions in this way, you can prevent your tables from containing inconsistent data.

ADO.NET also supports transactions through the Connection and Transaction classes. You create a new transaction with the BeginTransaction method of the Connection class. You can then associate the transaction with multiple commands with the Transaction property of the Command class. For example, the page in Listing 9.27 contains two commands that are executed within a single transaction. If either command fails, both commands will fail. LISTING 9.27

SqlTransaction.aspx

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Creating an ASP.NET Page Transaction Finally, you can create a transaction at the level of an ASP.NET page. You can enroll an ASP.NET page in a transaction by adding one of the following page directives to the ASP.NET page: •

Disabled

Transactions are disabled for the page. This is the default value.

•

NotSupported

•

Supported

•

Required If a transaction already exists, the page will execute within the context of the transaction. If a transaction does not exist, it will create a new one.

•

RequiresNew

Indicates that the page does not execute within a transaction.

If a transaction already exists, the page will execute within the context of the transaction. However, it will not create a new transaction.

Creates a new transaction for each request.

After you enable transactions for an ASP.NET page, you can use two methods from the ContextUtil class to explicitly commit or rollback a transaction: the SetComplete and SetAbort methods. The page in Listing 9.28 illustrates how to use these methods: LISTING 9.28

ASPTransaction.aspx

Transaction=”RequiresNew” %> Import Namespace=”System.EnterpriseServices” %> Import Namespace=”System.Data” %> Import Namespace=”System.Data.SqlClient” %>

Authors table added to DataSet!

DataSets

dstAuthors As DataSet conPubs As SqlConnection dadAuthors As SqlDataAdapter

12 WORKING

0’ )

The first parameter passed to the OPENQUERY function represents the linked server to perform the query against, and the second parameter represents the actual query. This query retrieves a list of all the indexed documents that contain the phrase ASP.NET.

Retrieving Document Properties When you perform queries by using the Indexing Service, you can return any of a number of standard document properties. For example, the following query returns the document filename, document file size, and author name for each document that matches the search expression:

The Indexing Service supports several standard properties. However, additional custom properties can be added by new applications. A list of standard properties appears in Table 14.1. (This table contains a partial list; see the Windows 2000 Help file for a complete list.) TABLE 14.1

Standard Document Properties

Access

Date and time the document was last accessed.

Characterization

Summary of the document automatically generated by the Indexing Service.

Created

Date and time the document was created.

14 USING ADO.NET TO CREATE A SEARCH PAGE

SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(FileSystem, ‘SELECT FileName, Size, DocAuthor FROM SCOPE() WHERE FREETEXT(‘’ASP.NET’’) > 0 ORDER BY RANK DESC’ )

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continued

Directory

Physical path to the document, not including the document name.

DocAppName

Name of the application that created the document.

DocAuthor

Author of the document.

DocByteCount

Number of bytes in the document.

DocCategory

Type of document (such as a memo, schedule, or white paper).

DocCharCount

Number of characters in the document.

DocComments

Comments about the document.

DocCompany

Name of the company for which the document was written.

DocCreatedTm

Time the document was created.

DocEditTime

Total time spent editing the document.

DocHiddenCount

Number of hidden slides in a Microsoft PowerPoint document.

DocKeywords

Document keywords.

DocLastAuthor

User who edited the document most recently.

DocLastPrinted

Time the document was last printed.

DocLastSavedTm

Time the document was last saved.

DocLineCount

Number of lines contained in the document.

DocPageCount

Number of pages in the document.

DocParaCount

Number of paragraphs in the document.

DocPartTitles

Names of document parts, such as spreadsheet names in a Microsoft Excel document or slide titles in a Microsoft PowerPoint slide show.

DocSubject

Subject of the document.

DocTitle

Title of the document.

DocWordCount

Number of words in the document.

FileIndex

Unique ID of the document.

FileName

Name of the document.

HitCount

Number of hits (elements in the results list) in the document.

Path

Full physical path to the document, including the document name.

Rank

Rank of how well an item in a result list matches query criteria. The range is from 0 to 1000; larger numbers indicate better matches.

ShortFileName

Short (8.3 format) document name.

Size

Size of the document, in bytes.

VPath

Full virtual path to the document, including the document name. If more than one path is possible, the best match for the specific query is chosen.

WorkId

Internal ID for the document used within the Indexing Service.

Write

Last time the document was modified (written).

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Performing Free Text Queries with File System Data You can perform free text queries with the Microsoft Indexing Service by using the FREETEXT function. A free text query can contain any word, phrase, or sentence. Any Boolean operators or wildcard characters that appear in a free text query are ignored. You also can search for a particular phrase in a free text query by enclosing the phrase in quotation marks. For example, the search phrase secret computers matches only those documents that contain the exact phrase secret computers. It does not match documents that contain The secret to making money from computers. You can use the following query, for example, to retrieve a list of all documents that match the search phrase How do you use ASP.NET?: SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(FileSystem, ‘SELECT RANK, FileName, Characterization FROM SCOPE() WHERE FREETEXT(‘’How do you use ASP.NET?’’) > 0 ORDER BY RANK DESC’ )

This query returns three properties for each search result: RANK, FileName, and Characterization. The RANK represents how well each result matched the search phrase. The FileName represents the name of the matching document. Finally, the Characterization contains a brief summary of the document.

SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(FileSystem, ‘SELECT RANK, FileName, Characterization FROM SCOPE(‘’””/Products””’’) WHERE FREETEXT(‘’How do you use ASP.NET?’’) > 0 ORDER BY RANK DESC’ ) Verified by JBN

The page in Listing 14.9 illustrates how you can create a search form for performing free text queries within an ASP.NET page (see Figure 14.9).

14 USING ADO.NET TO CREATE A SEARCH PAGE

Notice that the query is performed with a particular scope. In this case, all documents in all directories enabled for indexing are searched. You could, however, provide a path with the SCOPE() function to limit the search to a particular directory. For example, if you want to limit your search to only those files in the Products virtual directory, you would specify your query like this:

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FIGURE 14.9 Performing a free text query with the file system.

LISTING 14.9

FileFreeText.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim strSearch As String Dim cmdSearch As SqlCommand Dim dtrSearch As SqlDataReader conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=myData” ) strSearch = “SELECT * FROM “ & _ “OPENQUERY(FileSystem, “ & _ “‘SELECT RANK, FileName, VPath, Characterization “ & _ “FROM SCOPE() “ & _ “WHERE FREETEXT( ‘’” & txtSearchPhrase.Text & _ “‘’) > 0 “ & _ “ORDER BY RANK DESC’ ) “ cmdSearch = New SqlCommand( strSearch, conMyData ) conMyData.Open() Try dtrSearch = cmdSearch.ExecuteReader() lblResults.Text = “

(“ & dtrSearch( “RANK” ) / 10 & “%) “ lblResults.Text &= “” lblResults.Text &= dtrSearch( “FileName” ) & “” lblResults.Text &= dtrSearch( “Characterization” ) lblResults.Text &= “

” End While Catch exc As Exception lblResults.Text = “Please rephrase your query” End Try conMyData.Close() End Sub FileFreeText.aspx

In Listing 14.9, the FREETEXT function is used in the query executed in the Button_Click subroutine. The RANK, filename, and characterization are displayed for each result. Furthermore, each query result links to the document associated with the result. Notice that a TRY...CATCH block is used when displaying the query results. Certain search phrases generate errors when used with the Microsoft Indexing Service.

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File Free Text Search:

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For example, a search phrase that contains the single word The would generate an error because the search phrase would contain only words that are ignored by the Indexing Service.

Performing Boolean Queries with File System Data You can perform Boolean queries with the Microsoft Indexing Service by using the CONTAINS function. The Indexing Service supports searches that contain the Boolean operators AND, OR, and AND NOT. The following sample query returns the names of documents that contain the word apple but not the word green: SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(FileSystem, ‘SELECT FileName, Characterization FROM SCOPE() WHERE CONTAINS(‘’apple AND NOT green’’) > 0 ORDER BY RANK DESC’ )

The page in Listing 14.10 illustrates how you can execute a query by using the CONTAINS function in an ASP.NET page (see Figure 14.10). FIGURE 14.10 Performing a contains query with the file system.

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701

FileContains.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim strSearch As String Dim cmdSearch As SqlCommand Dim dtrSearch As SqlDataReader

FileContains.aspx File Contains Search: 0 “ & _ “ORDER BY RANK DESC’ ) “ cmdSearch = New SqlCommand( strSearch, conMyData ) conMyData.Open() Try dtrSearch = cmdSearch.ExecuteReader() lblResults.Text = “

” End While Catch exc As Exception lblResults.Text = “Please rephrase your query” End Try conMyData.Close() End Sub

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continued

Runat=”Server” />

The page in Listing 14.10 is almost exactly the same as the page in Listing 14.9 except for the fact that the query uses the CONTAINS function rather than the FREETEXT function.

Performing Queries with Document Properties When you perform a query with the Microsoft Indexing Service, you can use any of the document properties to limit the results returned by the query. For example, suppose that you want to return a list of all Microsoft Word documents that contain the word Apple, which were authored by Stephen Walther. To do so, you could create the query as follows: SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(FileSystem, ‘SELECT FileName, Characterization FROM SCOPE() WHERE CONTAINS(‘’Apple’’) > 0 AND DocAuthor=’’Stephen Walther’’ AND DocAppName LIKE ‘’Microsoft Word%’’ ORDER BY RANK DESC’ )

This query uses the DocAuthor property to limit the results to only those documents authored by Stephen Walther. A LIKE operator is used with the DocAppName property to return only Microsoft Word documents (any version). To see a list of additional document properties you can use when performing a query, refer to the section “Retrieving Document Properties” earlier in the chapter.

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Summary In this chapter, you learned how to create search pages with ADO.NET. In the first part, you learned how to work with the Microsoft SQL Server Full-Text Search Service to search through data stored in a database table. You learned how to perform both free text and Boolean queries. You also learned how to store and index binary documents—such as Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint presentations—in an image column. Next, you learned how to work with the Microsoft Indexing Service. You examined how to use the OLE DB Provider for Indexing Service with ADO.NET by sending queries to the Indexing Service through Microsoft SQL Server. You learned about the standard document properties supported by the Indexing Service and how to perform both free text and Boolean queries against documents stored in the file system.

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Working with ASP.NET Applications

PART

IV IN THIS PART 15 Creating ASP.NET Applications 16 Tracking User Sessions

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17 Caching ASP.NET Applications

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18 Application Tracing and Error Handling

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IN

THIS CHAPTER • Overview of ASP.NET Applications 708 • Using Application State • Using the Web.Config File • Using HTTP Handlers and Modules 733

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In this chapter, you learn how to work with ASP.NET applications. First, you learn how to create global variables and objects by storing information in application state. Next, you learn how to use the Global.asax file, a special file that represents the current application so that you can use it to handle application wide events. You also examine how to configure an application with the Web.Config and configuration files. You examine the standard sections of the Web.Config file so that you understand how to add new sections of your own. Machine.Config

Finally, you learn how to create custom HTTP handlers and modules. You can use a custom HTTP handler to perform custom logic when a request is made to a certain page. A custom HTTP module can be used to perform custom logic on each page request. At the end of this chapter, you learn how to create a WhosOn application with a custom HTTP handler and module that display statistics on the current users at your Web site.

Overview of ASP.NET Applications An ASP.NET application consists of all files located within a particular virtual directory. The virtual directory can be the default directory (the wwwroot directory), or it can be a new virtual directory that you have defined by using the Internet Services Manager. To create a new virtual directory, follow these steps: 1. Launch Internet Services Manager by going to Start, Administrative Tools, Internet Services Manager. 2. Right-click your default Web site and choose New, Virtual Directory. 3. Provide the virtual directory with an alias (for example, myApp). 4. Choose a physical directory for the virtual directory. It can be located anywhere on your hard drive. 5. Choose the access permissions for the virtual directory. You need to enable both Read and Run scripts to execute ASP.NET pages. After you create a new application by creating a virtual directory, you can access pages in the application by using URLs that look like this: http://yourSite.com/myApp/default.aspx

This URL accesses a page located in the myApp application. All the pages running in an application are isolated within an application domain. Separating a Web site into multiple application domains, by creating virtual directories, has a number of benefits:

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• Code that executes within one application cannot directly access code or resources in another application. So, you can host multiple applications on a single Web server without worrying about unintended interactions between the different applications. • If one application is shut down (or it crashes), it has no effect on other applications running on the same server. Therefore, flaky code executing in a preproduction Web site can be isolated from code running on a live Web site. • Assemblies in one domain are not shared with other domains. For example, one application can use a different version of a component without any conflict with other applications. • You can set application wide security policies. The code executing in a trusted application domain can be subject to a different set of permissions than code running in another untrusted application domain. • You can specify configuration settings that apply to one application and not another. For example, you can enable tracing and debugging for one application and not another application. Every application can contain a special directory and two special files. The special directory is named /bin. This directory must be located in the root directory of the application. Note After you create a new virtual directory, you need to add the /bin directory to the application yourself.

The /bin directory contains custom components and controls (in the form of assemblies). Any component or control added to the /bin directory is automatically visible to all pages executing within the application. For example, if you create a new custom control named SuperDataGrid, you need to place this control in the /bin directory so that you can use it in your ASP.NET pages. ASP Classic Note

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In versions of Active Server Pages prior to ASP.NET, you needed to shut down the current application before you modified any of the components in an application. When using ASP.NET, in contrast, you can simply replace an old component with the new component in the /bin directory.

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An application can also contain a special file named Global.asax. This file also must be located in the root directory of an application. The Global.asax file contains subroutines that handle application wide events and objects declared with application scope. You learn how to create this file later in this chapter in the section titled “Using the Global.asax File.” Finally, an application can contain in its root directory a Web.Config file that specifies configuration information for the entire application. You learn how to use this file later in this chapter in the section titled “Using the Web.Config File.”

Using Application State You can store variables and objects directly in application state. An item that has been added to application state is available within any ASP.NET page executing in the application. Items stored in application state function like global variables for an application. Note Application state is represented by the HttpApplicationState class.

The following statement, for example, creates a new item named myItem with the value Hello! in application state: Application( “myItem” ) = “Hello!”

After this statement is executed in an ASP.NET page, the value of myItem can be retrieved within any other ASP.NET page contained in the same application. To read the value of an application variable, you can use a statement like this: Response.Write( Application( “myItem” ) )

This statement displays the value of the application item named myItem. You can add more complex objects, such as collections and DataSets, in an application state. (You should read the warnings in the next section before doing so, however.) For example, you can add an existing DataSet to application state like this: Application( “DataSet” ) = dstDataSet

After you add the DataSet with this statement, you can retrieve it from application state within any ASP.NET page and display its contents.

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Classic ASP In previous versions of Active Server Pages, the Application object was frequently used to cache data. You can still use application state for this purpose. However, the ASP.NET framework includes a new object, named the Cache object, that provides you with a richer set of methods and properties for working with cached data. To learn more details about caching data, see Chapter 17, “Caching ASP.NET Applications.”

You can remove an item from application state by using the Remove method like this: Application.Remove( “myItem” )

If you want to remove all items from application state, you can use either the Clear or RemoveAll method. For example, you would use the RemoveAll method as follows: Application.RemoveAll()

After an item is added to application state, it remains there until the application is shut down, the Global.asax file is modified, or the item is explicitly removed. So, be cautious about storing too much data in application state. Warning You can configure ASP.NET so that it automatically shuts down the currently running application and replaces it with a new one on a timed basis. (Shutting down an application on a timed basis can make your site more stable.) When the application shuts down, you lose all data stored in application state.

Understanding Application State and Synchronization When you add items to application state, the items can be accessed within multiple pages at the same time. This fact can result in conflicts and problems. Consider the sample page in Listing 15.1. BadPageCounter.aspx

Sub Page_Load Application( “PageCounter” ) += 1

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LISTING 15.1

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continued

lblCount.Text = Application( “pageCounter” ) End Sub BadPageCounter.aspx This page has been requested: times!

The page in Listing 15.1 uses an item stored in application state to create a simple page counter. Every time the page is requested, the application item named PageCounter is incremented by one (see Figure 15.1). FIGURE 15.1 Simple page view counter.

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This page has one important problem, however. Suppose that the current value of PageCounter is 590. Now imagine that two people, named Fred and Jane, request the page at the same time. When both Fred and Jane request the page, PageCounter has the value 590. When Fred’s request for the page finishes processing, the value of PageCounter is incremented by one so that it has the new value 591. When Jane’s request for the page finishes processing, the value of PageCounter is incremented by one so that it has the new value 591. See the problem? Because items stored in application state are shared among multiple pages, conflicts can occur. In this simple case, the worst outcome is inaccurate data. However, when users are working with more complicated objects in application state—such as collections— concurrent access to items stored in application state can result in deadlocks, race conditions, and access violations. In other words, storing items in application state can cause your application to crash in a very messy manner. Fortunately, you can find ways to get around this problem. You can force access to items in application state to take place in an orderly manner by using two methods of the application state object: Lock and Unlock. The Lock method locks the application state object so that it can be accessed only by the current thread. Typically, this means that only the current page can access objects in application state. The Unlock method releases the lock on application state. It enables other pages to access values in application state again. Note You should always unlock the application state object as quickly as possible. However, if you do forget to call Unlock after Lock, the lock is automatically released when the current request finishes processing, an error occurs, or the request times out.

The page in Listing 15.2 illustrates how you can use the Lock and Unlock methods. LISTING 15.2

GoodPageCounter.aspx

Sub Page_Load Application.Lock Application( “PageCounter” ) += 1

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continued

lblCount.Text = Application( “pageCounter” ) Application.Unlock End Sub GoodPageCounter.aspx This page has been requested: times!

In Listing 15.2, the Lock method is called immediately before PageCounter is updated. The Unlock method is called immediately after PageCounter is assigned to the Label control. Notice that the Lock method locks the application state object as a whole. You cannot selectively lock items in application state. Because locking application state blocks all other access to any item, using application state unwisely in a high volume Web site can have a serious impact on the performance of the site. You must be cautious about using complex objects, such as collections, in application state. Collections such as ArrayLists and HashTables are not designed to be accessed by multiple threads at the same time. This means that you should either use the Lock and Unlock methods whenever accessing collections in application state, or you should create thread-safe versions of the collections. You can create thread-safe versions of the collection objects by using the Synchronized() method, which returns a thread-safe wrapper for the collection. For example, the following statements return a thread-safe instance of an ArrayList: Dim colArrayList As ArrayList colArrayList = New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Plato” ) colArrayList.Add( “Frege” ) colArrayList.Add( “Carnap” ) colArrayList = ArrayList.Synchronized( colArrayList )

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In this example, a new ArrayList containing three items is created. When first created, the ArrayList is not thread-safe. However, in the final statement, the Synchronized method is used to return a thread-safe wrapper for the ArrayList.

Using the Global.asax File Every ASP.NET application can contain a single file named Global.asax in its root directory. This special file can be used to handle application wide events and declare application wide objects. Warning The Global.asax file is not used to display content. If you request this file, you receive an error. This error is intentional. Enabling users to view the contents of the Global.asax file would constitute a serious security hole.

Every ASP.NET application supports a certain number of events. The following is a list of the most important of these events: •

Application_AuthenticateRequest—Raised

•

Application_AuthorizeRequest—Raised

•

Application_BeginRequest—Raised

•

Application_End—Raised

•

Application_EndRequest—Raised

•

Application_Error—Raised

•

before authenticating a user.

before authorizing a user.

by every request to the server.

immediately before the end of all application instances. at the end of every request to the server.

by an unhandled error in the application.

Application_PreSendRequestContent—Raised

before sending content to the

browser. •

Application_PreSendRequestHeaders—Raised

before sending headers to the

browser. •

Application_Start—Raised immediately after the first application is created. This event is guaranteed to occur only once.

•

Dispose—Raised

•

Init—Raised

immediately before the end of a single application instance.

This list contains the standard application events. If you add other modules to your application, additional events are exposed in the Global.asax file. For example, FormsAuthenticationModule exposes a Forms_Authenticate event, and SessionStateModule exposes both Session_Start and Session_End events.

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

immediately after each application instance is created. This event might occur multiple times.

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In the section titled “Using HTTP Handlers and Modules” later in this chapter, you learn how to add your own modules to the Global.asax file. Classic ASP The Global.asax file is backward-compatible with the Global.asa file. To retain compatibility with the Global.asa file, you can refer to events by using the syntax Application_OnEventName. For example, you can use either Application_ Start or Application_OnStart in the Global.asax file.

You can handle any of these events in the Global.asax file by adding the appropriate subroutine. In general, the subroutine should look like this: Sub Application_EventName ... application code End Sub

Modifying the Global.asax file restarts the application. Any information stored in application (or session) state is lost. So, be cautious about modifying the Global.asax file on a production Web site.

Understanding Context and Using the Global.asax File Within an ASP.NET page, the Page object is the default object. In many cases, if you do not specify an object when you call a method or access a property, you are implicitly calling the method or accessing the property from the Page object. For example, when you call the MapPath method (which maps virtual paths to physical paths), you are actually calling the Page.MapPath method. Or, when you access the Cache property, you are implicitly accessing the Page.Cache property. The Global.asax file does not have the Page object as its default object. This means that you cannot simply call a method such as MapPath and expect it to work. Fortunately, in most cases, you can use a simple workaround. Instead of calling the MapPath method, you can call the Context.MapPath method. Or, instead of accessing the Page.Cache object, you can access the Context.Cache object. If a familiar property or method does not work in the Global.asax file, you should immediately try calling the method or property by using the Context object instead.

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Handling the Application Start and Init Events Imagine that you have just plugged your Web server into a power outlet and the Web server has booted up. When the first user makes a request to your Web site, the Application_Start event occurs. The Application_Start event is guaranteed to occur only once throughout the lifetime of the application. It’s a good place to initialize global variables. For example, you might want to retrieve a list of products from a database table and place the list in application state or the Cache object. Note To learn more details about the Cache object, see Chapter 17, “Caching ASP.NET Applications.”

The page in Listing 15.3 illustrates how you can add the contents of the Products database table to the Cache object within a subroutine that handles the Application_Start event. LISTING 15.3

AppCache/Global.asax

Sub Application_Start Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim dadProducts As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstProducts As DataSet

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strSelect = “Select * From Products” dadProducts = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, conNorthwind ) dstProducts = New DataSet() dadProducts.Fill( dstProducts, “Products” ) Context.Cache( “Products” ) = dstProducts End Sub

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Note Within this Global.asax file, you must use Context.Cache, rather than Cache, because the Page object is no longer the default object.

You can find the Global.asax file in Listing 15.3 in the AppCache subdirectory on the CD. To test how the page works, you can open the DisplayProducts.aspx page, which displays the list of products added to the Cache object (see Figure 15.2). FIGURE 15.2 Displaying Cached products.

The ASP.NET framework uses a pool of application instances to process each request to the server. When a request is made, an application instance is assigned to the request. Immediately after any of these application instances are created, the Init event is raised. Requesting the first page from the Web site raises both the Application_Start and events. The Application_Start event won’t be raised again for the lifetime of the application. The Init event, on the other hand, might be raised multiple times. Init

You can use the Init event to initialize any variables or objects that you’ll need to use throughout the lifetime of a particular application instance. If you assign values to local variables, the variables retain their values across multiple requests. The page in Listing 15.4, for example, illustrates how you can automatically add a random banner advertisement to the bottom of every page (see Figure 15.3).

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FIGURE 15.3 Displaying random banner advertisement.

LISTING 15.4

AppInit/Global.asax

Dim dtblBannerAds As DataTable Overrides Sub Init() Dim dstBannerAds As DataSet dstBannerAds = New DataSet dstBannerAds.ReadXml( Server.MapPath( “adFile.xml” ) ) dtblBannerAds = dstBannerAds.Tables( 0 ) End Sub Sub Application_PreSendRequestContent Dim strPageFooter As String Dim objRan As Random Dim drowSelectedAd As DataRow

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

objRan = New Random() drowSelectedAd = dtblBannerAds.Rows( _ objRan.Next( dtblBannerAds.Rows.Count ) ) strPageFooter = “” Response.Write( strPageFooter ) End Sub

You can find the Global.asax file in Listing 15.4 in the AppInit subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book. You can open the page named DisplayAd.aspx to see how a banner advertisement is automatically appended to every page. In the Init subroutine in Listing 15.4, a list of banner advertisements is loaded from an XML file named adFile.xml into a DataSet. This subroutine is executed only once for each application instance. Next, within the Application_PreSendRequestContent subroutine, one advertisement is randomly selected from the DataSet and sent to the browser. The PreSendRequestContent subroutine is executed just before content being sent to the browser. Therefore, outputting content within this subroutine guarantees that it will be displayed at the bottom of the page. Notice that initializing variables in the Init subroutine is similar to adding items to application state. The crucial difference is that items added to application state are guaranteed to survive across multiple application instances, whereas variables created in the Init subroutine survive only one application instance.

Handling the Application_BeginRequest Event The Application_BeginRequest event is raised when the request starts to be processed. You can exploit this event in several ways. Suppose, for example, that you want to create vanity URLs at your Web site. You want registered users to be able to enter a URL, such as http://www.superexpert.com/swalther, and view a page customized only for them. You would not, however, want to manually create a new page for each user. Instead, you would want to secretly transfer the user to a single page that handles all user requests for the page. In that case, you can capture the Application_BeginRequest event and automatically transfer the user to the new page by using the RewritePath method. The Global.asax page in Listing 15.5 demonstrates how you can use the RewritePath method with the Application_BeginRequest event. (You can find this file in the AppVanity subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.)

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15 LISTING 15.5

721

AppVanity/Global.asax

Sub Application_BeginRequest Dim strUsername Dim strCustomPath As String If INSTR( Request.Path.ToLower, “custom” ) = 0 Then strUsername = Request.Path.ToLower strUsername = strUsername.Replace( “.aspx”, “” ) strUsername = strUsername.Remove( _ 0, _ InstrRev( strUsername, “/” ) ) If Request.ApplicationPath = “/” Then strCustomPath = _ String.Format( _ “/custom/default.aspx?username={0}”, _ strUsername ) Else strCustomPath = _ String.Format( _ “{0}/custom/default.aspx?username={1}”, _ Request.ApplicationPath, _ strUsername ) End If Context.RewritePath( strCustomPath ) End If End Sub

The Global.asax file in Listing 15.5 contains an Application_BeginRequest subroutine. This subroutine checks whether the current URL contains the name of the custom subdirectory in its path. If not, the beginning and end of the URL are stripped, and the RewritePath method transfers the user to the /custom/default.aspx page. If you enter the URL http://superexpert.com/swalther.aspx in the browser address bar, it is automatically rewritten like this: http://superexpert.com/custom/default.aspx?username=swalther

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Within the Default.aspx file in the custom subdirectory, you can grab the username query string and customize the page for the particular user. The page in Listing 15.6 simply displays the username in the body of the page. (You can find this page in the /AppVanity/Custom subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.)

722

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 15.6

AppVanity/Custom/Default.aspx

Dim strUsername As String Sub Page_Load strUsername = Request.Params( “username” ) End Sub Welcome! Hello and welcome to your Web site!

The page in Listing 15.6 retrieves the username parameter from the query string and displays it (see Figure 15.4). A more complicated page might grab data from the database associated with the particular user and display the information. FIGURE 15.4 A vanity page.

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You also could use the RewritePath method with the Application_BeginRequest event to fix broken links. For example, you could create an XML file that maps bad links to good links. Say that your Web site included products and services pages in the past, but now you have removed them and you want to redirect all users to the default page. The XML file in Listing 15.7 illustrates how you could create this XML file. (You can find this file in the AppFixLinks subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 15.7

AppFixLinks/BadLinks.xml

/products.aspx /default.aspx /services.aspx /default.aspx

The XML file in Listing 15.7 maps the URLs /products.aspx and /services.aspx to the URL /default.aspx. The Global.asax file in Listing 15.8 uses the RewritePath() method to automatically redirect users from bad links to good links. LISTING 15.8

AppFixLinks/Global.asax

Sub Application_BeginRequest Dim dtblBadLinks As DataTable Dim strThisUrl As String Dim strSelect As String Dim arrMatches() As DataRow Dim strGoodLink As String

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

dtblBadLinks = GetBadLinks() strThisUrl = Request.Path.ToLower() If Request.ApplicationPath “/” Then strThisUrl = strThisUrl.Remove( 0, Request.ApplicationPath.Length ) End If strSelect = “badlink=’” & strThisURL & “‘“ arrMatches = dtblBadLinks.Select( strSelect, “badlink” ) If arrMatches.Length > 0 Then

724

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 15.8

continued

strGoodLink = arrMatches( 0 )( “goodlink” ) strGoodLink = Request.ApplicationPath & strGoodLink Context.RewritePath( strGoodLink ) End If End Sub Function GetBadLinks() As DataTable Dim dstBadLinks As DataSet Dim dtblBadLinks As DataTable dtblBadLinks = Context.Cache( “badlinks” ) If dtblBadLinks Is Nothing Then dstBadLinks = New DataSet dstBadLinks.ReadXml( Server.MapPath( “badlinks.xml” ) ) dtblBadLinks = dstBadLinks.Tables( 0 ) Context.Cache.Insert( “badlinks”, _ dtblBadLinks, _ New CacheDependency( Server.MapPath( “badlinks.xml” ) ) ) End If Return dtblBadLinks End Function

The Badlinks.xml file is retrieved in the GetBadLinks() function. If the Badlinks.xml file is not already cached in memory, it is added to the Cache object. (The Badlinks.xml file is inserted with a Cache file dependency so that the Cache object is automatically updated if the Badlinks.xml file is modified.) Note To learn more about creating file dependencies see Chapter 17, “Caching ASP.NET Applications.”

In the Application_BeginRequest subroutine, the path of the current URL is checked against the list of bad links contained in the Badlinks.xml file. If a match is made, the RewritePath() method automatically transfers the user from the bad link to the good link.

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If a user enters the address http://superexpert.com/products.aspx in a Web browser, he or she is automatically transferred to the following new page specified in the Badlinks.xml file: http://superexpert.com/default.aspx

You can use this method to fix any bad links on your Web site. All you need to do is maintain the Badlinks.xml file.

Using the Web.Config File ASP.NET applications are configured with Web.Config files, which are standard, humanreadable XML files that you can open and modify with any text editor. The ASP.NET framework uses a hierarchical configuration system. You can use files to specify the settings for every ASP.NET application on a machine, a particular ASP.NET application, the ASP.NET pages in a particular directory, or a single ASP.NET page.

Web.Config

At the top of the hierarchy sits the Machine.Config file, which specifies the settings that are global to a particular machine. This file is located at the following path: \WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[Framework Version]\CONFIG\machine.config

You can override settings in the Machine.Config file for all the applications in a particular Web site by placing a Web.Config file in the root directory of the Web site as follows: \InetPub\wwwroot\Web.Config

This optional file applies to all applications (virtual directories) for a particular Web site. If you don’t include it, all the settings from the Machine.Config file apply. You also can place a Web.Config file in the root directory of any particular application— in other words, in the root directory of a particular virtual directory. The following Web.Config file applies to all pages within the application: \InetPub\myApplication\Web.Config

Finally, you can place a Web.Config file in any subdirectory of an application. The file then applies to any pages located in the same directory or any subdirectories.

To learn how to apply a Web.Config file to a single file, see the section titled “Setting the Configuration Location” later in this chapter.

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Note

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You need to understand that child Web.Config files override configuration settings specified by their parents. This means that you do not need to copy the complete contents of a parent Web.Config file when creating a Web.Config lower in the hierarchy. You can specify only the configuration settings that you need to modify. When you modify the settings in the Web.Config file, you do not need to restart the Web service for the modifications to take effect. The ASP.NET framework caches the settings in the Web.Config file. When you modify the file, the framework automatically detects the file change and reloads the settings from the file into the cache. The Web.Config file doesn’t secretly use the computer Registry or the Metabase to save configuration information. The ASP.NET framework reads all the configuration information directly from the Web.Config files. This means that if you need to move an ASP. NET application to a new server, you can simply copy all the files (including the Web. Config files) to the new server, and all the configuration settings are carried over.

Examining the Configuration Sections This section provides a brief overview of all the standard sections of the Web.Config (and Machine.Config) configuration files that apply to ASP.NET applications. Because many of the configuration sections are described more fully in other parts of this book, I have also provided references to other parts of this book where you can find more information. Note The Machine.Config and Web.Config files are case-sensitive. The section names in these files use a naming convention called camel casing. According to this convention, the first letter of the first word of a section name is lowercase.

The configuration settings that affect ASP.NET applications are contained within the System.Web section of the Machine.Config and Web.Config files. The following is a partial list of the settings found in each of these sections: •

trace—This

section contains configuration settings for page and application tracing. For more information, see Chapter 18, “Application Tracing and Error Handling.”

•

globalization—This

section specifies the character encoding to use with both requests and responses.

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15

•

httpRunTime—This section specifies the maximum amount of time that a page will execute without timing out, the maximum size of a request, and whether fully qualified URLs should be used for client redirects. (Some mobile devices require fully qualified client redirects.)

•

compilation—This

727

section contains configuration information for compiling pages. You can specify the default language to use for compiling ASP.NET pages, such as Visual Basic, C#, or JavaScript. (If you are fond of C#, you might want to specify that language as the default.) This section can also be used to indicate whether pages should be compiled in debug mode so that you can view error information. You can also use this section to specify the assemblies available in an application. By default, all assemblies located in the /bin directory are available. However, you can modify this configuration section to make only select assemblies available.

•

pages—This

section specifies configuration information for ASP.NET pages. For example, you can use this section to disable page buffering, session state, or view state.

•

customErrors—This

•

authentication—This

•

identity—This section configures user account impersonation. For more information, see Chapter 20.

•

authorization—This

section specifies the users and roles authorized to access files. For more information, see Chapters 19 and 20.

•

machineKey—This

•

trust—This

section specifies how error information should be displayed. To learn more information, see Chapter 18.

section specifies information for authenticating users. For more information, see Chapter 19, “Using Forms-Based Authentication,” and Chapter 20, “Using Windows-Based Authentication.”

section is used for sharing a standard encryption key across machines in a Web farm. For more information, see Chapter 19. section is used for setting security policies. For more information, see

Chapter 20. •

securityPolicy—This

section contains a list of available security policies. For more information, see Chapter 20.

•

sessionState—This

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

section contains configuration information for session state. You can use this section to enable in-process, out-of-process, or cookieless sessions. For more information, see Chapter 16, “Tracking User Sessions.”

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

•

httpHandlers—This

section associates a particular HTTP handler with a particular page path and request verb. For more information, see “Using HTTP Handlers and Modules” later in this chapter.

•

httpModules—This section lists the modules that are involved in every page request. For more information, see “Using HTTP Handlers and Modules.”

•

processModel—This

•

webControls—This section specifies the location of the client-side script library used with Web controls, such as the validation controls. For more information, see Chapter 3, “Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls.”

•

clientTarget—This

section configures the process model settings on Internet Information Server. For more information, see Chapter 18.

ClientTarget

section lists the values that you can use with the property. See Chapter 3.

•

browserCaps—This

section lists information on the capabilities of different browsers. The HttpBrowserCapabilities class uses this information to report on the features of different browsers.

•

webServices—This section contains configuration information for Web services. For more information, see Part VI of this book, “Building ASP.NET Web Services.”

Modifying Configuration Settings You can modify configuration settings directly in the Machine.Config file. However, by modifying the Machine.Config file, you modify the configuration settings for every application on your machine. For this reason, typically, you should add a new Web. Config file to a particular subdirectory, rather than modify the global Machine.Config file. Suppose that you are developing a new ASP.NET application, and you want all the pages in the application to display error information. In that case, you can add the Web.Config file in Listing 15.9 to the root directory of the application. (This file is located in the ConfigErrors subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 15.9

ConfigErrors/Web.Config

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The file in Listing 15.9 overrides a single configuration setting in the Machine.Config file; it sets debug mode to true for the application. If you request an ASP.NET page that contains a runtime error, the error message is displayed along with the source code listing that indicates the exact line where the error occurred. You can test the Web.Config file in Listing 15.9 by requesting the DisplayError.aspx page from the ConfigErrors subdirectory. This page intentionally generates a runtime error. Warning Because Web.Config and Machine.Config are XML files, they are case sensitive. You therefore receive an error if you create a Web.Config file that changes the Debug mode, rather than the debug mode.

Setting the Configuration Location By default, the Web.Config file applies to all the pages in the current directory and its subdirectories. You can modify this default behavior by adding a location section to a configuration file. You can use a location section to specify a path for configuration settings. The path can be used to specify an application, a particular directory, or even an individual file. The Web.Config file in Listing 15.10, for example, disables view state for all files in a subdirectory named NoViewState. (You can find this file in the ConfigLocationDir subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 15.10

ConfigLocationDir/Web.Config

CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

The configuration settings in Listing 15.10 apply to a directory named NoViewState. They do not modify the settings for the current directory.

15

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You can test the Web.Config file by requesting the DisplayViewState.aspx file located in both the ConfigLocationDir subdirectory and the ConfigLocationDir/NoViewState directory. You also can use the tag to modify the configuration settings for a particular page. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 15.11 denies authorization on a single page named Secret.aspx. (You can find this file in the ConfigLocationFile subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 15.11

ConfigLocationFile/Web.Config

Because the Web.Config file in Listing 15.11 modifies the authentication mode, you must place it in the root directory of your application. The tag denies access to the Secret.aspx page. If you request the Secret. aspx page, you are automatically redirected to the Login.aspx page. The location tag applies to only a single file in the directory. You can request any file other than the Secret.aspx page.

Locking Configuration Settings You can use the tag to lock configuration settings in the Web.Config file so that they cannot be overridden by a Web.Config file located below it. You can use the allowOverride attribute to lock configuration settings. This attribute is especially valuable if you are hosting untrusted applications on your server. The Web.Config file in Listing 15.12, for example, locks the identity configuration setting for two subdirectories. The Web application runs under the app1 identity in the directory named application1, and the Web application runs under the app2 identity in

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the directory named application2. (You can find the Web.Config file in Listing 15.12 in the ConfigLock directory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 15.12

ConfigLock/Web.Config

Because the Web.Config file in Listing 15.12 locks the settings with the allowOverride attribute, you cannot place a Web.Config file that alters the identity settings in either the application1 or application2 subdirectory. If you attempt to modify these settings, you get an error. You can test this by attempting to retrieve the Default.aspx file from the directory. This directory contains a Web.Config file that attempts to override the locked identity setting. When you attempt to request the Default.aspx file, an error is generated. /ConfigLock/Application1

Typically, you lock configuration settings by placing a Web.Config file similar to the one in Listing 15.12 in the Web site root directory, or by modifying the Machine.Config file.

Adding Custom Configuration Information You can add your own application configuration information within the appSettings section of the Web.Config file. Adding information to this section is useful for storing such information as database connection strings. The Web.Config file in Listing 15.13, for example, contains a database connection string that connects to the Northwind database. (You can find this file in the ConfigCustom directory on the CD that accompanies this book.) ConfigCustom/Web.Config

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LISTING 15.13

15

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 15.13

continued

You can retrieve configuration information from the Config.Web file with the AppSettings property of the ConfigurationSettings class. For example, the page in Listing 15.14 uses the value conString to open a database connection. LISTING 15.14

Default.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strConString As String Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “conString” ) conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( strConString ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “select * From Products”, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open() dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close() End Sub Default.aspx

Notice that the value of conString is retrieved from the Web.Config file with the following single line of code: strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “conString” )

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Using HTTP Handlers and Modules In the following sections, you learn how to create custom HTTP handlers and modules. Both HTTP handlers and modules enable you to gain low-level access to HTTP requests and responses. Later, you learn how to implement a simple statistics application for your Web site by using a custom HTTP handler and module.

Working with HTTP Handlers An HTTP handler enables you to handle all requests made for a file with a certain extension, path, or request type. You can use HTTP handlers to handle requests for ASP.NET pages or any other file type, such as image or text files. Typical uses for handlers include implementations of custom authentication schemes and custom filters. For example, you can create a handler that authenticates requests for image files. Or you can create a handler that automatically transfers requests for one file to another file. Classic ASP HTTP handlers perform many of the same functions in the ASP.NET framework as ISAPI extensions performed in traditional Active Server Pages programming.

All requests made to an ASP.NET Web site are serviced by an HTTP handler. For example, by default, all requests made for files with the extension .aspx are handled by the PageHandlerFactory class. This class produces instances of the PageHandler class to service each request for an ASP.NET page. To create your own HTTP handler, complete the following steps: 1. Create a class that implements the IHttpHandler interface. 2. Add a reference to your HTTP handler in the Web.Config file. Now, create a simple HTTP handler that retrieves product information from a database table. The handler will take a URL like this:

It will retrieve information for that product from the Products database table.

CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

http://yourSite.com/products/product1.aspx

15

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The first step is to implement the IHttpHandler interface, which requires you to implement one property and one method: IsReusable and ProcessRequest(). The IsReusable property indicates whether the current handler can be reused for another request. The ProcessRequest() method contains the actual code to be executed in response to the request. The Visual Basic class in Listing 15.15 implements the products handler. LISTING 15.15

ProductsHandler/ProductsHandler.vb

Imports System.Data Imports System.Data.SqlClient Imports System.Web Public Class ProductsHandler Implements IHttpHandler Public Sub ProcessRequest( objContext As HttpContext ) _ Implements IHttpHandler.ProcessRequest Dim intProductID As Integer Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim dtrProducts As SqlDataReader intProductID = GetProductID( objContext.Request.Path ) conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( _ “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strSelect = “Select ProductName, UnitPrice From Products” & _ “ Where ProductID=@ProductID” cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@ProductID”, intProductID ) conNorthwind.Open() dtrProducts = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader( CommandBehavior.SingleRow ) If dtrProducts.Read Then objContext.Response.Write( “Product Name:” ) objContext.Response.Write( dtrProducts( “ProductName” ) ) objContext.Response.Write( “Product Price:” ) objContext.Response.Write( String.Format( _ “{0:c}”, _ dtrProducts( “UnitPrice” ) ) ) End If conNorthwind.Close() End Sub ReadOnly Property IsReusable() As Boolean _ Implements IHttpHandler.IsReusable Get Return True End Get End Property

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15 LISTING 15.15

735

continued

Function GetProductID( strPath As String ) As Integer Dim intCounter As Integer Dim strNumbers As String For intCounter = 0 To strPath.Length - 1 If Char.IsDigit( strPath.Chars( intCounter ) ) Then strNumbers &= strPath.Chars( intCounter ) End If Next If Not strNumbers = Nothing Then Return cINT( strNumbers ) Else Return -1 End If End Function End Class

The class in Listing 15.15 implements both the ProcessRequest() method and IsReusable property. The ProcessRequest() method uses the GetProductID() function to strip anything but numbers from the page requests. The resulting number is used to retrieve a product with a certain product ID from the Northwind database table. If the product is found, the name and price of the product are displayed (see Figure 15.5). FIGURE 15.5 Output of the ProductsHandler.

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

The IsReusable property simply returns the value True. This is all you need to implement for a simple HTTP handler. Before you can use the handler, you need to compile it. You can compile the class in Listing 15.15 by executing the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Data.dll,System.Web.dll ProductsHandler.vb

Next, you need to copy the compiled ProductsHandler class (ProductsHandler.dll) to your application /bin directory. The last step is to create the proper Web.Config file to associate the handler with a set of pages. The Web.Config file in Listing 15.16 associates the ProductsHandler class with all files requested in the current directory and all its subdirectories. LISTING 15.16

Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 15.16 associates the ProductsHandler class with all files. You can limit the files associated with the handler by changing the value of the path attribute. For example, if you want to associate the handler with only those files that have a name starting with product, you would specify the path like this:

You can also add multiple entries for a single handler in the Web.Config file. You should be cautious about one thing: Only certain file extensions are handled by the ASP.NET framework. For example, by default, files with the extension .asp and .html are not handled by the ASP.NET framework. This means that you cannot, by default, create a handler for files with these extensions. You can associate any file with the ASP.NET framework by modifying the mapping for an extension with the Internet Services Manager. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Launch the Internet Services Manager. 2. Right-click the name of your application (virtual directory) and choose Properties.

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3. Choose the Virtual Directory tab and click the Configuration button. 4. Choose the App Mappings tab and make any desired changes. You can associate any file extension with the ASP.NET framework by mapping the file extension to the aspnet_isapi.dll file. For example, if you want to write a custom handler for HTML files, you need to map the .html extension to the aspnet_isapi.dll file.

Working with HTTP Modules An HTTP module is similar to a handler in that it enables you to gain low-level access to the HTTP requests and responses processed by the ASP.NET framework. However, an HTTP module, unlike a handler, enables you to participate in the processing of every request. The ASP.NET framework includes several standard modules for managing state and implementing authentication schemes. For example, the output cache, session state, forms authentication, and Windows authentication are all implemented as modules. You can replace any of the standard modules with your own module. For example, if you don’t like the way that the ASP.NET framework implements session state, you can replace the standard session state module with one of your own. Or you might decide to extend the ASP.NET framework by creating a completely new module. For example, you might want to implement a custom caching mechanism or create your own custom authentication system. Creating your own module requires completing the following two steps: 1. Create a class that implements the IHttpModule interface. 2. Add a reference to your module to a Web.Config file. For this next example, create a simple module that implements a custom authentication scheme. The module will require that a parameter named username be passed as part of the parameters collection to a page. If the username parameter is not present, you are automatically redirected to a login page. The first step is to implement the IHttpModule interface. This interface has two required methods: Init and Dispose. Within the Init subroutine, you can initialize any variables that you need in your module and initialize event handlers with the hosting application. The Dispose event cleans up any of your module’s instance variables.

CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

The module in Listing 15.17 implements both of these required methods. (You can find this module in the ModuleAuth subdirectory on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book.)

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 15.17

ModuleAuth/AuthModule.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic Namespace myModules Public Class AuthModule Implements IHttpModule Public Sub Init( ByVal myApp As HttpApplication ) _ Implements IHttpModule.Init AddHandler myApp.AuthenticateRequest, AddressOf Me.OnEnter AddHandler myApp.EndRequest, AddressOf Me.OnLeave End Sub Public Sub Dispose() _ Implements IHttpModule.Dispose End Sub Public Sub OnEnter( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objApp As HttpApplication Dim objContext As HttpContext Dim strPath As String objApp = CType( s, HttpApplication ) objContext = objApp.Context strPath = objContext.Request.Path.ToLower() If Right( strPath, 10 ) “login.aspx” Then If objContext.Request.Params( “username” ) = Nothing Then objContext.Response.Redirect( “login.aspx” ) End If End If End Sub Public Sub OnLeave( s As Object, e As EventArgs) End Sub End Class End Namespace

The file in Listing 15.17 contains the code for a module named AuthModule. In the Init subroutine, the OnEnter subroutine is associated with the Application_Authenticate event, and the OnLeave subroutine is associated with the Application_EndRequest event.

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Note You don’t actually use the OnLeave subroutine in the AuthModule module. Typically, you use OnLeave to clean up any resources that you have allocated for your module.

All the work happens in the OnEnter subroutine, which checks whether the current page is the login.aspx page. If it’s not, and the parameters collection does not contain a username parameter, the user is automatically redirected to the login.aspx page. So, if you request a page named secret like this http://yourSite.com/secret.aspx

you are automatically redirected to the login.aspx page. However, if you request the secret page like this http://yoursite.com/secret.aspx?username=bob

you can see the secret content in secret.aspx. You need to compile the file in Listing 15.17 before you can use AuthModule module. To do so, execute the following command from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll AuthModule.vb

After you compile the module, you need to move the AuthModule.dll file to your application’s /bin directory. Before you can use the module, you must add a reference to the module in the Web.Config file. The Web.Config file in Listing 15.18 contains the needed configuration settings. LISTING 15.18

Web.Config

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The Web.Config file in Listing 15.18 includes an httpModules section that contains the custom AuthModule module. The value of the type attribute is the name of the class and the name of the assembly.

Creating the WhosOn Application In the following sections, you build a simple statistics application called WhosOn that uses both an HTTP handler and module. The WhosOn application displays statistics on the users of a particular page. For example, if your application contains a page at the path /myApp/Products.aspx, you can view statistics on the users who last accessed the page by requesting the page at /myApp/Products.axd (see Figure 15.6). FIGURE 15.6 Output of the WhosOn statistics application.

The WhosOn page lists the time, browser type, referrer, and remote IP address for the users who last accessed the page. You can configure the number of users that the application should track per page by modifying a setting in the Web.Config file. To create the WhosOn application, you need to create three files: •

Web.Config—You WhosOnHandler.

use the Web.Config file to configure both WhosOnModule and

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15

•

WhosOnModule—The WhosOn module executes every time a user requests a page. The module records information on the request by adding the information to the application cache.

•

WhosOnHandler—The WhosOn

741

handler displays statistics for a particular page. For example, requesting products.axd displays statistics on the products.aspx page.

You learn how to create each of these files in the following sections. Note You can find all the WhosOn files in the WhosOn subdirectory on the CD that accompanies this book.

Creating the WhosOn Web.Config File You can start this example by creating the Web.Config file contained in Listing 15.19. LISTING 15.19

Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 15.19 adds the WhosOnModule to the current application. It associates the WhosOnHandler with all pages that end with the extension .axd. Finally, it sets the maximum number of entries tracked by WhosOnModule to the value 5.

The WhosOnModule, contained in Listing 15.20, grabs statistics for each request and adds them to the application cache.

CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Creating the WhosOn Module

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 15.20 Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

WhosOnModule.vb

System System.Web System.Collections System.Configuration Microsoft.VisualBasic

Namespace WhosOn Public Class WhosOnModule Implements IHttpModule Public Sub Init( ByVal myApp As HttpApplication ) _ Implements IHttpModule.Init AddHandler myApp.BeginRequest, AddressOf Me.OnEnter End Sub Public Sub Dispose() _ Implements IHttpModule.Dispose End Sub Public Sub OnEnter( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objApp As HttpApplication Dim objContext As HttpContext Dim strPath As String Dim colPageStats As Queue Dim objStatsEntry As StatsEntry Dim intMaxEntries As Integer objApp = CType( s, HttpApplication ) objContext = objApp.Context strPath = objContext.Request.Path.ToLower() ‘ Don’t keep stats on .axd pages If Right( strPath, 4 ) = “.axd” Then Exit Sub End If strPath = strPath.SubString( 0, InstrRev( strPath, “.” ) - 1 ) ‘ Get Max Entries From Web.Config intMaxEntries = cINT( ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “whoson” ) ) ‘ Check whether Cache object exists colPageStats = CType( objContext.Cache( “whoson_” & strPath ), Queue ) If colPageStats Is Nothing Then colPageStats = New Queue() End If ‘ Add Current Request to the Queue objStatsEntry = New StatsEntry( _

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15 LISTING 15.20

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continued

objContext.TimeStamp, _ objContext.Request.Browser.Type, _ objContext.Request.UserHostName, _ objContext.Request.ServerVariables( “HTTP_REFERER” ) ) colPageStats.Enqueue( objStatsEntry ) ‘ Delete Previous Entries If intMaxEntries Nothing Then While colPageStats.Count > intMaxEntries colPageStats.Dequeue() End While End If ‘ Update the Cache objContext.Cache( “whoson_” & strPath ) = colPageStats End Sub End Class Public Class StatsEntry Public Public Public Public

TimeStamp As DateTime BrowserType As String UserHostName As String Referrer As String

Public Sub New( _ TimeStamp As DateTime, _ BrowserType As String, _ UserHostName As String, _ Referrer As String ) Me.TimeStamp = TimeStamp Me.BrowserType = BrowserType Me.UserHostName = UserHostName Me.Referrer = Referrer End Sub End Class

End Namespace

15 CREATING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

The WhosOn module is triggered by the Application_BeginRequest event. When this event fires, the OnEnter subroutine is executed.

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The OnEnter subroutine first checks whether the current page has the extension .axd. Because you don’t want to keep statistics on the statistics pages, the subroutine is exited if the current page is a statistics page. Next, the WhosOn key from the Web.Config appSetting section is retrieved. The value of the WhosOn key is assigned to a variable named intMaxEntries. The current page statistics are then retrieved from the application cache. The page statistics are represented in a Queue collection. Next, the OnEnter subroutine grabs the time stamp of the current request, the browser type, the remote host name, and the referrer server variable. This information is stored in a custom class named StatsEntry. The StatsEntry class is added to the page statistics queue. If the queue contains more than the maximum allowable number of entries, older entries are deleted. Finally, the page statistics are inserted back into the Cache object. Before you can use the WhosOnModule, you need to compile it. You can compile the file in Listing 15.20 by executing the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll WhosOnModule.vb

After you compile the module, remember to copy the compiled WhosOnModule.dll file to the application /bin directory.

Creating the WhosOn Handler The WhosOn handler, contained in Listing 15.21, displays the statistics for a particular page. You can view the output of the WhosOn handler by requesting a page with the extension .axd. For example, a request for the products.axd page would display user statistics for a page named products.aspx. LISTING 15.21

WhosOnHandler.vb

Imports System.Web Imports System.Collections Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic Namespace WhosOn Public Class WhosOnHandler Implements IHttpHandler Public Sub ProcessRequest( objContext As HttpContext ) _ Implements IHttpHandler.ProcessRequest

Creating ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 15 LISTING 15.21

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continued

Dim colPageStats As Queue Dim strPath As String Dim objStatsEntry As StatsEntry ‘ Get Page Path strPath = objContext.Request.Path strPath = strPath.SubString( 0, InstrRev( strPath, “.” ) - 1 ) ‘ Display the Stats colPageStats = CType( objContext.Cache( “whoson_” & strPath ), Queue ) If Not colPageStats Is Nothing Then objContext.Response.Write( “

” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) For each objStatsEntry in colPageStats objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “” ) objContext.Response.Write( “

Timestamp	Browser Type	Remote Address	Referrer
” ) objContext.Response.Write( “Who’s On” ) objContext.Response.Write( “
” & objStatsEntry.TimeStamp & “	” & “	” & “	” & Next objContext.Response.Write( “

” End If End Sub

objStatsEntry.BrowserType & objStatsEntry.UserHostName & objStatsEntry.Referrer & “ ” ) )

ReadOnly Property IsReusable() As Boolean _ Implements IHttpHandler.IsReusable Get Return True End Get End Property End Class

The WhosOn handler contains one long subroutine named ProcessRequest, which retrieves the item from the Cache object associated with the current page. If this item

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End Namespace

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exists, it is a Queue collection. Next, the subroutine iterates through the contents of the Queue collection, displaying each statistics entry. Before you can use the WhosOn handler, you need to compile the file in Listing 15.21. You can compile the handler by executing the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll,WhosOnModule.dll WhosOnHandler.vb

Notice that you must reference the WhosOnModule.dll assembly because the StatsEntry class is defined there. After you compile the handler, you need to copy the WhosOnHandler.dll file to your application’s /bin directory. You can test the WhosOn application by requesting any page from your Web site, for example: http://localhost/default.aspx

Next, request the page using the extension .axd, rather than .aspx: http://localhost/default.axd

Statistics for the default.aspx page are displayed.

Summary In this chapter, you learned how to work with ASP.NET applications. In the first part, you learned how to create items that persist through the lifetime of an application by using application state. Next, you learned how to use the Global.asax file to handle applicationwide events. For example, you learned how to use the Global.asax file with the RewritePath() method to create vanity URLs and automatically fix bad links at your Web site. You also examined the various configuration sections in the Web.Config and files. You learned how to lock down settings in the Web.Config file. You also saw how to add your own custom configuration information to this file. Machine.Config

Finally, you learned how to work with HTTP handlers and modules. You examined how to use handlers to handle requests for pages located at a particular path. You also learned how to create modules that participate in every page request.

CHAPTER 16

Tracking User Sessions

IN THIS CHAPTER • Using Browser Cookies • Using Session State

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• Using Cookieless Sessions

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In this chapter, you learn how to track and associate information with users as they move from page to page at your Web site. You learn how to take advantage of three mechanisms supported by the ASP.NET framework for tracking user sessions. First, you learn how to create and read browser cookies, which can be used to store small bits of information on a user’s browser. You learn how to create both session and persistent cookies. The bulk of the chapter is devoted to the topic of session state. When you store information in session state, the information is automatically associated with a particular user. You learn how the ASP.NET framework supports storing session information in process, out of process, and in a database table. Finally, you examine the subject of cookieless sessions. A cookieless session, as the name implies, provides you with all the benefits of session state without the reliance on browser cookies.

Using Browser Cookies The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless protocol. HTTP itself does not provide a Web server with any means of detecting whether two requests originate from the same browser. From the point of view of a Web server, every request for a page is from a new user. This fact is inconvenient for someone developing a Web site. If you want to associate a shopping cart with a user as he or she navigates from page to page, or you need to enable a user to complete forms that span multiple pages, you need to perform some extra work. One way to overcome the statelessness of the Web is to take advantage of browser cookies. Netscape introduced cookies into the world with the first version of its browser. Since then, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has endorsed a cookie standard. Most browsers now can use cookies. Cookies are little pieces of information that a server stores on a browser. According to the original Netscape specification, a cookie cannot contain more than 4KB (the size refers to the combined size of the cookie’s name and value). Certain cookies are temporary; others are persistent. The temporary cookies, called session cookies, exist only in the browser’s memory. When the browser is shut down, any session cookies added to the browser are lost. Persistent cookies, on the other hand, can survive for months or even years. Browsers that support cookies maintain one or more special files. These files, called cookie files on Windows machines and magic cookie files on the Macintosh, store data from Web sites.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

Note

http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html

To view the W3C’s Reference specification on cookies, visit this site: http://www.w3.org

Finally, for general information on cookies, go to the following: http://www.cookiecentral.com

How Cookies Work Cookies are passed back and forth between a browser and server through HTTP headers. The server first creates a cookie by using the Set-Cookie header in a response. Subsequent requests from the browser return this cookie in the Cookie header. Suppose that you want to create a cookie named UserName that contains the name of a visitor to your Web site. To create this cookie, the server would send a header like this: Set-Cookie: UserName=Bill+Gates; path=/; domain=superexpert.com; expires=Tuesday, 01-Jan-05 00:00:01 GMT

This header instructs the browser to add an entry to its cookie file. The browser adds the cookie named UserName with the value Bill Gates. Notice that the value of the cookie is URL-encoded. Furthermore, the header informs the browser that this cookie should be returned to the server regardless of the path used in the request. If the path attribute were set to another value such as /private, the cookie would be returned only in requests to this path. The domain attribute further restricts where the cookie can be sent by the browser. In this example, the cookie can be sent only to the superexpert.com Web site. The cookie will never be sent to www.yahoo.com or any other Web site on the Internet. Finally, the expires attribute specifies when the cookie should expire. The header in the example tells the browser to store the cookie until the first second of January 1, 2005. Actually, the cookie will probably expire much earlier than that. When a cookie file becomes too large, the browser automatically starts removing cookies. After the server creates) a cookie, the browser returns the cookie in every request it makes to the Web site. The browser sends the cookie in a header that looks like this: Cookie: Username: Bill+Gates

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

Several Web sites have valuable information on cookies. To view the original Netscape specification for cookies, see this site:

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Creating and Reading Session Cookies You can create and read) session cookies by using the Cookies property of the Response object and Request class. The Cookies property represents a collection of cookies (an instance of the HttpCookieCollection class). The following sample statements create a new session cookie named myCookie: Dim objCookie As New HttpCookie( “myCookie”, “Hello!” ) Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie )

The first statement creates an individual cookie named myCookie with the value “Hello!”. The second statement adds the new cookie to the Response object’s cookie collection. The preceding statements create a session cookie. The cookie is added to the browser’s memory but not recorded to a file. When the user shuts down the browser, the cookie is wiped from memory. To read an existing cookie, you access the cookies collection of the Request object. For example, the following statement displays the value of a cookie named myCookie: Response.Write( Request.Cookies( “myCookie” ).Value )

The Value property returns the value of the cookie as a string. Note A cookie can contain only a string value. If you want to store an integer value in a cookie, such as a user ID, you need to convert the value to a string.

You can display all the cookies sent by a browser by iterating through the Request object’s cookies collection. Here’s how you would display them: Dim strKey As String For each strKey in Request.Cookies Response.Write( “

” & strKey & “=” & _ Request.Cookies( strKey ).Value ) Next

This For...Next loop iterates through all the items in the Request object’s cookies collection. The name value of each cookie is displayed in a bulleted list. The page in Listing 16.1 illustrates how you can add and read a cookie within an ASP.NET page (see Figure 16.1).

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

FIGURE 16.1

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

Creating browser cookies.

LISTING 16.1

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CreateCookie.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objCookie As HttpCookie objCookie = New HttpCookie( txtCookieName.Text, txtCookieValue.Text ) Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie ) End Sub Sub Page_PreRender( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strKey As String For each strKey in Request.Cookies lblCookies.Text &= “
” & strKey & “=” & _ Request.Cookies( strKey ).Value Next End Sub CreateCookie.aspx

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continued

Cookie Name:
Cookie Value:
Existing Cookies:

The page in Listing 16.1 displays a form with two TextBox controls. You can enter the name and value of a new cookie into the TextBox controls and create a new cookie. The new cookie is added with the Button_Click subroutine. This subroutine simply grabs the values from the two TextBox controls and adds the new cookie to the cookies collection of the Response object. Finally, the page displays all existing cookies in the Page_PreRender subroutine. Note In Listing 16.1, you display the cookies in the Page_PreRender subroutine instead of the Page_Load subroutine so that you can display any cookies added with the Button_Click subroutine. The Page_Load subroutine is executed before event-handling subroutines, such as Button_Click. The Page_PreRender subroutine isn’t executed, in contrast, until the page is about to be rendered.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

Creating and Reading Persistent Cookies

Warning You have no guarantee that a persistent cookie will remain on a user’s computer for the period of time that you specify. A browser places a limit on the total number of cookies that it will store from all Web sites. After that limit is reached, the browser starts automatically deleting cookies. Users can also choose to delete cookies from the computer before they expire.

Persistent cookies are often used to store information such as usernames or user IDs. That way, the server can identify the same user when he or she returns to the Web site in the future. Warning Persistent cookies are stored in plain text files on a user’s computer. You therefore should never store sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, in a persistent cookie.

You can create a persistent cookie that lasts until December 25, 2005, as follows: Dim objCookie As New HttpCookie( “myPersistentCookie”, “Hello!” ) objCookie.Expires = #12/25/2005# Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie )

Notice that the only difference between a session and persistent cookie is the addition of expiration information. If you want to add a persistent cookie that will last the maximum amount of time, you can use the following statements: Dim objCookie As New HttpCookie( “myPersistentCookie”, “Hello!” ) objCookie.Expires = DateTime.MaxValue Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie )

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

A persistent cookie is similar to a session cookie, except for the fact that a persistent cookie has a definite expiration date. When a browser requests a page that creates a persistent cookie, the browser saves the cookie to the hard drive. You can create a persistent cookie that lasts months or even years on a user’s computer.

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After you create a persistent cookie, you can read it in the same way as you would a session cookie. You can access a persistent cookie through the Cookies property of the Request object like this: Response.Write( Request.Cookies( “myPersistentCookie” ).Value )

This statement displays the value of a persistent cookie named myPersistentCookie.

Setting Cookie Properties You can set any of the following properties of a cookie: •

Domain—The

domain associated with the cookie; for example, aspx.superexpert. com or .superexpert.

•

Expires—The

•

HasKeys—A

expiration date for a persistent cookie.

Boolean value that indicates whether the cookie is a cookie

dictionary. •

Name—The

name of the cookie.

•

Path—The

path associated with the cookie. The default value is /.

•

Secure—A value that indicates whether the cookie should be sent over an encrypted connection only. The default value is False.

•

Value—The

•

Values—A NameValueCollection

value of the cookie. that represents all the key and value pairs stored

in a cookie dictionary. The Domain property enables you to specify a particular domain for a cookie so that the cookie is sent only with requests to that domain. You cannot specify a domain that is different from the domain used by your Web server. For example, if your Web site is www.myCompany.com, you cannot assign the value www.Yahoo.com to the Domain property. However, you can specify different hostnames for the domain, such as products.myCompany.com, sales.myCompany.com, or www.myCompany.com. You should never change the Path property from its default value. By default, a browser sends a cookie for a domain with every request for a page at a Web site. If you specify a subdirectory by using the Path property, however, the cookie should be sent only with requests for pages in the subdirectory. Unfortunately, there is a known problem with the way the Netscape browser handles the Path property. The Netscape browser uses case-sensitive paths. Therefore, a request for a page at /myDirectory/myPage.aspx is treated differently than a request for a page at /MYDIRECTORY/mypage.aspx.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

The following sample statements create a new cookie dictionary named Preferences: Dim objCookie As HttpCookie objCookie = New HttpCookie( “Preferences” ) objCookie.Values( “color” ) = “Red” objCookie.Values( “fontface” ) = “Arial” objCookie.Values( “fontsize” ) = “4” Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie )

These statements create a new cookie dictionary that contains three name and value pairs: color, fontface, and fontsize. Since no expiration information is set, the cookie is created as a session cookie. You can detect whether any cookie is a cookie dictionary by using the HasKeys property. For example, the following statements use the HasKeys property to detect whether a cookie is a cookie dictionary and display each of its entries: If objCookie.HasKeys Then Dim strItem As String For Each strItem in objCookie.Values Response.Write( “
” & strItem & _ “=” & objCookie.Values( strItem ) ) Next End If

Examining Limitations of Cookies Cookies are fine for storing a small amount of string information on a user’s browser. However, they have some significant limitations. First, an individual cookie can contain a very limited amount of information (no more than 4KB). This means, for example, that you should not attempt to store a user’s shopping cart directly in a cookie. Another limitation is that you cannot store anything but a string in a cookie. This means that you cannot store such complex objects as HashTables or DataSets in a cookie. You cannot get around these limitations. Typically, you use a cookie to store a user ID on a browser. After you add a user ID to a browser, you can track the user as he or she moves from page to page. Because you can track the user, you can associate objects stored on the server, such as a shopping cart, with the proper user. In other words, you can use cookies purely as an identification mechanism. After you identify a user with a

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

Finally, notice that two of the properties enable you to work with cookie dictionaries. A cookie dictionary is a single cookie that stores multiple key and value pairs. The HasKeys property enables you to detect whether a cookie is a cookie dictionary. The Values property enables you to read the keys and values from a cookie dictionary.

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cookie, you can associate objects stored on the server with that user. These objects can be stored in the server’s memory or a database table. The ASP.NET framework includes built-in support for using cookies in this way. You can automatically track a user with a cookie and associate resources on the server with the user by taking advantage of session state. In the next section of this chapter, “Using Session State,” you learn how to take advantage of session state. Another significant limitation of cookies is that they are browser-dependent. For various reasons, cookies do not work with all browsers. In some cases, users have disabled cookies on their browsers in response to security or privacy worries. In other cases, a user’s cookie file has become corrupted. Finally, cookies do not always work well with company proxy servers. The general warning is that you are taking a risk whenever you rely on cookies. Your Web pages will not work for a certain percentage of users. Whenever possible, you should try to avoid using cookies for crucial functions. Note The decision to use cookies is similar to the decision to use other advanced browser features, such as Java or JavaScript. Several large Web sites do, in fact, rely on cookies. For example, to visit certain areas of the Yahoo and Microsoft Web sites, you must have cookies enabled on your browser.

In the section “Using Cookieless Sessions” later in this chapter, you learn how to take advantage of a method of retaining state without cookies. The ASP.NET framework includes a tricky method of tracking users as they move from page to page that does not rely on cookies.

Using Session State The ASP.NET framework includes built-in support for automatically tracking and associating resources on the server with users. You can associate information with users as they move from page to page at your Web site by taking advantage of session state. By default, when a user first requests a page from an ASP.NET Web site, the Web site automatically adds a session cookie to the user’s browser. This cookie, named the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie, tracks the user for the remainder of his or her visit to the Web site.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

In the following sections, you learn how to take advantage of the built-in session state facility included in the ASP.NET framework. You learn how to store objects in session state and how to manage session state in process, with a Windows service, and with a database table.

Adding Items to Session State You can store any object in session state by using a statement like the following: Session( “myItem” ) = “Hello!”

This statements adds a new item, named myItem, to session state with the value “Hello!”. After you add an item to session state, you can retrieve the item on any page that a user visits. The following statement retrieves myItem from session state and displays its value: Response.Write( Session( “myItem” ) )

You should be aware of three points when using session state. First, any items you add to session state remain there for the duration of a user’s visit to your Web site. Normally, the items continue to be associated with the user until the user shuts down his or her browser, the item is explicitly removed from session state, or the user does not request a page for more than 20 minutes. Second, items added to session state are added relative to a particular user. If Fred requests a page that adds an item named myItem to session state with the value “Hello!” and Jane requests a page that adds an item named myItem to session state with the value “Goodbye!”, no conflict occurs. Separate copies of each item added to session state are created for each user. Finally, you can add any object to session state. Because objects stored in session state are stored on the server, session objects are not subject to the same size limitations as cookies. For example, you can add a DataSet to session state like this: Session( “myDataSet” ) = dstDataSet

After you add the DataSet to session state, you can retrieve the same DataSet in whatever pages the user requests.

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By using session state, you can associate any type of information with the user that you please. For example, you can use session state to display the user’s name on each page he or she requests. Or you can use session state to associate a shopping cart with the user as he or she browses from page to page. You can also use session state to enable the user to complete HTML forms that span multiple pages.

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Warning Almost any object can be added to session state. The one requirement is that the object support serialization.

Be aware, however, that a separate copy of each item added to session state is created for each user who requests the page. If you place a DataSet with 400 records into session state in a page, and 500 users request the page, you have 500 copies of that DataSet in memory.

Removing Items from Session State You can remove an item from session state by using the Remove() or RemoveAll() method. The Remove() method removes a particular item for the current user. For example, to remove an item named myItem associated with the user making the current request, you would use the following statement: Session.Remove( “myItem” )

The RemoveAll method removes all the items stored in session state for a particular user: Session.RemoveAll

Starting a User Session A user session starts when a user requests the first page from a Web site. When the first page is requested, the Web server adds the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie to the user’s browser. You can detect the start of a new session by using the NewSession property. When a new session starts, the NewSession property returns the value True: Response.Write( Session.NewSession )

Each user session is assigned a unique session ID. You can retrieve the value of a session ID like this: Response.Write( Session.SessionID )

A session ID is guaranteed to be unique among all current user sessions. However, a session ID is not guaranteed to be unique over time; it might be recycled for a new session in the future.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

Ending a User Session

By default, a session times out when a user has not requested a page for more than 20 minutes. If the same user requests a page after a 20-minute period has elapsed, that person is treated as a new user. You might want to change the session timeout period. Setting a smaller timeout period makes your Web site more scalable because the server can reclaim memory devoted to individual session instances faster. On the other hand, you might want to set a longer timeout period if you expect that users might need to devote more than 20 minutes to a page. You can modify the default timeout period for a session in several ways. To set a new session timeout period, modify the Timeout property of the Session object like this: Session.Timeout = 10

This statement sets the session timeout period to 10 minutes. The new session timeout value applies to the remainder of the user’s visit to the Web site. You also can modify the session timeout period in the Web.Config file. For example, placing the following Web.Config file in the root directory of your application changes the default session timeout period to 60 minutes:

You also have the option of explicitly ending a user session. You can do so by calling the Abandon method like this: Session.Abandon

If a user requests a new page after the Abandon method is called, he or she is treated as a new user. The user is assigned a new session ID and all the items in session state previously associated with that user are removed from memory. The Abandon method is often used with sign-out pages.

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When does a user session end? Remember that HTTP is a stateless protocol. A Web server has no means of detecting when a user leaves a Web site. Instead, the Web server detects that a certain period of time has passed without the user requesting a page. At that point, the Web server assumes that the user has left, and it removes all items in session state associated with that user.

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Warning Calling the Abandon method does not end the user session until the current page finishes processing. You can still retrieve items from session state after the Abandon method is called. For example, the following statements display “Hello!” twice: Session( “myItem” ) = “Hello!” Response.Write( Session( “myItem” ) ) Session.Abandon Response.Write( Session( “myItem” ) )

However, the items will be gone from memory when the user makes a new page request.

Handling Session Events You can capture two events related to session state: Session_Start and Session_End. The Session_Start event is raised when a user requests the first page from a Web site. The Session_End event is triggered when the user session ends. You can capture both of these events by adding subroutines to the Global.asax file. For example, suppose that you want to create a page that displays the current number of active user sessions at your Web site. You could do so by using the Global.asax file in Listing 16.2 (This page can be found in the SessionStart subdirectory). Note The Global.asax file must be located in your application’s root directory. For more information on the Global.asax file, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

LISTING 16.2

SessionStart/Global.asax

Sub Session_Start() If Application( “SessionCount” ) Is Nothing Then Application( “SessionCount” ) = 0 End If Application( “SessionCount” ) += 1 End Sub

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16 LISTING 16.2

continued

Two subroutines are declared in Listing 16.2. The first subroutine, Session_Start, executes at the start of each new user session. This subroutine increments an item stored in application state by one. The second subroutine, Session_End, executes whenever a user session ends. This subroutine decrements an item stored in application state by one. Warning Modifying the Global.asax file automatically drops all items from session state. If you modify the Global.asax file in a production Web site, all user sessions are terminated. (This warning applies when session state is stored in process.)

The page in Listing 16.3 displays the current number of user sessions by displaying the value of SessionCount (see Figure 16.2). FIGURE 16.2 Displaying number of current users.

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

Sub Session_End() Application( “SessionCount” ) -= 1 End Sub

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SessionStart/SessionCount.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblSessionCount.Text = Application( “SessionCount” ) End Sub SessionCount.aspx Current Sessions:

You also can use the Session_Start subroutine to automatically redirect users to a particular page when a user session begins. You might want to force all users who visit your Web site to go to the Default.aspx page before visiting any other page. The Global.asax file in Listing 16.4 automatically redirects new users to the Default.aspx page. (This page can be found in the SessionRedirect subdirectory.) LISTING 16.4

SessionRedirect/Global.asax

Sub Session_Start If Instr( Request.Path.ToLower, “/default.aspx” ) = 0 Then Response.Redirect( “Default.aspx” ) End If End Sub

If the first page a user requests is not the Default.aspx page, he or she is automatically redirected to this page. Because the Session_Start event is triggered only once per user session, this subroutine executes only once when the user makes the first page request.

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

Storing Session State in Process The advantage of storing session state in process is performance. You can store and retrieve items much faster in session state when you do not need to marshal the data across separate processes. ASP Classic Note In Classic ASP, session state was always managed in process.

Storing session state in process does, however, have some significant disadvantages: • If, for whatever reason, the server crashes, you lose all data stored in session state. You lose session data when an ASP.NET application is reloaded for any reason. For example, modifying the Global.asax file drops all active user sessions. • If session state is stored in process, session state cannot be shared across multiple servers. Storing session state in process limits the scalability of your Web site because you cannot configure multiple servers to handle requests. In other words, storing session state in process is incompatible with Web farms. ASP.NET provides you with the option of managing session state out of process. In the following sections, you learn two methods of storing session data in a separate process: First, you learn how to manage session state with a separate Windows service. Second you learn how to manage a session state with a database.

Storing Session State in a Windows Service Instead of storing session data in process, you can store the data in a separate Windows service. To do so, you need to complete the following two steps: • Start the ASP.NET Windows service. • Modify the Web.Config file to set the sessionstate mode to the value stateserver and specify the location of the State service. You can start the ASP.NET Windows service by going to Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Services. Find the ASP.NET State service and click the Start Service button (the VCR play button).

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By default, session state is managed in process. All items added to session state are stored in the same process as the Web server.

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You should modify the settings for the service so that it starts automatically when Windows starts. To do so, double-click the name of the service and set Startup type to the value Automatic (see Figure 16.3). FIGURE 16.3 Automatically starting the ASP. NET State service.

Alternatively, you can start the ASP.NET State service by executing the following statement from a command prompt: net start aspnet_state

After you start the service, you need to modify the Web.Config file for your application to use the service. The Web.Config file in Listing 16.5 contains the proper settings. (This file can be found in the SessionService subdirectory.) LISTING 16.5

SessionService/Web.Config

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

You could run the ASP.NET State service on a separate server by supplying the IP address of the server. If you supply this address, any information stored in session state is not lost even if your Web server goes down. You also can use the same State service with multiple Web servers. For example, you can build a Web farm in which all the servers share the same state information stored on a separate server. After you enable the ASP.NET State service, you can store and retrieve items from session state just as you normally would. However, when you store items in session state with the State service enabled, the items are stored in a separate process. To test that items are actually being stored in a separate process, add an item to session state and restart the Web service by launching the Internet Services Manager, right-clicking the name of your server, and clicking Restart IIS. Restarting the Web service should have no effect on the items stored in the State service. A test page (named TestSession.aspx) is included in the SessionService subdirectory.

Storing Session State in a Database Table You also can manage session state out of process by storing session data in a Microsoft SQL Server database. The advantage of this approach is that you can cluster multiple database servers so that if one server fails, another database server can take over the state management. Storing session state in a SQL Server database requires the completion of the following two steps: • Create the necessary objects in SQL Server to manage the session data by executing the InstallSqlState.sql batch file. • Modify the Web.Config file to set the sessionState mode to the value SQLServer and specify the connection information for the SQL Server database. To complete the first step, launch the Microsoft SQL Server Query Analyzer and log in to SQL Server by using the sa account.

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

In the Web.Config file in Listing 16.5, the mode attribute is set to the value StateServer (by default, mode is set to the value InProc). The stateConnectionString attribute is assigned information about the location of the service. In this example, the State service is assumed to be running on the same machine as the Web server on port 42424.

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Next, open the InstallSqlState.sql batch file. You can find this file at the following location: WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[Framework Version]\InstallSqlState.sql

After you load the InstallSqlState.sql batch file, click the Execute Query button. Executing this batch file creates a new database named ASPState on your database server. The batch file also creates several other objects, including tables to store the state data and stored procedures to add and retrieve the data. Note The InstallSqlState.sql batch file adds a new job to SQL Server. This job clears away expired sessions. For the job to execute, the SQL Server Agent service must be running.

After the batch file is finished executing, you need to restart the SQL Server service. Launch the SQL Server Service Manager, and stop and start the SQL Server service. Note If you want to remove the objects added to SQL Server by the InstallSqlState.sql batch file, you can execute the UninstallSqlState.sql batch file from Query Analyzer.

The final step is to create a new Web.Config file that configures session state to store data in the database. A Web.Config file with the necessary settings is included in Listing 16.6. (This file is located in the SQLState subdirectory.) LISTING 16.6

SQLState/Web.Config

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16

After you create the Web.Config file, all data added to session state is stored on the database. You can test it by using Query Analyzer. The session data is stored in the tempdb database in a table named AspStateTempSessions. Each row in this table represents the data stored for one user session. Because the session data is stored in a database table, you can analyze the session data using standard SQL queries. For example, if you want to retrieve a count of the number of active user sessions, you can execute the following query against the tempdb database: SELECT COUNT( SessionID ) FROM AspStateTempSessions WHERE Expires > GetDate()

This query returns a count of the session IDs in the AspStateTempSession table where the session hasn’t expired.

Disabling Session State By default, session state is enabled for all pages in an application. You can improve the performance of your Web application by disabling session state for pages when you don’t need to use it. To disable session state for a particular page, modify the value of the EnableSessionState attribute in the page directive like this:

If you need to retrieve objects from session state but don’t need to add objects to it, you can set the EnableSessionState attribute to ReadOnly like this:

You also can disable session state for all the pages in an application by adding the following Web.Config file to the root directory of the application:

16 TRACKING USER SESSIONS

In the Web.Config file in Listing 16.6, the mode attribute is set to the value SQLServer. A valid SQL Server connection string is also supplied. In this example, the SQL connection string points to the local server and passes the credentials for the sa account. Notice that you do not specify a database in the connection string.

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The Web.Config file takes precedence over the page directive for particular pages. So, if you disable session state with the Web.Config file, you cannot selectively enable session state with the page directive.

Using Cookieless Sessions As noted in the first section of this chapter, using cookies can be risky. For various reasons, cookies do not work with a certain percentage of browsers used to request pages from your Web site. By default, session state relies on cookies. The session state facility uses the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie to track users as they move from page to page. If the cookie cannot be added to a user’s browser, every request made by the user starts a new user session. Any session data associated with that user is lost when a new page is requested. The ASP.NET framework includes an option to enable cookieless sessions. Cookieless sessions enable you to take advantage of session state without relying on browser cookies. Cookieless sessions are implemented with a clever trick. When a user makes the first request to a Web site with cookieless sessions enabled, the URL used for the request is automatically modified to include the user’s session ID. For example, if a user makes a request for http://mysite.com/mypage.aspx, the request is automatically modified to http://mysite.com/(nd4vqe2fnbmnwi451fwvda45)/mypage.aspx. The part of the URL that appears in parentheses is the session ID for the current user. After the session ID is embedded in the URL of the first page request, the session ID will continue to be associated with the user throughout his or her visit to the Web site. The session ID is passed as part of the base URL whenever the user clicks a relative link or submits a form. Because the session ID is automatically passed from one page to another, the user can be tracked without relying on a cookie. So, by using cookieless sessions, you get all the advantages of session state without the worries about browser incompatibility.

Enabling Cookieless Sessions You enable cookieless sessions by modifying a single attribute in the Web.Config file. A Web.Config file with the proper settings is included in Listing 16.7 (This file can be found in the Cookieless subdirectory).

Tracking User Sessions CHAPTER 16 LISTING 16.7

Cookieless/Web.Config

In the Web.Config file in Listing 16.7, the cookieless attribute is set to the value true. This is the only thing you need to do to enable cookieless sessions. Cookieless sessions are fully compatible with managing state in process, in a Windows service, or in a database table. There’s nothing wrong with enabling cookieless sessions and storing the session data in a database table.

Examining Limitations of Cookieless Sessions One very significant limitation is imposed on you when you use cookieless sessions. If you choose to use cookieless sessions, you cannot use absolute URLs when linking between pages. You must design your Web site in such a way that every link uses a URL that is relative to the current page. For example, all the following links work fine with a cookieless session: Click Here Click Here Click Here

However, the following links do not work with a cookieless session: Click Here Click Here

Clicking either of these two links starts a new user session, and all the items stored in session state are lost. Because the links include the full path to the page, the session ID is not added. The same limitation applies to using forms or the Redirect statement. When specifying paths, you must always specify the path relative to the current page. Note Bookmarking a page actually works quite well with cookieless sessions. If you bookmark a page and return to the page after the session expires, you don’t receive an error. However, all session data is lost. This works no differently than normal user sessions.

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Summary In this chapter, you learned how to take advantage of three mechanisms for associating information with users as they move from page to page at your Web site. In the first part, you learned how to create and read both session and persistent cookies. Next, you learned how to store information in session state. You examined how session data can be stored in process, in a Windows service, or with a database table. You also learned how session state can be disabled for a particular page or an entire Web application. Finally, you learned about cookieless sessions and how to use cookieless sessions to gain all the benefits of session state without any of the drawbacks of relying on cookies.

CHAPTER 17

Caching ASP.NET Applications

IN THIS CHAPTER • Using Page Output Caching

772

• Using Page Fragment Caching • Using Page Data Caching

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In this chapter, you learn how to cache the contents of an ASP.NET page and arbitrary data in an ASP.NET application. You learn about the three different caching mechanisms supported by the ASP.NET Framework. First, you learn how to improve the performance of an ASP.NET page by taking advantage of page output caching, which enables you to cache the contents of an entire dynamically generated page on your server. You can cache a page for an absolute period of time or implement a sliding expiration policy. Next, you learn how to use page fragment caching, which enables you to cache particular areas of a page. For example, you can use page fragment caching to cache a page’s menu bar, but not a list of current stock prices. Finally, you examine how to use data caching in an ASP.NET application. You can use data caching to cache DataSets and other types of data. After the data is cached, you can use the same data in multiple ASP.NET pages.

Using Page Output Caching You can use page output caching to dramatically improve the performance of your Web site. Instead of executing a page each time the page is requested, you can cache the output of the page and send the cached copy to satisfy browser requests. Imagine, for example, that your site includes a page that displays product information retrieved from a database table. By default, every time someone requests the product page, the page must be executed and the information must be retrieved from the database. If you enable page output caching, however, the page is executed only once, and the information is retrieved from the database only once. This means less work both for your Web application and for your database server. To enable output caching for a page, include the following page directive in the page:

This directive causes the output of the page to be cached for 60 seconds. Note Regardless of the Duration that you specify for caching a page, pages are automatically removed from the output cache after 5 minutes.

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The page in Listing 17.1, for example, displays the current time. The page also includes an OutputCache directive that caches the output of the page for 10 seconds. If you repeatedly refresh the page, you’ll notice that the time is updated only once every 10 seconds. LISTING 17.1

TimeCache.aspx

TimeCache.aspx

You can also cache the output of a page that retrieves data from a database. For example, Listing 17.2 contains a product page that displays information on a particular product retrieved from the Northwind database. This page is cached for 5 minutes (the maximum amount of time that you can reliably cache a page). LISTING 17.2

ProductPage.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim dtrProducts As SqlDataReader conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strselect = “Select * From Products Where ProductID=1” cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open() dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader( CommandBehavior.SingleRow ) dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close End Sub

CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

At the tone, the time will be:

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.2

continued

ProductPage.aspx Last Updated:

The OutputCache directive at the top of the page in Listing 17.2 results in the page being cached for 5 minutes. The page also is regenerated if its source is modified. Warning You are not guaranteed that items will remain in the page output cache. If system resources get low, the ASP.NET Framework starts dumping items from the cache. In any case, items are removed from the output cache after five minutes have elapsed.

Varying Cache Contents by Parameter The OutputCache directive has a second attribute that indicates how a page should be cached when a request for a page contains parameters (either query string parameters or form field parameters). This attribute can accept either a semicolon-delimited list of parameters or one of the following special values: •

none—Indicates that different cached versions of a page should not be created when the page is requested with different parameters.

•

*—Indicates

that different cached versions of a page should be created whenever the page is requested with different parameters.

The VaryByParam attribute is particularly useful when you need to display different content on a page depending on the value of a query string parameter. For example, in the preceding section, you used the OutputCache page directive to cache the output of a page that retrieves product information from a database table. The page works fine as long as you want to display information for only one product. Typically,

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however, you want to create a page that displays information on different products depending on the value of a query string parameter passed to the page. Consider the page in Listing 17.3. This page displays information on different products depending on the value of the PID query string variable. LISTING 17.3

ProductPageByParam.aspx

strProductID = Request.Params( “PID” ) If strProductID = Nothing Then strProductID = “1” End If conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strSelect = “Select * From Products Where ProductID=” & strProductID cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close End Sub ProductPageByParam.aspx Last Updated:

The value of the PID query string variable is grabbed in the Page_Load subroutine and assigned to a variable named strProductID. If PID doesn’t have a value, the

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strProductID As String Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim dtrProducts As SqlDataReader

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV strProductID variable defaults to the value 1. You use the strProductID variable to retrieve information on a specific product in the Products database table.

In Listing 17.3, the VaryByParam attribute is assigned the value none. If you request the page in Listing 17.3 without including a PID in the query string, the page displays the information for the product with a product ID of 1. The OutputCache directive causes the page to be cached for 300 seconds. If you subsequently request the page by supplying a PID, you’ll still receive the same cached page as before. Regardless of the PID that you supply, the page will continue to display the content for the product with the PID of 1. Since the VaryByParam attribute is assigned the value none, any query string parameter passed to the page is ignored. This isn’t good since you want to display different product information with the page depending on the value of the PID parameter. There are two ways around this problem. You can indicate that you want a different cached version of the page whenever different parameters are passed to the page by declaring the OutputCache directive like this:

This directive indicates that different cached versions of the page should be created whenever a different parameter is passed to the page. So both of the following requests would generate different cached pages: http://Localhost/ProductPageByParm.aspx?PID=4 http://Localhost/ProductPageByParm.aspx?username=bob

This directive stores different cached versions of a page depending on the value of the PID query string parameter. If you request the page with a PID of 1, and then request the page with a PID of 4, different cached versions of the page are stored. The modified product page is contained in Listing 17.4. LISTING 17.4

ProductPageByParamCache.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strProductID As String Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.4

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continued

Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim dtrProducts As SqlDataReader

Last Updated:

You can list more than one parameter in the VaryByParam attribute. You simply need to separate each parameter listed with a semicolon. For example, the following OutputCache directive creates different cached copies of a page depending on the values of the PID and ProductCategory parameters:

Be aware, however, that each cached copy of a page eats away at memory. So, the more versions of a page that you cache, the more server resources are consumed.

Varying Cache Contents by Header One of the benefits of using the controls in the ASP.NET framework is that many of them can detect the type of browser being used to request a page and display different content appropriate to the capabilities of the browser. However, by default, page output

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

strProductID = Request.Params( “PID” ) If strProductID = Nothing Then strProductID = “1” End If conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strSelect = “Select * From Products Where ProductID=” & strProductID cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close End Sub ProductPageByParamCache.aspx

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caching defeats a control’s capability to display different content for different browsers. Because page output caching stores the output of a page, the very same page is sent to every browser that requests it. Fortunately, you can find an easy way around this problem. The OutputCache page directive supports a VaryByHeader attribute. You can use this attribute to cache different versions of a page depending on the type of browser that requests the page. Here’s how you would use this directive:

The User-Agent header identifies the type of browser being used to request the page. Different types of browsers—such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera—transmit different User-Agent headers when they request a page. Normally, the User-Agent header also includes such information as the version of the browser and type of platform on which the browser is running. The page in Listing 17.5 illustrates how you use the VaryByHeader attribute. This page displays different content depending on whether it is requested by a Netscape browser or some other type of browser. When the page is requested by a Netscape browser, the page displays blinking text. Otherwise, the page displays the text in a red font (see Figure 17.1). FIGURE 17.1 Using the CacheByHeader

attribute.

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779

CacheByHeader.aspx

Dim strBuyOurProducts As String

CacheByHeader.aspx Last Updated:

If you launch both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers on your computer and request the page in Listing 17.5, different content is displayed. Note that different copies of the page are cached not only when different types of browsers request the page, but also when different versions of the same browser request the page. Any variation in the User-Agent header results in a different version of the page being cached. Note See the next section for a way to make the output cache less sensitive to minor differences in browser types.

You also can use the VaryByHeader attribute to create different cached versions of a page depending on other headers, such as Referrer, Host, and Accept-Language headers. You can use the page in Listing 17.6 to view all the headers that you can use from the ServerVariables collection (see Figure 17.2).

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Sub Page_Load If Request.Browser.Browser = “Netscape” Then strBuyOurProducts = “Buy Our Products!” Else strBuyOurProducts = “Buy Our Products!” End If End Sub

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FIGURE 17.2 The ServerVariables

collection.

LISTING 17.6

ServerVariables.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strHeader As String For each strHeader in Request.ServerVariables lblOutput.Text &= “

” & strHeader & “=” & Request( strHeader ) Next End Sub ServerVariables.aspx

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Varying the Cache Contents by a Custom String The OutputCache directive supports an additional attribute named VaryByCustom. This attribute enables you to control the sensitivity of page output caching. In the preceding section, you used the VaryByHeader attribute with the User-Agent header to cache different versions of a page depending on the browser. One problem with this approach is that the User-Agent header not only varies among different types of browsers, but also typically contains additional information, such as information about the version of the browser and computer platform on which the browser is running.

When you use the value Browser with the VaryByCustom attribute, only the browser name and major version information are taken into account when caching the output of a page. So, the same page would be cached for Internet Explorer 5.0 and Internet Explorer 5.5. You also can supply a custom string to the VaryByCustom attribute. If you supply a custom string, you are responsible for creating a function in the Global.asax file that controls how pages are cached. Note To learn more information about the Global.asax file, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

Suppose that you want to cache different versions of a page depending on whether the browser requesting the page supports VBScript. To do so, you need to assign a custom string to the VaryByCustom attribute. Listing 17.7 illustrates the proper method of assigning a string to the VaryByCustom attribute in the OutputCache directive. (This file is located in the VaryByCustom subdirectory.) LISTING 17.7

VaryByCustom/VaryByCustom.aspx

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If you want to make broader distinctions among browsers, you can use the VaryByCustom attribute like this:

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continued

Sub Page_Load lblMessage.Text = Request.Browser.VBScript End Sub VaryByCustom.aspx Page generated:

Next, you need to add a new function named GetVaryByCustomString to the Global.asax file. This function is included in the Global.asax file in Listing 17.8. LISTING 17.8

VaryByCustom/Global.asax

Overrides Function GetVaryByCustomString( _ objContext As HttpContext, _ strCustom As String ) As String Return objContext.Request.Browser.VBScript End Function

Warning The Global.asax file must be located in the application root directory; it doesn’t work in a subdirectory.

The GetVaryByCustomString function has two parameters: the current context and the custom string passed by the VaryByCustom attribute. The function returns a string

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indicating how a page should be cached. In the case of Listing 17.8, the function returns the value True when a browser supports VBScript and False otherwise. The function therefore creates two different cached versions of the page. Note To determine whether a browser supports VBScript, you can use the HttpBrowserCapabilities class. You can use this class to detect many other features of a browser, such as its name, its major and minor version number, whether it supports Java applets, and so on.

By default, when you enable page output caching, the page is cached on both the server and client. The page is cached in the server’s memory, and the proper headers are sent to the browser requesting the page to cause the browser to create a cached copy. You can control the exact location where the caching occurs by adding the Location attribute to the OutputCache page directive. The Location attribute can have any one of the following values from the OutputCacheLocation enumeration: •

Any—This

is the default value. The page should be cached at any location, including the server, any downstream servers, and the browser.

•

Client—The

•

Downstream—The

output of the page should be cached only on the browser. output of the page should be cached only on a downstream

server. •

None—No

page caching should be performed.

•

Server—The

page should be cached only on the server.

If you want to cache the output of a page only on the browser and not on the server, for example, you would use the following OutputCache directive:

Be aware, however, that browser caching is browser-dependent.

Working with the HttpCachePolicy Class Behind the scenes, page output caching is handled by the HttpCachePolicy class. If you want more fine-grained control over the caching behavior of a page, you can directly call the methods of this class.

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Setting the Cache Location

17

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The two most important methods of this class are the SetExpires() and SetCacheability() methods. The SetExpires() method indicates an absolute date and time when a page expires, and the SetCacheability() method indicates how the page should be cached. The SetCacheability() method accepts any of the following values from the HttpCacheability enumeration: •

NoCache—Prevents

any page caching with the Cache-Control:no-cache header.

•

Private—Indicates

•

Public—Indicates

that the page can be cached by proxy servers and browsers.

•

Server—Indicates

that the page should only be cached on the server.

that the page should not be cached by proxy servers, but can be cached by browsers (this is the default value).

For example, the page in Listing 17.9 uses the methods of the HttpCachePolicy class to cache a page on the server until 12/25/2005. (Most likely, the page will be dumped from the Cache much earlier than that.) LISTING 17.9

HttpCachePolicy.aspx

Sub Page_Load Response.Cache.SetExpires( #12/25/2005# ) Response.Cache.SetCacheability( HttpCacheability.Server ) End Sub HttpCachePolicy.aspx At the tone, the time will be:

Using Page Fragment Caching In several situations, caching part of a page makes more sense than caching the whole page. For example, if you were randomly displaying banner advertisements on a Web page, you would not want to cache the part that contains the banner advertisements because caching the page would result in the same banner advertisement being displayed each time the page is requested.

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Page fragment caching is implemented with user controls. You define different areas of a page by creating separate user controls for each area of the page. Within each user control, you can use the OutputCache directive to indicate how the output of the control is cached. Note To learn more details about user controls, see Chapter 5, “Creating Custom Controls with User Controls.”

The page in Listing 17.10 illustrates how you can cache the body of the page, but not the banner advertisements displayed at the top and bottom (see Figure 17.3). FIGURE 17.3 Partial Page Caching.

CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Imagine that the home page for your Web site contains randomly selected banner advertisements that are displayed at the top and bottom of the page. Furthermore, imagine that the body of the page displays a list of products from the Products database table. In that case, you would want to cache the area of the page that displays the list of products, but not the areas of the page that display the banner advertisements.

17

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.10

Home.aspx

Home.aspx

( page generated: )

The body of the page in Listing 17.10 contains a user control named PageContents. This user control, contained in Listing 17.11, displays a list of products for a particular category. LISTING 17.11

PageContents.ascx

Public CategoryID As Integer Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.11

787

continued

conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) strSelect = “Select * From Products Where CategoryID=@CategoryID” cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@CategoryID”, CategoryID ) conNorthwind.Open() dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close() End Sub

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Welcome to Our Web Site! Here is a list of our current products:

( Control generated: )

The user control in Listing 17.11 displays the text Welcome DataGrid that contains a list of products.

to Our Web Site!

and a

The PageContents user control includes an OutputCache directive, which causes the output of the user control to be cached for 60 seconds. The page that contains the user control, Home.aspx, is not cached. However, it contains a cached user control. The end result is that the banner advertisements in Home.aspx are not cached, but the database data displayed by the PageContents user control is cached.

Varying Page Fragment Caching by Parameter You can use the VaryByParam attribute with the OutputCache directive in a user control. This means that you can cache different versions of the output of a user control depending on the query string passed to the control. Imagine, for example, that you want to create a user control that displays a menu of options. When a user clicks an option, you want the currently selected option to be highlighted. The user control in Listing 17.12 illustrates how to do so (see Figure 17.4).

788

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FIGURE 17.4 Using VaryByParam

with

Partial Page Caching.

LISTING 17.12

Menu.ascx

Dim strMenuID As String Sub Page_Load strMenuID = Request.Params( “menuID” ) If strMenuID = Nothing Then strMenuID = “0” End If End Sub

Our Company Our Company

Our Services

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.12

continued

The user control in Listing 17.12 contains an OutputCache directive, which causes the output of the control to be cached for 300 seconds (5 minutes). The VaryByParam attribute indicates that different versions of the output of the control should be cached depending on the value of the menuID parameter. In the Page_Load subroutine, the value of the menuID parameter is retrieved from the query string passed to the page. The menuID highlights the currently selected menu option. The page in Listing 17.13 illustrates how you can use the Menu control in an ASP.NET page. OurCompany.aspx

OurCompany.aspx Our Company Our company specializes in creating large scale Web sites for commercial clients. Visit the different areas of

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Our Services

Our Products Our Products

(menu generated: )

LISTING 17.13

789

790

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.13

continued

our Web site to learn more! ( page generated: )

The page in Listing 17.13 registers the user control by using the Register page directive. The control is declared in the body of the page.

Examining the Limitations of Page Fragment Caching You should be aware that you are significantly limited on how you can use a user control that contains an OutputCache directive. If you enable caching for a user control, you can no longer programmatically access the control in its containing page. For example, suppose you declare a cached user control like this:

Since the control is cached, you cannot programmatically set a property of the user control in a page like this: ctlContents.Message = “Hello!”

You also should not attempt to use data-binding syntax with a cached user control. For example, never attempt to declare a cached user control like this:

This declaration of the cached user control generates an error message. Nothing is wrong, however, with declaratively setting a property of a cached user control like this:

In this case, the value of the CategoryID property is set declaratively.

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Using Page Data Caching In the previous sections of this chapter, you learned how to cache the entire contents of a page and a particular area of a page. However, in certain situations, caching the data displayed on a page makes more sense than caching the page itself. Imagine that you are creating an intranet application that displays an employee directory for your company. Imagine that you need to display employee information on multiple pages. On one page, you might display a list of employee last names. On another page, you might want to display detailed information about a particular employee.

Caching database records can significantly improve the performance of your Web site. Instead of retrieving employee information from a database table every time you need to display the information on a page, you can retrieve the information directly from memory. You can cache items in memory by taking advantage of the Cache object, which is an instance of the Cache class. Each ASP.NET application has a single Cache object that remains valid until the application is restarted. ASP Classic Note When building pages with Classic ASP, developers often resorted to caching data in the Application object. This object still exists in ASP.NET, and you can still use it to cache data. However, the Cache object provides you with more flexibility than the Application object. The Cache object enables you, for example, to specify expiration policies and dependencies for cached items. Furthermore, the Cache object supports scavenging. When you add items to the Application object, the item remains in memory until explicitly removed or the application is restarted. The Cache object, on the other hand, automatically dumps items from the cache when memory resources get low.

In the following sections, you learn different methods of adding and removing items from the Cache object.

CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

In this situation, you can store all the employee information in a database table and cache a DataSet that contains the database table in memory. On each page in which you need to display employee information, you can retrieve the information from the cached DataSet.

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Adding Items to the Cache You can add any item to the Cache object by assigning a value to its Item property. For example, the following statement adds a new item named myItem with the value “Hello World!” to the Cache object: Cache.Item( “myItem” ) = “Hello World!”

Because Item is the default property of the Cache object, you can also add an item to the cache like this: Cache( “myItem” ) = “Hello World!”

You can add more complex objects to the cache, such as DataSets, DataViews, or collections. For example, the following statements add a HashTable to the Cache object: Dim colHashTable As HashTable colStates = New HashTable colStates.Add( “CA”, “California” ) colStates.Add( “WA”, “Washington” ) Cache( “States” ) = colStates

After you add an item to the cache, you can retrieve it like this: myItem = Cache( “myItem” )

You need to understand that when you add items to the Cache object, the items are not guaranteed to remain there. The Cache object supports scavenging; it automatically removes low-priority or infrequently used items from the cache when system resources become low. Note See the section “Setting Cache Item Priorities” later in this chapter for more information on how to control when a cached item expires.

When you retrieve items from the cache, therefore, you should always check to see whether the item still exists before you do anything with it. If the item has been removed from the Cache object, attempting to retrieve the item from the cache returns the value Nothing.

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Typically, when you retrieve items from the cache, you use the following logic: myItem = Cache( “myItem” ) If myItem Is Nothing Then ... Recreate item and assign to Cache End If

In other words, after you retrieve an item from the cache, you should check whether the item is Nothing. If it is Nothing, you need to reassign the item to the cache. If you want to explicitly remove items from the cache, you can use the Cache object’s method. For example, the following statement removes the item named myItem from the cache: Remove

The Cache object contains more than just the information you have added. The object also is used internally to cache system information between requests. You can view all the current items in the cache by using the page in Listing 17.14 (see Figure 17.5). FIGURE 17.5 List of cached items.

LISTING 17.14

ShowCached.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objItem As DictionaryEntry

CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Cache.Remove( “myItem” )

17

794

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.14

continued

For each objItem in Cache lblContents.Text &= “

” & objItem.Key lblContents.Text &= “=” & objItem.Value.ToString Next End Sub ShowCached.aspx Cached Items

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 17.14, a FOR...EACH loop displays the key and value for each item in the Cache object. The items are displayed in a Label control.

Adding Cache File Dependencies When you add an item to the cache, you can associate the item with a file. If the file changes, the item is automatically removed from the cache. To create a file dependency, use the Insert method of the Cache object like this: Cache.Insert( “myItem”, “Hello!”, _ New CacheDependency( MapPath( “myFile.txt” ) ) )

This statement adds an item named myItem with the value Hello! to the cache. It also creates a file dependency between the item and a file named myFile.txt. If myFile.txt is modified, myItem is automatically dumped from the cache. You also can create a file dependency between a cached item and multiple files. For example, the following statements make the cached item named myItem dependent on three files named File1.txt, File2.txt, and File3.txt: Dim myFiles() As String = _ { MapPath( “File1.txt” ), _ MapPath( “File2.txt” ), _ MapPath( “File3.txt” ) }

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Cache.Insert( “myItem”, “Hello”, _ New CacheDependency( myFiles ) )

A string array containing a list of three files is passed to the constructor of the CacheDependency class to create the file dependencies. If any of the three files are modified, myItem is dropped from the cache. Note The MapPath method of the Page class translates a virtual path, such as /myFile.txt, into a physical path, such as c:\inetpub\wwwroot\myFile.txt.

To improve the performance of your application, you can cache the XML file in the Cache object. However, if someone updates the XML configuration file, you want the cached version of the configuration file to be automatically updated as well. You can add this functionality by creating a file dependency between the cached XML file and the XML file on the hard drive. The page in Listing 17.15 illustrates how you can create a file dependency between a cached item named FormatInfo and an XML file named FormatInfo.xml. LISTING 17.15

FileDependency.aspx

Dim strBgcolor As String Dim strFontface As String Dim strFontsize As String Sub Page_Load Dim dstFormat As DataSet Dim drowFormat As DataRow dstFormat = Cache( “FormatInfo” ) If dstFormat Is Nothing Then dstFormat = GetFormatInfo() Cache.Insert( “FormatInfo”, dstFormat, _ New CacheDependency( MapPath( “FormatInfo.xml” ) ) ) End If

CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Creating file dependencies is useful when you’re working with custom configuration files. Imagine, for example, that your application depends on a custom XML file for configuration information. You use the XML file to specify format information for your pages, such as the background color and font size.

17

796

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.15

continued

drowFormat = dstFormat.Tables( 0 ).Rows( 0 ) strBgcolor = drowFormat( “bgcolor” ).Trim strFontface = drowFormat( “fontface” ).Trim strFontsize = drowFormat( “fontsize” ).Trim End Sub Function GetFormatInfo() As DataSet Dim dstFormat As DataSet dstFormat = New DataSet() dstFormat.ReadXML( MapPath( “FormatInfo.xml” ) ) Return dstFormat End Function FileDependency.aspx Hello, welcome to our Web site!

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 17.15, an item named FormatInfo is retrieved from the Cache object. The FormatInfo item represents the FormatInfo.xml file as a DataSet. The background color, base font face, and base font size of the page are assigned values from the FormatInfo DataSet. If the FormatInfo item does not exist in the cache, the GetFormatInfo() function is called to retrieve the FormatInfo.xml file from the hard drive and assign it to the cache. When the FormatInfo item is added to the cache, it’s added with a file dependency on the FormatInfo.xml file, which is included in Listing 17.16. LISTING 17.16 Green

FormatInfo.xml

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.16

797

continued

6 Arial

Adding Cache Trigger Dependencies It would be nice if you could update an item in the cache whenever a change is made to a record in a database table. That way, you could cache a database table in memory and dramatically improve the performance of your application without worrying about the data becoming outdated. Unfortunately, however, the Cache object does not directly support this type of dependency. To make an item in the cache dependent on a database table, you need to do a little work. Microsoft SQL Server includes support for a special type of stored procedure called a trigger. A trigger is a stored procedure that executes whenever an update, delete, or insert statement is executed against a table or view. In other words, you can associate a trigger with a table in such a way that it fires whenever a change is made to the contents of the table. Microsoft SQL Server also includes an extended stored procedure named xp_cmdshell that executes a string as an operating system command. You can use the xp_cmdshell stored procedure to write a file to a directory. To create an item in the cache that is dependent on a database table, therefore, you can create a trigger that writes a file to a directory. You can then use a normal file cache dependency to update the item in the cache. To illustrate how this scenario works, you can add a DataSet that represents the Products table to the cache. Whenever a change to the Products table is made, the Products table is automatically updated. The first thing you need to do is create the trigger. The proper trigger is contained in Listing 17.17.

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

If you modify the FormatInfo.xml file, the FormatInfo DataSet is automatically updated in the cache. For example, if you change the bgcolor element in the FormatInfo.xml file from Green to Red, the background color of the page is automatically updated.

798

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.17

UpdateCache.sql

CREATE TRIGGER UpdateCache ON Products FOR UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT AS DECLARE @cmd Varchar( 200 ) SELECT @cmd = ‘echo ‘ + Cast( getDATE() As Varchar( 50 ) ) + ‘ > c:\tableChange.txt’ EXEC master..xp_cmdshell @cmd, no_output

The UpdateCache trigger is fired when an update, delete, or insert statement is executed against the Products table. The trigger uses the xp_cmdshell stored procedure to write a file, named tableChange.txt, to the file system. The file contains the current date and time. Next, you need to create an ASP.NET page that adds the Products database table to the Cache object. The page in Listing 17.18 adds a DataSet representing the Products table to the cache. LISTING 17.18

DatabaseDependency.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim dstProducts As DataSet dstProducts = Cache( “productsDS” ) If dstProducts Is Nothing Then dstProducts = GetProducts() Cache.Insert( “Products”, dstProducts, _ New CacheDependency( “c:\tableChange.txt” ) ) End If dgrdProducts.DataSource = dstProducts dgrdProducts.DataBind() End Sub Function GetProducts() As DataSet Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim dadProducts As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstProducts As DataSet conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” )

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.18

799

continued

strSelect = “Select TOP 20 * From Products ORDER BY ProductID” dadProducts = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, conNorthwind ) dstProducts = New DataSet() dadProducts.Fill( dstProducts, “ProductsDS” ) Return dstProducts End Function

When you request the page in Listing 17.18, a DataSet representing the Products database table is retrieved from the cache. If the item doesn’t exist in the cache, the DataSet is created and added to the cache with a file dependency on the tableChange.txt file. The Products database table remains cached in memory until a change is made to the underlying Products database table. If the Products table is modified, the UpdateCache trigger executes and writes a file to the hard drive. This file, in turn, causes the current cached copy of the Products table to be dropped and a new copy of the table to be added to the cache.

Adding Cache Key Dependencies You can make one cached item dependent on another cached item by creating a key dependency. For example, imagine that you have two database tables cached in memory. One table contains a list of products, and the other table contains a list of product categories. If you make a change to the cached product categories table, you also want to update the cached copy of the products table. You can do so by creating a key dependency. To create a key dependency between one cached item and another, you use the Cache object’s Insert method like this:

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DatabaseDependency.aspx

800

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV Dim arrKeyDepends() As String = { “item2” } Cache.Insert( “item1”, “hello!”, _ New CacheDependency( Nothing, arrKeyDepends ) )

This statement makes item1 dependent on item2. If item2 is modified, item1 is dumped from the Cache object. The first statement creates a string array of key names. In the second statement, this array is passed to the CacheDependency constructor to create the dependencies. You can make one cached item dependent on multiple cached items. To do so, simply list multiple cached item keys in the array: Dim arrKeyDepends() As String = { “item2”, “item3”, “item4” } Cache.Insert( “item1”, “hello!”, _ New CacheDependency( Nothing, arrKeyDepends ) )

These statements make item1 dependent on item2, item3, and item4. If any of these cached items are modified, item1 is automatically deleted from the cache. The page in Listing 17.19 illustrates how to make one cached item dependent on another. LISTING 17.19

KeyDependency.aspx

Sub UpdateItem1( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Cache( “item1” ) = txtNewValue.Text End Sub Sub UpdateItem2( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim arrKeyDepends() As String = { “item1” } Cache.Insert( “item2”, txtNewValue.Text, _ New CacheDependency( Nothing, arrKeyDepends ) ) End Sub KeyDependency.aspx

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17 LISTING 17.19

801

continued

The page in Listing 17.19 contains one TextBox and two Button controls. If you click the first button, the value of item1 in the cache is updated. If you click the second button, the value of item2 in the cache is updated. A key dependency exists between item1 and item2. If you update item1, item2 is automatically dropped from the cache. You can test this functionality by entering a value in the TextBox control and clicking the Update Item1 button when Item2 has a value. Note Key dependencies cascade. If you make a chain of key dependencies, a change in one item in the chain causes the other items in the chain to be dropped. You also can make key dependencies circular. In that case, a modification to any item in the circle drops all the cached items in the circle.

Creating an Absolute Expiration Policy When you add items to the cache, you can specify an absolute expiration policy. Items that are inserted with an absolute expiration policy are automatically dropped from the cache after a preset period of time.

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Item1 = Item2 =

802

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

The following statement, for example, adds to the cache an item that will automatically expire in one minute: Cache.Insert( “myItem”, “Hello!”, Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( 1 ), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration )

This statement adds an item named myItem with the value Hello! to the cache. The item is inserted with no file or key dependencies, and an absolute expiration date and time of one minute in the future. (I discuss the Cache.NoSlidingExpiration parameter in the next section.) The page in Listing 17.20 illustrates how to create an item with an absolute expiration policy within an ASP.NET page. LISTING 17.20

AbsoluteExpiration.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strTime As String strTime = Cache( “Time” ) If strTime Is Nothing Then strTime = DateTime.Now.ToString( “T” ) Cache.Insert(“Time”, strTime, Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( 1 ), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration ) End If lblMessage.Text = strTime End Sub AbsoluteExpiration.aspx Data last cached:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 17.20, an item named Time is pulled from the cache. If Time is Nothing, the item has expired. In that case, the item is added to the cache again with an absolute expiration policy of one minute in the future.

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Creating a Sliding Expiration Policy Instead of setting an absolute expiration policy for an item stored in the cache, you can set a sliding policy. When an item is cached with a sliding expiration policy, the item is removed from the cache a certain interval of time after it was last accessed. The following statement adds an item that will expire one minute after it is last accessed: Cache.Insert( “myItem”, “Hello!”, Nothing, _ Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, TimeSpan.FromMinutes( 1 ) )

Listing 17.21 illustrates how you can add an item with a sliding expiration policy in an ASP.NET page. LISTING 17.21

DataSlide.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strTime As String strTime = Cache( “Time” ) If strTime Is Nothing Then strTime = DateTime.Now.ToString( “T” ) Cache.Insert(“Time”, strTime, Nothing, _ Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, TimeSpan.FromMinutes( 1 ) ) End If lblMessage.Text = strTime End Sub DataSlide.aspx Data last cached:

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This statement inserts into the cache an item that won’t expire unless it is not accessed for more than one minute. If never more than a minute goes by without the item being accessed, the item will never be deleted from the cache (unless server resources get low).

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In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 17.21, an item is inserted into the cache with a sliding expiration of 1 minute. If you repeatedly refresh the page, the item is never removed from the cache. Note You cannot add an item to the Cache with both an absolute and sliding expiration policy.

Setting Cache Item Priorities When you insert an item into the cache, you can insert the item with a certain priority. The priority provides the Cache object with a hint about the relative importance of an item. All things being equal, when times are tough and server resources become low, the cache starts dropping lower priority items before higher priority items. You indicate the relative priority of an item by using one of the following values from the CacheItemPriority enumeration: •

AboveNormal—Items

with this priority are less likely to be removed from the

cache than Normal. •

BelowNormal—Items with this priority are more likely to be removed from the cache than Normal.

•

Default—The Default

•

High—Items

•

Low—Items

•

Normal—These

•

NotRemovable—Items

value is Normal.

with this priority are the least likely to be removed from the cache.

with this priority are the most likely to be removed from the cache. items have the Normal priority. with this priority should never be removed from the cache.

You also can supply one of the following values from the CacheItemPriorityDecay enumeration when inserting items into the cache: •

Default—The

•

Fast—Items

•

Medium—Items

default value is Medium.

with this priority decay more quickly from the cache. with this priority decay only after items with a Fast priority decay.

Caching ASP.NET Applications CHAPTER 17

•

Never—Items

•

Slow—Items

805

with this priority of decay should never be removed from the cache.

with this priority decay more slowly from the cache.

To insert an item into the cache with a High priority and a Slow priority decay, for example, you would use the following statement:

This statement provides a hint to the Cache object to preserve the item in the cache for as long as possible.

Creating a Cache Callback Method When you insert an item into the cache, you can associate a callback method with the item. If, for whatever reason, the item is removed from the cache, the callback method automatically executes. A callback method is useful in several applications. The most obvious use for a callback method is for automatically reloading an item into the cache when it expires. You also can create more complicated applications for a callback method. Imagine, for example, that you are displaying banner advertisements at your Web site, and you want the list of banner advertisements to be automatically reloaded from a database table every hour. In that case, you could add an absolute expiration policy to the cached item and create a callback method that reloads the banner advertisements. You also can use the callback method to track the behavior of the Cache object. You can write a callback method that writes to a log file every time an item is dropped from memory. To create a callback method, you need to add a subroutine to an ASP.NET page that accepts three parameters: String, Object, and CacheItemRemovedReason. The callback method should look like this:

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

Cache.Insert( “myItem”, _ “Hello”, _ Nothing, _ Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, _ Cache.NoSlidingExpiration, _ CacheItemPriority.High, _ CacheItemPriorityDecay.Slow, _ Nothing )

806

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV Sub ItemRemoved( itemKey As String, _ itemValue As Object, _ removedReason As CacheItemRemovedReason ) End Sub

The first two parameters passed to the callback method represent the name and value of the item removed from the cache. The last parameter represents a value from the CacheItemRemovedReason enumeration. This enumeration, which indicates the reason the item was removed from the cache, can have the following values: •

DependencyChanged—Removed

because of a file or key dependency

•

Expired—Removed

because of an expiration policy

•

Removed—Removed

with an explicit call to either the Remove or Insert method

•

Underused—Removed

because of low server resources

After you create the callback method, you need to create an instance of the CacheItemRemovedCallback class and initialize the class with the callback method. For example, the following statements create an instance of the CacheItemRemovedCallback class named onRemove: Dim Shared onRemove As CacheItemRemovedCallback onRemove = New CacheItemRemovedCallback( AddressOf ItemRemoved )

Finally, you need to refer to the onRemove object as follows when you insert an item into the cache: Cache.Insert( “myItem”, _ “Hello!”, _ Nothing, _ Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, _ Cache.NoSlidingExpiration, _ CacheItemPriority.High, _ CacheItemPriorityDecay.Slow, _ onRemove )

Notice that you specify the callback method with the last parameter passed to the Insert method. In this case, you have created an item that does not have any file or key dependencies, or an absolute or sliding expiration date. The page in Listing 17.22 demonstrates how you can use a callback method in an ASP.NET page.

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807

FIGURE 17.6 Using a cache callback method.

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

LISTING 17.22

CacheCallback.aspx

Public Shared onRemove As CacheItemRemovedCallback Sub ItemRemoved( _ strItemKey As String, _ objItemValue As Object, _ objRemovedReason As CacheItemRemovedReason ) Dim strLogEntry As String strLogEntry = “Item with value “ & objItemValue.ToString() strLogEntry &= “ removed at “ & Now.ToString( “T” ) strLogEntry &= “ because of “ & objRemovedReason.ToString() If Application( “CacheLog” ) Is Nothing Then Application( “CacheLog” ) = New ArrayList End If Application( “CacheLog” ).Add( strLogEntry ) Beep End Sub Sub btnAddCache_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) onRemove = New CacheItemRemovedCallback( AddressOf ItemRemoved )

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 17.22

continued

Cache.Insert( “myItem”, _ txtNewValue.Text, _ Nothing, _ Now.AddSeconds( 10 ), _ Cache.NoSlidingExpiration, _ CacheItemPriority.High, _ CacheItemPriorityDecay.Slow, _ onRemove ) End Sub Sub btnRemoveCache_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Cache.Remove( “myItem” ) End Sub Sub Page_PreRender( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) dgrdCacheLog.DataSource = Application( “CacheLog” ) dgrdCacheLog.Databind() End Sub CacheCallback.aspx Cache Log

1. The method adds an entry to a log that includes the time and reason the item was removed. 2. The method calls the Visual Basic Beep statement to create a beep sound. The page contains a DataGrid that displays the contents of the cache log. The DataGrid displays the reason that each item was removed from the cache. Note It would not be a good idea to use the Beep statement in a production application. I’ve used the statement here so you can detect when an item is expired from the cache.

You see two types of entries in the cache log. If the item expires from the cache, the log entry contains the word Expired. If you explicitly remove an item by clicking the Remove From Cache! button, the log entry contains the word Removed.

Summary In this chapter, you explored three mechanisms for caching the contents of an ASP.NET page. In the first part, you learned how to use page output caching. You learned how to cache the output of a page for a certain duration of time. You also learned how to create different cached versions of a page depending on the query string parameters and headers passed to the page. Next, you learned how to take advantage of page fragment caching and use it with user controls to cache different areas of a page.

17 CACHING ASP.NET APPLICATIONS

The page in Listing 17.22 contains a form that enables you to add and remove items to the cache. When you add an item, the item is added with an absolute expiration policy of 10 seconds and associated with a callback method named itemRemoved. This callback method does two things:

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Finally, the bulk of this chapter was devoted to using the Cache object. You learned how to use the Cache object to store data that can be shared across multiple ASP.NET pages. You learned how to add file and key dependencies to a cached item. You also learned how to associate a cached item with a database trigger. Then you examined how to create a callback method to automatically reload data into the cache.

CHAPTER 18

Application Tracing and Error Handling IN THIS CHAPTER • Responding to Errors

812

• Tracing and Monitoring Your Application 828 • Logging Events

842

• Using the Debugger

853

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In this chapter, you learn how to identify and correct problems in your ASP.NET applications. In the first section, you examine several methods for gracefully handling errors. I discuss methods of capturing and handling errors at both the page and application level. Next, you examine how to trace and monitor the execution of your ASP.NET pages. You learn how to enable tracing, monitor the ASP.NET process, log events to the event log, and use and create performance counters. Finally, you are provided with an overview of the .NET framework debugger. You learn how to attach the debugger to the ASP.NET process and step line-by-line through an executing application.

Responding to Errors Four main types of errors can occur in an ASP.NET application: • Configuration errors—Caused by problems in either the Web.Config or the Machine.Config file • Parser errors—Caused by incorrect syntax in an ASP.NET page • Compilation errors—Raised by the Visual Basic compiler • Runtime errors—Detected when the page is actually executing A configuration error, for example, can be caused by a badly formed Web.Config file like the one in Listing 18.1. LISTING 18.1

ConfigErrors/Web.Config

The problem with the Web.Config file in Listing 18.1 is that it does not include a closing tag that corresponds to the opening tag. If you attempt to open a page from the same directory as the directory that contains this Web.Config file, you receive an error. In this case, a very messy error message, see Figure 18.1. (You might receive a different error message depending on the version of the .NET Framework installed on your machine.) A parser error is raised when the contents of a page cannot be parsed. For example, the ASP.NET page in Listing 18.2 would generate a parser error (see Figure 18.2).

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FIGURE 18.1 Receiving a Configuration Error.

18 Receiving a Parser Error.

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

FIGURE 18.2

814

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.2

Parser.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblMessage.Text = “hello!” End Sub Parser.aspx

The problem with the page in Listing 18.2 is that it does not include a closing tag that corresponds with the opening tag. Parser errors prevent a page from being compiled. A compilation error is raised when the ASP.NET page is in the process of being compiled. The error is raised by the particular language being used to compile the page (for example, Visual Basic). The page in Listing 18.3 generates a compilation error (see Figure 18.3). FIGURE 18.3 Receiving a Compilation Error.

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.3

815

Compilation.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblMessage.Value = “hello!” End Sub Compilation.aspx

In the page in Listing 18.3, text is assigned to a Label control’s Value attribute. Because a Label control does not have a Value attribute, a compilation error is raised.

FIGURE 18.4 Receiving a Runtime Error.

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

Finally, runtime errors occur after a page is successfully compiled. A runtime error is not detected until the page actually executes. The page in Listing 18.4 generates a runtime error (see Figure 18.4).

18

816

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.4

Runtime.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim txtTextBox As TextBox txtTextBox.Text = “hello!” End Sub Runtime.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 18.4, a TextBox control is declared, and text is assigned to the TextBox control’s Text property. This assignment generates a Null Reference Exception because the TextBox control wasn’t instantiated before a value was assigned to one of its properties.

Viewing Error Information Two configuration settings affect how error information is displayed: • Custom errors mode—This setting enables or disables custom errors. When custom errors mode is enabled, errors on a page are hidden. This setting has three possible values: On, Off, and RemoteOnly. • Debug mode—When debug mode is enabled, additional information for debugging runtime errors is displayed. You can use custom errors to hide errors from the users of your Web site. When the custom errors mode is assigned the value On, detailed error information is hidden. When the custom errors mode is set to the value Off, all the available error information is displayed. Finally, if you assign the value remoteOnly to custom errors, errors are hidden when requested with a browser on a remote machine, but the errors are displayed when requested with a browser located on the same machine as the Web server.

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If you need to view detailed error information, you need to disable custom errors or set this mode to the value RemoteOnly. You can configure the custom errors mode in either the Machine.Config file or a Web.Config file located within a particular application. The Web.Config file in Listing 18.5, for example, sets customErrors to the value Off. LISTING 18.5

CustomErrorsOff/Web.Config

When the custom errors mode is set to the value Off, detailed error information is always displayed, even on remote computers. (Always displaying this information can be a security risk.) You might want to disable custom errors while developing an ASP.NET application and before placing the site into production.

Note You can enable debug mode to display additional information for runtime errors. This setting has no effect on the display of parser or compilation errors.

When you enable debug mode, ASP.NET pages are compiled with the Visual Basic compiler’s /debug+ compiler option. The source code for the ASP.NET page and detailed compiler output generated by compiling the page are written to files in the Temporary ASP.NET Files directory. Warning Never enable debug mode for a production Web site. Placing an application in debug mode results in a severe performance penalty.

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

The second configuration setting, debug mode, controls whether pages are compiled in debug mode. When pages are compiled in this mode, additional debugging information is included with the compiled code. This mode displays more detailed error information when a runtime error occurs.

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You can choose from two methods to enable debug mode for an ASP.NET page. You can enable debug mode for all the pages in a directory in the Web.Config file, or you can enable it for a single page by using a page directive. For example, the page in Listing 18.6 uses a page directive to enable debug mode. LISTING 18.6

Debug.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim txtTextBox As TextBox txtTextBox.Text = “hello!” End Sub Debug.aspx This page has an error!

When you request the page in Listing 18.6 with debug mode enabled, you see the page in Figure 18.5. When debug mode is disabled, on the other hand, you see the page in Figure 18.6. You can enable or disable debug mode for all the pages in an application by adding the Web.Config file in Listing 18.7 to the root directory of the application. LISTING 18.7

/DebugMode/Web.Config

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FIGURE 18.5 Page with debug mode enabled.

18 Page with debug mode disabled.

The Web.Config file in Listing 18.7 enables debug mode by setting the debug attribute of the compilation configuration setting to the value true. It also disables custom errors

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

FIGURE 18.6

820

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

when pages are requested from the local machine so that error information can be viewed.

Page-Level Error Handling In the following sections, you learn how to capture and handle errors that occur in an ASP.NET page. First, you learn how to use the Visual Basic TRY...CATCH statement to wrap dangerous statements in error handling code. Next, you learn how to capture and respond to unhandled errors that occur in a page by using the Page_Error subroutine.

Catching Exceptions with TRY...CATCH Whenever you need to execute a statement that might fail, it is a good idea to wrap the statement in a Visual Basic TRY...CATCH block. If you place a dangerous statement in a TRY...CATCH block, you can programmatically handle any runtime errors that result from executing the statement. The page in Listing 18.8, for example, uses a TRY...CATCH block when opening a database connection. LISTING 18.8

TryCatch.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;pwd=secret; ➥Database=Northwind;Connection TimeOut=15” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “select * from Products”, conNorthwind ) Try conNorthwind.Open dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close Catch Response.Write( “We’re sorry, we are experiencing technical problems...” ) End Try End Sub TryCatch.aspx

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.8

821

continued

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 18.8, a connection to a SQL Server database named Northwind is opened. The Open method for the SQLConnection object is called within a TRY block. If the connection cannot be opened—for example, the database server is offline—the statement in the CATCH block is executed. This statement simply displays a message reporting technical difficulties. You could, of course, perform other actions in the CATCH block. For example, you could switch to a backup database or automatically send an e-mail to the Webmaster. If you need to retrieve error information within the CATCH block, you can catch the exception that raised the error. Exceptions are represented within the .NET framework with instances of the Exception class. This class includes the following properties:

•

Message—Returns Source—Returns

a string that represents the error message

a string representing the object or application that caused the

error •

StackTrace—Returns

a string that represents the methods called immediately before the error occurred

•

TargetSite—Returns

a MethodBase object that represents the method that caused

the error The page in Listing 18.9, for example, displays the values of these properties when an error occurs. LISTING 18.9

CatchException.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;pwd=secret; ➥Database=Northwind;Connection Timeout=15” )

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

•

18

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.9

continued

cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “select * from Products”, conNorthwind ) Try conNorthwind.Open dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close Catch objException As Exception Response.Write( “We’re sorry, we are experiencing technical problems...” ) Response.Write( “” ) Response.Write( “
Message: “ & objException.Message ) Response.Write( “
Source: “ & objException.Source ) Response.Write( “
Stack Trace: “ & objException.StackTrace ) Response.Write( “
Target Site: “ & objException.TargetSite.Name ) End Try End Sub CatchException.aspx

The Exception object represents a generic exception. You also can use the CATCH statement with particular exceptions. You might want to do so if you need to gather more specific information on the cause of an error. For example, the page in Listing 18.10 uses the CATCH statement with the SqlException class. LISTING 18.10

SqlException.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;pwd=secret; ➥Database=Northwind;Connection TimeOut=15” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “select * from BadTable”, conNorthwind )

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.10

823

continued

Try conNorthwind.Open() dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader dgrdProducts.DataBind() conNorthwind.Close Catch objException As SqlException Dim objError As SqlError For each objError in objException.Errors Response.Write( “
” & objError.Message ) Next End Try End Sub SqlException.aspx

In the CATCH statement in Listing 18.10, an instance of the SqlException class is caught. Next, detailed error information is displayed for the SQL Exception by looping through the SQL Exception’s Errors collection. Note The .NET Framework SDK Documentation lists the particular exceptions raised by the properties and methods of each class.

The TRY...CATCH statement includes an optional FINALLY clause. Any statements contained in the FINALLY clause are guaranteed to execute whether or not an exception has occurred. For example, in the following statements, the FINALLY clause closes the database connection, regardless of whether an error occurred: Try dgrdProducts.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dgrdProducts.DataBind()

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

18

824

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV Catch objException As Exception Response.Write( “Could Not Execute Statement!” ) Finally conNorthwind.Close End Try

Catching Unhandled Exceptions in a Page You can catch and handle any error that occurs in a page by creating a Page_Error subroutine, which is executed whenever an unhandled exception occurs. The page in Listing 18.11, for example, uses the Page_Error subroutine to display a quick apology, display the error message, and clear the exception that raised the error. LISTING 18.11

PageError.aspx

Sub Page_Error Response.Write( “Sorry, there was an error:” ) Response.Write( “
” ) Response.Write( Server.GetLastError.Message ) Server.ClearError() End Sub Sub Page_Load Dim txtTextBox As TextBox txtTextBox.Text = “Hello World!” End Sub PageError.aspx This page contains an error!

The Page_Error subroutine in Listing 18.11 takes advantage of two methods of the HttpServerUtility class: GetLastError and ClearError. The GetLastError method returns the last exception thrown. In the page in Listing 18.11, the GetLastError method displays the value of the Message property of the last exception thrown.

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The ClearError method clears the last exception thrown. If you didn’t call the ClearError method in the page in Listing 18.11, the default error page generated by the ASP.NET framework would be displayed, and no one would ever see the polite apology.

Application-Level Error Handling In the following sections, you learn how to handle errors in your ASP.NET pages no matter where they occur within an application. You also learn how to enable and configure custom errors in the Web.Config file and create a global error handler in the Global. asax file.

Using Custom Errors You can use custom errors to hide errors in your ASP.NET application from your users, or to display more user-friendly error messages. After you enable custom errors, you can automatically redirect users to an error page whenever an unhandled error occurs.

LISTING 18.12

CustomErrors/Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 18.11 associates 404—Page Not Found—errors with the NotFound.aspx page. Page errors with the status code 500—Internal Server Errors—are associated with the AppError.aspx page. Finally, the defaultRedirect attribute associates any other error with the AppError.aspx page. If you request a page and a page with that name does not exist on the Web server, you are automatically redirected to the NotFound.aspx page. When you are redirected to a page with custom errors, a query string variable is automatically passed to the error page. The query string variable, named aspxerrorpath, contains the path of the page that was originally requested. For example, the page in

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

You configure custom errors within the customErrors section of the Web.Config file. This section contains error elements that associate particular errors with error pages. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 18.12 handles both application errors and Page Not Found errors.

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Listing 18.13 illustrates how you can use the aspxerrorpath query string variable to display a simple error message. LISTING 18.13

NotFound.aspx

Sub Page_Load lblMessage.Text = Request.Params( “aspxerrorpath” ) lblMessage.Text &= “ does not exist!” End Sub NotFound.aspx

If you prefer, you also can enable custom errors on a page-by-page basis. You can specify an error page for a particular page by using either the ErrorPage page directive or the ErrorPage page property. If a runtime error occurs when the page in Listing 18.14 is requested, for example, the user is automatically redirected to the AppError.aspx page (This page can be found in the ErrorPage subdirectory). LISTING 18.14

ErrorPage/ErrorPage.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim txtTextBox As TextBox txtTextBox.Text = “Hello” End Sub

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.14

827

continued

ErrorPage.aspx This page contains an error!

In Listing 18.14, the ErrorPage attribute contained in the page directive points to a page named AppError.aspx. If an unhandled error is thrown in the page, the user is automatically redirected to this page. It’s important to understand that the ErrorPage attribute works only when the custom errors mode has been enabled for the application. The custom errors configuration setting must have the value on or remoteOnly in the Web.Config or Machine.Config file for the ErrorPage attribute to work.

Handling Errors in the Global.asax File

The Global.asax file in Listing 18.15, for example, contains an Application_Error subroutine that automatically e-mails the Webmaster of the Web site whenever an error occurs in a page. LISTING 18.15

GlobalError/Global.asax

Sub Application_Error Dim objMail As New MailMessage objMail.From = “[email protected]” objMail.To = “[email protected]” objMail.Subject = “Error at Web site” objMail.Body = Request.Path objMail.Body &= vbNewLine objMail.Body &= Context.Server.GetLastError.Message SmtpMail.Send( objMail ) Context.Server.ClearError() End Sub

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

In the Global.asax file, you can create a single subroutine that is triggered by any unhandled exception thrown on any page. To do so, you simply need to add an Application_Error subroutine to the file.

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If you add the file in Listing 18.15 to your application root directory, an e-mail is sent to [email protected] whenever an error occurs in any page within the application. Note To learn more details about sending e-mail in an ASP.NET application, see Chapter 26, “Sending E-mail and Accessing the Network.”

Tracing and Monitoring Your Application In the following sections, you learn how to trace the execution of your ASP.NET application and monitor its performance. First, you learn how to enable tracing for both pages and applications. By taking advantage of tracing, you can make your pages easier to debug. Next, you examine how to monitor the ASP.NET process and automatically restart an ASP.NET application when problems are detected. You learn how to configure the ASP.NET process model. You also learn methods for reading and adding information to the server event log and create custom event logs to monitor the health of your ASP.NET application. Finally, you learn how to work with performance counters. I provide an overview of the performance counters included with the ASP.NET framework that you can use to monitor the performance of your application. You also learn how to create custom performance counters.

Tracing Page Execution You can trace the execution of an ASP.NET page by using the trace attribute of the page directive. To enable tracing for a single ASP.NET page, include the following directive at the top of the page:

When tracing is enabled for a page, trace information is automatically appended to the bottom of the page (see Figure 18.7). The trace information includes the following statistics:

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FIGURE 18.7 Page with tracing enabled.

18 • Trace Information—Displays information about the steps in page execution. The execution time for each step is displayed in seconds. • Control Tree—Displays the hierarchy of controls in a page. Both the render size and view state size for each control are displayed in bytes. • Session State—Displays each item stored in session state. • Application State—Displays each item stored in application state. • Cookies Collection—Displays the name and value of all cookies stored on the browser. • Headers Collection—Displays all the browser headers sent to the server. • Form Collection—Displays the name and value of each item submitted with an HTML form. •

QueryString

Collection—Displays the name and value of each item submitted in a

query string. • Server Variables—Displays a list of all the server variables (browser headers and environmental variables).

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

• Request Details—Displays such information as the user’s unique session ID, time of the request, and status code returned by the server for the request.

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

All sections are not necessarily displayed when tracing is enabled. For example, the Form Collection section is displayed only when form data has actually been posted. Notice that you can use the information from the Control Tree section to determine the size of the view state for each control. Because view state must be stored in the hidden __VIEWSTATE form field and passing a large hidden form field can significantly affect the rendering speed of a page, limiting the size of view state is a wise idea. You can use the Control Tree section to identify the controls using the most view state. The Trace Information section provides information about the methods called to render the page. The ASP.NET framework automatically inserts certain messages into this section. For example, information about the page Init and PreRender events is automatically inserted into this section.

Adding Custom Trace Messages You can add your own custom trace messages to the Trace Information section. Adding custom trace messages is valuable for debugging an application. While you’re in the process of debugging a page, you can enable tracing and view all your custom trace messages. For example, you can display the value of variables at different points of page execution. When you are satisfied with the page, you can simply turn off tracing and hide all your messages. ASP Classic Note In Classic Active Server Pages, the only trace tool was the Response.Write statement. Typically, you were forced to isolate errors by adding Response.Write statements throughout the page. If you forgot to comment out a Response. Write statement that you added for debugging purposes, the entire world would see your debugging information.

To add custom trace messages, use either the Trace.Warn or Trace.Write methods. The only difference between these methods is that Trace.Warn displays messages in a red font and Trace.Write displays messages in a black font. The page in Listing 18.16, for example, adds custom trace messages to the Trace Information section (see Figure 18.8).

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FIGURE 18.8 Page with tracing enabled.

18 Trace.aspx

Sub Page_Load Trace.Warn( “Page Loading” ) End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Trace.Warn( “The value of favColor is “ & txtFavColor.Text ) lblMessage.Text = “Button Clicked!” End Sub Trace.aspx Enter your Favorite Color Favorite Color:

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

LISTING 18.16

832

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.16

continued

In Listing 18.16, trace messages are displayed in both the Page_Load and Button_Click subroutines. For example, the trace message in the Button_Click subroutine displays the value that the user entered into the TextBox control.

Detecting Whether Tracing Is Enabled If you need to execute code only when tracing is enabled, you can use the Trace.IsEnabled property to detect whether tracing is currently enabled or disabled for a page. For example, suppose that you want to display all the items in a collection in a trace message. The page in Listing 18.17 creates a string that contains the values of all the items in a collection only when tracing is enabled. LISTING 18.17

TraceIsEnabled.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As ArrayList colArrayList = New ArrayList() colArrayList.Add( “red” ) colArrayList.Add( “green” ) colArrayList.Add( “aliceblue” ) If Trace.IsEnabled Then Dim strTraceMessage As String Dim strItem As String

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.17

833

continued

For Each strItem in colArrayList strTraceMessage &= strItem & “,” Next Trace.Warn( strTraceMessage ) End If dropColors.DataSource = colArrayList dropColors.DataBind End Sub TraceIsEnabled.aspx Enter your Favorite Color

When tracing is enabled, the page in Listing 18.17 displays all the items in an ArrayList in a trace message. When tracing is disabled—the Trace page directive has the value False—the trace message is not created.

Creating Trace Categories By default, trace messages are displayed in order of execution. For example, a trace message added within the Page_Load subroutine will be displayed before a trace message added in the Page_PreRender subroutine. Instead of displaying trace messages in order of execution, you can create different categories for trace messages and group the messages into the categories. For example, you could create distinct categories for database trace messages and form trace messages. The page in Listing 18.18 illustrates how to group trace messages into different categories.

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

Favorite Color:

834

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.18

TraceCategories.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Pubs” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “SELECT au_lname FROM Authors”, conPubs ) Trace.Warn( “Database”, “Opening Connection” ) conPubs.Open() dropAuthors.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() dropAuthors.DataTextField = “au_lname” Trace.Warn( “Database”, “Binding to DropDownList” ) dropAuthors.DataBind Trace.Warn( “Database”, “Closing Connection” ) conPubs.Close() End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Trace.Warn( “Form”, “User selected “ & dropAuthors.SelectedItem.Text ) End Sub TraceCategories.aspx Choose an Author Author Last Name:

Notice that the page directive at the top of the page in Listing 18.18 contains a TraceMode attribute. This attribute can have one of two values: SortByTime or

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SortByCategory. TraceMode

Because you want to group trace messages by category, you set to the value SortByCategory.

When each trace message is created with the Trace.Warn statement, the category is specified. For example, the following Trace.Warn statement creates a trace message in the category Database: Trace.Warn( “Database”, “Opening Connection” )

You can, of course, invent any categories you please. All your custom trace messages appear at the bottom of the Trace Information section.

Displaying Errors in Trace Messages If you use TRY...CATCH statements in your ASP.NET pages to gracefully handle errors (as you should), errors are not displayed in the page when something goes wrong. The lack of error messages can make the process of debugging a page difficult. Fortunately, you can display the errors caught in TRY...CATCH statements within trace messages.

LISTING 18.19

TraceException.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim txtTextBox As TextBox Try txtTextBox.Text = “Hello!” Catch objException As Exception Trace.Warn( “Page Errors”, “Assigning Value To TextBox”, objException ) End Try End Sub TraceException.aspx This page contains an error!

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

The page in Listing 18.19, for example, contains an error. The statement that causes the error is wrapped in a TRY...CATCH statement, so the error is not displayed in the page. However, the error is displayed within a trace message.

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In Listing 18.19, you pass three parameters to the Trace.Warn method: the category of the trace message, the text of the trace message, and the exception caught in the TRY...CATCH block. The values of all three parameters are displayed in the Trace Information section when tracing is enabled.

Using Application-Level Tracing You can use a special page, named trace.axd, to view trace information collected from all the pages in your application. By default, the trace.axd page automatically displays a list of the last 10 requests to your application. A View Details link appears next to each item in the list, linking to a page that shows detailed trace information for that request (see Figure 18.9). FIGURE 18.9 Application-level tracing.

Before you can use the trace.axd page, you must enable application-level tracing within either the Machine.Config file or root Web.Config file for your application. The Web.Config file in Listing 18.20 contains the necessary values to enable application-level tracing. (You can find this file in the AppTrace directory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 18.20

AppTrace/Web.Config

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.20

837

continued

The Web.Config file in Listing 18.20 enables application-level tracing on the local machine. It specifies that trace statistics should be stored for the last 50 requests. The trace configuration section contains the following five elements: •

enabled—A

Boolean value that indicates whether tracing is enabled for the application. The default value is true.

•

requestLimit—The

number of requests to list in the trace.axd page. The default

value is 10. pageOutput—A Boolean value that indicates whether trace information is displayed at the bottom of every page in the application. The default value is false.

•

traceMode—A

•

localOnly—A

value that indicates the order in which trace messages are displayed. Possible values are SortByTime and SortByCategory; the default value is SortByTime. Boolean value that indicates whether trace messages should be displayed only on the local computer, not remote computers. The default value is true.

Warning If you want to disable the trace.axd page on a production Web site, you need to remove the reference to the trace page handler in the Machine.Config file. You can remove this entry from the httpHandlers section.

Monitoring the ASP.NET Process ASP.NET applications execute in a separate process from the Web server. The Web server executes in a process named inetinfo.exe, and ASP.NET applications execute in a process named aspnet_wp.exe (the ASP.NET Worker Process).

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

•

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You can modify several configuration settings that affect the behavior of the ASP.NET process. These configuration settings can be divided into two groups. The first group enables you to automatically restart the ASP.NET process in response to problems such as memory leaks, deadlocks, and access violations: •

memoryLimit—The percentage of system memory that the ASP.NET process is allowed to consume. By default, this setting has the value 80, which stands for 80% of system memory. (memoryLimit refers to the percentage of physical memory, not the percentage of virtual memory.)

•

requestQueueLimit—The maximum number of queued requests. By default, this setting has the value 5000, which stands for 5,000 requests.

•

shutdownTimeout—The amount of time that the ASP.NET process is allowed to gracefully shut down. By default, this setting has the value 00:00:05, which stands for 5 seconds.

When the ASP.NET worker process exceeds the memory or request queue limit, the process is automatically shut down and replaced by a new worker process. All the pending requests to the old process are automatically transferred to the new process. In theory, this should mean that the handoff between processes should be undetectable to the users of the application. You can modify these settings in the section of the Machine.Config file. These setting are read directly by aspnet_isapi.dll when the ASP.NET worker process is started. The second group of configuration settings enables you to automatically restart the ASP.NET process after a certain amount of time or a certain number of requests: •

idleTimeout—The

amount of idle time before the ASP.NET process is automatically shut down. The value is specified in hours, minutes, and seconds represented by a string in the format 99:99:99. By default, this setting has the value infinite, which indicates that the ASP.NET process should never be shut down.

•

requestLimit—The

number of requests before the ASP.NET process is shut down. By default, this setting has the value infinite, which indicates that the ASP.NET process should never be shut down.

•

timeout—The

amount of time before the ASP.NET process is automatically shut down. The value is specified in hours, minutes, and seconds represented by a string in the format 99:99:99. By default, this setting has the value infinite, which indicates that the ASP.NET process should never be shut down.

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You can use these settings to automatically recycle the ASP.NET process every so often, to reclaim memory lost to memory leaks or dump bad code from memory. For example, the following processModel section automatically shuts down the ASP.NET process once every 24 hours:

You can test processModel configuration settings by using the page in Listing 18.21. Warning The page in Listing 18.21 is designed to crash the ASP.NET process by consuming too much memory.

LISTING 18.21

ProcessModel.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objStream As MemoryStream objStream = Application( “Stream” ) If IsNothing( objStream ) Then objStream = New MemoryStream() objStream.WriteByte( 255 ) End If objStream.WriteTo( objStream ) Application( “Stream” ) = objStream lblMemory.Text = objStream.Length lblProcessID.Text = _ ProcessModelInfo.GetCurrentProcessInfo.ProcessID End Sub ProcessModel.aspx Memory Consumed:

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

840

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.21

continued

bytes
Process ID:

The page in Listing 18.21 doubles the amount of memory that it consumes every time you request it. It also displays the ID of the current process. Notice that when you pass a certain threshold—the percentage of physical memory specified by the memoryLimit setting—a new process automatically replaces the current process.

Retrieving Process Information You can use the ProcessModelInfo class to retrieve information about the ASP.NET process. The GetCurrentProcessInfo method returns information about the ASP.NET process currently executing, and the GetProcessInfoHistory method returns a history of ASP.NET processes. Both methods return instances of the ProcessInfo class, which has the following properties: •

Age—A TimeSpan value that represents the length of time the ASP.NET process has been running

•

PeakMemoryUsed—The

maximum amount of memory used by the ASP.NET

process in bytes •

ProcessID—An

integer that represents the ID of the ASP.NET process

•

RequestCount—An

integer that represents the number of requests handled by the

ASP.NET process •

ShutdownReason—A

value representing the reason the ASP.NET process shut down (for example, MemoryLimitExceeded)

•

StartTime—A DateTime value representing the date and time the ASP.NET process was started

•

Status—The

status of the ASP.NET process (for example, Alive or Shutdown).

The page in Listing 18.22, for example, displays information about the last 10 ASP.NET processes (see Figure 18.10).

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FIGURE 18.10 Viewing process history.

18 ProcessHistory.aspx

Sub Page_Load dgrdHistory.DataSource = ProcessModelInfo.GetHistory( 10 ) dgrdHistory.Databind() End Sub ProcessHistory.aspx

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

LISTING 18.22

842

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.22

continued

Logging Events The Windows 2000 operating system includes a centralized set of system event logs. You can use these centralized logs to record events from your ASP.NET applications to a standard location. You add new entries or retrieve existing entries from your server’s event logs by using the EventLog class. For example, the page in Listing 18.23 contains a form that enables you to insert a new entry into the Application event log. LISTING 18.23

AddEventLog.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objLog As EventLog If Not EventLog.SourceExists( “myApp” ) Then EventLog.CreateEventSource( “myApp”, “Application” ) End If

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.23

843

continued

objLog = New EventLog objLog.Source = “myApp” objLog.WriteEntry( txtLogEntry.Text, EventLogEntryType.Information) End Sub AddEventLog.aspx

The Button_Click subroutine in Listing 18.23 adds a new event to the Application event log. First, the subroutine creates a new event source named myApp. Next, an instance of the EventLog class is created. The Source property is associated with the name of the event source. Finally, the WriteEntry method is called to add the event to the event log. The first parameter passed to the WriteEntry method represents the message to add to the event log. You can write any message that you please. The second parameter represents the type of the message. The EventLogEntryType enumeration has the following five values: •

Error

•

FailureAudit

•

Information

•

SuccessAudit

•

Warning

You can use the EventLog class with the Application_Error subroutine in the Global. asax file to automatically log all errors in your ASP.NET application to a server event log. The Global.asax file in Listing 18.24 illustrates how to log all application errors to

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

a custom event log named CustomLog. (You can find this page in the LogError directory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 18.24

LogError/Global.asax

Sub Application_Error Dim strErrorText As String Dim objLog As EventLog strErrorText strErrorText strErrorText strErrorText strErrorText

= “ERROR IN “ & Request.Path &= vbNewline & vbNewline & “ERROR:” &= Server.GetLastError.Message &= vbNewline & vbNewline & “STACK TRACE:” &= Server.GetLastError.StackTrace

If Not EventLog.SourceExists( “CustomLog” ) Then EventLog.CreateEventSource( “CustomLog”, “CustomLog” ) End If objLog = New EventLog objLog.Source = “CustomLog” objLog.WriteEntry( strErrorText, EventLogEntryType.Error ) End Sub

If you add the Global.asax file in Listing 18.24 to the root directory of your application, any error generated by any page in your application is recorded to the CustomLog event log. You can view entries in the CustomLog event log by opening Event Viewer on your server. Alternatively, you can use the ASP.NET page in Listing 18.25 to display all the entries in the CustomLog event log. LISTING 18.25

DisplayEventLog.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objLog As EventLog objLog = New EventLog objLog.Log = “CustomLog”

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.25

845

continued

dgrdLog.DataSource = objLog.Entries dgrdLog.DataBind() End Sub DisplayEventLog.aspx

In Listing 18.25, all the entries from the CustomLog event log are retrieved with the Entries property of the EventLog class. The log entries are displayed in a DataGrid control.

18 You can use the page in Listing 18.25 to view the Application, System, or Security log by changing the Log property to point to the appropriate log file. For example, to view the Application event log, you would set the Log property like this: myLog.Log = “Application”

Using Performance Counters You can use performance counters to monitor the performance of your ASP.NET applications. The ASP.NET framework includes several standard performance counters that you can use. Alternatively, you can create your own custom performance counters.

Using ASP.NET Performance Counters The standard ASP.NET performance counters can be divided into two groups: system performance counters and application performance counters. The system performance counters contain information about every executing ASP.NET application, whereas the application performance counters contain information about a particular ASP.NET application.

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Note

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

The system performance counters include the following counters: • Application Restarts—The total number of ASP.NET application restarts since Internet Information Server was last started. Specifically, this counter counts each Application_End event. • Application Running—The total number of executing ASP.NET applications. • Requests Disconnected—The total number of requests that were disconnected due to a communication failure. • Requests Queued—The total number of requests waiting in the queue. • Request Wait Time—The amount of time, in milliseconds, that the last request waited for processing in the queue. • Worker Process Restarts—The total number of times that the ASP.NET process has been restarted. • Worker Process Running—The total number of executing ASP.NET processes. You can use the application counters to monitor the performance of a particular ASP.NET application instance, or an aggregate of all application instances, by using the __Total__ instance. The following is a partial list of the application counters: • Authentication Anonymous Requests—The total number of anonymous requests • Authentication Anonymous Requests/Sec—The number of anonymous requests made per second • Debugging Requests—The number of requests that occurred while debugging was enabled • Errors During Compilation—The number of errors that occurred during compilation • Errors During Execution—The total number of errors that occurred during the execution of an HTTP request • Errors During Preprocessing—The number of errors that occurred during parsing • Errors Unhandled During Execution—The total number of unhandled errors that occurred during the execution of HTTP requests • Errors Unhandled During Execution/Sec—The number of unhandled exceptions per second that occur during the execution of HTTP requests • Total Errors—The total number of errors that occur during the execution of HTTP requests, including any parsing, compilation, or runtime errors

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• Total Errors/Sec—The number of errors per second that occur during the execution of HTTP requests, including any parsing, compilation, or runtime errors • Request Bytes in Total—The total size of all requests in bytes • Request Bytes out Total—The total size of responses sent to a client in bytes (not including standard HTTP response headers) • Requests Executing—The number of requests currently executing • Requests Failed Total—The total number of failed requests, including requests that timed out, requests that were not authorized (status code 401), or requests not found (404 or 414) • Requests Not Found—The number of requests that failed because resources were not found (status code 404, 414) • Requests Not Authorized—The number of requests that failed due to no authorization (status code 401) • Requests Succeeded—The number of requests that executed successfully and returned with status code 200 • Requests Timed Out— The number of requests that timed out • Requests/Sec—The number of requests executed per second • Sessions Active—The current number of sessions currently active • Sessions Abandoned—The number of sessions that have been explicitly abandoned • Sessions Timed Out—The number of sessions that timed out • Sessions Total—The total number of sessions You can view any of these ASP.NET system or application performance counters by launching Windows Performance Monitor. In Windows 2000, go to Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Performance. To view a particular counter, click the Add button and select the counter that you want to view from the dialog box. Note You also can launch Performance Monitor by typing perfmon at a command prompt.

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

• Requests Total—The total number of requests since the service was started

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By monitoring the Requests/Sec performance counter, for example, you can determine how well your Web application scales. By monitoring the Total Errors performance counter, you can detect whether your site is experiencing problems.

Retrieving Performance Counters in an ASP.NET Page Instead of monitoring performance counters through Windows Performance Monitor, you can retrieve counter values directly through an ASP.NET page. You can use the classes from the System.Diagnostics namespace to work with performance counters within your application. To retrieve an object that represents a particular performance counter, you need to supply the performance counter category name, performance counter name, and performance counter instance name. For example, the following statements create a counter that represents the Total Requests performance counter: Dim objCounter As PerformanceCounter objCounter = New PerformanceCounter( “ASP.NET Applications”, “Requests Total”, ➥ “__Total__” )

The first parameter, ASP.NET Applications, represents the performance counter category name. The second parameter, Requests Total, represents a particular performance counter. Finally, the last parameter, __Total__, represents the performance counter instance name (the instance name __Total__ is preceded and followed by two underscore characters). After you create an instance of a performance counter, you can read its values by using one of the following properties or methods: •

RawValue—Returns

the raw value of the performance counter at the time the

counter is read •

NextValue—Returns

the calculated value of the counter

•

NextSample—Returns

a sample of the value of the counter that you can use when calculating statistics for the counter with the Calculate method of the CounterSample class

The page in Listing 18.26, for example, uses the NextValue method to return the value of a particular counter. The page enables you to view the value of any ASP.NET Application counter for any application instance (see Figure 18.11).

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FIGURE 18.11 Displaying performance counters.

18 ReadCounters.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim objCategory As PerformanceCounterCategory objCategory = New PerformanceCounterCategory( “ASP.NET Applications” ) lstInstances.Datasource = objCategory.GetInstanceNames() DataBind() End If End Sub Sub SelectInstance( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objCategory As PerformanceCounterCategory objCategory = New PerformanceCounterCategory( “ASP.NET Applications” ) lstCounters.Visible = True lstCounters.Datasource = objCategory.GetCounters( ➥lstInstances.SelectedItem.Text ) lstCounters.DataTextField = “CounterName” DataBind() End Sub

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

LISTING 18.26

850

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV LISTING 18.26

continued

Sub SelectCounter( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objCounter As PerformanceCounter objCounter = New PerformanceCounter( “ASP.NET Applications”, _ lstCounters.SelectedItem.Text, lstInstances.SelectedItem.Text ) lblValue.Text = objCounter.NextValue() End Sub ReadCounters.aspx ASP.NET Application Performance Counters

Instances
Counters
Counter Value:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 18.26, a list of instance names is returned from the PerformanceCounterCategory class and assigned to a ListBox control. If you pick a performance counter instance from the ListBox control, the SelectInstance subroutine executes.

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The SelectInstance subroutine retrieves a list of performance counters for a particular instance with the GetCounters method of the PerformanceCounterCategory class. The list of counters is assigned to a ListBox control. If you pick a counter in the ListBox control, the SelectCounter subroutine is executed. The SelectCounter subroutine uses the NextValue method to display the value of the selected performance counter. The value is displayed in a Label control. You should be aware of two issues when reading performance counters in an ASP.NET page. First, the page in Listing 18.26 uses the NextValue method to retrieve the value of a counter. Several performance counters, such as Requests/Sec, require you to read the counter value more than once to retrieve a value other than 0. To retrieve a useful value from this type of counter, you need to call the NextValue method multiple times or use the NextSample method. You also should be aware that, in the case of performance counters, to be is to be perceived. The values of all the performance counters are reset to 0 when the last component that references the counter is disposed. This means, unless you have an application that is continuously reading the performance counter, you won’t get very accurate information from the performance counter.

Creating Custom Performance Counters Imagine that you want to track the total number of orders, the number of orders per second, or the amount of money per second that your company Web site is producing. You can create custom performance counters to track these values. The easiest way to create a new counter is to use the Create method of the PerformanceCounterCategory class. This statement creates both a new counter category and a single performance counter in that category. For example, the following statement creates a new performance counter category named MyCounters and a new performance counter named Total Orders: PerformanceCounterCategory.Create( _ “MyCounters”, _ “My Custom Counters”, _ “Total Orders”, _ “Displays total product orders” )

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

You can get around this limitation in two ways: Keep Windows Performance Monitor running or start the Performance Counter Windows Service. The Performance Counter Service was installed on your server when you installed the .NET framework. To start the service, go to Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Services. Running either Performance Monitor or the Performance Counter Service prevents your counters from being reset.

18

852

Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

In this statement, four parameters are passed to the Create method: • Category name—The name of the new performance counter category • Category help—A message describing the counters in this category • Counter name—The name of the new performance counter • Counter help—A message describing the new performance counter After you execute the Create method, a new performance counter category and performance counter are created on your server. You need to stop and restart Windows Performance Monitor before you can view it. You can modify the value of a custom performance counter in an ASP.NET page by using either the Increment or IncrementBy method. The Increment method increments the current value of the counter by one, and the IncrementBy method increments the current value of the counter by a certain integer amount. If you need to decrement the value of a counter, pass a negative number to the IncrementBy method. The ASP.NET page in Listing 18.27 illustrates how you can create and use a custom performance counter. LISTING 18.27

CreateCounter.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objCounter As PerformanceCounter If Not PerformanceCounterCategory.Exists( “MyAppCounters” ) Then PerformanceCounterCategory.Create( _ “MyAppCounters”, _ “My Custom Counters”, _ “Total Orders”, _ “Displays total product orders” ) End If objCounter = New PerformanceCounter( “MyAppCounters”, “Total Orders”, False ) objCounter.Increment End Sub CreateCounter.aspx

Application Tracing and Error Handling CHAPTER 18 LISTING 18.27

853

continued

The page in Listing 18.27 contains a form with one button labeled Place Order! If you click the Place Order! button, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. This subroutine checks whether a performance counter category named MyAppCounters already exists. If the category doesn’t exist, the category is created with a single performance counter named Total Orders. Next, the subroutine creates an instance of the Total Orders counter. The current value of this counter is incremented by one by calling the Increment method.

Using the Debugger The .NET framework includes a visual debugger that enables you to step line-by-line through the statements of an executing ASP.NET page. You can use the debugger to create breakpoints and watches, to view the values of variables at any point during page execution. In the following sections, you learn how to set up the debugger and create breakpoints and watches. Note The debugger included with the .NET framework is the same as the debugger included with Visual Studio .Net, except that the .NET framework debugger is missing some features. For example, the .NET framework debugger does not support remote debugging.

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

To test this page, launch Windows Performance Monitor and add the Total Orders counter (if you already have Performance Monitor open, you might have to close and reopen it). Every time you click the Place Order! button in the ASP.NET page, the value of the Total Orders counter should increment in Windows Performance Monitor.

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Working with ASP.NET Applications PART IV

Attaching the Debugger Before you can use the debugger, you must place your ASP.NET application in debug mode. The debugger requires the extra symbol information generated in debug mode to associate executing statements with the appropriate source code. To place your application in debug mode, include the Web.Config file in Listing 18.28 in the root directory of your application. LISTING 18.28

DebugMode/Web.Config

To start debugging an ASP.NET page, follow these steps: 1. Request the page that you want to debug with your Web browser. Requesting the page ensures that the correct ASP.NET application is executing. 2. Launch the debugger named DbgClr.exe. You can find it in the GuiDebug subdirectory in the Framework SDK install directory. 3. Click the Open File button to open the ASP.NET page that you want to debug. 4. Select Debug, Processes to open the Processes dialog box. 5. Select Show system processes, select the aspnet_wp.exe process, and click Attach… 6. Close the Processes dialog box. Warning Never use the debugger on a production Web site. When you attach the debugger to an ASP.NET application, it freezes requests to the application.

Creating Breakpoints Before you can debug an ASP.NET page, you must first specify one or more breakpoints in page execution. When an executing page reaches a breakpoint, the debugger enters break mode. You can view the values of variables only when the debugger is in break mode.

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To set a break point within the debugger, click the margin on the left of the statement where you want the breakpoint to occur. Clicking the margin should cause a solid red dot to appear to signify the breakpoint (see Figure 18.12). You can add as many breakpoints to a page as you want. FIGURE 18.12 Setting a breakpoint.

18

After you create at least one breakpoint, request the page that you are debugging within a Web browser. The debugger should gain window focus when the breakpoint is reached. The debugger automatically enters break mode.

Creating Watches When the debugger is in break mode after reaching a breakpoint, you can view the current values of the variables in a page in several ways. The easiest way to view the value of any variable in the debugger is to hover the mouse pointer over the name of the variable. A ToolTip displays the current value of the variable. Alternatively, you can open the Quick Watch dialog box by selecting Debug, Quick Watch. You also can automatically add a variable to the Quick Watch dialog box by right-clicking the name of the variable and selecting Quick Watch.

APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

If you hover your mouse pointer over a breakpoint, a ToolTip displays the line number of the ASP.NET application that is associated with the breakpoint.

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Within the Quick Watch dialog box, you can view the value of any variable by entering its name in the Expression text box and clicking Recalculate. You can also assign a new value to any variable within the Quick Watch dialog box by clicking its current value and entering a new value. Finally, you can add a watch to the debugger. Within the Quick Watch dialog box, click the Add Watch button. Outside Quick Watch, right-click the name of a variable and select Add Watch. Either method adds the variable to the Watch window. You can edit the value of any variable in the Watch window by clicking its current value and entering a new value. After you add a watch for a variable to the Watch window, the Watch window continues to display the current value of the variable as you step through each line in the ASP.NET page.

Stepping Through an ASP.NET Page After the debugger hits a breakpoint, you can continue execution in several ways. If you want the page to continue executing until the next breakpoint is reached, you can click the Continue button (the VCR play button). You also can continue page execution by selecting any of the following options from the Debug menu: • Step Into—Executes the next unit of code. Step Into executes each unit of code in a function or subroutine individually. • Step Over—Executes the next unit of code. Step Over executes an entire function or subroutine without executing each unit of code individually. • Step Out—Executes the remainder of a function or subroutine and enters break mode when executed within the function or subroutine. You can use Step Into, Step Over, and Step Out with different units of execution. You can step by statement, line, or instruction. To select the unit of execution, choose Debug, Step By.

Summary In this chapter, you learned how to debug, trace, and monitor your ASP.NET pages and applications. In the first section, you learned how to debug ASP.NET pages at both the page and application level. You learned how to gracefully handle errors at the page level

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by using TRY...CATCH blocks. You also examined methods for handling errors at the application level by using the Application_OnError subroutine and configuring custom errors. Next, you learned how to trace, log, and monitor your ASP.NET pages and applications. You learned how to enable tracing for both individual pages and entire ASP.NET applications and use the process model to automatically shut down misbehaving ASP.NET applications. You also examined how to log events in an ASP.NET page to the standard server event logs and monitor the performance of an ASP.NET application by using performance counters. In the last section, you looked at the visual debugger included with the .NET framework. You learned how to use the debugger to create breakpoints and watches and step through an executing ASP.NET page line-by-line.

18 APPLICATION TRACING AND ERROR HANDLING

Securing ASP.NET Applications

PART

V IN THIS PART 19 Using Forms-Based Authentication

861

20 Using Windows-Based Authentication 21 Encrypting Data over the Network

911

927

CHAPTER 19

Using FormsBased Authentication IN THIS CHAPTER • Working with Forms Authentication 862 • Working with Passport Authentication 899

862

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

In this chapter, you examine two methods of password-protecting pages in a Web application. Both methods use cookie authentication with HTML forms. In the first part of this chapter, you learn how to use ASP.NET Forms authentication. When you use Forms authentication, you can store usernames and passwords in a custom data store, such as the Web.Config file, an XML file, or a database table. Next, you learn how to configure an ASP.NET application to take advantage of Microsoft Passport authentication. Microsoft Passport is a centralized authentication service that enables users to use the same username and password across multiple Web sites.

Working with Forms Authentication If you want to set up a custom user registration system for your Web site, you can use Forms authentication. The advantage of this type of authentication is that it enables you to store usernames and passwords in whatever storage mechanism you desire. For example, you can store usernames and passwords in the Web.Config file, an XML file, or a database table. Forms authentication relies on browser cookies to determine the identity of a user. After you enable Forms authentication for a directory, pages in the directory cannot be accessed unless the user has the proper Authentication Ticket stored in a cookie. If a user requests a page without the proper Authentication Ticket, he or she can be automatically redirected to a login page. If the user enters a valid username and password combination, you can automatically redirect him or her back to the original page. When using Forms authentication, you can easily set up an automatic user registration system. For example, you can create a database table that contains usernames and passwords. In that case, adding a new registered user is as simple as adding a new username and password to the database table. The .NET classes for Forms authentication are located in the System.Web.Security namespace. The following list contains the most important of these classes: •

FormsAuthentication—This class contains several shared methods for working with Forms authentication.

•

FormsAuthenticationTicket—This

class represents the Authentication Ticket used in the cookie for Forms authentication.

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19

•

FormsIdentity—This class represents the identity of the user authenticated with Forms authentication.

•

FormsAuthenticationModule—This

863

class is the actual module used for forms

authentication. You learn how to take advantage of these classes in the following sections.

Enabling Forms Authentication To enable basic Forms authentication for an application, you must complete the following three steps: • Set the authentication mode for the application by modifying the authentication section in the application root Web.Config file. • Deny access to anonymous users in one or more directories in the application by modifying the authorization section in the Web.Config files in the appropriate directories. • Create a login page containing a form that enables users to enter their usernames and passwords. The first step is to enable Forms authentication for an application. To do so, you must modify an application’s root directory Web.Config file. If the Web.Config file doesn’t already exist, you can create it. Warning

However, enabling Forms authentication does not force you to password-protect every page. You can enable anonymous access for particular directories within an application even when Forms authentication is enabled for the application.

Note All the files discussed in this section are located in the FormSimple directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, copy the FormSimple directory and all its subdirectories to your Web server. Next, create a new virtual directory that points to the FormSimple directory.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

You must enable Forms authentication for an ASP.NET application as a whole. You can set the authentication mode only in the Web.Config file located in an application’s root directory.

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The Web.Config file in Listing 19.1 contains the minimal amount of information necessary to enable Forms authentication for an application. LISTING 19.1

FormsSimple/Web.Config

In Listing 19.1, the authentication mode is set to Forms. Creating this file enables Forms authentication for the entire application. Warning The names of the elements and attributes in the Web.Config file are case sensitive.

The next step is to password-protect individual directories. You can require users to log in to access any ASP.NET page at your Web site by modifying the root directory Web.Config file. Alternatively, you can add Web.Config files to particular directories to password-protect only certain pages. To password-protect a particular directory and its subdirectories, add the Web.Config file in Listing 19.2 to the directory. (This file can be found in the FormsSimple\Secret subdirectory.) LISTING 19.2

FormsSimple\Secret\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.2 denies access to the ASP.NET pages contained in the directory to anonymous users. The ? symbol represents all anonymous users.

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Warning By default, Forms authentication applies only to ASP.NET pages. You cannot use it to password-protect other types of files, such as image files, Microsoft Word documents, text files, or Classic ASP files. If you want to use Forms authentication with other types of files, then you must explicitly map the file type to the aspnet_isapi.dll extension in the Internet Services Manager.

After you add the Web.Config file in Listing 19.2 to a directory, anonymous users are denied access to ASP.NET pages in that directory and all subdirectories. If you want to enable users to access files in a particular subdirectory, you can add the Web.Config file contained in Listing 19.3. (This file can be found in the FormsSimple\Anon subdirectory.) LISTING 19.3

FormsSimple\Anon\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.3 allows all anonymous users to access any page contained in a directory and all the subdirectories of that directory.

The simple Login.aspx page contained in Listing 19.4 displays a form with a field for a username and password (see Figure 19.1). The page requires you to enter the username Sam and password Secret. (The form is case-sensitive.)

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The final step required for enabling Forms authentication is to create the Login.aspx page. If you attempt to access an ASP.NET page in a password-protected directory and you don’t have the proper Authentication Ticket cookie, you are automatically redirected to this page.

19

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Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

FIGURE 19.1 A simple login page.

LISTING 19.4

FormsSimple\Login.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then If txtUsername.Text = “Sam” And txtPassword.Text = “Secret” Then FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, ➥chkRemember.Checked ) Else lblMessage.Text = “Bad username/password!” End If End If End Sub Login.aspx Please Login:
Username:
Password:
Remember me with a cookie?

In Listing 19.4, the important work happens in the Button_Click subroutine, which first checks the IsValid property to test whether both a username and password were entered into the form. If the page is valid, the values of the username and password form fields are matched against the values Sam and Secret.

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If you enter the correct username and password, the RedirectFromLoginPage method is called. Two parameters are passed to this method: the username and a Boolean value indicating whether a persistent cookie should be created. Forms authentication supports both session and persistent cookies. When you call the RedirectFromLoginPage, you can indicate whether a persistent cookie should be created. If the RedirectFromLoginPage creates a persistent cookie, the cookie continues to exist even if the user shuts down his or her computer and returns to your Web site many days in the future. Warning Normally, you should allow users to decide whether to create a persistent cookie. For example, if you were temporarily using a computer at the library or a friend’s house, you would not want to create a persistent cookie on that computer.

Calling the RedirectFromLoginPage method performs two actions. First, it creates a cookie on the user’s browser that contains an Authentication Ticket. After this cookie is set, the user can access pages in directories that require Forms authentication. The RedirectFromLoginPage method also automatically redirects the user back to the page that sent him or her to the Login.aspx page in the first place by using a browser redirect. Note The RedirectFromLoginPage method redirects the user back to the page indicated by the ReturnUrl query string variable. If the user links directly to the Login.aspx page, the ReturnUrl query string variable doesn’t have a value. In that case, the RedirectFromLoginPage redirects the user to the Default.aspx page.

Configuring Forms Authentication In the preceding section, you learned how to modify the Web.Config file to enable Forms authentication for an application. In this section, you examine the options for configuring Forms authentication in more detail.

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The authentication section in the Web.Config file can contain an optional forms element, which supports the following attributes: •

loginUrl—The page where the user is automatically redirected when authentication is required. By default, users are redirected to the Login.aspx page in the application root directory. However, you can change this attribute to point to any page that you please.

•

name—The

name of the browser cookie that contains the Authentication Ticket. By default, the cookie is named .ASPXAUTH. However, if you are configuring multiple applications on the same server, you should provide a unique cookie name for each application.

•

timeout—The amount of time in minutes before a cookie expires. By default, this attribute has the value 30 minutes. This attribute does not apply to persistent cookies.

•

path—The

•

protection—The

path used for the cookie. By default, this attribute has the value /.

way the cookie data is protected. Possible values are All, None, Encryption, and Validation; the default value is All.

The protection attribute requires some explanation. By default, cookies are encrypted by using either DES or TripleDES encryption (depending on the capabilities of the server). Furthermore, the contents of the cookie are validated with a Message Authentication Code to protect against tampering. You can disable encryption or validation or both features by changing the value of the attribute. For example, setting protection to Encryption causes the cookie to be encrypted but not validated. You can get better performance from your application by disabling encryption and validation. However, disabling these features also results in a less secure site. protection

LISTING 19.5

FormsAttributes\Web.Config

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.5 illustrates how you can set the forms attributes.

19

870

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

Configuring Forms Authorization The authorization section of the Web.Config file determines which users can access ASP.NET pages within a directory. In the simplest case, you want to use the authorization section to deny all anonymous users access to the pages in a directory by using a Web.Config file like the one in Listing 19.6. LISTING 19.6

Web.Config

The authorization section can contain either elements, which deny access for particular users, or elements, which enable access for particular users. You can also use the special symbol ?, which stands for all anonymous users, or the symbol *, which stands for all users (both anonymous and authenticated). You can use the authorization section to make fine-grained distinctions among users and among different actions the users might perform. For example, suppose that you want to deny access to all anonymous users. Furthermore, you want to deny access to James and Mark even after they log in. You can do so by using the Web.Config file in Listing 19.7. LISTING 19.7

Web.Config

In Listing 19.7, the element element>> denies access to James and Mark. So, even if these users log in through the Login.aspx page, they cannot access ASP.NET pages located in the current directory.

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Finally, you can use the verbs attribute to control whether users can use HTTP Post or HTTP Get. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 19.8 enables anyone to get an ASP.NET page in the directory but prevents everyone except for James or Mark from posting an HTML form. LISTING 19.8

Web.Config

Retrieving User Information The identity of a user authenticated with Forms authentication is represented by the FormsIdentity class. You can use the following properties of this class to retrieve information about an authenticated user: •

AuthenticationType—Always

•

IsAuthenticated—Indicates

•

Name—Indicates

•

returns the value Forms

whether the user was authenticated

the name of an authenticated user

Ticket—Specifies

the cookie Authentication Ticket associated with the current

user

You cannot retrieve one important bit of information—the password associated with the user. There’s a good reason for this limitation. The password is not actually stored as part of the cookie. If you want the password, you must look it up yourself.

You can use the IsAuthenticated property to test whether this user has already been authenticated. If a user requests a page from a directory that requires authentication and then requests a page from a directory that does not require authentication, the IsAuthenticated property continues to return the value True.

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Note

19

872

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

The Name property returns the name associated with the current user. Again, after a user is authenticated once, the Name property continues to hold the username. Finally, the Ticket property represents the Authentication Ticket. The FormsAuthenticationTicket class has the following properties: •

CookiePath—The

path of the Authentication Ticket cookie.

•

Expiration—The

date the Authentication Ticket cookie expires.

•

Expired—A

Boolean value indicating whether the current Authentication Ticket

has expired. •

IsPersistent—A

value that indicates whether the Authentication Ticket is contained in a persistent cookie.

•

IssueDate—The

date and time the cookie containing the Authentication Ticket

was created. •

Name—The

username associated with the Authentication Ticket.

•

UserData—Custom

•

Version—An

data that you can include in the Authentication Ticket.

integer representing the version number of the Authentication Ticket. Currently, by default, this property always returns the value 1.

The ASP.NET page in Listing 19.9 demonstrates how you can retrieve and display all these properties within an ASP.NET page. (This page shows something interesting only if the user has already been authenticated before requesting the page, see Figure 19.2.) FIGURE 19.2 Displaying user information.

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.9

873

FormsIdentity\FormsIdentity.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objUserIdentity As FormsIdentity Dim objTicket As FormsAuthenticationTicket If User.Identity.IsAuthenticated Then objUserIdentity = User.Identity objTicket = objUserIdentity.Ticket lblName.Text = objUserIdentity.Name lblExpiration.Text = objTicket.Expiration lblExpired.Text = objTicket.Expired lblIsPersistent.Text = objTicket.IsPersistent lblIssueDate.Text = objTicket.IssueDate lblUserData.Text = objTicket.UserData lblVersion.Text = objTicket.Version Else lblName.Text = “Who Are You?” End If End Sub FormsIdentity.aspx

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Expiration:
Expired:
IsPersistent:

874

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.9

continued

IssueDate:
UserData:
Version:

Creating a Sign Out Page If you want to create a page that enables a user to sign out and return to anonymity, you can use the SignOut method of the FormsAuthentication class. Calling the SignOut method removes either a session or persistent cookie. A simple Sign Out page is contained in Listing 19.10. LISTING 19.10

SignOut.aspx

Sub Page_Load FormsAuthentication.SignOut() End Sub SignOut.aspx Goodbye!

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Authenticating Users with the Web.Config File The Forms authentication classes are flexible enough to enable you to store usernames and passwords in many different storage mechanisms. If you need to store a small number of usernames and passwords, you can store them directly in the Web.Config file. Note All the files discussed in this section are located in the FormConfig directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, copy the FormConfig directory and all its subdirectories to your server. Next, you need to create a new virtual directory that has the FormConfig directory as its root directory.

To store the usernames and passwords, you need to add a credentials element to the authentication section in the Web.Config file. The file in Listing 19.11 illustrates how to add two username and password entries. (This page is included under the FormConfig directory on the CD-ROM.) LISTING 19.11

FormConfig\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.11 contains both authentication and authorization sections. The authentication section contains a credentials section that contains two usernames and passwords. The authorization section prevents unauthenticated users from accessing any of the ASP.NET pages in the current directory.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

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Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

Note You must place the Web.Config file contained in Listing 19.11 in the root directory of your application.

To check whether a username and password combination exists in the Web.Config file, you can use the Authenticate method of the FormsAuthentication class. This method returns the value True if the combination exists, and False otherwise. The Login.aspx page contained in Listing 19.12, for example, uses the Authenticate method to validate the username and password entered into a login form. LISTING 19.12

FormConfig\Login.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then If FormsAuthentication.Authenticate( txtUsername.Text, ➥txtPassword.Text ) Then FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, False ) Else lblMessage.Text = “Bad username/password!” End If End If End Sub Login.aspx Please Login:
Username:
Password:

In Listing 19.12, the Authenticate method is used in the Button_Click subroutine. If you neglect to check the Authenticate method before calling the RedirectFromLoginPage method, every user is authenticated regardless of the credential information in the Web.Config file.

In general, storing user passwords in clear text in the Web.Config file is not a wise idea. Any person who happens to be working on the Web server can open the Web.Config file and read everyone’s secret passwords. Instead of storing the passwords in clear text, you can encrypt the passwords by using either the SHA1 or MD5 hash algorithms. For example, storing the user credentials like this can be problematic:

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Encrypting Passwords in the Web.Config File

19

878

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

Instead, you can store the credentials like this:

In this example, you set the value of passwordFormat to SHA1 and enter the SHA1 hash values of the passwords. Don’t worry, you don’t need to read a book on cryptography to compute the proper hash value for a password. The FormsAuthentication class includes the method (with the very long name) HashPasswordForStoringInConfigFile, which accepts two parameters: a plain text password to encode and the name of a hash algorithm (SHA1 or MD5). The method returns the hashed password. The page in Listing 19.13 uses the HashPasswordForStoringInConfigFile method to compute the hash value for any clear text password. LISTING 19.13

ComputeHash.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strHashValue As String strHashValue = FormsAuthentication.HashPasswordForStoringInConfigFile ➥( txtPassword.Text, lstAlgorithm.SelectedItem.Text ) lblHash.Text = strHashValue End Sub ComputeHash.Aspx Compute Hash Value: Password:
Algorithm:

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.13

879

continued

Hash Value:

Authenticating Users with an XML File Instead of using the Web.Config file to store usernames and passwords, you can store the usernames and passwords in an XML file. In this section, you learn how to store credentials in an XML file named Passwords.xml.

All the files discussed in this section are located in the FormsXml directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, copy the FormsXml directory and all its subdirectories to your server. Next, create a new virtual directory that has the FormsXml directory as its root directory.

For this example, you need to create four files: •

Web.Config—This

file contains configuration information for authentication and

authorization. •

Passwords.xml—This

file stores usernames and passwords.

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Note

19

880

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

•

Login.aspx—This

page validates a username and password combination against the Password.xml file.

•

Register.aspx—This page enables a user to register at the Web site and add a new username and password to the Passwords.xml file.

The first file should be familiar; it’s the standard Web.Config file for Forms authentication. This file is included in Listing 19.14. LISTING 19.14

FormsXml\Web.Config

Next, you need to create the Passwords.xml file in which you can store all the usernames and passwords. The Passwords.xml file is contained in Listing 19.15. LISTING 19.15

FormsXml\Passwords.xml

Sam Secret Fred Secret

When you validate a username and password, the username and password combination is checked against the Passwords.xml file. When a new user registers, the new user’s username and password are added to this file. The Login.aspx page is contained in Listing 19.16. LISTING 19.16

FormsXml\Login.aspx

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.16

881

continued

Sub Page_Load Dim strLinkPath As String If Not IsPostBack Then strLinkPath = String.Format( “Register/Register.aspx?ReturnUrl={0}”, _ Request.Params( “ReturnUrl” ) ) lnkRegister.NavigateUrl = String.Format( strLinkPath ) End If End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then If XmlAuthenticate( txtUsername.Text, txtPassword.Text ) Then FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, False ) End If End If End Sub Function XmlAuthenticate( strUsername As String, strPassword As String ) As Boolean Dim dstPasswords As DataSet Dim dtblPasswords As DataTable Dim arrUsers() As DataRow

Login.aspx Please Login:

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

dstPasswords = New DataSet() dstPasswords.ReadXml( MapPath( “Passwords.xml” ) ) dtblPasswords = dstPasswords.Tables( 0 ) arrUsers = dtblPasswords.Select( “name=’” & strUsername & “‘“ ) If arrUsers.Length > 0 Then If arrUsers( 0 )( “password” ) = strPassword Then Return True Else lblMessage.Text = “Incorrect Password!” End If Else lblMessage.Text = “Username Not Found!” End If Return False End Function

882

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.16

continued

Username:
Password:

The page in Listing 19.16 contains a function named XmlAuthenticate. This function returns the value True if the username and password entered into the HTML form exist in the Passwords.xml file; otherwise, the function returns the value False. The function loads the Passwords.xml file into a DataSet with the ReadXml method. Next, it uses the DataSet’s Select method to retrieve any entries in the Passwords.xml

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883

file in which the name element matches the name entered into the form. If the username and password exist, the function returns the value True. If XmlAuthenticate returns the value True, the RedirectFromLoginPage method is called. This method issues a new cookie containing an Authentication Ticket and automatically redirects the user’s browser back to the page that was originally requested. Notice that the Login.aspx page includes a link to the Register.aspx page. The user can click this link to register a new username and password for the Web site. A query string variable named ReturnUrl is added to the link to Register.aspx in the Page_Load subroutine. This query string variable contains the path to the original page that the user requested before being redirected to the Login.aspx page. The Register.aspx page is contained in a separate directory from the Login.aspx page. Storing pages separately is necessary because all the pages, except the Login.aspx page, require authentication to access. The Register.aspx page, shown in Listing 19.17, is contained in a directory that includes a Web.Config file that enables access for all users. LISTING 19.17

FormsXml\Register\Register.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim dstPasswords As DataSet Dim dtblPasswords As DataTable Dim arrUsers() As DataRow Dim drowNew As DataRow

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

If IsValid Then dstPasswords = New DataSet() dstPasswords.ReadXml( MapPath( “../Passwords.xml” ) ) dtblPasswords = dstPasswords.Tables( 0 ) arrUsers = dtblPasswords.Select( “Name=’” & txtUsername.Text & “‘“ ) If arrUsers.Length > 0 Then lblMessage.Text = “Username Already Registered!” Else drowNew = dtblPasswords.NewRow() drowNew( “Name” ) = txtUsername.Text drowNew( “Password” ) = txtPassword.Text dtblPasswords.Rows.Add( drowNew ) dstPasswords.WriteXml( MapPath( “../Passwords.xml” ) ) FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, False ) End If End If End Sub

884

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.17

continued

Register.aspx Please Register
Username:
Password:

The Register.aspx page, like the Login.aspx page, contains a form with fields for a username and password. When the form is submitted, the Button_Click subroutine is executed.

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Before doing anything else, the Button_Click subroutine checks whether the username entered into the form already exists in the Passwords.xml file. You don’t want the same username registered by more than one user. If the username has already been registered, an error is displayed. If the username has not been registered, the new username and password are added to the Passwords.xml file. Next, the RedirectFromLoginPage method is called to send the user back to the original page he or she requested.

Authenticating Users with a Database Table The most common method of creating a custom user registration system is to use a database table to hold usernames and passwords. For large Web sites, this solution is the best because it is the most scalable. Note All the files discussed in this section are located in the FormsDB directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, you need to copy the FormsDB directory and all its subdirectories to your server. Next, create each of the database objects. Finally, you need to create a new virtual directory that points to FormsDB.

In this section, you are going to create a user registration system with Forms authentication that works with Microsoft SQL Server. To create this system, you need to create the following objects: Web.Config—This

configuration file configures authentication and authorization for Forms authentication.

•

UserList database table—This database table contains the username, password, and unique ID value for each user.

•

Login.aspx—This ASP.NET

•

DBAuthenticate

•

Register.aspx—This ASP.NET

page enables new users to register usernames and passwords by adding them to the UserList table.

•

DBRegister

page validates usernames and passwords by checking them against the contents of the UserList database table.

stored procedure—This SQL Server stored procedure is used by the Login.aspx page to check for a username and password in the UserList table.

stored procedure—This SQL Server stored procedure is used by the page to add a new username and password to the UserList table.

Register.aspx

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

•

886

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

You use SQL Server stored procedures to validate usernames and passwords and to register new users for performance reasons. The first file that you need to create is Web.Config. This file, included in Listing 19.18, should be familiar to you because it contains the standard sections to enable Forms authentication. LISTING 19.18

FormsDB\Web.Config

You store usernames and passwords in a SQL Server database table. You can create this table by using either the SQL Enterprise Manager or SQL Query Analyzer. The SQL command used to create the UserList table is contained in Listing 19.19. LISTING 19.19

FormsDB\UserList.sql

CREATE TABLE UserList ( u_id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY, u_username VARCHAR( 100 ), u_password VARCHAR( 100 ) )

Next, you need to create the Login.aspx page. This page, contained in Listing 19.20, has a form that enables users to log in with their usernames and passwords. LISTING 19.20

FormsDB\Login.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strLinkPath As String If Not IsPostBack Then strLinkPath = String.Format( “Register/Register.aspx?ReturnUrl={0}”, _

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.20

887

continued

Request.Params( “ReturnUrl” ) ) lnkRegister.NavigateUrl = String.Format( strLinkPath ) End If End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If IsValid Then If DBAuthenticate( txtUsername.Text, txtPassword.Text ) > 0 Then FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, False ) End If End If End Sub Function DBAuthenticate( strUsername As String, ➥strPassword As String ) As Integer Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim parmReturnValue As SqlParameter Dim intResult As Integer

Login.aspx

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=myData” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “DBAuthenticate”, conMyData ) cmdSelect.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure parmReturnValue = cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “RETURN_VALUE”, SqlDbType.Int ) parmReturnValue.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@username”, strUsername ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@password”, strPassword ) conMyData.Open() cmdSelect.ExecuteNonQuery() intResult = cmdSelect.Parameters( “RETURN_VALUE” ).Value conMyData.Close() If intResult < 0 Then If intResult = -1 Then lblMessage.Text = “Username Not Registered!” Else lblMessage.Text = “Invalid Password!” End If End If Return intResult End Function

888

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.20

continued

Please Login:
Username:
Password:

The Login.aspx page contains a function named DBAuthenticate. This function matches the username and password entered into the login form against the UserList database table with the DBAuthenticate stored procedure. If the user can be authenticated, the RedirectFromLoginPage method is called. This method issues a new Authentication Ticket cookie and redirects the user back to the original page he or she requested. If the user cannot be found, an error message is displayed.

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The Login.aspx page uses a stored procedure named DBAuthenticate. This stored procedure is contained in Listing 19.21. LISTING 19.21

FormsDB\DBAuthenticate.sql

CREATE PROCEDURE DBAuthenticate ( @username Varchar( 100 ), @password Varchar( 100 ) ) As DECLARE @ID INT DECLARE @actualPassword Varchar( 100 ) SELECT @ID = IdentityCol, @actualPassword = u_password FROM UserList WHERE u_username = @username IF @ID IS NOT NULL IF @password = @actualPassword RETURN @ID ELSE RETURN - 2 ELSE RETURN - 1

The Login.aspx page contains a link to the Register.aspx page, which enables new users to register at your Web site. The code for the Register.aspx page is contained in Listing 19.22. Note The Register.aspx page is contained in its own directory with its own Web. Config file. The Web.Config file enables anonymous access to files in the directory. Enabling access this way is necessary to enable unauthenticated users to register. (You could also enable anonymous access to the Register.aspx page with the location element in the root Web.Config file.)

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The DBAuthenticate stored procedure returns one of three values. If the username and password passed to the procedure exist in the UserList table, the stored procedure returns the ID of the user. If the username cannot be found, the procedure returns the value -1. If the username is found but the password is invalid, the procedure returns -2.

890

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.22

FormsDB\Register\Register.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim parmReturnValue As SqlParameter Dim intResult As Integer If IsValid Then conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=myData” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “DBRegister”, conMyData ) cmdSelect.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure parmReturnValue = cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “RETURN_VALUE”, SqlDbType.Int ) parmReturnValue.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@username”, txtUsername.Text ) cmdSelect.Parameters.Add( “@password”, txtPassword.Text ) conMyData.Open() cmdSelect.ExecuteNonQuery() intResult = cmdSelect.Parameters( “RETURN_VALUE” ).Value conMyData.Close() If intResult = - 1 Then lblMessage.Text = “Username Already Registered!” Else FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, False ) End If End If End Sub Register.aspx Please Register
Username:

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.22

891

continued

Password:

LISTING 19.23

FormsDB\DBRegister.sql

CREATE PROCEDURE DBRegister ( @username Varchar( 100 ), @password Varchar( 100 ) ) AS IF EXISTS( SELECT u_id FROM UserList WHERE u_username=@username ) RETURN - 1

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The Register.aspx page contained in Listing 19.22 has one main subroutine named Button_Click. This subroutine adds a new username and password to the UserList table if the username does not already exist. The Button_Click subroutine uses a SQL stored procedure named DBRegister, contained in Listing 19.23, to add the new user information.

892

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.23

continued

ELSE INSERT UserList ( u_username, u_password ) VALUES ( @username, @password ) RETURN @@IDENTITY

The DBRegister stored procedure contained in Listing 19.23 returns one of two values. If the username passed to the stored procedure already exists in the UserList table, the procedure returns the value -1. Otherwise, the stored procedure adds the new username and password and returns the ID for the user.

Implementing Roles-based Authentication In certain situations, it makes sense to divide the users of your Web site into different roles. Dividing users into roles is useful when you want to grant or deny different permissions to different groups of users. For example, you might want to permit users in the supervisors role to edit certain data that users in the sales role cannot. Note All the files discussed in this section are located in the FormsRoles directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, you need to copy the FormsRoles directory to your server. Next, create a new virtual directory that points to the FormsRoles directory.

You can assign authenticated users to different roles within the Application_AuthenticateRequest subroutine in the Global.asax file. To assign a set of roles to a user, you use statements like the following: Dim arrRoles As String() = { “Supervisors”, “Engineers” } Context.User = New GenericPrincipal( Context.User.Identity, arrRoles )

The first statement creates a new string array of role names. The second statement associates the current authenticated user with the list of roles. Imagine that you have created an XML file that contains a list of roles for certain users of your Web site. This XML file is contained in Listing 19.24.

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.24

893

FormsRoles\Roles.xml

The XML file in Listing 19.24 associates Bob with the Sales role and Jane with the Supervisor role and Sales roles. After you create the Roles.xml file, you can use the file to assign users to different roles with the Global.asax file in Listing 19.25. LISTING 19.25

FormsRoles\Global.asax

Sub Application_AuthenticateRequest( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strUserName As String Dim objRoles As XmlDocument Dim arrRoles As String() Dim objNode As XmlNode Dim strXPath As String

Function GetRoles() As XmlDocument Dim objRoles As XmlDocument objRoles = Context.Cache( “Roles” ) If objRoles Is Nothing Then objRoles = New XmlDocument

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

objRoles = GetRoles() If Context.Request.IsAuthenticated Then strUserName = Context.User.Identity.Name strXPath = String.Format( “user[@name=’{0}’]”, strUserName ) objNode = objRoles.DocumentElement.SelectSingleNode( strXPath ) If Not IsNothing( objNode ) Then arrRoles = objNode.Attributes( “roles” ).Value.Split Context.User = New GenericPrincipal( Context.User.Identity, arrRoles ) End If End If End Sub

894

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.25

continued

objRoles.Load( Server.MapPath( “Roles.xml” ) ) Context.Cache.Insert( _ “Roles”, _ objRoles, _ New CacheDependency( Server.MapPath( “Roles.xml” ) ) ) End If Return objRoles End Function

The Global.asax file in Listing 19.25 contains one function and one subroutine. The function, named GetRoles(), retrieves an XmlDocument that represents the Roles.xml file. This file is either retrieved from the cache or from the file system. The Application_AuthenticateRequest subroutine is fired whenever a user requests a page. This subroutine retrieves the list of roles associated with the current users from the list of roles returned by the GetRoles() function. Next, the subroutine assigns the list of roles to the current user. You can test the files in Listings 19.24 and 19.25 with the page in Listing 19.26. LISTING 19.26

FormsRoles\Default.aspx

Default.aspx Welcome

The page in Listing 19.26 uses the IsInRole method to display different messages depending on whether the current user is a member of the Supervisor role or not.

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895

Creating a Custom Authentication Ticket Forms authentication uses an Authentication Ticket stored in a cookie to authenticate users each time they request a page. The Authentication Ticket is automatically generated and added to a user’s browser by the RedirectFromLoginPage method. In most cases, the Authentication Ticket automatically generated by the RedirectFromLoginPage method contains all the information you need. You can use this ticket to retrieve such information as the username and date the cookie was issued. However, you also have the option of creating the Authentication Ticket yourself. Why would you want to create the Authentication Ticket manually? If you create it yourself, you can add additional information to it by using the UserData property. For example, you can use the UserData property to store a unique ID or the e-mail address for each user. After the information is stored in the Authentication Ticket, you can retrieve this information from the ticket on each page the user requests. Warning An Authentication Ticket is stored in a browser cookie, and browser cookies have size limitations. For example, the original Netscape cookie specification places a 4KB limit on the size of any cookie (the size refers to the combined size of the cookie’s name and value).

The Authentication Ticket is represented by the FormsAuthenticationTicket class. If you want to create an Authentication Ticket that contains custom data, you need to explicitly create an object of this class and add it to the browser’s cookie collection.

•

version—The

version of the Authentication Ticket. Typically, you supply the

value 1. •

name—The username associated with the Authentication Ticket (a maximum of 32 bytes).

•

issueDate—The

•

expiration—The

date the cookie expires.

•

isPersistent—A

Boolean value indicating whether the cookie is a session or

original date the cookie was issued.

persistent cookie. •

userData—A

string that can contain any data you please.

USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

You can explicitly create a new Authentication Ticket by passing the following parameters to the FormsAuthenticationTicket constructor:

19

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To illustrate the process of creating a custom Authentication Ticket, you are going to create three files: •

Web.Config—This

standard configuration file enables Forms authentication.

•

Login.aspx—This

page holds custom data added to an Authentication Ticket.

•

Default.aspx—This

page retrieves and displays the custom data from the Authentication Ticket.

Note All the files discussed in this section are located in the AuthenticationTicket directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, copy the AuthenticationTicket directory to your server and create a new virtual directory that points to it.

The standard Web.Config file for this example is contained in Listing 19.27. LISTING 19.27

AuthenticationTicket\Web.Config

If an unauthenticated user attempts to access a page in a directory that contains the Web.Config file in Listing 19.27, the user is automatically redirected to the Login.aspx page. This page is contained in Listing 19.28. LISTING 19.28

AuthenticationTicket\Login.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objTicket As FormsAuthenticationTicket Dim objCookie As HttpCookie Dim strReturnURL As String objTicket = New FormsAuthenticationTicket( _ 1, _ txtUsername.Text, _

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.28

897

continued

NOW(), _ #12/25/2002#, _ False, _ txtUserdata.Text ) objCookie = New HTTPCookie( “.ASPXAUTH” ) objCookie.Value = FormsAuthentication.Encrypt( objTicket ) Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie ) strReturnURL = Request.Params( “ReturnURL” ) If strReturnURL Nothing Then Response.Redirect( strReturnURL ) Else Response.Redirect( “Default.aspx” ) End If End Sub Login.aspx

The Login.aspx page in Listing 19.28 contains a form for entering a username and custom user data. When the form is submitted, the Button_Click subroutine is executed.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Username:
User Data:

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The Button_Click subroutine creates a new Authentication Ticket named objTicket. The username and userdata form fields supply the values of the name and userData properties of the new ticket. Next, the custom Authentication Ticket is added to the browser’s cookie collection with the Add method of the HttpCookiesCollection object. Finally, the user is redirected back to the page indicated by the ReturnURL query string variable. If this query string variable doesn’t exist, the user is redirected to the Default.aspx page. To test whether the custom user data was actually added to the Authentication Ticket, you can use the Default.aspx page contained in Listing 19.29. LISTING 19.29

AuthenticationTicket\Default.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objFormsID As FormsIdentity objFormsID = User.Identity lblName.Text = objFormsID.Ticket.Name lblUserData.Text = objFormsID.Ticket.UserData End Sub Default.aspx Name:
User Data:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.29, the identity of the current user is retrieved from the User property of the Page class. The identity of the current user is represented by an instance of the FormsIdentity class, which includes the Authentication Ticket.

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Both the name and custom user data associated with the current user are retrieved from the instance of the FormsIdentity class. Both bits of information are displayed in Label controls.

Using Forms Authentication and Web Farms By default, you cannot share the same Authentication Ticket cookie across multiple servers. This means that, without some extra work, you cannot use Forms Authentication with servers clustered into a Web farm. If you want to use Forms Authentication across multiple servers, you need to configure all the servers to share the same validation and decryption keys. By default, each server automatically generates its own keys. To force multiple servers to use common keys, modify the following machineKey section in either an application root Web.Config file or the Machine.Config file:

You need to replace autogenerate with a valid key. The key must be between 40 and 128 characters (the recommendation is 128 characters). You can pick any random string of characters for the validationKey and decryptionKey values.

Working with Passport Authentication

More than 130 million users are already signed up with Microsoft Passport. For example, both HotMail and MSN use Passport to authenticate users. Passport authentication has several significant advantages over Forms authentication. First, and most important, users benefit by using Passport authentication because they can use the same username and password that they currently use at other Web sites. Therefore, users are less likely to forget their passwords. Also, registration information can be kept more current.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Passport authentication is a centralized authentication service offered by Microsoft. When a user logs in to a Web site that has Passport authentication enabled, he or she is automatically redirected to the Passport Web site. After entering a username and password, the user is automatically redirected back to the original site.

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Second, when using Passport authentication, you don’t need to set up and maintain a database to store user registration information. Microsoft does all the work for you. Passport authentication also provides you with options to customize the appearance of the Registration and Sign In pages by supplying templates. You can even supply your own Cascading Style Sheets to format the appearance of these pages. To use the Microsoft Passport service, you must pay a subscription fee. As I write this, the exact fee has yet to be determined. However, it is expected to be based on the average number of unique visitors to your Web site in a month.

Enabling Passport Authentication Before you can use Passport authentication, you must first download and install the Microsoft Passport Software Development Kit (SDK) from www.passport.com/ business. The Passport SDK contains the Passport Manager, the Passport Manager Administrator utility, and a sample site that implements Passport authentication. (Currently, the sample site is written with Classic ASP, not ASP.NET.) After you download and install the SDK, you can create a site in test mode. Certain features of Passport do not work in test mode, however. For example, you cannot read all the information from a user’s profile, nor can you customize the appearance of the Sign In or Registration pages. The sign out process doesn’t work either. (You need to shut down all the instances of your browser to sign out.) To use any of these features, you must enter production mode. To enter production mode, you must register to become a Passport participant site. After you register and sign the necessary agreements, you are issued a Site ID and an encryption key. After you download and install Microsoft Passport, you can enable Passport authentication for an application by creating a Web.Config file in its root directory. The Web. Config file in Listing 19.30 contains the necessary authentication section to enable Passport authentication. Note The files discussed in this section are located in the Passport directory on the CD that accompanies this book. To use these files, copy the Passport directory to your server and create a new virtual directory that points to it.

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.30

901

Passport\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.30 sets the authentication mode for the application to use Passport authentication. It also sets the value of the redirectUrl attribute. If a user is not authenticated and requests a page in a directory that requires authentication, he or she is redirected to the page specified by the redirectUrl attribute. After you enable Passport authentication, you can protect the pages in any directory from unauthenticated access by including the file in Listing 19.31 in the directory. LISTING 19.31

Passport\Secret\Web.Config

Warning Passport authentication applies to ASP.NET files. Enabling Passport authentication does not prevent access to other types of files, such as image, text, or Microsoft Word files.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The Web.Config file in Listing 19.31 prevents anonymous users (represented by the ? symbol) from accessing any ASP.NET page in the current directory. This Web.Config file applies to the current directory and all subdirectories that do not have a Web.Config file that overrides it. If an anonymous user attempts to access an ASP.NET page, that user is automatically redirected to the page indicated by the redirectUrl attribute in Listing 19.30.

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Enabling Users to Sign In and Sign Out Many Web sites that use Passport authentication, such as MSN, do not have a distinct sign in page. Instead, they display a sign in button on the top of each page. After a user has signed in, customized content can be displayed for him or her. To create a sign in button, you can use the LogoTag2() method of the PassportIdentity class. This method automatically displays a sign in button for unauthenticated users and a sign out button for authenticated users. For example, the page in Listing 19.32 uses the LogoTag2() method to display a sign in button at the top of the page (see Figure 19.3). FIGURE 19.3 Passport sign in button.

LISTING 19.32

Passport\Default.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objPassportID As PassportIdentity objPassportID = User.Identity If objPassportID.GetFromNetworkServer Then Response.Redirect( Request.Path ) End If plhPassport.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( objPassportID.LogoTag2() ) ) End Sub

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 LISTING 19.32

903

continued

Default.aspx Welcome to our Web site!

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.32, an instance of the PassportIdentity class is created. Next, the LogoTag2() method is called to retrieve the necessary HTML tag for a sign in button, which is added to the controls collection of an ASP.NET PlaceHolder control. This results in the sign in button being displayed at the top-left corner of the page. Warning The Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.32 contains the following code: If objPassportID.GetFromNetworkServer Then Response.Redirect( Request.Path ) End If

The LogoTag2() method displays a sign in button until you sign in. After you sign in, the method displays a sign out button. Warning If you are using Passport authentication in test mode, you cannot sign out by clicking the sign out button. To sign out, you must close all instances of the browser (clearing the session cookie used for Passport authentication).

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

This code clears the query string from the browser’s address bar after the user is authenticated by the Passport service. If you neglect to add this code, the Authentication ticket added by the Passport service will be visible in the browser address bar, presenting a security risk.

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If you want to create a distinct sign in page, you can use the LogoTag2() method to create the sign in button on the page. For example, the page contained in Listing 19.33 asks the user to log in. LISTING 19.33

Passport\Login.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objPassportID As PassportIdentity objPassportID = User.Identity If objPassportID.IsAuthenticated Then Response.Redirect( “Default.aspx” ) End If plhPassport.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( objPassportID.LogoTag2 ) ) End Sub Login.aspx Please Login: You have requested a restricted resource. To continue, please login by clicking the following button:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.33, the IsAuthenticated property is checked to see whether the user has already been authenticated. If the user hasn’t been authenticated, he or she is invited to click the sign in button. After clicking the sign in button, the user is authenticated by the Passport service and returned to the Default.aspx page. You can use the IsAuthenticated property to detect whether a user has signed in and to display customized content. For example, the page in Listing 19.34, named News.aspx, displays customized news only for authenticated users.

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905

Passport\News.aspx

Sub Page_Load( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objPassportID As PassportIdentity objPassportID = User.Identity If objPassportID.GetFromNetworkServer Then Response.Redirect( Request.Path ) End If plhPassport.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( objPassportID.LogoTag2() ) ) If objPassportID.IsAuthenticated Then pnlAuth.Visible = True Else pnlAnon.Visible = True End If End Sub News.aspx

Anonymous News News for anonymous users...

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Customized News News customized only for you...

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In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.34, the IsAuthenticated property checks whether the current user has been authenticated with Passport authentication. If IsAuthenticated returns the value True, the first panel on the page is displayed. Otherwise, the second panel is displayed.

Retrieving User Information Information about authenticated Passport users is stored in Passport user profiles. You can retrieve a Passport user profile from the PassportIdentity class. The Passport profile is guaranteed to contain certain information about each user. For each user, you can read his or her unique Passport User ID, country, region or state, postal code, and language preference. A Passport profile also contains optional information. The user can enter such additional information as e-mail address, nickname, age, or sex. If the user has not already entered this information, you can create a form at your Web site that enables the user to enter and update it at the central Passport database. You can retrieve the unique user ID for a Passport user by reading the Name property of the PassportIdentity class. The Passport User ID (PUID) is a 64-bit number that you can use to uniquely match a user to rows in a database table. Other profile information can be read from the Item property of the PassportIdentity class. For example, you can retrieve a user’s country by using the following code: strUserCountry = objPassportIdentity.Item( “Country” )

Because the Item property represents the default collection for the PassportIdentity class, you also can retrieve profile information like this: strUserCountry = objPassportIdentity( “Country” )

The following attributes are initially defined in a user’s core profile: •

Accessibility—Returns 1

when accessibility features should be enabled for the current user, and 0 otherwise. The default value is 0.

•

BDay_precision—Specifies Birthdate

an integer that indicates the precision of the

attribute:

0

= Birthdate deleted or not supplied

1

= User is 18 or older, but no birth month or day supplied

2

= User is 18 or older; both birth month and day supplied

3

= User is under 18

Using Forms-Based Authentication CHAPTER 19 4

= User is under 13

5

= User is minor over 13

•

Birthdate—Returns

•

City—Indicates

•

Country—Contains

•

Flags—Contains

•

Gender—Specifies

•

Lang_Preference—Indicates

•

MemberIDHigh—Specifies

•

MemberIDLow—Specifies

the lower portion of the 64-bit Passport Unique ID (PUID) associated with each user.

•

Nickname—Indicates a user-supplied friendly name. The nickname is not guaranteed to be unique and must be fewer than 30 bytes.

•

PreferredEmail—Indicates

•

PostalCode—Specifies

•

ProfileVersion—Returns

•

Region—Indicates

•

Wallet—Returns 1

907

either the user’s birth year or full birth date in the format MM/DD/YYYY. The default value is 0. a GeoID value that represents the user’s city. a two-character ISO 3166 country code.

an integer bitmask. If the first bit is set (00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001), the e-mail address of the user has been verified. the value M (Male), F (Female), or U (Unknown). the LCID value for the user’s preferred language.

the upper portion of the 64-bit Passport Unique ID (PUID) associated with each user.

the user’s preferred e-mail address.

the postal code (both for the U.S. and other countries). the value 1 currently.

a GeoID that represents the user’s geographical region. when the user has created an online wallet and 0 otherwise.

The GeoID mentioned in the preceding list is a unique number that maps to a user’s geographical location. The Microsoft Passport SDK includes comma-delimited data files that translate codes, such as GeoIDs or LCIDs, into human-readable strings. For example, the GeoIDs.dat file maps GeoIDs into friendly names for each region. For more information, see the Microsoft Passport SDK documentation.

The page in Listing 19.35, for example, displays several of the profile attributes for the current user.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Note

908

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 19.35

Passport\UserInfo.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objID As PassportIdentity objID = User.Identity If objID.IsAuthenticated Then lblInfo.Text &= “
PUID: “ & objID.Name lblInfo.Text &= “
Accessibility: “ & objID( “Accessibility” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
BDay_precision: “ & objID( “BDay_precision” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Birthdate: “ & objID( “Birthdate” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
City: “ & objID( “City” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Country: “ & objID( “Country” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Gender: “ & objID( “Gender” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Lang_Preference: “ & objID( “Lang_Preference” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
MemberIDHigh: “ & objID( “MemberIDHigh” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
MemberIDLow: “ & objID( “MemberIDLow” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Nickname: “ & objID( “Nickname” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
PreferredEmail: “ & objID( “PreferredEmail” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
PostalCode: “ & objID( “PostalCode” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
ProfileVersion: “ & objID( “ProfileVersion” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Region: “ & objID( “Region” ) lblInfo.Text &= “
Wallet: “ & objID( “Wallet” ) End If End Sub UserInfo.aspx User Data:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 19.35, an instance of the PassportIdentity class is created. If the user has been authenticated, several profile attributes are retrieved and displayed in a Label control.

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Note You also can create ASP.NET pages that enable users to update their profile information. For example, if a user has not entered a nickname or preferred e-mail address into his or her profile, you can ask the user to update the profile. To learn more details, see the Microsoft Passport SDK documentation.

Summary In this chapter, you examined two methods of authenticating users. In the first part, you learned how to configure Forms authentication and require users to log in before they can access particular directories. You also learned how to use Forms authentication with the Web.Config file, an XML file, and a database table. Next, you learned how to take advantage of Microsoft Passport authentication. You learned how to create sign in and sign out buttons and retrieve profile information from authenticated Passport users.

19 USING FORMSBASED AUTHENTICATION

CHAPTER 20

Using Windows-Based Authentication IN THIS CHAPTER • Working with Windows Authentication 912 • Impersonating User Accounts • Setting Security Policies

925

922

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Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

In this chapter, you learn how to use ASP.NET with Windows security and authenticate users by using Windows user accounts and groups. In the first section, you learn how to configure both Internet Information Server and ASP.NET to use Windows authentication. You examine how to use Windows authentication to control access to particular resources on your Web site. Next, you examine the topic of impersonation. You learn how to configure impersonation so that ASP.NET pages will execute with the permissions of the user making the request. You also learn how to execute ASP.NET pages under a particular Windows user account regardless of the user making the request. Finally, this chapter provides a brief overview of security policies. You learn how to implement different security policies for your ASP.NET applications.

Working with Windows Authentication When should you use Windows authentication instead of other forms of authentication such as Forms or Microsoft Passport authentication? If you are developing a company intranet, you can use Windows authentication with existing Windows user accounts and groups. For example, your organization might already have Windows user accounts configured for each employee. You can use Windows-based authentication to control access to sensitive information. For example, you might want users in the Windows Managers group to have access to directories containing employee resumes and job performance reviews. You can use Windows-based authentication to prevent employees in other Windows groups, such as the Sales group, from accessing these sensitive documents. Windows-based authentication is not a good security option to use, however, when you’re building a public user registration and password system. When Windows authentication is enabled, a valid Windows user account must be configured for each user who accesses a restricted page. The process of adding new Windows user accounts cannot be easily automated. You therefore should use Windows authentication when you have a fixed number of users with existing Windows user accounts and an existing system of group membership. Don’t use Windows authentication when you’re building a public user registration system.

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Configuring Internet Information Server Security Before you can use Windows authentication, you must first configure Internet Information Server (IIS). When a user requests a page that requires authorization, the user must be authenticated through IIS. The version of IIS included with Windows 2000 Server, IIS 5.0, supports three methods of authentication: • Basic Authentication—Compatible with all browsers, firewalls, and proxy servers. However, usernames and passwords are transmitted across the network in plain text. • Integrated Windows Authentication—Compatible with Internet Explorer (version 2.0 or higher). Usernames and passwords are not transmitted across the network in plain text. This form of authentication is not compatible with all firewalls and proxy servers. • Digest Authentication—Compatible with Internet Explorer (version 2.0 or higher). Usernames and passwords are not transmitted across the network in plain text. This form of authentication is compatible with all firewalls and proxy servers. However, it requires you to save Windows usernames and passwords in a plain-text file on the domain server. Typically, you enable either Basic Authentication or Integrated Windows Authentication. If your application must be compatible with Netscape browsers, you have no choice but to use Basic Authentication. If you can mandate that all users must use Microsoft Internet Explorer and you are not using a firewall or proxy server, you can use Integrated Windows Authentication. Note You can use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with Basic Authentication to encrypt usernames and passwords as they are transmitted across the network. For more information, see Chapter 21 “Encrypting Data over the Network.”

20 1. Launch the Internet Services Manager. 2. Open the property sheet for a directory or file (by clicking the button of the hand holding the piece of paper).

USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

To enable one of these authentication methods for a directory or file, follow these steps:

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3. Choose the tab labeled Directory Security or File Security. 4. In the section labeled Anonymous Access and Authentication, click Edit. 5. Enable one or more authentication methods. After you enable a method of authentication, you can force users to log in to your Web site through IIS in two ways. First, you can disable anonymous access to a file or directory. Follow the same steps just described for enabling authentication and click to remove the check from the Anonymous Access option. Alternatively, you can modify the NTFS permissions on a file or directory. If an anonymous user does not have permission to access a file, the password dialog box is displayed even when anonymous access is enabled. You learn how to configure Windows file permissions in the next section.

Configuring Microsoft Windows Security Windows NT and Windows 2000 implement security at the file system level. Every directory and file has an associated set of permissions. These permissions are defined relative to Windows users and groups. Warning To set permissions on individual files, you must be using NTFS. Using NTFS is strongly recommended if you plan to use Windows authentication.

Windows 2000 includes several default users and groups. For example, the Administrator user account has the broadest set of possible permissions. The Administrator account is a member of the Administrators group. Another default group, Guests, has a more restricted set of permissions. You should be very careful to limit the permissions associated with the Guests group so that users cannot do evil things to your server. Another special group is named Everyone. The Everyone group automatically contains every user who has been authenticated in the current domain. Finally, a special user account named IUSER_MachineName represents every anonymous user who accesses your Web site through IIS. For example, if your Web server is named myServer, all anonymous users of your Web site access the server through the IUSER_ myServer user account.

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Note You can use IIS to change the account associated with anonymous users from the IUSER_MachineName account to any other account. You can modify the anonymous user account within IIS by opening the property sheet for a directory, selecting the Directory Security tab, and clicking the Edit button under Anonymous Access and Authentication Control.

The IUSER_MachineName account is a member of both the Guests and Everyone groups. This means that if you provide the Guests group permission to delete all the files from your server’s hard drive, anonymous Internet users can delete all the files from your hard drive as well. By default, files in the wwwroot directory can be accessed by members of three groups: System, Administrators, and Everyone. Because the IUSER_MachineName account is a member of the Everyone group, by default, all anonymous users can access files in the wwwroot directory. If you remove the Everyone group from any directory in your Web site, anonymous users can no longer access the files in the directory. To remove the Everyone group from a directory, follow these steps: 1. Right-click the directory and select Properties. 2. Choose the Security tab. 3. Select the Everyone group. 4. Click the Remove button. After you complete these steps, if you request any file in that directory with your Web browser, a Login dialog box is displayed. You are forced to log in with a user account that has access to the directory, such as the Administrator user account. You can provide any user or group with permissions to access any directory or file in your Web site. Simply add the user or group by using the Security tab associated with the file or directory.

Configuring Windows Authentication If you have modified the Machine.Config file—for example, you’ve set the default authentication method to Forms authentication—you can explicitly enable Windows

USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Windows authentication is enabled by default in the Machine.Config file. This setting is automatically inherited by all ASP.NET applications running on the same server.

20

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Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V

authentication for an application by adding the Web.Config file in Listing 20.1 to the application root directory. LISTING 20.1

EnableWindows\Web.Config

You cannot add the file in Listing 20.1 to any directory beneath an application’s root directory. In other words, it must be located in either the wwwroot directory or the root directory of a virtual directory.

Configuring Windows Authorization After enabling Windows authentication, you can provide authorization to particular users and groups to access particular directories and files. Again, you do so by using the Web.Config file. You can add a Web.Config file that includes an authorization section to any directory (not only the application root directory). Within the authorization section, you can list the users and groups who have access to files in that directory. The authorization section can contain two elements: deny and allow. You can use these elements to allow or deny a list of Windows users or groups access to the files in the current directory. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 20.2 explicitly allows access to anyone in the Sales group, except for Jane. LISTING 20.2

NoJane\Web.Config

The authorization section uses a “first match” algorithm to allow or deny users and groups access to a page. Since the Sales role is allowed access before everyone is denied access, anyone in the Sales role is given authorization to access any page in the directory.

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Notice that the domain must be specified when listing user accounts and groups. If the user account or group is a local machine account, the domain is the name of your server. Note When using Basic Authentication, you don’t need to enter the domain when entering your username as long as it is the default domain for your application. You can specify the default domain associated with an application with IIS. Set this option within the Authentication Methods dialog box.

You can use two special wildcard characters in the authorization section of the Web.Config file. The * wildcard character represents all users, and the ? wildcard character represents all unauthenticated users. For example, if you want to force all users to log in before accessing a file in a directory, you can use the Web.Config file in Listing 20.3. LISTING 20.3

NoAnon\Web.Config

Now you’re ready to tackle a more complicated example. Say that you need to create two directories named Managers and Sales. You want to enable only users in the Managers group to access the files in the Managers directory. However, you want to enable members of both the Managers and Sales groups to access all the files in the Sales directory. Note

20 USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

The files discussed in this section are located in the SimpleAuth directory on the CD that accompanies this book.

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Imagine that you have two user accounts, one named Jane and one named George. The Jane user account is a member of the Managers group, and the George user account is a member of the Sales group. Note As long as the Everyone group has access to the files in a Web application, you do not need to explicitly add either the Jane or George user accounts to the file permissions for the application.

By default, both Jane and George have access to every page in the application. To prevent George from accessing any file in the Managers folder, you need to add the Web.Config file in Listing 20.4 to the Managers folder. LISTING 20.4

Managers\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 20.4 explicitly allows Jane to access files in the current directory and explicitly denies everyone else access. Because George is not granted permissions to access files in the directory, he cannot access any files. To enable both Jane and George access to all files in the Sales directory, you can use the file in Listing 20.5.

Web.Config

LISTING 20.5

Sales\Web.Config

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919

The Web.Config file in Listing 20.5 explicitly provides both Jane and George access to the files in the current directory.

Configuring Custom Roles Instead of using Windows groups for your roles, you can associate user accounts with custom roles. By using custom roles, you can invent any roles you want. To create custom user roles, you need to add a WindowsAuthentication_Authenticate subroutine in the Global.asax file. This subroutine is triggered whenever a user is authenticated using Windows authentication. Note All the files in this section are located in the CustomRoles directory on the CD that accompanies this book.

The Global.asax file in Listing 20.6 uses the WindowsAuthentication_Authenticate subroutine to associate custom roles with authenticated users. LISTING 20.6

CustomRoles\Global.asax

Dim colRoles As HashTable Overrides Sub Init() colRoles = New HashTable() Dim arrJaneRoles As String() = _ { “Supervisors”, “Engineers” } colRoles( “yourdomain\jane” ) = arrJaneRoles Dim arrGeorgeRoles As String() = _ { “Engineers” } colRoles( “yourdomain\george” ) = arrGeorgeRoles End Sub

20

e.User = New GenericPrincipal( _ e.Identity, _

USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Sub WindowsAuthentication_Authenticate( _ s As Object, _ e As WindowsAuthenticationEventArgs )

920

Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 20.6

continued

colRoles( e.Identity.Name.ToLower() ) ) End Sub

In the Init() subroutine in the Global.asax file in Listing 20.6, custom roles are associated with the Jane and George user accounts. Jane is assigned to the custom roles Supervisors and Engineers. George is assigned to the custom role Engineers. The WindowsAuthentication_Authenticate subroutine is triggered whenever a user is authenticated with Windows authentication. Within this subroutine, a new instance of the GenericPrincipal class is created. This class associates the authenticated user account with the custom roles defined in the Init() subroutine. After you place the Global.asax file in Listing 20.6 in your application’s root directory, you can refer to the custom roles in any Web.Config files contained in the application. When Jane is authenticated, she automatically becomes a member of the custom Supervisors and Engineers roles. When George is authenticated, he automatically becomes a member of the Engineers role. Now, imagine that you have a directory named Supervisors that contains information that should be viewed only by members of the custom Supervisors role. You can restrict access to the files in this directory by using the Web.Config file in Listing 20.7. LISTING 20.7

CustomRoles\Supervisors\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 20.7 denies access to everyone except users in the Supervisors role. You can use custom roles to develop very complex role-based security systems. For example, you can store the custom roles in a database table and retrieve the table in the Global.asax Init() subroutine.

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Retrieving User Information You can use two classes to retrieve information on users who have been authenticated by using Windows authentication: WindowsPrincipal and WindowsIdentity. You can use the WindowsPrincipal class to detect the roles to which an authenticated user belongs. For example, to check whether the current user is part of the Sales role, you can use the following statements: If User.IsInRole( “Sales” ) Then Response.Write( “Welcome Sales Person!” ) Else Response.Write( “Go away!” ) End If

The IsInRole method works both with roles that correspond to Windows groups and custom roles that you have created. You can use the IsInRole method to display different content to users depending on their role. For example, you might want to enable members of the Supervisors role to delete items in a database table, but not members of the Editors role. You also can retrieve information on authenticated Windows users by using the class, which has the following properties:

WindowsIdentity

•

AuthenticationType—Specifies

the type of authentication used; for example, Basic or NTLM (for Windows Integrated Authentication)

•

IsAnonymous—Returns True

when the current user is anonymous (the anonymous

account) •

IsAuthenticated—Returns True

•

IsGuest—Returns True

when the current user has been authenticated

when the current user has been authenticated with the

Guest account •

IsSystem—Returns True when current user has been authenticated with the System account

•

Name—Returns

•

Token—Returns

the name of the current user the handle of the access token associated with the current thread

To display the user account associated with the current user, for example, you would use the following statement:

This statement displays the full user account name including the domain.

USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

Response.Write( User.Identity.Name )

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To retrieve the other properties, such as IsAnonymous or IsGuest, you need to use the CType function to explicitly cast the user’s Identity as a WindowsIdentity like this: Response.Write( CType( User.Identity, _ System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity ).IsAnonymous )

This statement displays the value True before the user logs in, and False afterward.

Impersonating User Accounts When you requested pages with Classic Active Server Pages, the page executed with the permissions of the user making the request. In other words, in Classic Active Server Pages, each request impersonated a user account. For example, if you requested a page while logged in under the Administrator user account, the requested Active Server Page executed with the permissions of the Administrator account. If you requested an Active Server Page anonymously, the Active Server Page executed under the IUSER_MachineName account. By default, ASP.NET does not impersonate the user making a request. An ASP.NET page executes with the permissions of the local System account. This means that an anonymous user can request an ASP.NET page that deletes all the files from the hard drive. As long as the local System account has permissions to delete a file, the ASP.NET page can execute code that deletes the file. You can modify this default behavior by enabling client impersonation. By default, this option is disabled in the Machine.Config file. You can modify the impersonation setting in the Machine.Config file, or you can override this setting in a Web.Config file located in an application root directory. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 20.8 enables impersonation. LISTING 20.8

Impersonate\Web.Config

Note All the files in this section are located in the Impersonate directory on the CD that accompanies this book.

Using Windows-Based Authentication CHAPTER 20

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You can test the difference between enabling and disabling impersonation by using the file in Listing 20.9. LISTING 20.9

ReadDirectory.aspx

The ASP.NET page in Listing 20.9 displays all the files in a subdirectory named testDir. Imagine that the testDir directory can be accessed only by the local System account. In that case, if you enable impersonation, you receive an error if you attempt to execute the ReadDirectory.aspx page. On the other hand, if you disable impersonation, the page executes just fine. Warning If you enable impersonation, the account being impersonated must have read and write permissions on the following two directories: \WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\Temporary ASP.NET Files\ \WINNT\Assembly

The first directory contains compiled ASP.NET pages, and the second directory contains the global assembly cache.

Executing ASP.NET Pages under a User Account As I discussed in the preceding section, by default, if request impersonation is disabled, an ASP.NET page executes using the local System account. If you prefer, you can execute ASP.NET pages under a different user account.

USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

You might want to execute pages under a different account if you are hosting multiple ASP.NET applications on your Web server and you do not want one application to have access to the files in another application. You can configure the applications to run under distinct user accounts.

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Note You can lock down configuration settings in the Web.Config file. You need to do so when hosting untrusted applications to prevent users from modifying their security settings. For more information, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

You can specify a particular account for executing ASP.NET pages by modifying either the Machine.Config file or an application root Web.Config file. For example, the Web.Config file in Listing 20.10 would cause all ASP.NET pages to execute under the George user account. (This file is located in the ASPNETAccount directory on the CD that accompanies this book.) LISTING 20.10

Web.Config

The value of userName and password must correspond to a valid Windows user account. Notice that this Web.Config file disables impersonation; it causes ASP.NET pages to execute under the George user account regardless of the identity of the client who requests the page. Warning If you execute ASP.NET pages under a particular account, the account must have read and write permissions on the following two directories: \WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\Temporary ASP.NET Files\ \WINNT\Assembly

The first directory contains compiled ASP.NET pages, and the second directory contains the global assembly cache.

Using Windows-Based Authentication CHAPTER 20

925

Setting Security Policies In this section, you learn how to set different security policies for your ASP.NET applications. If you look in the same directory as your Machine.Config file (\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\CONFIG), you see a number of other files that end with the extension .config. These configuration files define different security policies. For example, the weblowtrust.config file defines the security policy for an ASP.NET application that is provided with a low-trust security policy. You can open any of these human-readable XML files in Notepad. A security policy file contains three main sections: a list of security classes, a list of named permission sets, and a list of code groups. A security policy is built from one or more code groups. Code groups specify membership conditions for code. If the code contained in an assembly matches the membership conditions of a code group, the security policy of the code group applies to the code contained in the assembly. You can find the classes that define code groups in the System.Security.Policy namespace. Each code group is associated with a named permission set, which contains a set of permissions and a name and description of the permission set. You can create custom permission sets or use the built-in permission sets. The permissions that you can use with permission sets are located in the namespace. An example of a permission is the FileIOPermission class, which controls how you access files and directories on the hard drive. For example, you can use this permission to grant Read and Write permissions on files. There are also permissions for controlling access to environmental and registry variables. System.Security.Permissions

You can apply a security policy to an ASP.NET application by modifying the file. This file includes a securityPolicy section in which you can associate different security policies with different trust levels.

Machine.Config

The Machine.Config file also contains a trust section in which you can specify the security policy for an ASP.NET application. For example, if you want to apply a lowtrust security policy, you can configure the trust section like this:

20 USING WINDOWSBASED AUTHENTICATION

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Summary In this chapter, you learned how to configure ASP.NET applications to use Windows security. In the first section, you learned how to use Windows authentication with Windows users and groups to password-protect files in a directory. You also learned how to create custom roles and associate these roles with existing user accounts. You also examined the topic of impersonation. You learned how to enable impersonation so that pages execute with the permissions of the user requesting the page. You also learned how to execute all the pages in an ASP.NET application under the security context of a particular Windows user account. Finally, the chapter provided a brief overview of security policies. You learned how to apply different security policies to an ASP.NET application.

CHAPTER 21

Encrypting Data over the Network

IN THIS CHAPTER • Using the Secure Sockets Layer

928

• Configuring Your Server to Use SSL 931 • Using SSL in ASP.NET Pages

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• Using .NET Encryption Classes

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If you need to send or receive sensitive information at your Web site—such as credit card numbers, business plans, or legal documents—you need to encrypt the information. In this chapter, you examine methods for encrypting data before it is sent across an unsecure network such as the Internet. First, you learn how to configure the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for your Web site. I discuss how you can use SSL to create a secure channel of communication and cover some techniques for using SSL in your ASP.NET pages. Next, I discuss the classes in the .NET framework that provide cryptographic services. You learn how to use hash algorithms and work with both symmetric and asymmetric (public key) cryptographic algorithms.

Using the Secure Sockets Layer The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol, originally developed by Netscape, for transmitting information securely across an unsecure network. SSL is the only existing method for sending private information across the Internet that works with the majority of current browsers. SSL provides a technical solution to three distinct security problems: encryption, authentication, and data integrity.

Encryption When you enter information into an HTML form and submit it at a Web site, the information is transmitted from your browser to the Web site’s server. As the information travels across the Internet, it typically passes through several intermediate connections. In theory, the data entered into the form can be intercepted and read. The problem of interception is analogous to the situation a general faces when he must send a message containing secret plans across enemy territory. As the messenger travels across the unknown territory, he could be captured, and the enemy could steal and read the secret plans. The proper solution, for both the general and for the person entering information into the HTML form, is to encrypt the message before it is sent across hostile territory. Even if the message is captured, the privacy of the information is protected—unless, of course, the secret code is cracked. SSL encrypts information as it passes back and forth between a Web server and Web browser. The information is encoded using a publicly known encryption algorithm and a secret session encryption key. The number of bits in the session key determines the strength of the encryption.

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

Why not always use the 128-bit key? There are two reasons. First, communicating using a 128-bit key can be significantly slower than using the 40-bit key. The longer the key, the more work the server and browser must perform to encrypt and decrypt the messages passed back and forth. Furthermore, until recently, legal restrictions were placed on using the longer 128-bit key. In the past, the United States government classified 128-bit SSL as munitions. It therefore was illegal, with certain exceptions, to export any program that supports this stronger encryption outside the United States or Canada. This restriction applies to both Web servers and Web browsers. Recently, the government has relaxed its position. However, many users still have browsers that do not support 128-bit SSL, especially outside the United States. Normally, if you install a 128-bit session key on your Web server, the Web server automatically negotiates the highest level of encryption to use for securing communication. If someone opens a connection using a browser with a 40-bit key, your server automatically uses this level of encryption. However, you also can configure IIS to reject browsers that do not support the stronger 128-bit key.

Authentication If you visit a Web site that appears to be Amazon.com in every way, you might feel safe providing your credit card information to buy a book. However, a clever thief could create a Web site that is indistinguishable from Amazon.com and steal your credit card information. To return to the example of the general sending a message across enemy territory, imagine that the enemy decides to impersonate the intended recipient of the secret plans. The general and imposter decide on a secret code, and the messenger delivers the message encoded with the secret code. However, the messenger has delivered the secret plans to the imposter. To prevent one Web site from pretending to be another, you can use SSL to authenticate a Web site. When you install SSL on your Web server, you must install a server certificate. This certificate is used to verify your Web site’s identity in much the same way as

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

When you installed Internet Information Server, by default, you installed a version of IIS that supports a 40-bit session encryption key. However, you have the option of upgrading IIS to use a stronger 128-bit session encryption key. Although messages encrypted with the 40-bit key have been cracked, messages encrypted with the 128-bit key are considered unbreakable with current technology.

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your driver’s license or passport is used to verify your personal identity. A server certificate contains information about your organization, your Web site, and the issuer of the certificate. To work as a digital ID, a server certificate must be signed by a certificate authority. A certificate authority acts as a trusted third party that verifies the identity of a Web site for its users. Whenever you open a page using SSL, the information from the server certificate is included. For example, using Internet Explorer, you can view the certificate information for the home page of the Microsoft site. Enter https://www.microsoft.com into the address bar of your browser and choose File, then Properties, then click the Certificates button (see Figure 21.1). FIGURE 21.1 Viewing certificate information.

Instead of using a third-party certificate authority, you also can issue and sign your own certificates using Microsoft Certificate Services (included with Windows 2000). In other words, you can be your own certificate authority. Being your own certificate authority is valuable when you need to authenticate multiple computers in your organization to members of your organization. However, if your Web site is public, you should use a third-party certificate authority such as Verisign because a server certificate is only as trustworthy as its issuer. SSL version 3.0 also supports client certificates. Client certificates work in exactly the same way as server certificates except that they are used to authenticate Web browsers rather than Web servers. Both Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 3.0 and higher) and

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

Data Integrity Imagine that a malicious individual decides to alter a message as it is transmitted across the Internet. This individual does not read the message or prevent the message from being transmitted. The message is simply vandalized. To return to the example of the general, suppose that the messenger successfully delivers the general’s secret plans to the intended recipient. Without the messenger’s knowledge, however, the secret plans were switched while the messenger was crossing the enemy terrain. The wrong plans have been delivered. SSL protects the integrity of data as it crosses the Internet. When messages are transmitted with SSL, they include a message authentication code (MAC). This code detects whether a message has been altered. In other words, when you use SSL, you know that the message received is the same as the message sent.

How Secure Is SSL? How safe is SSL? Can you use SSL to safely transmit credit card information or private business documents across the Internet? All the major commercial Web sites on the Internet that accept credit card information currently use SSL. For example, Amazon.com has accepted credit card information from more than 4.5 million customers using SSL. The real answer is that you do not have much choice. If you want to convey private information across the Internet without forcing your Web site’s users to download special programs such as Wallets, ActiveX components, or Java applets, you must use SSL. SSL is the only method of sending private information that is supported by the majority of browsers.

Configuring Your Server to Use SSL Configuring your server to use SSL is a straightforward process. However, if you are planning to use a server certificate from a third-party certificate authority, you should be warned that it can be a long process. Receiving a server certificate can take several weeks. This process also can be expensive. Verisign, for example, currently charges

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

Netscape Navigator (version 3.0 and higher) support client certificates. You can get a client certificate from a certificate authority, or you can use Microsoft Certificate Services to issue your own.

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$349 for a server certificate, and you must pay $249 each additional year the certificate is renewed. Three main steps are involved in installing SSL. First, you must generate a certificate request file and an encryption key pair file using the Web Server Certificate Wizard. Next, you must apply for a server certificate at a third-party certificate authority by providing it with your certificate request file. Finally, after you receive your server certificate, you must install it by using the Web Server Certificate Wizard.

Generating a Certificate Request File To create a certificate request file—also called a certificate signing request (CSR)—open the Web Server Certificate Wizard by completing the following steps: 1. Launch the Internet Services Manager. 2. Open the property sheet for your Web site (by clicking the icon with the hand holding a piece of paper). 3. Select the Directory Security tab. 4. Click the Server Certificate button in the section labeled Secure Communications. The Web Server Certificate Wizard guides you through the task of creating the certificate request file (see Figure 21.2). FIGURE 21.2 The Web Server Certificate Wizard.

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

To create the certificate request file, supply the following information:

• Bit length—You can choose the value 512 or 1040. The greater the bit length, the more work the server must perform. • Organization—The name of the owner of your domain name. Usually, the organization is the name of your company. • Organizational unit—The name of your department or business unit. • Common name—Your fully qualified domain name; for example, www.superexpert.com. You should not include the protocol (http://). • Country/Region—The two-letter ISO country code for your country; for example, US for the United States or CA for Canada. • State/province—The full name of your state or province; for example, Washington. • City/locality—The name of your city or town; for example, Seattle. • Certificate Request File Name—When you complete the wizard, your certificate request file is stored on your hard drive with this name. After you supply this information to the wizard, a certificate request file is saved to your hard drive. At this point, the certificate request file has been generated, but the certificate has not been installed. If you’re curious, here’s an example of a certificate request file: -----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST----MIIChjCCAjACAQAwdjEUMBIGA1UEAxMLc3VwZXJleHBlcnQxFDASBgNVBAsTC1N1 cGVyZXhwZXJ0MRQwEgYDVQQKEwtTdXBlcmV4cGVydDEQMA4GA1UEBxMHU2VhdHRs ZTETMBEGA1UECBMKV2FzaGsafsdsbjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMwXDANBgkqhkiG9w0B AQEFAANLADBIAkEAyeavOog01j1aPdoEi6dO1qKB6WLie0Ilz/Yr1NioPmRRNxw8 7QbgGoVcaDNmxCBWFE9UzCasffsMHZL9GCey3QIDAQABoIIBUzAaBgorBgEEAYI3 DQIDMQwWCjUuMC4yMTk1LjIwNQYKKwYBBAGCNwIBDjEnMCUwDgYDVR0PAQH/BAQD AgTwMBMGA1UdJQQMMAoGCCsGAQUFBwMBMIH9BgorBgEEAYI3DQICMYHuMIHrAgEB HloATQBpAGMAcgBvAHMAbwBmAHQAIABSAFMAQQAgAFMAQwBoAGEAbgBuAGUAbAAg AEMAcgB5AHAAdABvAGcAcgBhAHAAaABpAGMAIABQAHIAbwB2AGkAZABlAHIDgYkA 0jwwllPCwtmzxrLJ/2/rpGCvHrqzYzASmxr2ltdVP4OJogQKKcWQz5vkwdEPmEY2 3Ivam+3jSC5oZ6+I54thisdfszNLyHZ5lZK11nalKu/dN6hbwBhBemxUoi4NpIFf dw6MIxm1bmlcLFxaI4jtJ7UDIg+pMMiMraSAo4zAaBMAAAAAAAAAADANBgkqhkiG 9w0BAQUFAANBAL2Y6L96BpQMWayt0LzHtTjRGf+dNDHUFFNtWWB3iVwztCdJsvFa luqFigBWYWLubHjOp+0MKg18p62BG5tVfoI= -----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

Applying for a Server Certificate After you generate a certificate request file, you can apply for a server certificate from a certificate authority. These three are the more popular ones:

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

• Name—You can supply any name here. This name is used to identify the key.

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• Verisign Inc. (http://www.verisign.com) • Thawte Consulting (http://www.thawte.com) • GTE CyberTrust Solutions (http://www.cybertrust.gte.com) To apply for a Verisign server certificate, for example, go to http://www.verisign.com and choose Secure Server ID. You need to provide Verisign with identifying information about your organization, such as your Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number, your articles of incorporation, or your business license. After you provide this information, you can submit your certificate request file through an online form. After your information is verified, you receive an e-mail message that contains instructions for downloading your new server certificate.

Installing Your Server Certificate The last step in preparing your server to use SSL is to actually install the server certificate. To do so, launch the Web Server Certificate Wizard once again and choose the option labeled Process the Pending Request and Install the Certificate. Then open the server certificate file from your hard drive. The server certificate should now be installed on your server. Note If you must transfer your certificate to a new server, you can use the Web Server Certificate Wizard to create a backup copy of your certificate. You can then load the certificate on the new server by launching the Web Server Certificate Wizard and selecting the option labeled Import a Certificate from a Key Manager Backup File. The new server must have exactly the same Internet domain name as the original server (the IP address can be different).

Using SSL in ASP.NET Pages After you configure your server to use SSL, you can request any page from your Web site using a secure connection. To retrieve a Web page using SSL, use an address of the form https://www.yourdomain.com/page.aspx rather than the normal http://www. yourdomain.com/page.aspx. This form works for any page at your Web site. You can force users to use SSL when requesting pages from your Web site. To do so, open the property sheet for a directory or a single page within the Internet Services Manager and choose the Directory Security or File Security tab. Next, click the Edit

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

When you’re requesting credit card information, it is a good idea to provide both a secure and an unsecure version of the form for collecting the information. Even though SSL is as old as Netscape 1.0, strangely enough, some browsers still do not support it. To enable users to choose between the two versions of the same page, simply provide two different links: Pay Now (secure version) Pay Now (unsecure version)

Within the pay.aspx page itself, you can detect whether the page is being requested using SSL. If a user is requesting a page unsecurely, you might want to provide a warning. The page in Listing 21.1 contains a subroutine that detects and reports the security status of an ASP.NET page (see Figure 21.3). FIGURE 21.3 Reporting security status.

LISTING 21.1

IsSecureConnection.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Request.IsSecureConnection Then lblMessage.Text = “You are using a secure connection” lblMessage.Text &= “Issuer:”

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

button under Secure Communications and choose Require Secure Channel When Accessing This Resource. If you want to require 128-bit SSL, click the Encryption Settings button and choose Require 128-Bit Encryption.

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continued

lblMessage.Text &= Request.ServerVariables( “CERT_SERVER_ISSUER” ) lblMessage.Text &= “Subject” lblMessage.Text &= Request.ServerVariables( “CERT_SERVER_SUBJECT” ) lblMessage.Text &= “Encryption Key Size:” lblMessage.Text &= Request.ServerVariables( “CERT_KEYSIZE” ) lblMessage.Text &= “Certificate Key Size:” lblMessage.Text &= Request.ServerVariables( “CERT_SECRETKEYSIZE” ) lblMessage.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green Else lblMessage.Text = “You are not using a secure connection” lblMessage.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red End If End Sub IsSecureConnection.aspx
Please enter your credit card information, your social security number, your yearly income, and your favorite color.

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 21.1, the IsSecureConnection property of the Request object detects whether the page was requested using SSL. If the page was requested using SSL, several properties of the secure connection are reported, such as the name of the issuer of the certificate and the encryption key size.

Using .NET Encryption Classes The .NET framework includes a rich set of classes for performing cryptographic operations. You can access any of these classes within an ASP.NET page. In several situations, you need to use these classes in an ASP.NET application. For example you can use these classes to encrypt sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and legal documents, before you store the information in a database table or the file

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

In the following sections, you learn how to use the cryptography classes to generate hash codes, encrypt data by using both symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic algorithms, and create digital signatures. Note Many of the cryptographic classes in the .NET framework are managed wrappers for the Windows Cryptographic Service Providers (CSPs). To use a particular cryptographic class, the proper CSP must be installed.

Using Hash Algorithms A hash algorithm generates a fixed-length hash value that uniquely represents the contents of an arbitrary length string. Identical strings generate the same hash value. Strings that differ in the smallest respect generate different hash values. Imagine that you have a file that contains the complete text of the Declaration of Independence. You can use a hash algorithm to generate a string of 16 characters that represent the contents of this file. If you change a single letter in the file, the hash algorithm would generate a different hash value. Hash values are useful for detecting changes in a file. They enable you to take a snapshot of the state of a file at any point of time. If you want to know whether a file has been changed on the hard drive, you can compare the file’s current hash value to its previous hash value. Hash values can be used to protect data integrity. For example, the Forms authentication module uses hash values to detect changes in the cookie Authentication Tickets that it issues. The classes in the .NET framework support the following hash algorithms: •

MD5—This

hash algorithm generates a 128-bit hash value. (To learn more about it, see RFC 1321 at www.w3.org.) This hash algorithm is implemented by the MD5CryptoServiceProvider class.

•

SHA1—The original Secure Hash Algorithm generates a 160-bit hash value. It is implemented by the SHA1CryptoServiceProvider and SHA1Managed classes.

•

SHA256—The

Secure Hash Algorithm 256 generates a 256-bit hash value. It is implemented by the SHA256CryptoServiceProvider and SHA256Managed classes.

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

system. You also can use these classes to automatically add digital signatures to documents.

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•

SHA384—The Secure Hash Algorithm 384 generates a 384-bit hash value. It is implemented by the SHA384CryptoServiceProvider and SHA384Managed classes.

•

SHA512—The Secure Hash Algorithm 512 generates a 512-bit hash value. It is implemented by the SHA512CryptoServiceProvider and SHA512Managed classes.

The MD5 hash algorithm is the fastest but the least secure. Each SHA algorithm is progressively more secure but requires more computation. Note The System.Security.Cryptography namespace includes two classes that support keyed hashed algorithms: HMACSHA1 and MACTripleDES. These classes are particularly useful for generating message authentication codes (MACs).

You can use any of these classes to compute a hash value by calling the ComputeHash method. This method accepts a byte array that represents the data to be hashed and returns a byte array that represents the hash value. For example, the ASP.NET page in Listing 21.2 returns a hash value by using the MD5 hash algorithm (see Figure 21.4). FIGURE 21.4 Computing a hash value.

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21 LISTING 21.2

Hash.aspx

Function Convert2ByteArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrChar As Char() arrChar = strInput.ToCharArray() Dim arrByte( arrChar.Length - 1 ) As Byte For intCounter = 0 To arrByte.Length - 1 arrByte( intCounter ) = Convert.ToByte( arrChar( intCounter ) ) Next Return arrByte End Function Sub Button_Click( s AS Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim arrHashInput As Byte() Dim arrHashOutput As Byte() Dim objMD5 As MD5CryptoServiceProvider objMD5 = New MD5CryptoServiceProvider arrHashInput = Convert2ByteArray( txtInput.Text ) arrHashOutput = objMD5.ComputeHash( arrHashInput ) lblOutput.Text = BitConverter.ToString( arrHashOutput ) End Sub Hash.aspx Generate MD5 Hash Enter text to hash:

Hash value:

The page in Listing 21.2 displays a multiline TextBox control. If you enter text into it and click the submit button, the hash value for the text is displayed. Notice that even a single character difference generates a different hash value. You cannot pass a string directly to the ComputeHash method of any of the Hash classes. In Listing 21.2, the string is converted to a byte array with the Convert2ByteArray function before being passed to the ComputeHash method. The byte array returned by ComputeHash is converted back to a string with the BitConverter class.

Using Symmetric Encryption Algorithms When you think of encryption, you typically think of symmetric encryption algorithms. When you encrypt a message with a symmetric encryption algorithm, both the sender and recipient of the message must share the same decryption key. The classes in the .NET framework support the following symmetric encryption algorithms: • DES—The United States Data Encryption Standard. This algorithm is implemented by the DESCryptoServiceProvider class. • Triple DES—DES encryption applied three times in a row with different session encryption keys. This algorithm is implemented by the TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider class. • RC2—The RC2 Block Cipher. This algorithm is implemented by the RC2CryptoServiceProvider class. •

Rijndael—The algorithm used for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This algorithm is implemented by the RijndaelManaged class.

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

For this next example, you use the DESCryptoServiceProvider class to encrypt form data and store the encrypted data in a file. You need to create two ASP.NET pages: SymmetricWrite.aspx and SymmetricRead.aspx. The SymmetricWrite.aspx page, contained in Listing 21.3, will encrypt and write the data to a file, and the SymmetricRead.aspx page will read and decrypt the data from the file. LISTING 21.3

SymmetricWrite.aspx

CONST DESKey As String = “ABCDEFGH” CONST DESIV As String = “HGFEDCBA” Function Convert2ByteArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrChar As Char() arrChar = strInput.ToCharArray() Dim arrByte( arrChar.Length - 1 ) As Byte For intCounter = 0 To arrByte.Length - 1 arrByte( intCounter ) = Convert.ToByte( arrChar( intCounter ) ) Next Return arrByte End Function Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim arrDESKey As Byte() Dim arrDESIV AS Byte() Dim arrInput As Byte() Dim objFileStream As FileStream Dim objDES As DESCryptoServiceProvider Dim objEncryptor As ICryptoTransform Dim objCryptoStream As CryptoStream arrDESKey = Convert2ByteArray( DESKey ) arrDESIV = Convert2ByteArray( DESIV ) arrInput = Convert2ByteArray( txtInput.Text ) objDES = New DESCryptoServiceProvider() objEncryptor = objDES.CreateEncryptor( arrDESKey, arrDESIV ) objFileStream = New FileStream( _

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

You can use any of these encryption algorithms in your ASP.NET pages. For example, you can encrypt information that users enter into an HTML form and send the information in an e-mail, store the information on the file system, or add the information to a database table.

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continued

MapPath( “secret.txt” ), _ FileMode.Create, _ FileAccess.Write ) objCryptoStream = New CryptoStream( _ objFileStream, _ objEncryptor, _ CryptoStreamMode.Write ) objCryptoStream.Write( arrInput, 0, arrInput.Length ) objCryptoStream.Close() End Sub SymmetricWrite.aspx DES Encryption Enter text to encrypt:

The page in Listing 21.3 displays a form with a single TextBox control (see Figure 21.5). If you enter text into it and click the submit button, the form data is encrypted using the DES encryption algorithm and saved to a file named secret.txt. Notice the two constants named DESKey and DESIV defined at the top of the file. When you encrypt data with DESCryptoServiceProvider, you must supply both a secret key and an initialization vector. You need to use these two constants to decrypt the file after you create it.

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

FIGURE 21.5

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

Encrypting a file.

In Listing 21.3, the secret key is assigned the value ABCDEFGH, and the initialization vector is assigned the value HGFEDCBA. You should think of these values as the secret passwords to the file. You can assign any eight-character string to these constants. You can decrypt the contents of the secret.txt file by using the ASP.NET page in Listing 21.4 (see Figure 21.6). LISTING 21.4

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SymmetricRead.aspx

CONST DESKey As String = “ABCDEFGH” CONST DESIV As String = “HGFEDCBA” Sub Page_load DESDecrypt End Sub Function Convert2ByteArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrChar As Char()

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continued

arrChar = strInput.ToCh arArray() Dim arrByte( arrChar.Length - 1 ) As Byte For intCounter = 0 To arrChar.Length - 1 arrByte( intCounter ) = Convert.ToByte( arrChar( intCounter ) ) Next Return arrByte End Function Sub DESDecrypt Dim arrDESKey As Byte() Dim arrDESIV As Byte() Dim objFileStream As FileStream Dim objDES As DESCryptoServiceProvider Dim objDecryptor As ICryptoTransform Dim objCryptoStream As CryptoStream arrDESKey = Convert2ByteArray( DESKey ) arrDESIV = Convert2ByteArray( DESIV ) objDES = New DESCryptoServiceProvider objDecryptor = objDES.CreateDecryptor( arrDESKey, arrDESIV ) objFileStream = New FileStream( _ MapPath( “secret.txt” ), _ FileMode.Open, _ FileAccess.Read ) objCryptoStream = New CryptoStream( _ objFileStream, _ objDecryptor, _ CryptoStreamMode.Read ) lblMessage.Text = New StreamReader( objCryptoStream ).ReadToEnd() objFileStream.Close End Sub SymmetricRead.aspx DES Decryption Decrypted Text:

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

FIGURE 21.6

The page in Listing 21.4 reads, decrypts, and displays the contents of the secret.txt file in the DESDecrypt subroutine. Notice that the DESKey and DESIV constants are defined at the top of the page. The values of these constants in this page must match the values of these constants in the SymmetricWrite.aspx page.

Using Asymmetric Encryption When you use a symmetric encryption algorithm, both the sender and recipient of a message must share a common decryption key. You use the same secret key to encrypt a message as the key that you use to decrypt the message. When you use an asymmetric encryption algorithm, on the other hand, the key used to encrypt a message is distinct from the key used to decrypt the message. Asymmetric encryption algorithms use a key pair. If you encrypt a message with one key, you need the other key to decrypt the message. Asymmetric encryption algorithms often are used to create digital signatures. Typically, one key is made public, and the other key is kept private. If you encrypt a message with your private key, it can be decrypted only with your public key. If you send another user a message encrypted with your private key, that user can verify that you sent the message by decrypting it with your public key.

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

Decrypting a file.

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Note Asymmetric algorithms are often referred to as public key algorithms.

When used with a hash algorithm, an asymmetric algorithm can detect whether a message has been altered. For example, if George needs to send Jane a message, and George and Jane need to ensure that the message has not been altered in transit, the two of them can do the following: 1. George computes the hash value of the message. 2. George encrypts the hash value with his private key. 3. George sends the message and encrypted hash value to Jane. 4. Jane decrypts the hash value received from George. 5. Jane computes the hash value of the message herself. 6. If the two hash values match, Jane knows that the message has not been modified. The classes in the .NET framework support the following two asymmetric algorithms: • DSA—The Digital Signature Algorithm (the digital authentication standard of the United States government). This algorithm is implemented by the DSACryptoServiceProvider class. • RSA—This algorithm is implemented by the RSACryptoServiceProvider class. Both algorithms implement the AsymmetricAlgorithm class, so they share many of the same methods and properties. If you create an instance of either class, the private and public keys are automatically generated. You can access the public or private key by using either the ToXmlString or ExportParameters method. The ToXmlString method represents the public and private keys with an XML string. The following sample statements create an instance of the DSACryptoServiceProvider class and display the private and public keys: Dim objDSA As New DSACryptoServiceProvider() Response.Write( Response.Write( Response.Write( Response.Write(

“Private Key:” ) Server.HTMLEncode( objDSA.ToXmlString( True ) ) ) “Public Key:” ) Server.HTMLEncode( objDSA.ToXmlString( False ) ) )

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

The preceding statements generate output similar to the following: Private Key:
1AYChM6ITZ1sFQDtDd8rfDNAoeWdIttEpgY53xArTjl1RrZ7LD887IQFRmY CqCjgA0EoToR8elnIbAsr+IGN9h4dRnbKaCk/LupXj1bxJqQbMlqXyfLehxeshRCgajFqAOmMW6 SSlNNdJU8DY8gzPUzSar57UhpbDur1p2MHwlc=
5RdZjO/s6pJMQEOnzThKX0/EJp8=sQNgfhRtZ5GGufpdPgb5zYAP0go4egcNhGibQbIV4OBgqP2jiBLURjnxSHNs5GKbvUGT2t 5Sr2DP8+704Tv+osjNtOsG324Txgdx3Li0wsqguyBu2stlIPI2FxPuTcasLqPmFuWhBHexFT2lg 4w4eVCVH1jlaCZ7lmrI1ux2w2c=FlAgexkYEnPIM06dnGmE5s/mj/7M9V1ohQY+ZH80d LTOWCobBt7T16ToR0dUpcIHDrn7kha5Bj4YnT6pjAr55VtclBu3td8m6M3Ymm8MqLQXTVj9aWem nrHVX+/hMNXOnBGsaf/Lrvjw37TERKocTzJcV9Jv2tsaklC9nQeSx3I=7O1xQHFufGn5 X592ZJ90kuRA/RzxZltsiULtfuNaBu95uNaAYHKOajkBJQP8/U4jzoYvPOTYw9Z37r8BLt8Vt8Q p64IkmlqHMwlFVZhYU/XNwuXfrSdUPxwl6s+eZHe4GKr4H1vz49wTaGvqb3M+ieba mm7xgDEZmUJ2QNB1elg=ARM=iJMgNkrX+Wj4pV eSc1VPV2fOBPg=

Public Key:
1AYChM6ITZ1sFQDtDd8rfDNAoeWdIttEpgY53xArTjl1RrZ7LD887IQFRmY CqCjgA0EoToR8elnIbAsr+IGN9h4dRnbKaCk/LupXj1bxJqQbMlqXyfLehxeshRCgajFqAOmMW6 SSlNNdJU8DY8gzPUzSar57UhpbDur1p2MHwlc=
5RdZjO/s6pJMQEOnzThKX0/EJp8=sQNgfhRtZ5GGufpdPgb5zYAP0go4egcNhGibQbIV4OBgqP2jiBLURjnxSHNs5GKbvUGT2t 5Sr2DP8+704Tv+osjNtOsG324Txgdx3Li0wsqguyBu2stlIPI2FxPuTcasLqPmFuWhBHexFT2lg 4w4eVCVH1jlaCZ7lmrI1ux2w2c=FlAgexkYEnPIM06dnGmE5s/mj/7M9V1ohQY+ZH80d LTOWCobBt7T16ToR0dUpcIHDrn7kha5Bj4YnT6pjAr55VtclBu3td8m6M3Ymm8MqLQXTVj9aWem nrHVX+/hMNXOnBGsaf/Lrvjw37TERKocTzJcV9Jv2tsaklC9nQeSx3I=7O1xQHFufGn5 X592ZJ90kuRA/RzxZltsiULtfuNaBu95uNaAYHKOajkBJQP8/U4jzoYvPOTYw9Z37r8BLt8Vt8Q p64IkmlqHMwlFVZhYU/XNwuXfrSdUPxwl6s+eZHe4GKr4H1vz49wTaGvqb3M+ieba mm7xgDEZmUJ2QNB1elg=ARM=

If you look closely at the private and public keys, you notice that they differ in a final element, which represents the private key. You can use the SignData method to generate a digital signature for a message. This method accepts one parameter: a byte array representing the message to be signed. The SignHash method returns a byte array that represents the digital signature for the message. The VerifyData method performs the opposite operation. You can use this method to verify that a message matches its digital signature. It accepts two parameters: a byte array representing the data to verify and a byte array that represents the digital signature. VerifyData returns the value True when the message matches the signature and False otherwise.

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

Notice that you use the ToXmlString method to display both the private and public keys. You pass the value True to display the private key and the value False to display the public key.

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The page in Listing 21.5, for example, generates a digital signature for any text that you enter into an HTML form (see Figure 21.7). FIGURE 21.7 Generating a digital signature.

LISTING 21.5

AsymmetricWrite.aspx

Function Convert2ByteArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrChar As Char() arrChar = strInput.ToCharArray() Dim arrByte( arrChar.Length - 1 ) As Byte For intCounter = 0 To arrByte.Length - 1 arrByte( intCounter ) = Convert.ToByte( arrChar( intCounter ) ) Next Return arrByte End Function Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim arrInput As Byte() Dim objDSA As DSACryptoServiceProvider Dim strPublicKey As String Dim arrDigitalSignature As Byte()

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21 LISTING 21.5

continued

AsymmetricWrite.aspx Create Digital Signature

Digital Signature:
Public Key:

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

arrInput = Convert2ByteArray( txtInput.Text ) objDSA = New DSACryptoServiceProvider() strPublicKey = objDSA.ToXMLString( False ) arrDigitalSignature = objDSA.SignData( arrInput ) txtSignature.Text = BitConverter.ToString( arrDigitalSignature ) txtPublicKey.Text = strPublicKey End Sub

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Securing ASP.NET Applications PART V LISTING 21.5

continued

When you enter text into the TextBox control in Listing 21.5 and submit the form, the Button_Click subroutine generates a digital signature by using RSACryptoServiceProvider. The Button_Click subroutine displays the digital signature and the public key associated with the digital signature in two TextBox controls. The page in Listing 21.6 performs the opposite operation. This page uses the VerifyData method to verify that a message matches a digital signature associated with a particular public key (see Figure 21.8). FIGURE 21.8 Verifying a digital signature.

LISTING 21.6

AsymmetricRead.aspx

Function Convert2ByteArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrChar As Char()

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21 LISTING 21.6

continued

Function ConvertHexArray( strInput As String ) As Byte() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim arrString As String() arrString = strInput.Split( New Char() { “-” } ) Dim arrByte( arrString.Length - 1 ) As Byte For intCounter = 0 To arrByte.Length - 1 arrByte( intCounter ) = Byte.Parse( arrString( intCounter ), NumberStyles.HexNumber ) Next Return arrByte End Function Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim arrInput As Byte() Dim objDSA As DSACryptoServiceProvider Dim strPublicKey As String Dim arrDigitalSignature As Byte() arrInput = Convert2ByteArray( txtInput.Text ) arrDigitalSignature = ConvertHexArray( txtSignature.Text ) objDSA = New DSACryptoServiceProvider() objDSA.FromXMLString( txtPublicKey.Text ) lblVerify.Text = objDSA.VerifyData( arrInput, arrDigitalSignature ) End Sub AsymmetricRead.aspx Verify Digital Signature Message:
Digital Signature:
Public Key:

Verified?

The page in Listing 21.6 displays a form with three TextBox controls: one for a message, one for a digital signature, and one for a public key. If you enter this information and click the verify button, the page returns the value True if the message can be verified and the value False otherwise.

Summary In this chapter, you learned how to securely transmit data across an unsecure network such as the Internet. In the first section, I discussed how you can enable SSL encryption

Encrypting Data Over the Network CHAPTER 21

Next, you examined the cryptography classes included with the .NET framework. You learned how to use the cryptography classes to generate a hash value that uniquely represents the contents of a document and encrypt messages by using symmetric encryption algorithms such as DES and Triple DES. Finally, you learned how to use an asymmetric algorithm to generate a digital signature for a message.

21 ENCRYPTING DATA OVER THE NETWORK

for your Web site and provided an overview of the features of SSL. You also learned how to install SSL on your Web server.

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PART

VI IN THIS PART 22 Creating an XML Web Service 23 Advanced XML Web Services

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CHAPTER 22

Creating an XML Web Service

IN THIS CHAPTER • Overview of XML Web Services

958

• Creating a Simple XML Web Service 961 • Testing an XML Web Service from a Browser 965 • Accessing an XML Web Service Through a Proxy Class 969 • Transmitting Complex Data in an XML Web Service 975 • Examining XML Web Service and Web Site Interaction 987

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In this chapter, you learn how to take advantage of an exciting new technology included with ASP.NET: You learn how to build and access XML Web services. First, you are provided with an overview of XML Web services. You learn what they are and why you might want to use them. Next, you build a simple XML Web service that converts temperatures between degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius. After you create an XML Web service, you learn how you can test it from a Web browser. You also learn how to retrieve information about all the methods and properties of an XML Web service and invoke a Web service method from a browser. Next, you learn how to create a proxy class that enables you to interact with an XML Web service across the network. You learn how to automatically generate the proxy class and integrate the class into an ASP.NET application. Finally, you explore the issue of XML Web service and Web site interaction and learn how to integrate application and session state into a Web service.

Overview of XML Web Services ASP.NET XML Web services enable you to remotely access the properties and methods of classes across a network. They are an important part of the Microsoft vision of the programmable Web. The Web, as it currently exists, is designed around humans browsing Web pages through a Web browser. Typically, the only way to present information through the Internet is to build a Web page designed to be consumed by human eyes. However, in many situations, exposing information to an application makes more sense than exposing it to a human. Consider, for example, the process of buying a book online. Currently, to buy a book, you must complete each of the following steps: 1. Find a Web site that sells the book you want for the cheapest price. 2. Log in to the Web site with your username and password. 3. Select a shipping method for the book. 4. Pay for the book by entering your credit card number. XML Web services have the potential to alter the manner in which each step is performed. Let’s start with the last step and work backward. When you enter a credit card number to pay for a book, the Web site must communicate with a credit card processor to authorize your credit card purchase. The credit card

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number must be transmitted over the Web, and the purchase must be authorized or declined. All these transactions must be accomplished in real-time. There is no standard way of completing this process. To communicate with each major credit card processor, you must implement different proprietary software. XML Web services have the potential to standardize the process of authorizing credit cards. Imagine a credit card authorization Web service. The Web service would have an authorization method to accept a credit card number, an expiration date, and a purchase amount. When the method is invoked, it would return either approved or declined.

Now imagine a shipping Web service. You would transmit an origin and destination address to the service, and it would return a list of shipping options with different prices. Before you can purchase a book, you must first log in to the Web site by entering your username and password. Typically, you must enter new registration information for each site that you use. Again, imagine a Web service simplifying this process. In this case, it would be a user registration Web service. Whenever you visit a Web site, it could communicate with the user registration Web service to verify your identity. You would pass a username and password to the Web service, and it would return a value indicating whether the username and password combination is valid. Finally, before you purchase the book, you have to visit several Web sites to find the best price. XML Web services can even help here. Now imagine a book Web service. You would transmit the title of a book to the service, and it would return the name of the Web site that currently sells the book for the lowest price. Or, better yet, the Web service would automatically communicate with the credit card authorization Web service and automatically buy the book for you at the lowest price.

XML Web Services Facilitate Communication XML Web services facilitate communication among different Web sites and different applications. Because Web services are built on open standards—such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP—they enable communication in a platform-independent way.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

When purchasing a book, you must select a shipping method. To get a list of shipping options and prices for each option, the Web site must communicate with one or more shipping services. Again, there is no standard way of completing this process. The method for communicating with Federal Express is different than the method for communicating with United Parcel Service.

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This last point is important. Because Web services are based on open standards, an ASP.NET Web site can use Web services to communicate with a Web site created on a different platform, such as Java. Note You can download the XML and Web services Development Environment from the IBM Web site. This programming environment enables you to build Web services with Java.

Another important application of Web services is communication with applications running on legacy systems. Large companies have a regrettable tendency to employ multiple platforms and applications written in multiple programming languages. Because Web services are built on open standards, you can use them as a common language to bridge the different platforms in an organization. In the next chapter, “Advanced XML Web Services,” for example, you’ll learn how to take advantage of a Web services feature called HTML pattern matching, which enables you to perform screen-scraping operations against legacy systems. You can use HTML pattern matching to read information from an application even if the application does not directly support Web services. Web services not only enable Web site–to–Web site communication, they also enable application–to–Web site and application-to-application communication. For example, you can write a desktop application that communicates with a banking Web service to retrieve your current checking account balance. Or you can use Web services to enable a desktop application running on a computer in Australia to communicate with a desktop application running on a computer in Mexico.

XML Web Services Enable Aggregation Another important benefit of XML Web services is that they enable you to aggregate content from multiple Web sites and even multiple Web services. We already discussed the example of aggregating information on the price of books from different Web sites. Another example of aggregation is a meta-search engine. You could query a search Web service, and it could automatically query multiple search engines such as Yahoo and AltaVista and return the combined search results. You could build this search Web service even if Yahoo and AltaVista do not implement Web services themselves. By taking advantage of a feature of Web services called

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HTML pattern matching, you can retrieve information from any Web site and expose it in your Web service. Someday soon, all wholesalers might expose their catalog of products as Web services. Retail Web sites could then combine and prune the different catalogs of products to offer a custom selection.

Creating a Simple XML Web Service

LISTING 22.1

TemperatureService.asmx

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services Public Class TemperatureService : Inherits WebService Public Function ToCelsius( TF As Double ) As Double Return ( 5/9 ) * ( TF - 32 ) End Function Public Function ToFahrenheit( TC As Double ) As Double Return ( 9/5 ) * Tc + 32 End Function End Class

The first thing you should notice about Listing 22.1 is that very few lines of code are required to build a Web service. Here, you create a public class, named TemperatureService, that inherits from the .NET WebService class. Note Strictly speaking, you don’t even need to inherit a Web service from the .NET WebService class. Doing so simply makes it easier to access intrinsic objects, such as the Application, Session, and Cache objects.

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

In this section, you build a simple XML Web service that converts back and forth between temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius. The Web service has two methods: ToCelsius and ToFahrenheit. The complete code for this Web service is included in Listing 22.1.

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Next, you declare two methods for the class by using Visual Basic functions. They are the two methods exposed by the Web service. Notice the strange expression that appears in each of the two function declarations. For example, the ToCelsius function is declared like this: Public Function ToCelsius( TF As Double ) As Double

The expression applies a custom attribute, named WebMethod, to the ToCelsius function. The WebMethod custom attribute exposes the function to the world so that it can be accessed through the Web service. Note You can use the WebMethod attribute with both methods and properties.

You need to understand the difference between a function declared with the Public modifier and the WebMethod custom attribute. Functions declared with the Public access modifier can be accessed by all procedures in all classes in an application. However, they are not automatically exposed as methods of the Web service. To be exposed as a Web method, the function must be Public and be flagged with the WebMethod attribute. One last thing that you should notice about Listing 22.1 is that the name of the file ends with the extension .asmx. This extension identifies Web services. When you create a Web service, you must save the file that defines the Web service with the extension .asmx in a directory that your Web server can access. Note Be careful where you save your Web service file. When you announce your Web service to the world, you cannot easily change its location.

Setting WebMethod Attributes The WebMethod custom attribute has the following optional properties: •

By default, Web service methods and properties buffer responses in chunks. If you want to stream a response back to a client, you can set this property to the value False.

BufferResponse

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22

•

CacheDuration By default, Web service methods and properties do not cache responses. However, you can set this property to an integer value to cache a response for a certain number of seconds.

•

Description This property contains the description for methods and properties used when Web service description documents are generated.

•

By default, Web service methods and properties do not participate in session state. If you set this property to True, the method or property can use session state.

•

963

EnableSession

MessageName

This property can be used to create an alias for a Web method

22

name. TransactionOption This property enables you to specify how the Web service participates in transactions. By default, transactions are disabled.

If you want to provide a description for the ToCelsius method, for example, you would declare the method like this: Public Function ➥toCelsius( TF As Double ) As Double Return ( 5/9 ) * ( TF - 32 ) End Function

This description is used, for example, in the Web Service Help page. I discuss this file in the section titled “Testing an XML Web Service from a Browser” later in this chapter.

Setting WebService Attributes In the same way in which you can specify attribute properties for individual methods of a WebService, you can specify attribute properties for a Web service as a whole. To do this, you use the properties of the WebService attribute class. This class has the following three properties: •

Description Provides a description for the Web service. This description appears in the Web Service Help page.

•

Name

•

Namespace

Specifies a name for the Web service (by default, the class name is used).

Specifies the XML namespace for the Web service (not to be confused with the .NET namespace).

The last property, Namespace, is particularly important. By default, the XML namespace is set to http://tempuri.org/. You should specify a new URL for the Namespace property, such as http://www.yourdomain.com/services. The URL that you specify does not need to point to an actual Web page. The URL is simply functioning as a unique

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

•

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identifier so that Web services developed by your company can be distinguished from Web services developed by other companies. Here’s how you would set the Description and Namespace properties when declaring the TemperatureService Web service:

_

Public Class TemperatureService

Precompiling an XML Web Service You don’t need to compile the class file for a Web service before you can use the Web service. Like an ASP.NET page, a Web service is automatically compiled when it is requested. However, if you are selling a Web service class file or you have other reasons for hiding the source code, you have the option of precompiling the service. Note There is absolutely no performance difference between a compiled and uncompiled Web service.

To compile the TemperatureService in Listing 22.1, you would need to strip away the first line so that the file contains only a class declaration. The file in Listing 22.2 contains the pure class definition in a VB file (I’ve renamed the class to CompiledTemperatureService). LISTING 22.2

CompiledTemperatureService.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services Public Class CompiledTemperatureService : Inherits WebService Public Function ToCelsius( TF As Double ) As Double Return ( 5/9 ) * ( TF - 32 ) End Function Public Function ToFahrenheit( TC As Double ) As Double Return ( 9/5 ) * Tc + 32 End Function End Class

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Next, you must compile the CompiledTemperatureService.vb file. To do so, execute the following command from a command line prompt: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll CompiledTemperatureService.vb

This command executes the Visual Basic compiler. The CompiledTemperatureService.vb file is compiled into a DLL file that references both the System.dll and System.Web.Services.dll assemblies. If the CompiledTemperatureService.vb file is successfully compiled, a file named CompiledTemperatureService.dll is produced.

The final step is to create the .asmx file that references the compiled class. The new file contains only a single line. The complete code for the file is shown in Listing 22.3.

.asmx

LISTING 22.3

CompiledTemperatureService.asmx

The page in Listing 22.3 contains a single directive. The Class attribute refers to the compiled CompiledTemperatureService class file in the /bin directory.

Testing an XML Web Service from a Browser After you create a Web service, you can test it in a browser that supports XML, such as Internet Explorer version 5.0 or higher. Just enter the address of the Web service in your Web browser. For example, if you saved TemperatureService.asmx in a subdirectory of your Web site called Services, you can enter the following address: http://localhost/Services/TemperatureService.asmx

When you access a Web service directly from a Web browser, the Web Service Help page is displayed (see Figure 22.1). This page lists all the properties and methods of the Web service.

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

When you have a compiled class file, you need to copy the file to the /bin directory of your ASP.NET application. If the /bin directory doesn’t exist, you can create it.

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Building ASP.NET Web Services PART VI

FIGURE 22.1 The Web Service Help Page.

The Help page for TemperatureService, for example, lists the ToCelsius and ToFahrenheit methods as hypertext links. If you click either link, you are transferred to another page that contains more information about the method. Note You can modify the appearance of the Web Service Help page by modifying the ASP.NET page at the following location: \WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\CONFIG\DefaultWsdlHelpGenerator. aspx

If you navigate to the description page for the ToCelsius method, you see sample requests and responses using three separate protocols: SOAP, HTTP-Get, and HTTPPost. They are the three standard wire formats for transmitting Web service requests and responses. All three wire formats are based on standard and open Internet protocols, such as HTTP and XML. This means that all three protocols work well across firewalls and proxy servers and can be easily used on a variety of different platforms.

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Invoking an XML Web Service with HTTP-Get HTTP-Get is the standard HTTP protocol for transmitting requests for URLs or posting a form with METHOD=”Get”. You could invoke the ToCelsius method of the TemperatureService Web service by adding the following hypertext link in an HTML document: Convert

Alternatively, you could type the following URL directly into the address bar of your Web browser:

22

http://localhost/Services/TemperatureService.asmx/ToCelsius?TF=32

0

Because 0 degrees Celsius is equivalent to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the ToCelsius method returns the value 0. Warning Web service method names are case sensitive. So, attempting to invoke the TOCELSIUS method would generate an error.

You can test a Web service using HTTP-Get directly from the Web Service Help page, which includes a form for each Web service method that enables you to enter a value and invoke the Web service. Invoking a method from the form opens a new browser window that displays the return value from the method (see Figure 22.2). Note You cannot use the Web Service Help page when testing Web services that accept complex types, such as DataSets, as input parameters or when testing Web services that require special headers.

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

In either case, the ToCelsius Web method would be invoked by passing the TF parameter with the value 32. The Web service would return the following XML document representing the results of converting the value 32 into degrees Celsius:

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FIGURE 22.2 Invoking a Web service method.

Invoking an XML Web Service with HTTP-Post HTTP-Post is the standard HTTP protocol for transmitting form data submitted with METHOD=”Post”. For example, you could invoke the ToCelsius method of TemperatureService by using the HTML page in Listing 22.4. LISTING 22.4

PostInvoke.html

Posting the form in Listing 22.4 would invoke the ToCelsius method of the TemperatureService Web service. The following XML document would be returned: 0

Invoking an XML Web Service with SOAP The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) enables you to transmit more complex types of messages across a network. You can transmit data types with SOAP that you cannot

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transmit by using either HTTP-Get or HTTP-Post. For example, you can use SOAP to transmit DataSets, custom classes, and binary files. SOAP is an XML-based protocol backed by a number of large companies including Microsoft, IBM, and Ariba. A SOAP message contains an envelope section that contains the data to be transported. A SOAP request that invokes the ToCelsius method of TemperatureService, for example, looks like this:

This SOAP request invokes the ToCelsius method by passing a TF parameter with the value 32. The Web service would return the following SOAP response: 0

Unlike HTTP-Get and HTTP-Post, the SOAP protocol is not tied to the HTTP protocol. Although you use SOAP over the HTTP protocol in all the examples in this book, by posting SOAP messages, you also can use SOAP over other protocols such as SMTP.

Accessing an XML Web Service Through a Proxy Class You can access a Web service from within an application by creating a Web service proxy class. This type of proxy class is a local representation of the properties and methods of a remote Web service class.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

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After you create a proxy class, you can treat the class exactly like any other .NET framework class. For example, imagine that the TemperatureService Web service is hosted at an Internet service provider located in central Borneo. After you create a proxy class, you can invoke the methods of the remote Web service class within your application as though the class were located on your computer.

Generating an XML Web Service Proxy Class You can generate a proxy class by using the Wsdl.exe (Web Services Description Language tool) command-line tool included with the .NET Framework Software Development Kit. To generate a proxy class, you need to complete the following steps: 1. Use the Wsdl.exe tool to generate the source code file for the proxy class. 2. Compile the source code file for the proxy class. 3. Copy the compiled proxy class into the ASP.NET application’s /bin directory. To compile a proxy class for the TemperatureService Web service, for example, you would execute the Wsdl.exe tool from a command line prompt like this: wsdl.exe /l:vb http://www.YourSite.com/Services/TemperatureService.asmx?wsdl

The /l switch indicates the language used for generating the source code file for the proxy class. Because you want to generate a Visual Basic class, you supply the argument vb. The Web address supplied to the tool is the address of the Web service Description Language (WSDL) file for the Web service. You can always retrieve the WSDL file for a Web service by appending the query string ?wsdl to its address. A WSDL file is an XML file that describes all the methods and properties of a Web service. This file is generated automatically for you. If you’re curious, you can view the WSDL file for a Web service by opening the Web Service Help page and clicking the Web Service Description Language link. Warning You can use localhost to refer to the current server when generating a proxy class with the Wsdl.exe tool. Typically, however, using this server is not a good idea. If you use localhost, the proxy class works only on the same computer as the Web service.

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Executing the Wsdl.exe tool generates a file named TemperatureService.vb that contains the source code for a Visual Basic class file. You can open this file in Notepad if you want to see its contents. Before you can use the TemperatureService.vb class, you first need to compile it by executing the Visual Basic command-line compiler like this: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.Xml.dll ➥ TemperatureService.vb

This statement references all the needed assemblies to compile the TemperatureService.vb file into a DLL file.

Using an XML Web Service Proxy Class After you create the Web service proxy class and copy it to your /bin directory, you can start using the class in your applications. For example, the page in Listing 22.5 invokes the TemperatureService Web service from within an ASP.NET page (see Figure 22.3). LISTING 25.5

ConvertTemperature.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objTemp As New TemperatureService lblCelsius.Text = objTemp.ToCelsius( txtFahrenheit.Text ) End Sub ConvertTemperature.aspx Fahrenheit:

FIGURE 22.3 The Convert Temperature.aspx

page.

The page in Listing 25.5 displays a Web form that contains a TextBox and Button control. When you enter a number into the TextBox control and submit the form, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. The Button_Click subroutine creates an instance of the TemperatureService Web service proxy class. Next, it calls the ToCelsius method of the proxy class to convert the temperature entered into the form from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius. Finally, the converted number is displayed in a Label control named lblCelsius.

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From the perspective of the ASP.NET page in Listing 25.5, the proxy class is just a normal .NET class. However, when you call one of the methods of the proxy class, a lot of work happens behind the scenes. A SOAP message must be sent across the network to the TemperatureService Web service, and a response must be returned. Even if the TemperatureService Web service were located on the other side of the world, the page would still work.

Working with the Web Services Description Language Tool

You can use any of the following options with Wsdl.exe: •

/nologo

•

or /l: By default, classes are generated using the C# language. You can specify CS for C#, VB for Visual Basic, or JS for JScript.

•

Prevents the banner text for the Wsdl.exe tool from being displayed.

/language:

/server:

Generates an abstract class for the Web service instead of the default

proxy class. •

/namespace:

or /n: Specifies the namespace to use for the proxy class. By default, the proxy class uses the global namespace.

•

/out:

•

/protocol:

•

or /u: Specifies the username to use when connecting to a server that requires authentication.

•

/password: or /p: Indicates the password to use when connecting to a server that requires authentication.

•

/domain: or /d: Specifies the domain to use when connecting to a server that requires authentication.

•

/proxy:

•

/proxyusername:

or /pu:

Specifies the username to use with the proxy server.

•

/proxypassword:

or /pp:

Specifies the password to use with the proxy server.

•

/appsettingurlkey:

Indicates the filename for the proxy class.

Indicates the protocol to use with the proxy class. By default, a proxy class uses the SOAP protocol. You can specify SOAP, HttpGet, or HttpPost.

/username:

Specifies the URL of a proxy server to use for HTTP requests (defaults to Internet Explorer settings).

or /urlkey: Specifies the Url property for the Web service proxy class from a key in the section of the web.config file.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

In the preceding section, you used the Web Services Description Language tool (Wsdl.exe) to generate the source code for the Web service proxy class. This section goes into the details of how this tool works.

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•

or /baseurl: Specifies the base URL for the Web service proxy class from a key in the section of the web.config file.

/appsettingbaseurl:

The protocol option is particularly important. You can use it to create proxy classes that use HTTP-Post or HTTP-Get instead of the default SOAP protocol. Using a protocol other than SOAP can result in better performance because less data needs to be sent over the wire. However, the HTTP-Get and HTTP-Post protocols support fewer data types than SOAP. The /appsettingurlkey option is also interesting. It enables you to avoid hardwiring the location of the Web service into the proxy class. If you specify a value for this option, the proxy class will first attempt to retrieve the URL for the Web service from the web.config file. Otherwise, the proxy class will use the URL from the WSDL file. You can supply three types of documents to the Wsdl.exe tool: WSDL contract files, XSD schemas, and .discomap discovery files. The tool generates a proxy class from any of these file types. Note You can use the Web service Discovery Tool (Disco.exe) to generate .discomap files.

To specify the location of a WSDL contract file or an XSD schema, you can provide either a URL or the path to a file on your hard drive. (You are required to specify a file path in the case of a .discomap discovery file.) For example, you can save the WSDL contract file generated by the Web Service Help Page to your hard drive and generate a proxy class based on the saved file.

Setting Proxy Class Properties A Web service proxy class derives from the SoapHttpClientProtocol class. Many of the properties of this class are useful for controlling the behavior of your Web service. Here is a list of some of the more useful of these properties: •

AllowAutoRedirect A Boolean value that specifies whether a request to a Web service can be automatically redirected to another URL (default value is False).

•

ClientCertificates

•

CookieContainer

the proxy class.

X509CertificateCollection of client-side certificates.

A CookieContainer that contains the cookies associated with

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22

•

Credentials

•

PreAuthenticate A Boolean value indicating whether a WWW-authenticate header is sent with each request (default value is False).

•

Proxy

•

RequestEncoding

•

Timeout

•

UserAgent

A class implementing ICredentials (such as NetworkCredential) that can be used for Basic, Digest, NTLM, or Kerberos authentication.

A class implementing IWebProxy that contains information for making requests through a firewall. The character encoding used for proxy requests.

An integer value in milliseconds that specifies when a proxy request times out (default is -1 which represents infinity). A string that specifies the value of the User-Agent header. The default

is MS

Web Services Client Protocol.

Url

The Url used by the proxy when making requests.

For example, if you want to ignore slow responses from Web sites, you might want to change the default Timeout value to a shorter value. We’ll use the CookieContainer property in the final section of this chapter (in the section entitled XML Web services and Session State) to enable session state in a Web service.

Transmitting Complex Data in an XML Web Service To this point, you have worked with only a simple Web service. The TemperatureService Web service returns only a single integer value. However, Web services can return more complex data types. In the following sections, you explore how to use a Web service with arrays, classes, DataSets, and binary files.

XML Web Services and Arrays Imagine that you want to build a Web service that enables you to broadcast news items to Web sites. For example, you might want to build an ASP.NET news service that carries the latest news on programming with ASP.NET. One way to implement the Web service would be to have the service return an array of news items. This way, you could transmit multiple news items at a time. The Web sites that receive your news broadcast could format individual news items in any way that they please. The Web service in Listing 22.6 contains a single method named GetNews that returns an array.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

•

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Building ASP.NET Web Services PART VI LISTING 22.6

NewsService.asmx

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services _ Public Class NewsService : Inherits WebService Dim arrNews( 2 ) As String

Public Function GetNews() As String()

arrNews( 0 ) = “Visit superexpert.com for ASP.NET News!” arrNews( 1 ) = “Visit AspWorkshops.com for ASP.NET Training!” arrNews( 2 ) = “Visit superexpertControls.com for ASP.NET Controls!” Return arrNews End Function End Class

The Web service in Listing 22.6 returns a list of news items as a one-dimensional array of strings. Every time the GetNews method is invoked, all three items in the array are returned. Note The CacheDuration property is used with the GetNews method in Listing 22.6. This property is set to cache the results of the method in memory for 30 seconds. Making liberal use of the CacheDuration property is a good idea when the data returned from a Web service changes infrequently.

After you create the Web service in Listing 22.6, any Web sites that want to subscribe to your service can build proxy classes for it. To create the proxy class, use the Wsdl.exe tool to create the source for the class file like this: wsdl /l:vb http://www.YourSite.com/newsService.asmx?WSDL

Then compile the source for the proxy class as follows: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll ➥ NewsService.vb

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Finally, you must copy the compiled proxy class, NewsService.dll, to the application’s /bin directory. After you create a proxy class for the NewsService Web service, you can use the class in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 22.7 illustrates how you can use the NewsService class to format and display news items. LISTING 22.7

DisplayNews.aspx

objNewsService = New NewsService() arrNews = objNewsService.GetNews() rptNews.DataSource = arrNews rptNews.DataBind End Sub DisplayNews.aspx The lastest news:
In Listing 22.7, an instance of the NewsService proxy class is created in the Page_Load subroutine. The GetNews() method retrieves a list of current news items. These news items are assigned to an array that is bound to a Repeater control, which formats each news item (see Figure 22.4).

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

Sub Page_Load Dim objNewsService As NewsService Dim arrNews As String()

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FIGURE 22.4 The DisplayNews. aspx page.

XML Web Services and Classes You can pass a class that contains public properties and fields back and forth to a Web service. This capability is useful when you need to work with structured data. In the preceding section, for example, you developed a Web service that returns a list of news items. Each news item was represented by a single string in an array. However, say you want to return multiple properties for each item. Instead of simply returning the text for each one, you might also want to return the date on which it was posted and a URL associated with it for retrieving additional information. You can improve on the NewsService Web service by using an array of classes rather than an array of strings. Listing 22.8 contains our class definition for a NewsItem. LISTING 22.8

NewsItem.vb

Namespace myComponents Public Class NewsItem Public Headline As String Public Posted As Date Public URL As String End Class End Namespace

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Before we can use the NewsItem class in Listing 22.8, we’ll need to compile it: vbc /t:library NewsItem.vb

Next, we’ll need to copy the compiled NewsItem.dll file to our application’s /bin directory. The page in Listing 22.9 contains the new and improved Web service. LISTING 22.9

BetterNewsService.asmx

_ Public Class BetterNewsService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetNews() As NewsItem() Dim arrNews( 2 ) As NewsItem arrNews( arrNews( arrNews( arrNews(

0 0 0 0

) = New NewsItem ).Headline = “Visit superexpert.com for ASP.NET News!” ).Posted = #12/12/2002# ).URL = “http://www.superexpert.com”

arrNews( arrNews( arrNews( arrNews(

1 1 1 1

) = New NewsItem ).Headline = “Visit ASPWorkshops for ASP.NET Training!” ).Posted = #2/1/2002# ).URL = “http://www.AspWorkshops.com”

arrNews( arrNews( arrNews( arrNews(

2 2 2 2

) = New NewsItem ).Headline = “Visit superexpertControls.com for ASP.NET Controls!” ).Posted = #2/14/2002# ).URL = “http://www.superexpertControls.com”

Return arrNews End Function End Class

In Listing 22.9, the namespace for the NewsItem class that we created in Listing 22.8 is imported with the Imports statement. When the GetNews method is invoked, the method returns an array of NewsItem objects. The three NewsItem objects are declared within the method.

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services Imports myComponents

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After you create the Web service in Listing 22.9, you can build a proxy class that enables you to use the Web service in your applications. First, you need to generate the source code for the proxy class like this: Wsdl /l:vb http://www.YourSite.com/BetterNewsService.asmx?WSDL

Next, you need to compile the proxy class as follows: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll ➥ BetterNewsService.vb

After you copy the compiled proxy class, BetterNewsService.dll, to your ASP.NET application’s /bin directory, you can start using the class in your ASP.NET pages. The page in Listing 22.10 uses the proxy class to display a list of news items. LISTING 22.10

DisplayBetterNews.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objNewsService As BetterNewsService Dim arrNews As NewsItem() objNewsService = New BetterNewsService() arrNews = objNewsService.GetNews() rptNews.DataSource = arrNews rptNews.DataBind() End Sub DisplayBetterNews.aspx The lastest news:
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In Listing 22.10, an instance of the BetterNewsService proxy class is initialized in the Page_Load subroutine. An array of NewsItem objects is created to contain the news items retrieved by the GetNews method. This array is bound to a Repeater control to format and display each news item (see Figure 22.5). FIGURE 22.5 The DisplayBetter News.aspx

page.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

The NewsItem class is automatically created for you when you create the proxy class for the BetterNewsService. If you are curious, you can verify that the class was created by opening the BetterNewsService.vb file in Notepad. Because the class is created automatically for you, you don’t have to worry about distributing the class definitions used with your Web service.

Web Services and DataSets You can pass DataSets to and from a Web service when you need to work with sets of database records. For example, imagine that you are a product wholesaler and you want to distribute a list of your products to multiple retail Web sites. You can create a Web service method that returns a DataSet. The Web service in Listing 22.11, for example, retrieves a list of products from the Products table in the Northwind database.

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Building ASP.NET Web Services PART VI LISTING 22.11

ProductsService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Data System.Data.SqlClient

_ Public Class ProductsService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetProducts( CategoryName As String ) As DataSet Dim strSelect As String Dim conNorthwind As SQLConnection Dim dadNorthwind As SQLDataAdapter Dim dstProducts As DataSet strSelect = “SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice, UnitsInStock, CategoryName “ & _ “FROM Products, Categories WHERE Products.CategoryID = “ & _ “Categories.CategoryID AND CategoryName = @CategoryName” conNorthwind = New SQLConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Northwind” ) dadNorthwind = New SQLDataAdapter( strSelect, conNorthwind ) dadNorthwind.SelectCommand.Parameters.Add( “@CategoryName”, CategoryName ) dstProducts = New DataSet dadNorthwind.Fill( dstProducts, “Products” ) Return dstProducts End Function End Class

In Listing 22.11, the GetProducts method accepts a single parameter: the name of a category. The method opens a connection to the Northwind database, retrieves a list of products that match the category name, and returns the results as a DataSet. After you create the Web service, you can generate a proxy class for the service by executing the Wsdl.exe tool from the command line like this: Wsdl /l:vb http://www.SomeSite.com/ProductsService.asmx?WSDL

Next, you need to compile the proxy class by executing the Visual Basic command-line compiler like this: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll, ➥System.Data.dll ProductsService.vb

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22

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Finally, you need to copy the compiled proxy class, ProductsService.dll, to your ASP.NET application’s /bin directory. After you create the ProductsService proxy class, you can use it in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 22.12 retrieves a list of products from the ProductsService Web service. LISTING 22.12

DisplayProducts.aspx

objProductsService = New ProductsService() dgrdProducts.DataSource = objProductsService.getProducts( “Seafood” ) dgrdProducts.DataBind() End Sub DisplayProducts.aspx Available Products:

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 22.12, an instance of the ProductsService proxy class is initialized. Next, the GetProducts method is called to retrieve a list of Seafood products. The DataSet returned by the method is bound to a DataGrid control and displayed (see Figure 22.6).

Web Services and Binary Files You can pass and retrieve binary files to and from a Web service. For example, you could create a Web service that works with music files, program files, or images. The Web service in Listing 22.13 generates an image from a string of text.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

Sub Page_Load Dim objProductsService As ProductsService

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Building ASP.NET Web Services PART VI

FIGURE 22.6 The DisplayProducts. aspx

page.

LISTING 22.13

ImageService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Drawing System.Drawing.Imaging System.IO

_ Public Class ImageService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetTextImage( strText As String ) As Byte() Dim objBitmap As Bitmap Dim objGraphics As Graphics Dim objFont As Font Dim strmBuffer As MemoryStream objBitmap = New Bitmap( 300, 50 ) objGraphics = Graphics.FromImage( objBitmap ) objFont = New Font( “Impact”, 24 ) objGraphics.DrawString( strText, objFont, Brushes.Red, 1, 1 ) strmBuffer = New MemoryStream() objBitmap.Save( strmBuffer, ImageFormat.Gif )

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22 LISTING 22.13

985

continued

Return strmBuffer.ToArray() End Function End Class

The Web service in Listing 22.13 contains a method named GetTextImage. When you pass a string of text to this method, it generates an image that displays the text.

Before you can use this Web service in an application, you must first create a proxy class. The first step is to generate the source for the class by using the Wsdl.exe tool like this: Wsdl /l:vb http://www.YourSite.com/ImageService.asmx?wsdl

Next, you need to compile the proxy class like this: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll ➥ ImageService.vb

Finally, you need to copy the compiled proxy class, ImageService.dll, to the ASP.NET application’s /bin directory. After you create the proxy class, you can use it in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 22.14 displays the image generated by the Web service. LISTING 22.14

Sub Page_Load Dim objImageService As ImageService Dim objBitmap As Bitmap Dim strmBuffer As MemoryStream objImageService = New ImageService strmBuffer = New MemoryStream( ➥objImageService.GetTextImage( “Hello World!” ) )

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

The image is represented by a bitmap. You cannot return a bitmap directly from a method in a Web service. In Listing 22.13, the bitmap is first converted into a byte array by using the ToArray method of the MemoryStream class. The Web method returns the byte array.

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continued

objBitmap = New Bitmap( strmBuffer ) objBitmap.Save( Response.OutputStream, ImageFormat.Gif ) End Sub

The first line in Listing 22.14 contains a page directive that sets the content type of the page. Because this page displays a GIF image, the ContentType attribute is set to the value image/gif. An instance of the ImageService proxy class is created in the Page_Load subroutine. The GetTextImage method is called with the string Hello World! and it returns a byte array that represents the image returned by the Web service. The byte array is converted into a memory stream by using the constructor for the MemoryStream class. Finally, a bitmap is created from the memory stream and saved to the output stream of the Response object. The end result is that the GIF image is displayed (see Figure 22.7). FIGURE 22.7 The DisplayImage. aspx

page.

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Examining XML Web Service and Web Site Interaction An ASP.NET Web service and a Web site can happily coexist in the same application space. In particular, a Web service and Web site can share the same application and session state. In the following sections, you learn how to use application and session state with Web services.

XML Web Services and Application State For example, the Web service in Listing 22.15 can be used as a simple counter. Every time you call the GetAppCounter method, an application item named Counter is incremented by one. Because Counter is maintained in application state, the value of the Counter item is not lost between requests to the Web service. Note To learn more details about application state, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

LISTING 22.15

ApplicationService.asmx

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services _ Public Class ApplicationService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetAppCounter() As Integer Application( “Counter” ) = CINT( Application( “Counter” ) ) + 1 Return CINT( Application( “Counter” ) ) End Function End Class

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

A Web site and Web service can share the same application state. You can use application state as a mechanism to exchange information between a Web site and a Web service.

22

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After you create the ApplicationService Web service in Listing 22.15, you can use it in an ASP.NET page by creating a proxy class. First, you must use the Wsdl.exe tool to create the source file for the proxy class like this: Wsdl /l:vb http://www.SomeSite.com/ApplicationService.asmx?wsdl

Next, you need to compile the proxy class like this: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll ➥ ApplicationService.vb

After you copy the compiled proxy class to the application’s /bin directory, you can use the class in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 22.16 uses the ApplicationService Web service to track the number of times the page has been requested. LISTING 22.16

ApplicationCounter.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objApplicationService As ApplicationService objApplicationService = New ApplicationService lblCounter.Text = objApplicationService.GetAppCounter() End Sub ApplicationCounter.aspx This page has been requested times!

In Listing 22.16, an instance of the ApplicationService proxy class is initialized in the Page_Load subroutine. Next, the GetAppCounter method is called to get the current value of the counter stored in application state. The value returned by the method is assigned to a Label control.

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XML Web Services and Session State Using session state with Web services is a little more tricky than using application state. By default, session state is disabled for Web service methods for performance reasons (maintaining session state requires some extra work on the part of the server). However, if you want, you can modify the EnableSession property of the WebMethod attribute to enable session state for a particular method.

22

Note

The page in Listing 22.17, for example, takes advantage of session state to save the value of a counter between requests to the Web service. LISTING 22.17

SessionService.asmx

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services _ Public Class SessionService : Inherits WebService Public Function ➥GetSessionCounter() As Integer Session( “Counter” ) = CINT( Session( “Counter” ) ) + 1 Return CINT( Session( “Counter” ) ) End Function Public Function GetSessionID() As String Return Session.SessionID End Function End Class

Notice that the EnableSession property is set to the value True within the WebMethod attribute for both the GetSessionCounter() and GetSessionID() methods. If you neglect to enable this property and you attempt to access an item from session state, you receive a Null Reference error.

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

To learn more information about session state, see Chapter 16, “Tracking User Sessions.”

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After you create the SessionState Web service, you can test it by opening the SessionService.asmx page in your browser. If you call the GetSessionCounter() method, the session counter should increment as you expect. If you call the GetSessionID() method, the same session ID should be displayed each time the method is called. The Web service will work fine when you call its methods from a Web browser. You’ll encounter problems, however, when you call its methods from a proxy class. Let’s go ahead and try it. Generate a proxy class for the SessionState Web service by executing the following statement from a command prompt: wsdl /l:vb http://www.SomeSite.com/SessionService.asmx?wsdl

Next, compile the source code for the proxy class like this: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll ➥ SessionService.vb

Finally, copy the compiled class, SessionService.dll, to your application’s /bin directory. The page in Listing 22.18 calls our new SessionService proxy to display the value of the session counter and session ID. LISTING 22.18

SessionCounterBad.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objSessionService As SessionService objSessionService = New SessionService lblSessionCounter.Text = objSessionService.GetSessionCounter() lblSessionID.Text = objSessionService.GetSessionID() End Sub SessionCounterBad.aspx This page does not work! Your session ID is

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22 LISTING 22.18

991

continued

This page has been requested by you times!

22

Remember that session state relies on a cookie to identify requests within the same session. A special cookie named ASP.NET_SessionId must be passed to the server with every request to identify the user. Since, by default, this cookie won’t be passed by the proxy class, session state won’t work. If we want our proxy class to be able to take advantage of session state, we have to do some extra work. We need to explicitly pass the same ASP.NET_SessionId cookie to the Web service proxy with each request. This is illustrated in Listing 22.19. LISTING 22.19

SessionCounterGood.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim objSessionService As SessionService objSessionService = New SessionService objSessionService.CookieContainer = New CookieContainer If Session( “CookieContainer” ) Is Nothing Then Session( “CookieContainer” ) = objSessionService.CookieContainer Else objSessionService.CookieContainer = Session( “CookieContainer” ) End If lblSessionCounter.Text = objSessionService.GetSessionCounter() lblSessionID.Text = objSessionService.GetSessionID() End Sub

CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

Each time you request the page in Listing 22.18, a new session ID is displayed. The session counter will always have the value 1. The problem is the Web service will interpret each call by the proxy class as the start of a new session.

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continued

SessionCounterGood.aspx This page works! Your session ID is
This page has been requested by you times!

In Listing 22.19, you explicitly create an instance of the CookieContainer class. This class contains a collection of all the cookies associated with each Web service request. One of these cookies is the ASP.NET_SessionId cookie which is used to maintain session state. The CookieContainer class is saved in session state between requests. By saving the CookieContainer in session state, you can ensure that the same value for the ASP.NET_SessionId cookie is passed with the Web method request each time the same user requests the page. If you request the SessionCounterGood.aspx page, the session counter should increment as expected. You should also notice that the session ID displayed by the page remains constant (see Figure 22.8).

Creating an XML Web Service CHAPTER 22

993

FIGURE 22.8 The SessionCounter Good.aspx

page.

22 CREATING AN XML WEB SERVICE

Summary This chapter started with an overview of XML Web services. You learned how Web services have the potential to facilitate Web site communication and enable content aggregation. Next, you learned how to build a simple XML Web service and test it from a Web browser. You also learned how to use the Web service Help page to get an overview of the methods and properties included with a particular Web service. I also discussed how you could use different data types with a Web service. You learned how to use arrays, classes, DataSets, and binary files with a Web service. Finally, you examined how to use session and application state within the context of an XML Web service. You created Web services that can preserve their state between requests by taking advantage of session and application state.

CHAPTER 23

Advanced XML Web Services

IN THIS CHAPTER • Using the WebService Behavior

996

• Securing an XML Web Service

1012

• Using HTML Pattern Matching

1025

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In the preceding how to create basic XML Web services. This chapter goes beyond the basics and discusses several advanced features of XML Web services. First, the chapter discusses the WebService behavior. You learn how to use the WebService behavior to directly access an XML Web service through Internet Explorer. Next, you explore one method of securing a Web service. The chapter discusses how to pass custom headers to a Web service so that you can identify the same user across multiple requests. Finally, the chapter discusses an interesting feature of XML Web services called HMTL pattern matching. You can use HTML pattern matching to expose the content of any Web site as a Web service.

Using the WebService Behavior If you’re using Internet Explorer (version 5.0 or higher), you can access a Web service directly from the browser. You can access a Web service directly through client script by using the WebService behavior. A behavior is a component that you can associate with an element within an HTML page that extends the element’s default functionality. You already saw some examples of behaviors earlier in this book. In Chapter 8, “Using Third-Party Controls,” you learned about the Internet Explorer WebControls, such as the TreeView and Toolbar controls. The client-side functionality of these controls is implemented through Internet Explorer behaviors. The main advantage of using a behavior to access a Web service is that you can update the content of a page without reloading the whole page. For example, later in this chapter, you learn how to use the WebService behavior to display a continuously updated featured product section in an HTML page. The contents of the featured product section automatically change every five seconds without reloading any other content of the page. Before you can use the WebService behavior, you need to download the webservice.htc file from the Microsoft MSDN library (msdn.microsoft.com). This file is currently located at the following address: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/webservice/webservice.htc

Examining Limitations of the WebService Behavior Before you start building pages with the WebService behavior, you should be aware of some of the behavior’s limitations.

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The first limitation concerns the XML Web services that you can access through the behavior. You can use the WebService behavior to access only those Web services located in the same domain as the Web page that contains the behavior. (This limitation is a direct result of the security restrictions built into DHTML.) If you want to access a remote Web service, you must access it through a proxy Web service located in the same domain. The second limitation concerns the data types that you can access through the behavior. The WebService behavior supports all the base .NET types, such as Strings, Integers, and DateTimes. The WebService behavior also supports arrays of the base .NET types. For example, you can pass an array of integers through the WebService behavior. WebService

Unfortunately, however, the behavior has no direct support for more complex types, such as DataSets, DataTables, Collections, or custom objects. For example, you can’t pass a DataSet through the WebService behavior and bind it to a drop-down list box on the client. Later in this chapter, in the section titled, “Using the WebService Behavior to Retrieve Database Data,” you explore one method of getting around this limitation.

In the preceding chapter, you created a TemperatureService XML Web service that enabled you to convert between degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit. You learned how to build a proxy class to access this Web service through an ASP.NET page. In this section, you learn how to access the TemperatureService Web service directly through the WebService behavior and bypass any need for a proxy class. The code for the TemperatureService is contained in Listing 23.1. LISTING 23.1

TemperatureService.asmx

Imports System Imports System.Web.Services _ Public Class TemperatureService : Inherits WebService Public Function ToCelsius( TF As Double ) As Double Return ( 5/9 ) * ( TF - 32 ) End Function

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Creating a Simple Page with a WebService Behavior

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continued

Public Function ToFahrenheit( TC As Double ) As Double Return ( 9/5 ) * TC + 32 End Function End Class

To access the TemperatureService Web service with the WebService behavior, you need to complete the following steps: 1. Attach the WebService behavior to an element within the HTML page. 2. Provide the location of the XML Web service by invoking the WebService behavior’s useService method. 3. Call a method of the XML Web service by invoking the WebService behavior’s callService method. The page in Listing 23.2 illustrates how to add the WebService behavior to a page and invoke the behavior’s methods. Note Because this is a book on ASP.NET, I named all the pages in this section with the extension .aspx. However, the WebService behavior works equally well in a plain, old HTML page.

LISTING 23.2

BehaviorSimple.aspx

var intCallID = 0; function Init() { Service.useService(“/webservices/TemperatureService.asmx?WSDL”, ➥”TemperatureService”); }

function Service_Result() { lblCelsius.innerText = event.result.value; }

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continued

function Button_Click() { intCallID = Service.TemperatureService.callService( “ToCelsius”, ➥ txtFahrenheit.value ); } BehaviorSimple.aspx Fahrenheit:

The page in Listing 23.2 enables you to enter a temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and, by clicking a button, convert the temperature to degrees Celsius (see Figure 23.1). When you click the button, the ToCelsius() method of the TemperatureService Web service is called to perform the conversion. The WebService behavior is attached to the page with the following tag:

The behavior is attached to an HTML tag and given the name Service. You can, of course, specify any name that you want for the behavior by supplying another value for the id attribute.

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FIGURE 23.1 Using the WebService

behavior with the Temperature Service.

The style attribute actually attaches the behavior by providing the path to the webservice.htc file that implements the WebService behavior. After the WebService behavior is attached to the page, you can access the behavior’s methods and properties. The location of the TemperatureService Web service is provided within the JavaScript function (this function is called by the page’s load event). The Init() function contains the following statement:

Init()

Service.useService(“/webservices/TemperatureService.asmx?WSDL”, ➥”TemperatureService”);

This statement calls the WebService behavior’s useService() method, which associates a friendly name with the path to a Web service. In this case, the friendly name TemperatureService is used for the TemperatureService XML Web service. The useService() method also downloads the Web services Description Language (WSDL) file for the Web service. The behavior needs this WSDL file to determine the proper format for the parameters to pass back and forth to the Web service. When you click the Convert! button, the JavaScript Button_Click function executes the following statement: intCallID = Service.TemperatureService.callService( “ToCelsius”, ➥ txtFahrenheit.value );

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This statement calls the ToCelsius method of the TemperatureService Web service. The first parameter to callService represents the Web method to call. Additional parameters represent parameters passed to the Web method. This statement calls the ToCelsius method with the value of the txtFahrenheit text box. By default, the WebService behavior calls methods of a Web service asynchronously. The process of calling a Web service method and getting the result is broken into two steps. When you attached the WebService behavior to the tag, you specified a JavaScript function to handle the result event, which is raised when the Web service method returns a value. In Listing 23.2, you handled the result event by using the following function: function Service_Result() { lblCelsius.innerText = event.result.value; }

This function grabs the value returned by the Web service ToCelsius method and assigns it to a tag named lblCelsius.

In the preceding section, you grabbed the value returned by the ToCelsius Web service method within the result event handler. In fact, you can grab the result of a Web method call in two ways: by using an event handler or specifying a callback function. The page in Listing 23.3 does exactly the same thing as the page in Listing 23.2, except that it uses a callback function rather than an event handler. LISTING 23.3

BehaviorCallback.aspx

var intCallID = 0; function Init() { Service.useService(“TemperatureService.asmx?WSDL”,”TemperatureService”); }

function ToCelsius_Result( result ) {

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lblCelsius.innerText = result.value; }

function Button_Click() { intCallID = Service.TemperatureService.callService( ToCelsius_Result, ➥”ToCelsius”, txtFahrenheit.value ); } BehaviorCallback.aspx Fahrenheit:

In Listing 23.3, you call the ToCelsius method by using the following statement: intCallID = Service.TemperatureService.callService( ToCelsius_Result, ➥”ToCelsius”, txtFahrenheit.value );

The first parameter passed to the callService method represents a callback function. When the results of the ToCelsius method are returned, the ToCelsius_Result method is called. When should you use an event handler, and when should you use a callback function? If you need to call only a single Web service method in a page, using an event handler is more convenient. However, if you need to call multiple Web service methods, using a

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callback function is more convenient because you can create different callback functions that correspond to different Web service method calls.

Catching Errors in a WebService Behavior Thus far, you haven’t added any logic to the pages to handle errors. You’ve been working under the assumption that a Web service will always be available whenever you attempt to access it. This isn’t good programming practice. You can use the error property of the result object to check for an error. If a Web service cannot be accessed, the error property will have the value True. You can use the errorDetail object to retrieve a detailed error message. The errorDetail object has three properties: •

code—An

error code

•

raw—The

•

string—A

raw contents of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) packet returned by the Web service method call human-readable error message

FIGURE 23.2 Using the error property and errorDetail

object.

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

The page in Listing 23.4 uses both the error property and errorDetail object to detect and report any errors that might occur when accessing the Web service (see Figure 23.2). The error property and errorDetail object are used in the Service_Result function.

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BehaviorErrors.aspx

var intCallID = 0; function Init() { Service.useService(“TemperatureService.asmx?WSDL”,”TemperatureService”); }

function Service_Result() { if ( event.result.error ) { lblCelsius.innerText = event.result.errorDetail.string; } else { lblCelsius.innerText = event.result.value; } }

function Button_Click() { intCallID = Service.TemperatureService.callService( “ToCelsius”, ➥ txtFahrenheit.value ); } BehaviorErrors.aspx Fahrenheit:

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continued

Using a WebService Behavior to Perform Partial Page Updates The feature that makes WebService behaviors so interesting is that they enable you to dynamically update part of a page without reloading the whole page. You can use a WebService behavior to retrieve fresh content at timed intervals and display the content on a page. This feature of the WebService behavior is illustrated in the page contained in Listing 23.5, which has a featured product section. The contents of the featured product section are automatically updated every five seconds with a call to a Web service. BehaviorRefresh.aspx

var intCallID = 0; function Init() { GetNewFeatured(); setInterval( “GetNewFeatured()”, 5000 ) } function GetNewFeatured() { Service.useService(“FeaturedService.asmx?WSDL”,”FeaturedService”); intCallID = Service.FeaturedService.callService( “GetFeatured” ); } function Service_Result() { if (event.result.error) { divFeatured.innerText = event.result.errorDetail.string;

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LISTING 23.5

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} else { divFeatured.innerText = event.result.value; } } BehaviorRefresh.aspx

Welcome to this Web Site! Browse this Web site to get great deals on the latest books!

The page in Listing 23.5 uses the JavaScript setInterval method to execute a function named GetNewFeatured() every five seconds (5000 milliseconds). The GetNewFeatured() function retrieves a book description from a Web service named FeaturedService. When the Web service method call is complete, the Service_Result function executes and displays the book description within a tag (see Figure 23.3).

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FIGURE 23.3 Partial page update with WebService behavior.

23 LISTING 23.6

FeaturedService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Data System.Data.SqlClient

_ Public Class FeaturedService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetFeatured() As String Dim strSelect As String Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim dadPubs As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstTitles As DataSet Dim drowTitle As DataRow Dim objRanNum As Random Dim intRanNum As Integer

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The code for the FeaturedService Web service is contained in Listing 23.6.

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continued

strSelect = “SELECT Title, isNull( Notes, ‘’ ) Notes From Titles” conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Pubs” ) dadPubs = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, conPubs ) dstTitles = New DataSet dadPubs.Fill( dstTitles, “Titles” ) objRanNum = New Random intRanNum = objRanNum.Next( 0, dstTitles.Tables( “Titles” ).Rows.Count ) drowTitle = dstTitles.Tables( “Titles” ).Rows( intRanNum ) Return drowTitle( “Title” ) & “ - “ & drowTitle( “Notes” ) End Function End Class

The FeaturedService Web service in Listing 23.6 randomly returns information on one book title from the Titles database table. The GetFeatured() method returns a string value that represents the featured title.

Using the WebService Behavior to Retrieve Database Data Unfortunately, you cannot use the WebService behavior to represent a DataSet or DataTable from an XML Web service. This means that you cannot directly access database data through the WebService behavior. Note The raw contents of a SOAP packet can be retrieved from the raw property of the result object. In theory, you could parse the raw contents of a SOAP packet that contains a DataSet.

One way to get around this limitation is to convert a DataTable into an array before returning it with a Web service method. This is the approach taken in the page contained in Listing 23.7 and the Web service contained in Listing 23.8 (see Figure 23.4).

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FIGURE 23.4 Retrieving database data by using the WebService behavior.

23 BehaviorDataTable.aspx

var intCallID = 0; function Init() { Service.useService(“ProductsService.asmx?WSDL”,”ProductsService”); intCallID = Service.ProductsService.callService( Categories_Result, ➥ “GetCategories” ); } function Categories_Result( result ) { var Categories = new Array(); Categories = result.value; for (var intCounter = 0;intCounter < Categories.length;intCounter++ ) { var optOption = new Option( Categories[ intCounter ] ); frmProducts.dropCategories.options[ ➥frmProducts.dropCategories.options.length ] = optOption; } }

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function Categories_Change( newCategory ) { var CategoryName = “”; CategoryName = newCategory.options[ newCategory.selectedIndex ].text; lblCategory.innerText = CategoryName; intCallID = Service.ProductsService.callService( Products_Result, ➥ “GetProducts”, CategoryName ); } function Products_Result( result ) { var Products = new Array(); Products = result.value; frmProducts.lstProducts.options.length = 0; for (var intCounter = 0;intCounter < Products.length;intCounter++ ) { var optOption = new Option( Products[ intCounter ] ); frmProducts.lstProducts.options[ frmProducts.lstProducts.options.length ] ➥ = optOption; } frmProducts.lstProducts.style.display = “block”; } BehaviorDataTable.aspx Select Product Category

The page in Listing 23.7 contains a drop-down list that enables you to pick a product category. This drop-down list is populated from the Categories table from the Northwind database with a call to the GetCategories() XML Web service method. When you pick a category, a call to another Web service method is made. The products that match the selected category are retrieved from the Products table through the GetProducts() Web service method and are displayed in a list box. The ProductsService Web service is contained in Listing 23.8. LISTING 23.8

ProductsService.asmx

System System.Web.Services System.Data System.Data.SqlClient System.Collections

_ Public Class ProductsService : Inherits WebService Public Function GetCategories() As String() Dim strSelect As String Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdCategories As SqlCommand Dim dtrCategories As SqlDataReader Dim colCategories As ArrayList strSelect = “SELECT CategoryName FROM Categories” conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Northwind” ) cmdCategories = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) conNorthwind.Open() dtrCategories = cmdCategories.ExecuteReader() colCategories = New ArrayList While dtrCategories.Read colCategories.Add( dtrCategories( “CategoryName” ) ) End While

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Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

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conNorthwind.Close() Return colCategories.ToArray( GetType( System.String ) ) End Function Public Function GetProducts( CategoryName As String ) As String() Dim strSelect As String Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim cmdProducts As SqlCommand Dim dtrProducts As SqlDataReader Dim colProducts As ArrayList CategoryName = Server.UrlDecode( CategoryName ) strSelect = “SELECT ProductName, UnitPrice “ & _ “FROM Products, Categories WHERE Products.CategoryID ➥ = Categories.CategoryID “ & _ “AND CategoryName = @CategoryName” conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Northwind” ) cmdProducts = New SqlCommand( strSelect, conNorthwind ) cmdProducts.Parameters.Add( New SQLParameter( “@CategoryName”, ➥ CategoryName ) ) conNorthwind.Open() dtrProducts = cmdProducts.ExecuteReader() colProducts = New ArrayList While dtrProducts.Read colProducts.Add( _ dtrProducts( “ProductName” ) & _ String.Format( “ - {0:c}”, dtrProducts( “UnitPrice” ) ) ) End While conNorthwind.Close() Return colProducts.ToArray( GetType( System.String ) ) End Function End Class

Both the GetCategories() and GetProducts() Web service methods work in a similar fashion. Both methods create DataReaders that represent a set of database records. Next, the DataReaders are converted into string arrays that can be consumed by the WebService behavior.

Securing an XML Web Service If you want to build a subscription Web service, you need some method of identifying your subscribers. Currently, there is no standard method of authenticating users of a Web

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service. So, to identify them, you have to be creative. This section explores one approach to securing an XML Web service.

Overview of the Secure XML Web Service For this example, you’ll build a simple XML Web service that enables users to retrieve a number. This Web service will have one method named GetLuckyNumber(), which always returns the number 7. The goal is to prevent unauthorized users from successfully calling the GetLuckyNumber() method. One approach to preventing unauthorized access to the GetLuckyNumber() method would be to force every user to pass a username and password parameter whenever the method is called. However, if the Web service has multiple methods, this requirement could quickly become cumbersome. You would need to add the username and password parameters to each and every method. Though your approach will be to use a custom SOAP header to pass authentication information. You can pass a SOAP header as part of the SOAP packet being transmitted to the Web service and verify the authentication information in the SOAP header with every method call.

To protect the integrity of user passwords, you could use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt every message sent to the Web service. However, using SSL has a significant impact on the performance of a Web server. It takes a lot of work to encrypt and decrypt each message. Instead, you need to add only one method to the Web service that requires SSL. Create a single method named Login() to accept a username and password and return a session key that is valid for 30 minutes. The session key is passed in the SOAP header to every other method call to authenticate the user. The advantage of this approach is that it is reasonably secure and does not have a significant impact on performance. The user needs to use SSL only when calling the Login() method. After the Login() method is called, only the session key, not the user password, is transmitted when calling other Web methods. If someone manages to steal the session key, the session key will be valid for less than 30 minutes. After 30 minutes elapse, the key will be useless.

ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

You could simply pass a username and password in the SOAP header. However, doing so would be dangerous. SOAP packets are transmitted as human-readable XML documents across the Internet. If you transmit a password in a SOAP header, the password could be intercepted and read by the wrong person.

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Creating the Database Tables This secure XML Web service will use two Microsoft SQL Server database tables named WebServiceUsers and SessionKeys. The WebServiceUsers database table contains a list of valid usernames and passwords. You can create this database table by using the SQL CREATE TABLE statement contained in Listing 23.9. LISTING 23.9

CreateWebServiceUsers.sql

CREATE TABLE WebServiceUsers ( userid int IDENTITY NOT NULL , username varchar (20) NOT NULL , password varchar (20) NOT NULL , role int NOT NULL )

After you create the WebServiceUsers table, you should add at least one username and password to the table (for example, Steve and Secret). When a user logs in, a session key is added to the SessionKeys database table. The SQL CREATE TABLE statement for the SessionKeys table is contained in Listing 23.10. LISTING 23.10

CreateSessionKeys.sql

CREATE TABLE SessionKeys ( session_key uniqueidentifier ROWGUIDCOL session_expiration datetime NOT NULL , session_userID int NOT NULL , session_username varchar(20) NOT NULL , session_role int NOT NULL )

NOT NULL ,

Creating the Login() Method The Web service will have a method named Login() that users must access once to retrieve a valid session key. Because passwords are passed to the Login() method, this method should be accessed only through a secure channel (with https:// rather than http://). The complete code for the Login() method is contained in Listing 23.11. LISTING 23.11

The Login() Method

Public Function Login( username As String, password As String ) ➥ As ServiceTicket Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim cmdCheckPassword As SqlCommand

Advanced XML Web Services CHAPTER 23 LISTING 23.11 Dim Dim Dim Dim Dim

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parmWork As SqlParameter intUserID As Integer intRole As Integer objServiceTicket As ServiceTicket drowSession As DataRow

‘ Initialize Sql command conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;pwd=secret; ➥database=myData” ) cmdCheckPassword = New SqlCommand( “CheckPassword”, conMyData ) cmdCheckPassword.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure

‘ Execute the command conMyData.Open() cmdCheckPassword.ExecuteNonQuery() objServiceTicket = New ServiceTicket If cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@validuser” ).Value = 0 Then objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated = True objServiceTicket.SessionKey = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters ➥( “@sessionkey” ).Value.ToString() objServiceTicket.Expiration = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters ➥( “@expiration” ).Value intUserID = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@userID” ).Value intRole = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@role” ).Value Else objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated = False End If conMyData.Close()

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

‘ Add parameters parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@validuser”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@username”, username ) ) cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@password”, password ) ) parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@sessionkey”, SqlDbType.UniqueIdentifier ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@expiration”, SqlDbType.DateTime ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@userID”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@role”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output

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‘ Add session to cache If objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated Then If Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ) Is Nothing Then LoadSessionKeys End If drowSession = Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).NewRow() drowSession( “session_key” ) = objServiceTicket.SessionKey drowSession( “session_expiration” ) = objServiceTicket.Expiration drowSession( “session_userID” ) = intUserID drowSession( “session_username” ) = username drowSession( “Session_role” ) = intRole Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).Rows.Add( drowSession ) End If ‘ Return ServiceTicket Return objServiceTicket End Function

The Login() method does the following: • Executes a SQL stored procedure named CheckPassword • Adds the current session to the cache • Returns a valid session key The SQL CREATE Listing 23.12. LISTING 23.12

PROCEDURE

statement for the CheckPassword procedure is contained in

CreateCheckPassword.sql

Create Procedure CheckPassword ( @username varchar( 20 ), @password varchar( 20 ), @sessionkey uniqueidentifier Output, @expiration DateTime Output, @userID int Output, @role int Output ) As Select @userID = userid, @role = role From WebServiceUsers Where username = @username And password = @password

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If @userID Is Not Null Begin SET @sessionkey = NEWID() SET @expiration = DateAdd( mi, 30, GetDate() ) Insert SessionKeys ( session_key, session_expiration, session_userID, session_username, session_role ) values ( @sessionkey, @expiration, @userID, @username, @role ) End Else Return -1

The stored procedure also generates the expiration time for the session key. The function returns a time that is 30 minutes in the future.

DataAdd()

Both the GUID and expiration time are added as part of a new record to the SessionKeys database table, which tracks all the active current sessions. After the Login() method calls the CheckPassword stored procedure, the method constructs a new instance of the ServiceTicket class. The declaration for this class is contained in Listing 23.13. The ServiceTicket Class

Public Class ServiceTicket Public IsAuthenticated As Boolean Public SessionKey As String Public Expiration As DateTime End Class

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The CheckPassword stored procedure checks whether the username and password passed to the procedure exist in the WebServiceUsers table. If the username and password combination is valid, a new session key is generated. The SQL NEWID() function then generates a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) to use as the session key.

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The Login() method returns an instance of the ServiceTicket class, which contains the validated session key, session key expiration time, and a value indicating whether the user was successfully authenticated.

Retrieving the Custom SOAP Header The XML Web service uses a custom SOAP header to retrieve authentication information. The session key is passed in a SOAP header named AuthHeader. You create the actual SOAP header by using the class in Listing 23.14. LISTING 23.14

The SOAP Header

Public Class AuthHeader:Inherits SoapHeader Public SessionKey As String End Class

Notice that this class inherits from the SoapHeader class. It contains a single property named SessionKey that is used to store the session key. Note The SoapHeader class inhabits the System.Web.Services.Protocols namespace. You need to import this namespace before you can use the SoapHeader class.

To use the AuthHeader class in your Web service, you need to add a public property that represents the header. You declare a public property in your Web service class like this: Public AuthenticationHeader As AuthHeader

Finally, if you want to retrieve this header in any particular method, you must add the SoapHeader attribute to the method. The GetLuckyNumber() method in Listing 23.15 illustrates how to use this attribute. LISTING 23.15

The GetLuckyNumber() Method

_ Public Function GetLuckyNumber As Integer If Authenticate( AuthenticationHeader ) Then Return 7 End If End Function

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The GetLuckyNumber() method simply passes AuthenticationHeader to a function named Authenticate(). This function is described in the next section.

Authenticating the Session Key Every time someone calls the GetLuckyNumber() method, you could check the user’s session key against the SessionKeys database table. However, with enough users, checking every session key would be slow. Instead, you can check the session key against a cached copy of the database table. The private Authenticate() function in Listing 23.16 checks the session key retrieved from the authentication header against a cached copy of the SessionKeys database table. LISTING 23.16

The Authenticate() Function

Private Function Authenticate( objAuthenticationHeader ) As Boolean Dim arrSessions As DataRow() Dim strMatch As String

‘ Test for match strMatch = “session_key=’” & objAuthenticationHeader.SessionKey strMatch &= “‘ And session_expiration > #” & DateTime.Now() & “#” arrSessions = Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).Select( strMatch ) If arrSessions.Length > 0 Then Return True Else Return False End If End Function End Class

Caching the Session Keys As I mentioned previously, the SessionKeys database table is cached in memory to improve performance. The table is cached with the LoadSessionKeys subroutine contained in Listing 23.17. LISTING 23.17

The LoadSessionKeys Subroutine

Private Sub LoadSessionKeys Dim conMyData As SqlConnection

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

‘ Load Session keys If Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ) Is Nothing Then LoadSessionKeys End If

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continued

Dim dadMyData As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstSessionKeys As DataSet conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥database=myData” ) dadMyData = New SqlDataAdapter( “LoadSessionKeys”, conMyData ) dadMyData.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure dstSessionKeys = New DataSet dadMyData.Fill( dstSessionKeys, “SessionKeys” ) Context.Cache.Insert( _ “SessionKeys”, _ dstSessionKeys.Tables( “SessionKeys” ), _ Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddHours( 3 ), _ TimeSpan.Zero ) End Sub

The SessionKeys table is cached in memory for a maximum of three hours. The table is dumped every three hours to get rid of expired session keys. When the table is automatically reloaded into the cache, only fresh session keys are retrieved. The LoadSessionKeys subroutine uses the LoadSessionKeys SQL stored procedure. This procedure is included on the CD with the name CreateLoadSessionKeys.sql.

Building the Secure XML Web Service The complete code for the XML Web service described in this section is contained in Listing 23.18. You can test the Login() method by opening the SecureService.asmx page in a Web browser. However, you cannot test the GetLuckyNumber() method because it requires the custom SOAP authentication header. LISTING 23.18

SecureService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Web.Services.Protocols System.Data System.Data.SqlClient

_ Public Class SecureService : Inherits WebService Public AuthenticationHeader As AuthHeader

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continued

Public Function Login( username As String, password As String ) ➥ As ServiceTicket Dim Dim Dim Dim Dim Dim Dim

conMyData As SqlConnection cmdCheckPassword As SqlCommand parmWork As SqlParameter intUserID As Integer intRole As Integer objServiceTicket As ServiceTicket drowSession As DataRow

‘ Initialize Sql command conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;pwd=secret; ➥database=myData” ) cmdCheckPassword = New SqlCommand( “CheckPassword”, conMyData ) cmdCheckPassword.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure

‘ Execute the command conMyData.Open() cmdCheckPassword.ExecuteNonQuery() objServiceTicket = New ServiceTicket If cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@validuser” ).Value = 0 Then objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated = True objServiceTicket.SessionKey = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters ➥( “@sessionkey” ).Value.ToString() objServiceTicket.Expiration = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters ➥( “@expiration” ).Value intUserID = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@userID” ).Value

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

‘ Add parameters parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@validuser”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@username”, username ) ) cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@password”, password ) ) parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@sessionkey”, SqlDbType.UniqueIdentifier ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@expiration”, SqlDbType.DateTime ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@userID”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output parmWork = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters.Add( _ New SqlParameter( “@role”, SqlDbType.Int ) ) parmWork.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output

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continued

intRole = cmdCheckPassword.Parameters( “@role” ).Value Else objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated = False End If conMyData.Close() ‘ Add session to cache If objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated Then If Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ) Is Nothing Then LoadSessionKeys End If drowSession = Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).NewRow() drowSession( “session_key” ) = objServiceTicket.SessionKey drowSession( “session_expiration” ) = objServiceTicket.Expiration drowSession( “session_userID” ) = intUserID drowSession( “session_username” ) = username drowSession( “Session_role” ) = intRole Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).Rows.Add( drowSession ) End If ‘ Return ServiceTicket Return objServiceTicket End Function _ Public Function GetLuckyNumber As Integer If Authenticate( AuthenticationHeader ) Then Return 7 End If End Function Private Sub LoadSessionKeys Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim dadMyData As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstSessionKeys As DataSet conMyData = New SqlConnection( “Server=localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥database=myData” ) dadMyData = New SqlDataAdapter( “LoadSessionKeys”, conMyData ) dadMyData.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure dstSessionKeys = New DataSet dadMyData.Fill( dstSessionKeys, “SessionKeys” ) Context.Cache.Insert( _ “SessionKeys”, _ dstSessionKeys.Tables( “SessionKeys” ), _ Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddHours( 3 ), _ TimeSpan.Zero ) End Sub

Advanced XML Web Services CHAPTER 23 LISTING 23.18

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continued

Private Function Authenticate( objAuthenticationHeader ) As Boolean Dim arrSessions As DataRow() Dim strMatch As String ‘ Load Session keys If Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ) Is Nothing Then LoadSessionKeys End If ‘ Test for match strMatch = “session_key=’” & objAuthenticationHeader.SessionKey strMatch &= “‘ And session_expiration > #” & DateTime.Now() & “#” arrSessions = Context.Cache( “SessionKeys” ).Select( strMatch ) If arrSessions.Length > 0 Then Return True Else Return False End If End Function End Class

Public Class ServiceTicket Public IsAuthenticated As Boolean Public SessionKey As String Public Expiration As DateTime End Class

Accessing the Secure Web Service Before you can access the SecureService Web service, you need to create a proxy class by executing the following two statements: wsdl /l:vb /n:services http://localhost/webservices/SecureService.asmx?wsdl vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.xml.dll ➥ SecureService.vb

After you create the proxy class, remember to copy it into your application /bin directory. You can test the SecureService Web service by using the ASP.NET page in Listing 23.19. You’ll need to change the username and password to match the username and password that you entered into the WebServiceUsers table.

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

Public Class AuthHeader:Inherits SoapHeader Public SessionKey As String End Class

1024

Buiding ASP.NET Web Services PART VI LISTING 23.19

TestSecureService.aspx

Const strUsername As String = “Steve” Const strPassword As String = “Secret” Sub Page_Load Dim objSecureService As SecureService Dim objServiceTicket As ServiceTicket Dim objAuthHeader As AuthHeader objSecureService = New SecureService objServiceTicket = Session( “ServiceTicket” ) ‘ Check for ticket existence If objServiceTicket Is Nothing Then objServiceTicket = objSecureService.Login( strUsername, strPassword ) Session( “ServiceTicket” ) = objServiceTicket End If ‘ Check for ticket expiration If objServiceTicket.Expiration < DateTime.Now Then objServiceTicket = objSecureService.Login( strUsername, strPassword ) Session( “ServiceTicket” ) = objServiceTicket End If ‘ Call the web service If objServiceTicket.IsAuthenticated Then objAuthHeader = New AuthHeader objAuthHeader.SessionKey = objServiceTicket.SessionKey objSecureService.AuthHeaderValue = objAuthHeader lblLuckyNumber.Text = objSecureService.GetLuckyNumber() Else lblLuckyNumber.Text = “Invalid username or password!” End If End Sub TestSecureService.aspx

In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 23.19, an instance of the SecureService proxy class is created. Next, a ServiceTicket is retrieved by calling the Login() Web service method. The ServiceTicket is stored in session state so that it can be used multiple times. The subroutine checks whether the ServiceTicket has expired before trying to use it. If the Expiration property of the ServiceTicket class contains a time that has passed, the Login() method is called to retrieve a new ServiceTicket. The ServiceTicket contains a session key in its SessionKey property. The session key is used when constructing the authentication header. The authentication header is created and the GetLuckyNumber() method is called with the following statements:

The lucky number retrieved from the Web service is assigned to a label named lblLuckyNumber.

Using HTML Pattern Matching Using HTML pattern matching, you can make any Web site act like an XML Web service. HTML pattern matching enables you to extract content from any document by specifying regular expressions that match content in the document. Matched content is exposed as values of Web service properties. This technology has two broad applications. First, you can use it to access data from legacy systems. For example, if you have thousands of old customer invoices stored in an ancient pre-war mainframe in the back office, you can use HTML pattern matching to liberate the data. If a document is accessible over the network—regardless of whether the document is a plain text file, XML document, or HMTL page—you can use HTML pattern matching to expose it.

23 ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

objAuthHeader = New AuthHeader objAuthHeader.SessionKey = objServiceTicket.SessionKey objSecureService.AuthHeaderValue = objAuthHeader lblLuckyNumber.Text = objSecureService.GetLuckyNumber()

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HTML pattern matching also can be used for communicating with Web sites that haven’t implemented a Web service. For example, suppose that you need to exchange product information over the Internet with a sister Web site. If the sister Web site displays a normal HTML page with a list of products, you can use HTML pattern matching to scrape the information from the page. To implement HTML pattern matching, you need to write a WSDL document that describes the content you want to expose. After you create the WSDL document, you generate a proxy class for the Web service described by the WSDL file. You can then integrate the proxy class into an ASP.NET application in the same way as you would for any other Web service.

Creating the WSDL Document A Web services Description Language (WSDL) document is an XML document that describes, among other things, all the methods and properties accessible through a Web service. It provides the name and location of each method and property. It also specifies the data types of all the parameters that can be used with the methods and properties. The hardest part of implementing HTML pattern matching is writing the WSDL document. You need to write this document to specify the text patterns that you want to match. Therefore, you need to spend a little time examining the structure of a WSDL document. Note You can find the current version of the WSDL document standard at the following address: http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl

A WSDL document contains the following five sections: •

Types—Lists

all the data types used when exchanging messages.

•

Messages—Lists the name and all the parts of each message. Input elements are listed separately from output elements. Each message part is associated with a data type.

•

PortTypes—Lists

•

Bindings—Associates

•

Services—Associates

the operations that can be performed with messages.

the operations listed in PortTypes with a particular message format and protocol. a binding with a particular location (URL).

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Each section of a WSDL document builds on the elements of the preceding section. For example, you specify all the messages in the Messages section and combine the messages into operations in the PortTypes section. To use HTML pattern matching, you add a regular expression pattern to the Bindings section. Any text matched by the regular expression is exposed as a property of the Web service. Note Regular expressions are described in Chapter 24, “Working with Collections and Strings.”

The file in Listing 23.20 is a template for a simple WSDL document that you can use for HTML pattern matching. All the parameters that you need to replace are displayed in bold. LISTING 23.20

Template.Wsdl

xmlns:s=”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema” xmlns:http=”http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/http/” xmlns:mime=”http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/mime/” xmlns:tm=”http://microsoft.com/wsdl/mime/textMatching/” xmlns:soap=”http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/” xmlns:soapenc=”http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/” xmlns:s0=”http://yourdomain.com/webservices” targetNamespace=”http://yourdomain.com/webservices” xmlns=”http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/”>

ADVANCED XML WEB SERVICES

If the BinarySearch method finds a match, it returns the index of the matched item in the ArrayList. Otherwise, it returns a negative number. By default, the BinarySearch method performs a case-sensitive search. If you need to perform a search that is not case sensitive, call the BinarySearch method like this: intItemIndex = colArrayList.BinarySearch( “Smith”, New CaseInsensitiveComparer )

This statement performs a binary search for Smith using an instance of CaseInsensitiveComparer. So, the statement matches both Smith and smith.

Using the HashTable Collection A HashTable, like an ArrayList, can be used to store a collection of items. However, a HashTable, unlike an ArrayList, is used to store key and value pairs.

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The key and value pairs can represent just about anything you desire. For example, you can use the key and value pairs to represent product codes and product names. Or the keys could represent page numbers, and the values could represent the contents of a page. Each key in a HashTable must be unique. If you try to add two items with the same key, you receive an error. There’s a good reason for this unique key requirement. You can look up a key very quickly in a HashTable because of the manner in which it stores its items. Whenever you add an item to a HashTable, the HashTable calculates a hash code for the item’s key. The HashTable internally sorts the hash codes using different buckets. By dividing the hash codes into different buckets, it can retrieve a key very quickly. Note A hash code is a shorthand representation of a value. For example, you can use a hash code to represent text that contains thousands of characters with a relatively small, fixed-length number. Small differences in values result in different hash codes. So, two versions of the Declaration of Independence that differ in a single letter result in different hash codes.

You can create a new HashTable by using the following statement: colHashTable = New HashTable()

This statement creates a new HashTable named colHashTable.

colHashTable = New HashTable( 100 )

If you enter more than 100 items, the HashTable automatically expands to handle the greater number of items. Finally, you can create a HashTable with a particular load factor. The load factor determines the number of buckets to use when sorting the hash codes for a HashTable. (It specifies the maximum ratio of items to buckets.) By default, a HashTable is initialized

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

You also have the option, when creating a HashTable, of specifying its initial capacity. For example, if you know that the HashTable will be used to hold at least 100 items, you can declare the HashTable like this:

24

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with a load factor of 1.0. However, you can use a lower value, as shown here, if you want to use more buckets and perform faster searches: colHashTable = New HashTable( 100, 0.1 )

This statement initializes the HashTable with a capacity of 100 items and a load factor of 0.1 (the minimum load factor). The advantage of a lower load factor is faster searches. The disadvantage of using a lower load factor is that it requires more memory.

Adding Items to a HashTable You can add an item to a HashTable in two ways. First, you can use the Add method like this: colHashTable.Add( “WA”, “Washington” )

This statement adds a new key with the value “WA” and a new item with the value “Washington” to the HashTable named colHashTable. Alternatively, you can add a value to a HashTable like this: colHashTable( “WA” ) = “Washington”

If the key “WA” doesn’t already exist, it’s added with the value. If the key already exists, it’s assigned the new value. Remember, you cannot add duplicate keys to a HashTable. So, the following two statements would result in an error: colHashTable.Add( “CA”, “California” ) colHashTable.Add( “CA”, “California” )

However, there is nothing wrong with adding two items with the same value. The following two statements would not generate an error: colHashTable.Add( “CA”, “California” ) colHashTable.Add( “CALIF”, “California” )

Removing Items from a HashTable You use the Remove method to remove an item from a HashTable. For example, to remove an item with the key “WA”, you would use the following statement: colHashTable.Remove( “WA” )

Realize that the Remove method is, by default, case sensitive. So, this statement would not remove an item with the key “Wa”.

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If you want to remove all the items in a HashTable, you can call the Clear method like this: colHashTable.Clear()

This statement removes all the items in the HashTable named colHashTable.

Iterating Through the Items in a HashTable Several methods can be used for displaying the items in a HashTable. You can use a For...Each loop like this, for example: Dim objItem As DictionaryEntry For each objItem in colHashTable Response.Write( “
” & objItem.Key & “=” & objItem.Value ) Next

This For...Each loop displays the key and value for each item in the HashTable named colHashTable. (Notice that each item in a HashTable is actually an instance of the DictionaryEntry class.) You also can use a For...Each loop to iterate through the Keys collection of a HashTable like this: Dim strItem As String For Each strItem in colHashTable.Keys Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

You also can loop through all the values in a HashTable by using the Values collection: Dim strItem As String For Each strItem in colHashTable.Values Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

Again, I’m assuming that all the values are strings. If the items in the Values collection are a different type, you need to declare a variable with the appropriate type.

Searching for Items in a HashTable The HashTable collection was designed to enable you to quickly look up a key and retrieve the key’s associated value.

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

The Keys collection represents all the keys in a HashTable. I’m assuming that all the keys are strings. If the Keys collection contains items of another type, such as integers, you need to declare a variable with the appropriate type.

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The simplest way to retrieve a certain value from a HashTable that has a certain key is to use the following: Response.Write( colHashTable( “WA” ) )

This statement displays the value for the “WA” key. (The comparison is case sensitive.) If you simply want to check whether a certain key exists in a HashTable, you can use the Contains method like this: If colHashTable.Contains( “WA” ) Then Response.Write( “Found WA!” ) Else Response.Write( “Couldn’t Find WA!” ) End If

The Contains method returns True if the key exists and False otherwise. (Again, the Contains method is case sensitive.) Note If you want to perform comparisons that are not case sensitive with a HashTable, you need to declare it like this: colHashTable = New HashTable( _ New CaseInsensitiveHashCodeProvider, _ New CaseInsensitiveComparer )

This statement initializes the HashTable with a hash code provider that enables hash code comparisons that are not case sensitive. It also uses the CaseInsensitiveComparer to compare values.

are very good at finding keys. They are slower at finding values, however. You can find a particular value by using the ContainsValue method:

HashTables

If colHashTable.ContainsValue( “Washington” ) Then Response.Write( “Found Washington!” ) Else Response.Write( “Couldn’t Find Washington!” ) End If

The ContainsValue method must perform a linear search on the elements of the HashTable. So, the more elements in a HashTable, the slower the search.

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Using the SortedList Collection are great for quickly looking up a key and finding an associated value. However, they are not useful for displaying items in a certain order. You have no control over the order in which a HashTable internally represents its items.

HashTables

A SortedList collection, on the other hand, enables you to control exactly how items are sorted. You can create a new instance of the SortedList collection like this: colSortedList = New SortedList()

You also have the option of declaring a SortedList with an initial capacity like this: colSortedList = New SortedList( 100 )

This statement creates a new SortedList with an initial capacity of 100 elements. If you add more than 100 elements, the SortedList automatically doubles in size to handle the new elements.

Adding Items to a SortedList Like a HashTable, a SortedList contains key and value pairs. You can add a new key and value pair to a SortedList by using the Add method like this: colSortedList.Add( “Bob”, “(415) 455-9090” )

This statement adds a new key, “Bob”, and a new value, “(415) SortedList named colSortedList.

455-9090”,

to a

Alternatively, you can add a new item to a SortedList like this: colSortedList( “Bob” ) = “(415) 455-9090”

Whenever you add new items to a SortedList, they are automatically added in the right order. For example, imagine that you add the following three items: colSortedList.Add( “eggs”, 2.39 ) colSortedList.Add( “beer”, 8.16 ) colSortedList.Add( “milk”, 4.87 )

The SortedList automatically rearranges the items in the following order: beer, eggs, milk. Notice that the items are sorted in order of the keys, and not the values.

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

A SortedList cannot contain duplicate keys. So, if you try to execute this statement twice, an error is generated. There is nothing wrong, however, with adding duplicate values to a SortedList.

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Removing Items from a SortedList You can remove an item from a SortedList by using its key or index position to refer to the item. For example, the following statement removes an item with the key “eggs”: colSortedList.Remove( “eggs” )

You also can remove an item according to its index position in the list by using the RemoveAt method like this: colSortedList.RemoveAt( 1 )

Remember, when you’re using the RemoveAt method, the items in a SortedList are automatically ordered. So, an item’s index position has nothing to do with the order in which you added the item. If you want to clear away all the items in a SortedList, you can use the Clear method like this: colSortedList.Clear()

This statement removes all the items from a SortedList named colSortedList. Clearing a SortedList does not automatically reduce the capacity of the list. To reduce the capacity of a SortedList to its initial capacity (16 items), you need to call the TrimToSize method after calling the Clear method like this: colSortedList.Clear() colSortedList.TrimToSize()

Iterating Through the Items in a SortedList Several methods can be used to loop through the contents of a SortedList. For example, you can display all the elements by using a For...Each loop like this: Dim objItem As DictionaryEntry For each objItem in colSortedList Response.Write( “
” & objItem.Key & “=” & objItem.Value ) Next

Notice that each entry in a SortedList is actually an instance of the DictionaryEntry class. The Key and Value properties are used to display the key and value for each item in the SortedList. You also can use the Keys property to display each key in a SortedList like this: Dim strItem As String For each strItem in colSortedList.Keys Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

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A Value property also enables you to display all the values in a SortedList: Dim strItem As String For each strItem in colSortedList.Values Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

I’m assuming here that the SortedList contains strings. You need to use the correct data type for the items contained in the SortedList (for example, Integer, Decimal, or Object).

Finding Items in a SortedList The most straightforward way of displaying the value of an item with a certain key in a SortedList is to use a statement like this: Response.Write( colSortedList( “eggs” ) )

If the SortedList contains a list of grocery store items and their prices, this statement displays the price of eggs. If you want to check whether a SortedList contains a particular key, you can use the Contains method like this: If colSortedList.Contains( “eggs” ) Then Response.Write( “We sell eggs!” ) Else Response.Write( “Nope, no eggs!” ) End If

The Contains method returns True if the key exists and False otherwise.

24 By default, a SortedList is case sensitive. So, the key “eggs” is treated differently than the key “eGGs”. If you want to perform comparisons that are not case sensitive, you need to initialize the SortedList collection like this: colSortedList = New SortedList( New CaseInsensitiveComparer )

This statement initializes the SortedList with CaseInsensitiveComparer.

The Contains method uses a fast binary search to find a matching key. The process of finding a matching value is slower because a linear search must be performed. You can check whether a SortedList contains a particular value by using the ContainsValue method as follows:

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

Note

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Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII If colSortedList.ContainsValue( 2.39 ) Then Response.Write( “Found It!” ) Else Response.Write( “Couldn’t Find It!” ) End If

Here, the ContainsValue method finds an item with the value 2.39. If an item is found, the ContainsValue method returns True; otherwise, it returns False.

Working with Strings In the following sections, you examine in detail the methods and properties that the .NET framework provides for working with strings. First, you look at various methods for formatting strings. You learn how to format currencies, dates, and times and control exactly how a string is displayed. Next, you examine the methods and properties of the String class itself for manipulating the contents of your strings. Finally, you learn about the StringBuilder class and how to exploit this class to work efficiently with large strings.

Formatting Strings The String class includes a Format method that you can use to format one or more arguments. For example, in the following code, the Format method formats the output of a string variable named strUsername: Dim strUsername As String strUsername = “aspguy” Response.Write( String.Format( “Your username is {0}”, strUsername ) )

When these statements are executed, the following string is output: Your username is aspguy

Two parameters are passed to the Format method. The first parameter represents a format string. In this case, the format string is “Your username is {0}”. The {0} characters represent a placeholder. The second parameter passed to the Format method is substituted for this placeholder.

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You can list up to three arguments with the Format method, as shown here: Dim strSentence, strPerson, strPlace, strThing As String strPerson = “Bill” strPlace = “the store” strThing = “some eggs” strSentence = String.Format( “{0} went to {1} and bought {2}”, ➥strPerson, strPlace, strThing ) Response.Write( strSentence )

When the preceding statements are executed, the following sentence is output: Bill went to the store and bought some eggs

You also can specify an optional minimum width used when displaying the output of each placeholder. You do so by adding a comma, followed by a number specifying a width, like this: Response.Write( String.Format( “{0,10}”, “eggs” ) )

This format string displays the argument with a minimum of 10 spaces. The HTML tag is included here because HTML normally ignores spaces. The tag forces spaces to be interpreted literally. By default, when you specify a minimum width, the argument is right-aligned. If you prefer to left-align the output, use a negative value for the width like this: Response.Write( String.Format( “{0,-10}”, “eggs” ) )

This statement pads the output with a minimum of 10 spaces and left-aligns the argument represented by the placeholder.

If you need to pass more than three arguments to the Format method, you can pass an array of arguments as the second parameter.

Formatting Numbers The .NET framework includes several format specifiers that you can use to format the output of numbers. You can use these specifiers with the Format method discussed in the preceding section or with the ToString method.

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

Note

24

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The following list describes the format specifiers used for formatting numbers: •

D

or d—Formats a number as a decimal number; for example, 3200

•

or e—Formats a number as an exponential number using scientific notation; for example, 3.200100e+004

•

F

•

G or g—Formats a number as a decimal number or as an exponential number (represents the number in the shortest possible way); for example, 32001

•

N

or n—Formats a number using number formatting; for example, 32,001.00

•

H

or h—Formats a number as a hexadecimal number; for example, 7d01

E

or f—Formats a number as a fixed-point number; for example, 32001.00

The page in Listing 24.6 demonstrates how the different specifiers work with the ToString method to format both an Integer and Decimal number. LISTING 24.6

FormatNumber.aspx

Displays 32001

‘ Exponential Format Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “e” ) ) ‘ => Displays 3.200100e+004 Response.Write( decNum.ToString( “e” ) ) ‘ => Displays 3.200191e+004

‘ Fixed-Point Format Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “f” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32001.00 Response.Write( decNum.ToString( “f” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32001.91

Working with Collections and Strings CHAPTER 24 LISTING 24.6

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continued

‘ General Format Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “g” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32001 Response.Write( decNum.ToString( “g” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32001.9099

‘ Number Format Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “n” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32,001.00 Response.Write( decNum.ToString( “n” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32,001.91

‘ HexaDecimal Format Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “x” ) ) ‘ => Displays 7d01 %>

You also can use any of these format specifiers with the Format method discussed in the preceding section. The following statement uses the number specifier: Response.Write( String.Format( “Quantity: {0:n}”, 12300.00 ) )

The n that follows the placeholder indicates that the number should be formatted using the number specifier. This statement outputs the following: Quantity: 12,300.00

Response.Write( 6.ToString( “d10” ) ) ‘ => Displays 0000000006

When you append a number to any of the other number specifiers, the number represents the number of digits to display after the decimal point, as shown here: Dim intNum As Integer intNum = 32 Response.Write( intNum.ToString( “n10” ) ) ‘ => Displays 32.0000000000

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

When displaying numbers, you also can indicate the number of digits to display by listing a number immediately after the format specifier. For example, the following statement displays an integer value with extra leading zeros:

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Note If you need very precise control over the formatting of numbers, you can use picture format strings. To learn more details, see the .NET Framework Software Development Kit Documentation.

Formatting Currency The .NET framework includes a special format specifier for formatting currency amounts. You can use either the C or c format specifier with the Format or ToString method to display a number as currency. The following statements illustrate how to format a decimal number with the ToString method: Dim decPrice As Decimal decPrice = 1233.99 Response.Write( decPrice.ToString( “c” ) )

This Response.Write statement outputs the following string: $1,233.99

You also can use the currency format specifier with the Format method like this: Response.Write( String.Format( “Price: {0:c}”, 2321.65 ) )

This statement outputs the following: Price: $2,321.65

By default, two decimal places are displayed. If you want to display a different number of decimal places, you can append a number to the currency specifier like this: Dim decPrice As Decimal decPrice = 2321.65 Response.Write( decPrice.ToString( “c0” ) ) ‘ => Displays $2,322 Response.Write( String.Format( “Price: {0:c5}”, 2321.65 ) ) ‘ => Displays $2,321.65000

The ToString method displays the price with no decimal places (notice that the price is automatically rounded up). The Format method displays the price with five decimal places.

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Formatting Dates and Times The .NET framework includes the following format specifiers for displaying dates and times: •

d—Displays

a short date; for example, 2/13/2001

•

D—Displays

a long date; for example, Tuesday, February 13, 2001

•

f—Displays

a long date and short time; for example, Tuesday, February 13, 2001

3:40 PM •

F—Displays

a long date and long time; for example, Tuesday, February 13, 2001

3:41:04 PM •

g—Displays

a short date and short time; for example, 2/13/2001 3:42 PM

•

G—Displays

a short date and long time; for example, 2/13/2001 3:42:52 PM

•

M

•

R or r—Displays in RFC 1123 format; for example, Tue, 13 Feb 2001 15:44:52 GMT

•

s—Displays

in ISO 8601 format; for example, 2001-02-13T15:45:55

•

t—Displays

a short time; for example, 3:47 PM

•

T—Displays

a long time; for example, 3:47:37 PM

•

u—Displays

in ISO 8601 format using universal time; for example, 2001-02-13

or m—Displays month and day; for example, February 13

15:48:41Z •

U—Displays

a date and time using universal time; for example, Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:49:51 PM

•

Y

or y—Displays a month and year; for example, February, 2001

LISTING 24.7

FormatDateTime.aspx

Displays 2/13/2001 ‘ Long Date Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “D” ) ) ‘ => Displays Tuesday, February 13, 2001

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

The page in Listing 24.7 illustrates how you can use the date and time specifiers with the ToString method.

24

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Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII LISTING 24.7

continued

‘ Long Date and Short Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “f” ) ) ‘ => Displays Tuesday, February 13, 2001 3:40 PM ‘ Long Date and Long Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “F” ) ) ‘ => Displays Tuesday, February 13, 2001 3:41:04 PM ‘ Short Date and Short Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “g” ) ) ‘ => Displays 2/13/2001 3:42 PM ‘ Short Date and Long Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “G” ) ) ‘ => Displays 2/13/2001 3:42:52 PM ‘ Month and Day Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “M” ) ) ‘ => Displays February 13 ‘ RFC 1123 Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “R” ) ) ‘ => Displays Tue, 13 Feb 2001 15:44:52 GMT ‘ ISO 8601 Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “s” ) ) ‘ => Displays 2001-02-13T15:45:55 ‘ Short Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “t” ) ) ‘ => Displays 3:47 PM ‘ Long Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “T” ) ) ‘ => Displays 3:47:37 PM ‘ Universal ISO 8601 Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “u” ) ) ‘ => Displays 2001-02-13 15:48:41Z ‘ Universal Time Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “U” ) ) ‘ => Displays Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:49:51 PM ‘ Month and Year Response.Write( dtmDate.ToString( “Y” ) ) ‘ => Displays February, 2001 %>

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You also can use the date and time format specifiers with the Format method. For example, the following statement displays the current date using a long date: Response.Write( String.Format( “Today is {0:D}”, DateTime.Now ) )

This statement displays output similar to the following: Today is Tuesday, February 13, 2003

Formatting Strings for Different Cultures Different cultures format numbers, dates, and times using different conventions. For example, in the United States, the currency amount of 9999.99 is formatted like this: $9,999.99

In Germany, on the other hand, this same currency amount is formatted like this: 9.999,99 DM

Imagine that you decide to sell products from your Web site internationally. If you decide to do so, you need a way to format currency amounts for different countries. The .NET framework includes classes for formatting strings for different cultures. These classes inhabit the System.Globalization namespace. The most important of these classes is CultureInfo. You can use the CultureInfo class with the ToString method to format a string for a particular culture. For example, the following statements display a currency amount using the culture information for Germany:

decPrice = 9999.99 objCulture = New CultureInfo( “de-DE” ) Response.Write( decPrice.ToString( “c”, objCulture ) ) %>

Notice that the System.Globalization namespace needs to be imported at the top of the page. You must import the namespace before you can use the CultureInfo class. When the CultureInfo class is initialized, it is initialized with the CultureInfo name for Germany (de-DE). The CultureInfo class is then used with the ToString method to display a currency amount using a format appropriate to Germany.

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

0 Then Response.Write( “Found aardvark!” ) Else Response.Write( “No aardvark found!” ) End If

You can use the IndexOfAny method with an array of characters. The following statement returns the position of the first lowercase vowel in the string: Dim arrVowels() As Char = {“a”,”e”,”i”,”o”,”u”} Dim strString As String strString = “The slow moving aardvark” Response.Write( strString.IndexOfAny( arrVowels

) )

The IndexOfAny method in this statement returns the value 2 because the letter e appears as the third character in the string (the IndexOfAny method is zero-based).

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A variation of the IndexOf method, called LastIndexOf, enables you to find the last matching string in a string. (There is also a LastIndexOfAny method that works with an array of characters.) Dim strString As String strString = “The slow moving aardvark” Response.Write( strString.LastIndexOf( “ar” ) )

In this example, the LastIndexOf method returns the value 21 because the last occurrence of the string ar appears 21 characters from the beginning of the string. Two other methods of the String class should be mentioned in this context: StartsWith and EndsWith. These methods enable you to match a string at the beginning and end of a string: Dim strString As String strString = “http://www.superexpert.com” If strString.StartsWith( “http://” ) and strString.EndsWith( “.com” ) Then Response.Write( “Thanks for entering your company URL!” ) End If

Here, the StartsWith and EndsWith methods check whether a string starts and ends with particular characters.

Modifying a String The String class includes several methods for modifying a string. For example, you can use the Replace method to substitute new strings for parts of strings: Dim strString As String

24

When you execute these statements, the phrase The

slow-moving turtle

is displayed.

You can insert a new string into an existing string by using the Insert method as follows: Dim strString As String strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” strString = strString.Insert( 16, “but happy “ ) Response.Write( strString )

When the Insert method is executed in this example, the phrase The is displayed.

happy aardvark

slow-moving but

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” strString = strString.Replace( “aardvark”, “turtle” ) Response.Write( strString )

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You also can extract a substring from a string by using the Substring method like this: Dim strString As String strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” strString = strString.Substring( 4, 11 ) Response.Write( strString )

The Substring method in this example extracts the phrase slow-moving. The Substring method grabs the string starting at index position 4 with a length of 11 characters. You also can use the ToUpper and ToLower methods to modify the case of a string. The following example demonstrates both methods: Dim strString As String strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” Response.Write( strString.ToUpper ) Response.Write( strString.ToLower )

The ToUpper method returns THE SLOW-MOVING returns the slow-moving aardvark.

AARDVARK

and the ToLower method

Splitting and Joining Strings You can split a string into multiple little strings by using the Split method. For example, the following statement splits a sentence into individual words and displays each word in a bulleted list: Dim strString As String Dim arrArray() As String Dim strItem As String strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” arrArray = strString.Split() For Each strItem in arrArray Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

By default, the Split method splits a string wherever whitespace occurs (spaces, carriage returns, tabs, and so on). The method returns an array in which each element represents one of the resulting strings. You also can pass a character, or array of characters, to the Split method. For example, the following statement splits a sentence wherever the letter v occurs: Dim strString As String Dim arrArray() As String Dim strItem As String

Working with Collections and Strings CHAPTER 24

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strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” arrArray = strString.Split( “v” ) For Each strItem in arrArray Response.Write( “
” & strItem ) Next

After the Split method is called, the following items are displayed: •

The slow-mo

•

ing aard

•

ark

You can perform the opposite operation by using the Join method, which joins together all the elements in an array into a single string like this: Dim arrArray() As String = {“The”,”slow-moving”,”aardvark”} Response.Write( String.Join( “ “, arrArray ) )

The first statement creates a three-element array. The second statement joins all the elements together, using a space as a separator, and displays The slow-moving aardvark.

Using the StringBuilder Class If you need to work with large strings—resumes, product descriptions, the text of the Declaration of Independence—you should consider using the methods and properties of the StringBuilder class. This class, unlike the String class, can more efficiently manage memory when representing a string. You can create a new instance of the StringBuilder class from an existing string like this:

When you create a new instance of the StringBuilder class, it is created with a certain capacity that represents the number of characters the StringBuilder can contain. By default, a StringBuilder has a capacity of 16 characters. However, the capacity automatically grows to handle the number of characters contained in the class. If you know that you’ll be working with a large string, you can specify the capacity when you initialize the StringBuilder like this: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark”, 1000 )

This StringBuilder is created with an initial capacity of 1,000 characters.

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark” )

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If you’re working with truly huge strings, you might want to check whether the server has enough memory to handle the size of the strings. You can attempt to initialize a string with a particular capacity by using the EnsureCapacity method like this: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark” ) objStringBuilder.EnsureCapacity( 99999 )

This example attempts to create a StringBuilder with a capacity of 99,999 characters, which is the minimum capacity. Calling the EnsureCapacity method might actually reserve more characters than the number requested

Appending Strings to a StringBuilder After you create an instance of a StringBuilder, you can add characters to it by using the Append method. For example, the following example initializes a StringBuilder with the text The slow-moving aardvark and appends the text and the happy turtle and bought some eggs to the end of the StringBuilder: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark” ) objStringBuilder.Append( “ and the happy turtle” ) objStringBuilder.Append( “ bought some eggs” ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

You also can add a formatted string to a StringBuilder. The following example uses a For...Next loop to append 10 strings to the StringBuilder. Each string is formatted with the format string “
counter = {0:n}”: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder Dim intCounter As Integer objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder() For intCounter = 1 to 10 objStringBuilder.AppendFormat( “
counter = {0:n}”, intCounter ) Next Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

This example outputs the following: counter counter counter counter counter counter counter

= = = = = = =

1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00

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counter = 8.00 counter = 9.00 counter = 10.00

Note To learn more details about using format strings, see the section “Formatting Strings” earlier in this chapter.

Inserting and Removing Strings with a StringBuilder The StringBuilder Append method appends strings only at the end of a StringBuilder. If you need to add strings to other parts of a StringBuilder, you should use the Insert method. The following example adds a string to the middle of a StringBuilder: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark” ) objStringBuilder.Insert( 4, “happy turtle and the “ ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

In this example, the Insert method adds a string at the fourth index position. The StringBuilder displays the string The happy turtle and the slow-moving aardvark.

Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “A very long sentence” ) objStringBuilder.Insert( 2, “very, “, 100 ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

If you need to perform the opposite operation and remove characters from a StringBuilder, you can use the Remove method. The following example removes characters from a StringBuilder starting at position 2 and continuing for five characters:

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

You also can use the Insert method to add a string multiple times. For example, the following example adds the word very to the StringBuilder 100 times starting at the second index position:

1080

Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “A very long sentence” ) objStringBuilder.Remove( 2, 5 ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

This example outputs the string A

long sentence.

Replacing Strings with a StringBuilder If you need to replace one string with another in a StringBuilder, you can use the Replace method like this: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “The slow-moving aardvark went to ➥ the store” ) objStringBuilder.Replace( “aardvark”, “turtle” ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

This example replaces the string aardvark with the string turtle. The Replace method automatically replaces each and every occurrence of the target string.

Iterating Through the Contents of a StringBuilder You can march through the contents of a StringBuilder, character by character, by using the Chars and Length properties. The Chars property represents a character at a certain index position, whereas the Length property represents the total number of characters in a StringBuilder. The following example uses a For...Next loop to loop through each character in a StringBuilder and report whether the character is a digit: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder Dim chrChar As Char Dim intCounter As Integer objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “549-27-7878” ) For intCounter = 0 To objStringBuilder.Length - 1 chrChar = objStringBuilder.Chars( intCounter ) If Char.IsDigit( chrChar ) Then Response.Write( String.Format( “
{0} is a digit”, chrChar ) ) End If Next

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This For...Next loop loops through each character in the StringBuilder. If the character is a digit, this fact is reported with a Response.Write statement. Note The IsDigit method is a member of the .NET Char structure, which includes other methods such as IsWhiteSpace and IsLetter.

You can modify a character represented by the Chars property. The following example converts an uppercase string to a lowercase string: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder Dim chrChar As Char Dim intCounter As Integer objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder( “ALL IN UPPERCASE!” ) For intCounter = 0 to objStringBuilder.Length - 1 chrChar = objStringBuilder.Chars( intCounter ) chrChar = Char.ToLower( chrChar ) objStringBuilder.Chars( intCounter ) = chrChar Next Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString() )

Here, each character is retrieved from the StringBuilder and converted to lowercase using the ToLower method of the Char structure.

Converting a StringBuilder to a String

You can use a special variation of the ToString method with the StringBuilder class. Because a StringBuilder can be used to represent gargantuan strings, you might need to display partial strings from a StringBuilder. You can pass a beginning index and length to the ToString method like this: Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder objStringBuilder = New StringBuilder() objStringBuilder.Insert( 0, “aardvark,”, 8999 ) Response.Write( objStringBuilder.ToString( 18, 8 ) )

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

You can display the contents of a StringBuilder by using the ToString method. Because it is a method of the Object class (the grandfather of all objects), it works with any class in the .NET framework.

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This example creates a StringBuilder that contains the word aardvark 8,999 times. The ToString method displays eight characters from the StringBuilder, starting at the character with an index of 18.

Working with Regular Expressions You can use regular expressions to perform very complex pattern matching. You’ll quickly discover that you need to make use of regular expressions within a number of different contexts when building ASP.NET applications. In Chapter 3, “Performing Form Validation with Validation Controls,” for example, you learned how to use the Validation controls to validate HTML form data. One of the Validation controls, RegularExpressionValidator, depends on regular expressions. You can use regular expressions with RegularExpressionValidator to validate e-mail addresses, Social Security numbers, and Internet addresses, for example. With a proper understanding of how regular expressions work, you can validate any sequence of characters and numbers with RegularExpressionValidator and the proper regular expressions. You also can use regular expressions to perform complex formatting operations. You can use regular expressions not only to match expressions, but also to replace expressions. For example, imagine that you need to convert a plain text document into an HTML document that you can display at your Web site. You can automatically insert the correct HTML tags into the document by taking advantage of regular expressions. In the following sections, you learn about the implementation of regular expressions in the .NET framework. You also learn how to use regular expressions to both match and replace expressions.

Using Regular Expression Classes You use three main classes in the .NET framework when working with regular expressions: RegEx, Match, and MatchCollection. All three classes can be found in the System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace. The RegEx class represents a regular expression. You initialize it with a regular expression like this: Dim objRegEx As RegEx objRegEx = New RegEx( “b[iao]t” )

This example initializes a new RegEx class named objRegEx with the regular expression “b[iao]t”. This regular expression matches the strings bit, bat, and bot.

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After you initialize an instance of the RegEx class, you can check whether a string matches a regular expression by calling the RegEx IsMatch method: Dim objRegEx As RegEx objRegEx = New RegEx( “b[iao]t” ) If objRegEx.IsMatch( “bat” ) Then Response.Write( “It’s a Match!” ) End If

In this example, the IsMatch method returns the value True because the string bat matches the regular expression b[iao]t. Alternatively, you can use an instance of the RegEx class to match and replace parts of a string. For example, the following instance of the RegEx class replaces all vowels in a string with question marks: Dim objRegEx As RegEx Dim strString As String objRegEx = New RegEx( “[aeiou]” ) strString = “The slow-moving aardvark” Response.Write( objRegEx.Replace( strString, “?” ) )

In this case, the Replace method returns the string Th?

sl?w-m?v?ng ??rdv?rk.

If you need additional information about the expression matched by the RegEx class, you can return an instance of the Match class: Dim objRegEx As RegEx Dim objMatch As Match

Response.Write( “
Success: “ & objMatch.Success ) Response.Write( “
Index: “ & objMatch.Index ) Response.Write( “
Value: “ & objMatch.Value )

In this example, the Match method returns an instance of the Match class. If a match is found, the Success property returns the value True, the Index property returns the position of the match, and the Value property returns the matching expression. A regular expression can match a string in multiple places. If multiple matches are found, you can use the MatchCollection class to represent all the matches: Dim objRegEx As RegEx Dim objMatch As Match Dim objMatchCollection As MatchCollection

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

objRegEx = New RegEx( “b[iao]t” ) objMatch = objRegEx.Match( “The bat flew in the window” )

1084

Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII objRegEx = New RegEx( “[aeiou]” ) objMatchCollection = objRegEx.Matches( “The bat flew in the window” ) For Each objMatch in objMatchCollection Response.Write( “
Success: “ & objMatch.Success ) Response.Write( “
Index: “ & objMatch.Index ) Response.Write( “
Value: “ & objMatch.Value ) Next

In this example, the Matches method returns an instance of the MatchCollection class. A For...Each loop displays the information from each match represented by the MatchCollection class. To make it easier for you to follow the discussion of regular expressions in this section, I’ve included the page in Listing 24.9 so that you can test a regular expression (see Figure 24.2). FIGURE 24.2 Testing regular expressions.

LISTING 24.9

TestRegEx.aspx

Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim objRegEx As RegEx objRegEx = New RegEx( txtRegularExpression.Text ) dgrdMatches.DataSource = objRegEx.Matches( txtMatchExpression.Text ) dgrdMatches.DataBind() End Sub

Working with Collections and Strings CHAPTER 24 LISTING 24.9

1085

continued

TestRegEx.aspx

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

Regular Expression:
Text:
Value

1086

Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII LISTING 24.9

continued

The page in Listing 24.9 contains a form with two TextBox controls. You can enter a regular expression in the first TextBox control and some text in the second TextBox control. When you click the Button control, the Button_Click subroutine executes. The Button_Click subroutine evaluates the regular expression and text on the form and binds the results to a DataGrid control, which displays all the properties of each Match class that match the regular expression.

Examining Elements of a Regular Expression A regular expression typically contains both literal text and metacharacters. Literal text, as you might assume, is nothing more than plain, ordinary text. You can place literal text in a regular expression to perform an exact character-by-character match. For example, the regular expression let matches any occurrence of the characters let in a string. The regular expression matches the word let, the first part of the word letter, and the last part of the word hamlet. Regular expressions get interesting when you start using metacharacters. Metacharacters enable you to match much more than simple sequences of characters. For example, you can use metacharacters to match only words, only words that start with the letter P, or words that appear at the beginning or end of a line of text.

Matching Single Characters You can use metacharacters to define character classes. A character class is a set of characters that you can use to match a single character. Imagine that you want to match every instance of the word affect in a string, but you know that people often use the word effect to mean the same thing. You can use the following regular expression to match either word: [ae]ffect

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The brackets define a character class. You can place multiple characters within brackets to represent any one of the multiple characters. The characters do not have to be letters. The following regular expression matches any single punctuation symbol: [!?.,]

You also can specify a range of characters in a character class. For example, the following character class matches any single uppercase character: [A-Z]

You can also use a range with numerals:

This regular expression would match and , but not . A character class matches only a single character at a time. Note To match a hyphen in a character class, list the hyphen as the first character.

You can include multiple character classes in a single regular expression. For example, the following regular expression matches a time of the form 12:59pm: [01][0-9]:[0-5][0-9][ap]m

This regular expression matches 03:59am and 12:22pm but does not match 3:59am.

m[^a]t

This regular expression matches mit and met, but not mat.

Matching Special Characters You can use the following special characters in a regular expression: •

\t—Matches

a tab character

•

\r—Matches

a carriage return character

WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

You also can use a caret (^) within a character class to exclude characters. For example, the following regular expression fails to match words that contain the letter a in their second position:

24

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Leveraging the .Net Framework PART VII

•

\f—Matches

a form-feed character

•

\n—Matches

a newline character

You can use the following code, for example, to replace newline characters with HTML characters: Dim objRegEx As RegEx Dim strString As String strString = “The slow-moving aardvark.” & vbNewline strString &= “The happy turtle.” objRegEx = New RegEx( “\n” ) Response.Write( objRegEx.Replace( strString, “” ) )

The following list describes metacharacters that represent character classes: •

.—Matches

any character except \n (or any character in singleline mode)

•

\w—Matches

any word character (any letter or numeral)

•

\W—Matches

any nonword character (anything except letters or numerals)

•

\s—Matches any whitespace character (including spaces, newlines, tabs, and so on)

•

\S—Matches any nonwhitespace characters (anything except spaces, newlines, tabs, and so on)

•

\d—Matches

any digit character (the numerals 0 through 9)

•

\D—Matches

any nondigit character (anything except the numerals 0 to 9)

The dot character (.) is particularly useful. You can use it to represent any single character. Consider the following regular expression: 12.25.99

This regular expression matches various data formats, including 12/25/99, 12-25-99, 12 25 99, and even 12.25.99. The following metacharacters do not represent characters, but represent the position of characters in a string: •

^—Matches

the beginning of a string (or beginning of a line in multiline mode)

•

$—Matches

the end of a string or the last character before \n at the end of a string (or the end of a line in multiline mode)

•

\A—Matches

•

\Z—Matches

the beginning of a string (even in multiline mode)

the end of a string or the last character before \n at the end of a string (even in multiline mode)

Working with Collections and Strings CHAPTER 24

•

\z—Matches

the end of a string

•

\G—Matches

the beginning of the current search

•

\b—Matches

a word boundary

•

\B—Matches

nonword boundaries

1089

You can use the \b metacharacter, for example, to match word boundaries. So, if you want to match the word let, but not letter or hamlet, you can use the following: \blet\b

The \A and \z metacharacters are useful for guaranteeing that a string contains a certain expression and nothing else. For example, you might want to check whether a Text control contains the word secret without any extraneous characters, newline characters, or whitespace. You can check for the word secret by using the following regular expression: \Asecret\z

This regular expression matches an expression that starts at the beginning of a string and ends at the end of the string. Note The list of metacharacters in this section is not exhaustive. See the .NET Framework SDK Documentation for a complete list of metacharacters.

\.

The backslash works as an escape character. You can use it with a metacharacter to represent the character’s literal value.

Matching Alternative Sequences of Characters The character classes and metacharacters you have examined thus far enable you to represent alternative characters but not alternative sequences of characters. For example, imagine that you want to match either a
or tag in a string. To match either sequence of characters, you need to use the alternation metacharacter | like this:
|

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

One additional metacharacter warrants discussion in this section. Because metacharacters, such as the dot character (.), have a special meaning, you can’t use them to represent a literal character. To represent a period, you need to place a backslash before it like this:

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When using the alternation character, you often need to group characters with parentheses. For example, the following regular expression matches both color and colour: col(o|ou)r

You also can use parentheses to control the precedence of other metacharacters. If you need to find every occurrence of the name Bill or Ted starting on a word boundary, you can use the following: \b(bill|ted)

Notice that the preceding regular expression means something different than the following one: \bbill|ted

This latter example matches the word malted because the \b metacharacter applies only to bill.

Matching with Quantifiers You can use quantifiers to match a sequence of characters a certain number of times. The following list describes the quantifiers that you can use with regular expressions: •

*—Matches

zero or more times

•

+—Matches

one or more times

•

?—Matches

zero or one time

•

{n}—Matches

•

{n,}—Matches

•

{n,m}—Matches

exactly n times at least n times at least n times and at most m times

Suppose that you want to match both the words aardvark and aardvarks. You can use the ? quantifier to indicate that the s is optional like this: aardvarks?

Or, imagine that you know that all product codes in your company start with the letter p and contain between three and five numerals. In that case, you can match a product code by using the following regular expression: \bp\d{3,5}\b

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In this example, the \b checks whether the product code starts at a word boundary, the \d{3,5} indicates a string of between three and five digits, and the \b represents the end of the word boundary. You also can use quantifiers with parentheses, as follows, so that the quantifiers apply to a whole sequence of letters: The( very)? slow-moving aardvark

This regular expression matches both “The slow-moving aardvark”.

very slow-moving aardvark”

and “The

Identifying Regular Expressions and Greed Some of the quantifiers are greedy. They match the characters that you intend for them to match, but they keep matching additional characters. The * quantifier, for example, matches zero or more characters. Imagine that you want to match any HTML tag in a string. You might be tempted to match HTML tags with the following regular expression:

This regular expression reads: Match any character that appears zero or more times between a < and >. This seems like a perfect regular expression for hunting down HTML tags. Now, imagine that you applied this regular expression to the following string: A quantifier can be greedy.

To handle this problem, you need to use a special nongreedy modifier with the quantifier: So, to fix the regular expression in the preceding example, you would use the following:

?.

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

You might expect the regular expression to match the tags , , , and . Unfortunately, the * quantifier gets too ambitious and matches the whole expression quantifier can be greedy. The * quantifier matches the i that follows the first and every other character that follows until it reaches the final > at the end of .

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The ? forces the * quantifier to be nongreedy. This regular expression correctly matches , , , and . The ? forces the quantifier to match as few characters as possible. You can use the ? modifier with several of the quantifiers: •

*?—Nongreedy ?

quantifier

•

+?—Nongreedy +

quantifier

•

??—Nongreedy ?

quantifier

•

{n}?—Nongreedy {n}

•

{n,}?—Nongreedy {n,}

•

{n,m}?—Nongreedy {n,m}

quantifier quantifier quantifier

Capturing and Backreferences Capture groups work like variables in a regular expression. A capture group enables you to capture a pattern of characters in a regular expression and refer to the pattern by either a number or name later in the regular expression. You indicate a capture group in a regular expression by using parentheses. For example, the following regular expression contains a capture group with the characters aardvark: The slow-moving (aardvark)

After you capture an expression, you can refer to it later in the regular expression by using a backreference. For example, the expression \1 is used as a backreference in the following regular expression: The slow-moving (aardvark) \1

This regular expression matches a string that contains The aardvark.

slow-moving aardvark

Why are capture groups useful? You can use a capture group to match repeating patterns of characters. For example, imagine that you want to match any string that contains the same two letters in a row. You can match repeating characters by using the following regular expression: (\w)\1

The parentheses in this regular expression capture any single word character. Later in the regular expression, the \1 backreference refers to the captured expression.

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If you apply this regular expression to The happy aardvark, the regular expression would match both the pp in happy and aa in aardvark. Note Parentheses can be used for a number of different functions in a regular expression. For example, you use parentheses with alternation to group alternative sequences of characters. By default, whenever you use parentheses, the characters contained within the parentheses are captured. You can disable this default behavior by using the n option (discussed in the section “Setting Regular Expression Options”) or by adding ?: to the parentheses like this: (?:aardvark)|(?:turtle)

This regular expression does not capture the characters aardvark or turtle.

You can capture multiple groups of characters in a regular expression by using multiple sets of parentheses. You can refer to each captured group by using \1, \2, \3, and so on. For example, the following regular expression matches any four letters in a row when the last two letters are reversed copies of the first two letters: (\w)(\w)\2\1

When applied to the following sentence, this regular expression matches the ette in letter: The aardvark sent a letter

(?\w)\k

The construct (?Grocery List size=3>eggs size=3>milk size=3>pancake mix

Setting Regular Expression Options You can set a number of options when working with regular expressions. These options can be found in the RegexOptions enumeration in the System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace. These options are as follows: •

IgnoreCase—Performs

matches that are not case sensitive (uses the option i within a regular expression)

•

Multiline—Indicates multiline mode (uses the option m within a regular expression)

24 WORKING WITH COLLECTIONS AND STRINGS

0 Then intRanIndex = objRandom.Next( Items.Count ) objSelectedItem = CType( Items( intRanIndex ), RotatorItem3 ) objTextWriter.Write( objSelectedItem.Text ) End If End Sub End Class ‘ Declare Rotator Item Public Class RotatorItem3 : Inherits Control Public Text As String End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.15, you create a new class named SimpleRotator3ControlBuilder. The SimpleRotator3ControlBuilder class inherits from the .NET ControlBuilder class.

Finally, notice that you add a custom attribute to the declaration of the SimpleRotator3 class. You declare the class like this: _ Public Class SimpleRotator3: Inherits Control

The ControlBuilderAttribute indicates that the SimpleRotator3ControlBuilder class should be used as the Control Builder for the SimpleRotator3 control, rather than the default Control Builder. In other words, this attribute associates the SimpleRotator3ControlBuilder class with the SimpleRotator3 control. After you make these modifications to SimpleRotator—and compile and copy the control to the application’s /bin directory—you can use simplified syntax when declaring the control. The ASP.NET page in Listing 28.16 illustrates how you can declare the new control.

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Within the SimpleRotator3ControlBuilder class, you override the GetChildControlType method and map the tag RotatorItem3 to the type RotatorItem3. Because you map the abbreviated tag to the type, you no longer need to fully declare the RotatorItem controls when using the SimpleRotator control.

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.16

DisplaySimpleRotator3.aspx

DisplaySimpleRotator3.aspx

In Listing 28.16, notice that you can declare each RotatorItem without using the myControls tag prefix or the Runat=”Server” attribute. Note The company Superexpert produces a content rotator control that you can download from www.superexpertControls.com. The Superexpert Content Rotator control supports different item priorities, templates, data binding, and XML files.

Examining Custom Controls and Events Every control has the following six standard events: •

DataBinding—This

event is typically raised when the DataBind method is called.

•

Disposed—This event occurs when the control is released from memory. This is a good place to close expensive resources, such as database connections.

•

Init—This

event occurs when the control is first initialized.

•

Load—This

event occurs when the control is loaded into the Page object.

•

PreRender—This

•

Unload—This

event occurs right before the control’s Render method is called.

event occurs when the control is unloaded from memory.

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The control in Listing 28.17, for example, illustrates how the Init, Load, and PreRender events can be handled. LISTING 28.17

ControlEvents.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class ControlEvents Inherits Control Protected Overrides Sub OnInit( e As EventArgs ) Context.Response.Write( “
OnInit Event!” ) End Sub Protected Overrides Sub OnLoad( e As EventArgs ) Context.Response.Write( “
OnLoad Event!” ) End Sub

End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.17, the protected control methods OnInit, OnLoad, and OnPreRender are overridden to display a message when each event occurs.

Adding Custom Events to a Control Several of the standard ASP.NET controls raise custom events. For example, the AdRotator control raises an AdCreated event right before it renders a banner advertisement. The Calendar control raises a DayRender event right before it renders each day on the calendar. You can add events to your own controls by completing the following two steps: 1. Declare an event by using the Event statement. 2. Raise the event by creating a subroutine that contains the RaiseEvent statement. The control in Listing 28.18, for example, randomly raises one of two events.

28 DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Protected Overrides Sub OnPreRender( e As EventArgs ) Context.Response.Write( “
OnPreRender Event!” ) End Sub

1236

Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.18

RandomEvent.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class RandomEvent Inherits Control Public Event Event1( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Public Event Event2( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Protected Sub OnEvent1( e As EventArgs ) RaiseEvent Event1( Me, EventArgs.Empty ) End Sub Protected Sub OnEvent2( e As EventArgs ) RaiseEvent Event2( Me, EventArgs.Empty ) End Sub Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Dim objRandom As New Random Dim intRanSelect As Integer intRanSelect = objRandom.Next( 2 ) If intRanSelect = 0 Then OnEvent1( EventArgs.Empty ) Else OnEvent2( EventArgs.Empty ) End If End Sub End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.18, two events are declared with the Event statement like this: Public Event Event1( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Public Event Event2( s As Object, e As EventArgs )

The control contains two subroutines for raising these events. The first of these subroutines looks like this: Protected Sub OnEvent1( e As EventArgs ) RaiseEvent Event1( Me, EventArgs.Empty ) End Sub

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This subroutine simply raises Event1 by using the RaiseEvent statement. Two parameters are passed to the event: a reference to the current control and an empty EventArgs argument. One or the other of these two subroutines is called within the Render method, which looks like this: Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Dim objRandom As New Random Dim intRanSelect As Integer intRanSelect = objRandom.Next( 2 ) If intRanSelect = 0 Then OnEvent1( EventArgs.Empty ) Else OnEvent2( EventArgs.Empty ) End If End Sub

An instance of the Random class is used to randomly return either the number 0 or 1. If 0 is returned, the OnEvent1 subroutine is called; otherwise, the OnEvent2 subroutine is called.

LISTING 28.19

DisplayRandomEvent.aspx

Sub doSomething1( s As Object, E As EventArgs ) Response.Write( “Event1 Raised!” ) End Sub Sub doSomething2( s As Object, E As EventArgs ) Response.Write( “Event2 Raised!” ) End Sub DisplayRandomEvent.aspx

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

After you compile and copy the RandomEvent control to the application’s \bin directory, you can wire up subroutines to the two events. The ASP.NET page in Listing 28.19 demonstrates how you can create subroutines that handle the two events.

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.19

continued

When the RandomEvent control is declared, the doSomething1 subroutine is associated with the control’s Event1 event, and the doSomething2 subroutine is associated with the control’s Event2 event. Whenever you request the page, one or the other of the two subroutines executes.

Participating in Postbacks Suppose that you want to display all the text boxes at your Web site with a blue background and a yellow font. It might make sense, in this situation, to simply create a custom control that renders a text box with the proper attributes. For example, the control in Listing 28.20 renders an tag with a blue background and yellow foreground. LISTING 28.20

BlueTextBox.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class BlueTextBox Inherits Control Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Name”, Me.UniqueID ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “background-color”, “Blue” ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “color”, “Yellow” ) objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag End Sub End Class End Namespace

You can display the BlueTextBox control by using the page in Listing 28.21.

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.21

1239

DisplayBlueTextBox.aspx

DisplayBlueTextBox.aspx

If you post the form containing the BlueTextBox control in Listing 28.21, you run into a problem. The BlueTextBox control does not retain its value between form posts. In other words, the control does not support postbacks.

•

LoadPostData—Processes

the data being posted back to the server

•

RaisePostDataChangedEvent—Raises

the change event for a control

The modified BlueTextBox control in Listing 28.22, named BlueTextBoxPostBack, illustrates how you can implement the IPostBackDataHandler interface. LISTING 28.22 Imports Imports Imports Imports

BlueTextBoxPostBack.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections.Specialized

Namespace myControls Public Class BlueTextBoxPostBack Inherits Control Implements IPostBackDataHandler Public Text As String

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

To get the BlueTextBox control to support postbacks, you need to do slightly more work. You need to implement the IPostBackDataHandler interface. This interface defines the following two methods:

28

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.22

continued

Public Function LoadPostData( PostDataKey As String, ➥Values As NameValueCollection) As Boolean _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.LoadPostData Text = Values( Me.UniqueID ) Return False End Function Public Sub RaisePostDataChangedEvent() _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.RaisePostDataChangedEvent ‘ Raise Change Event End Sub Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Name”, Me.UniqueID ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “background-color”, “Blue” ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “color”, “Yellow” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “value”, Text ) objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag End Sub End Class End Namespace

You add one new function and one new subroutine in Listing 28.22. The LoadPostData function has two parameters. The first parameter, PostDataKey, represents the unique ID for the control. The second parameter, Values, represents the values of all the form elements being posted back to the server. Note In Listing 28.22, the first parameter passed to the LoadPostData function is an instance of the NameValueCollection collection. At the top of Listing 28.22, you import System.Collections.Specialized so that you have access to this collection.

Within the LoadPostData function, you grab the value from the Values collection for the current control and assign it to the string variable named Text. Next, you return the value False from the function.

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The RaisePostBackDataChanged subroutine is called only when the LoadPostData function returns the value True. In Listing 28.22, you don’t do anything with this subroutine. I’ll explain its purpose in a moment. Within the Render method, you add an additional attribute, named Value, to the text box by using the AddAttribute method. You assign the value of the Text property to this attribute. The page in Listing 28.23 illustrates how you can display the new and improved BlueTextBox control. LISTING 28.23

DisplayBlueTextBoxPostBack.aspx

DisplayBlueTextBoxPostBack.aspx

If you enter data in the text box in Listing 28.23 and submit the form, the text box redisplays the data when the form is reloaded. Remember that the BlueTextBox control had an additional subroutine, named RaisePostDataChangedEvent, which you ignored earlier. You can use this subroutine to raise a change event whenever the data in the text box changes. The control in Listing 28.24 illustrates how to do so. LISTING 28.24 Imports Imports Imports Imports

BlueTextBoxChanged.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections.Specialized

28 DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.24

continued

Namespace myControls Public Class BlueTextBoxChanged Inherits Control Implements IPostBackDataHandler Public Event TextChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Public Property Text As String Set ViewState( “Text” ) = Value End Set Get If ViewState( “Text” ) Nothing Then Return ViewState( “Text” ) Else Return String.Empty End If End Get End Property Public Function LoadPostData( PostDataKey As String, ➥Values As NameValueCollection ) As Boolean _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.LoadPostData Dim strNewValue As String strNewValue = Values( Me.UniqueID ) If strNewValue Text Then Text = strNewValue Return True Else Return False End If End Function Public Sub RaisePostDataChangedEvent() _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.RaisePostDataChangedEvent OnTextChanged( EventArgs.Empty ) End Sub Protected Sub OnTextChanged( e As EventArgs ) RaiseEvent TextChanged( Me, e ) End Sub Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Name”, Me.UniqueID ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “background-color”, “Blue” ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “color”, “Yellow” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “value”, Text )

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.24

1243

continued

objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag End Sub End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.24, you modify both the LoadPostData function and RaisePostDataChangedEvent subroutine. The LoadPostData function will now return True when the contents of the text box are changed. The new value entered into the text box is compared against a value saved in the control’s view state. If the LoadPostData function returns True, the RaisePostDataChangedEvent subroutine executes. This subroutine calls the OnTextChanged subroutine, which, in turn, raises the TextChanged event. The ASP.NET page in Listing 28.25 illustrates how you can handle the OnTextChanged event. DisplayBlueTextBoxChanged.aspx

Sub BlueTextBoxChanged_TextChanged( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) lblMessage.Text = “Text Changed!” End Sub DisplayBlueTextBoxChanged.aspx

When the BlueTextBoxChanged control is declared in Listing 28.25, the BlueTextBoxChanged_TextChanged subroutine is associated with the TextChanged event. If you submit the form containing the control and the contents of the control have been modified, the TextChanged event triggers the BlueTextBoxChanged_TextChanged subroutine.

Handling Postback Events One last topic not yet examined concerns postbacks. In the preceding section, you learned how to repopulate a text box after a form is submitted. However, I have not discussed a method for actually posting the data from a form. You can use three standard ASP.NET controls to post a form: Button, ImageButton, and LinkButton. All three controls generate client-side JavaScript that is executed when you submit a form. In this section, you learn how to create your own form element that generates the necessary JavaScript to raise a postback event. To handle postback events from a custom control, you must implement the IPostBackEvent interface. This interface contains a definition for a single method: the RaisePostBack event. The control in Listing 28.26 illustrates how you can implement this method in a custom control. LISTING 28.26 Imports Imports Imports Imports

TextBoxColor.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections.Specialized

Namespace myControls Public Class TextBoxColor Inherits Control

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.26

1245

continued

Implements IPostBackDataHandler Implements IPostBackEventHandler Public BoxColor As String = “Blue” Public Text As String Public Sub RaisePostBackEvent(EventArgument As String) _ Implements IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent If (eventArgument = “Red” ) Me.BoxColor = “Red” Else Me.BoxColor = “Blue” End If End Sub Public Function LoadPostData(PostDataKey As String, ➥Values As NameValueCollection) As Boolean _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.LoadPostData Dim strNewValue As String

Public Sub RaisePostDataChangedEvent() _ Implements IPostBackDataHandler.RaisePostDataChangedEvent ‘ Raise Change Event End Sub Protected Overrides Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Name”, Me.UniqueID ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “background-color”, BoxColor ) objTextWriter.AddStyleAttribute( “color”, “Yellow” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “value”, Text ) objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Type”, “Button” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Value”, “Display Red!” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “OnClick”, “JScript:” & ➥Page.GetPostBackEventReference( Me, “Red” ) ) objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “Input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag() objTextWriter.WriteLine( “ ” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Type”, “Button” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “Value”, “Display Blue!” ) objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “OnClick”, “JScript:” & ➥Page.GetPostBackEventReference( Me, “Blue” ) )

28 DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Text = Values( Me.UniqueID ) Return False End Function

1246

Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.26

continued

objTextWriter.RenderBeginTag( “Input” ) objTextWriter.RenderEndTag() End Sub End Class End Namespace

The control in Listing 28.26 displays a text box and two buttons. When you click the button labeled Display Red!, the background color of the text box changes to red. When you click the button labeled Display Blue!, the background color changes to blue. Both buttons are rendered within the control’s Render method. They are created with an attribute that has a JScript function as its value. For example, the OnClick attribute for the Display Red! button is declared like this: OnClick

objTextWriter.AddAttribute( “OnClick”, “JScript:” & ➥Page.GetPostBackEventReference( Me, “Red” ) )

The GetPostBackEventReference method returns a reference to the JavaScript function on the client; this reference causes the form to be posted back to the server. The first parameter passed to the method represents the control that will process the postback event on the server. In this case, you use the Visual Basic keyword Me, which refers to the current control. The second parameter is optional. It’s an argument passed back to the server during postback. In this case, you pass back the argument “Red” so that you can detect that the Display Red! button was clicked. When the Display

Red!

button is rendered, the following code is sent to the browser:

The Display

button triggers the client-side JavaScript function named Notice that the unique ID of the control and parameter are passed by the

Red!

__doPostBack.

function. You can view the source of the __doPostBack function by selecting View Source on your browser. In case you’re curious, the __doPostBack function looks like this: function __doPostBack(eventTarget, eventArgument) { var theform = document.ctrl1 theform.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget theform.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument theform.submit() }

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The __doPostBack function initializes two arguments and submits the form back to the server. When the form is posted back to the server, the custom control’s RaisePostBack method is executed. This method looks like this: Public Sub RaisePostBackEvent(EventArgument As String) _ Implements IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent If (eventArgument = “Red” ) Me.BoxColor = “Red” Else Me.BoxColor = “Blue” End If End Sub

This method detects whether Display Red! or Display Blue! was clicked. If the Display Red! button was clicked, the BoxColor property is assigned the value Red. Otherwise, the property is assigned the value Blue. When the control renders the text box in the control’s Render method, it uses the value of the BoxColor property when setting the background color of the text box. You can test the TextBoxColor control by using the ASP.NET page in Listing 28.27. DisplayTextBoxColor.aspx

DisplayTextBoxColor.aspx

Creating Composite Controls To this point, you’ve built custom controls from scratch. However, in some cases, creating a new control out of existing controls is much easier. For example, imagine that you want to create a custom control that displays a login form. You want the control to

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

LISTING 28.27

28

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII

display both username and password text boxes. This control is a good candidate for a composite control. Listing 28.28 contains the code for a composite Login control. LISTING 28.28 Imports Imports Imports Imports

Login.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls

Namespace myControls Public Class Login Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Public Property Username As String Get Me.EnsureChildControls() Return CType( Controls( 2 ), TextBox ).Text End Get Set Me.EnsureChildControls() CType( Controls( 2 ), TextBox ).Text = Value End Set End Property Public Property Password As String Get Me.EnsureChildControls() Return CType( Controls( 5 ), TextBox ).Text End Get Set Me.EnsureChildControls() CType( Controls( 5 ), TextBox ).Text = Value End Set End Property

Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “” ) ) ‘ Add Username Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “Username: “ ) ) Me.Controls.Add( New TextBox ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “
” ) )

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.28

1249

continued

‘ Add Password Dim txtPass As New TextBox Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “Password: “ ) ) txtPass.TextMode = TextBoxMode.Password Me.Controls.Add( txtPass ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “
” ) ) ‘ Add Submit Button Dim btnButton As New Button btnButton.Text = “Login!” Me.Controls.Add( btnButton ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “” ) ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

The bulk of Listing 28.28 is contained in the CreateChildControls subroutine. This subroutine adds username TextBox, password TextBox, and Button controls to the Controls collection of the Login control.

The current values of the username and password TextBox controls are exposed through two properties: Username and Password. Because these properties are declared with the Public modifier, you can read and set them from within an ASP.NET page. There’s one final thing you should notice about Listing 28.28. The control implements the INamingContainer interface, which does not define any methods that you must implement. This interface creates a new ID namespace within a page’s control hierarchy; it prevents naming conflicts when the Login control is instantiated more than once. You should always implement the interface when building compositional controls. The page in Listing 28.29 illustrates how you can use the Login control within an ASP.NET page. LISTING 28.29

DisplayLogin.aspx

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Notice that the Login control does not contain a Render method. It isn’t necessary because all the rendering is taken care of by the child controls. The child controls even automatically handle preserving view state. If you enter a username in the username control, the username is preserved between form posts.

28

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.29

continued

Sub Page_Load If IsPostBack Then lblMessage.Text = “Hi “ & ctrlLogin.Username lblMessage.Text &= “, your password is: “ lblMessage.Text &= ctrlLogin.Password End If End Sub DisplayLogin.aspx

The page in Listing 28.29 displays the values of the Username and Password properties of the Login control. When the form containing the Login control is submitted, the values of these properties are displayed in a Label control (see Figure 28.3).

Handling Events in a Composite Control In the preceding section, you created a control that displays a simple login form. You can use the Login control to submit a username and password combination. In this section, you learn how to extend the Login control to handle events, such as the button Click event that occurs when the login form is submitted. The trick to handling events in a composite control is to use the Visual Basic AddHandler statement, which enables you to associate a subroutine with an event. Listing 28.30 demonstrates how you can use the AddHandler statement with the Login control to associate a subroutine with the button Click event.

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28

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FIGURE 28.3 Displaying the Login control.

28 LISTING 28.30

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls

Namespace myControls Public Class LoginEvent Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Sub CheckPassword( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim strUsername, strPassword As String Dim lblLabel As Label strUsername = CTYPE( Controls( 2 ), TextBox ).Text strPassword = CTYPE( Controls( 5 ), TextBox ).Text lblLabel = CTYPE( Controls( 9 ), Label ) If strUsername = “joe” and strPassword = “secret” Then lblLabel.Text = “Welcome Joe!” Else lblLabel.Text = “Invalid Password!” End If End Sub

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

Imports Imports Imports Imports

LoginEvent.vb

1252

Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.30

continued

Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “” ) ) ‘ Add Username Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “Username: “ ) ) Me.Controls.Add( New TextBox ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “
” ) ) ‘ Add Password Dim txtPass As New TextBox Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “Password: “ ) ) txtPass.TextMode = TextBoxMode.Password Me.Controls.Add( txtPass ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “
” ) ) ‘ Add Submit Button Dim btnButton As New Button btnButton.Text = “Login!” AddHandler btnButton.Click, AddressOf CheckPassword Me.Controls.Add( btnButton ) Me.Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “” ) ) ‘ Add Label Control Dim lblLabel As New Label lblLabel.EnableViewState = False Me.Controls.Add( lblLabel ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.30, the AddHandler statement associates the login form’s button Click event with a subroutine named CheckPassword. The CheckPassword subroutine compares the username and password entered into the form to the username joe and password secret. If you enter joe and secret, the string Welcome Joe! is assigned to a Label control. Otherwise, the string Invalid Password! is assigned to the Label control. You can test the new Login control, named LoginEvent, by using the page in Listing 28.31.

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.31

1253

DisplayLoginEvent.aspx

DisplayLoginEvent.aspx

Inheriting from Existing Controls All the controls in this chapter are inherited from the base Control class. However, in some situations, inheriting from a different control makes more sense. You can inherit from any of the HTML or Web controls in the ASP.NET framework.

LISTING 28.32 Imports Imports Imports Imports

myWebControl.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls

Namespace myControls Public Class myWebControl Inherits WebControl Overrides Protected Sub RenderContents( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) objTextWriter.Write( “Hello World!” ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

If you inherit from the WebControl class, for example, you can take advantage of all the formatting properties available in that class. The control in Listing 28.32 illustrates how you can inherit from the WebControl class.

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The control in Listing 28.32 inherits from the WebControl class. Notice that content is rendered within the RenderContents method instead of the standard Render method. By overriding the RenderContents method, you can take advantage of the WebControl class’ built-in support for formatting. The ASP.NET page in Listing 28.33, for example, displays the output of the control in a bold red font with a yellow background.

myWebControl

LISTING 28.33

DisplayWebControl.aspx

DisplayWebControl.aspx

Accessing the Current Context You can access application and session state, server variables, Response and Request objects, and security information through the Context property. For example, the following control displays the values of the UserHostAddress and UserAgent properties retrieved from the Request object. LISTING 28.34

ControlContext.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class ControlContext Inherits Control

Developing Custom Controls CHAPTER 28 LISTING 28.34

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continued

Overrides Protected Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Dim strHostAddress As String Dim strUserAgent As String strHostAddress = Context.Request.UserHostAddress strUserAgent = Context.Request.UserAgent objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
HostAddress: “ & strHostAddress ) objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
UserAgent: “ & strUserAgent ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.34, the values of the UserHostAddress and UserAgent properties are displayed in the Render method. Both properties are retrieved through the Context property of the Control class. You also can use the Context property to retrieve information about the capabilities of the browser making the request. For example, the control in Listing 28.35 displays the browser type, the browser version, and whether the browser supports JavaScript. ControlCaps.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class ControlCaps Inherits Control Overrides Protected Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Dim strBrowserType As String Dim strVersion As String Dim blnJavascript As Boolean strBrowserType = Context.Request.Browser.Browser strVersion = Context.Request.Browser.Version blnJavascript = Context.Request.Browser.Javascript objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
Browser: “ & strBrowserType ) objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
Version: “ & strVersion ) objTextWriter.WriteLine( “
Javascript: “ & blnJavascript.ToString() ) End Sub

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

LISTING 28.35

28

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Building Custom ASP.NET Controls PART VIII LISTING 28.35

continued

End Class End Namespace

In Listing 28.35, the Context property retrieves an instance of the Browser object, which contains properties that represent the browser capabilities.

Debugging Controls There is one last topic that you must examine before completing this chapter. In previous sections, I talked about methods of developing basic controls, but I haven’t discussed how you can debug a control. You can use the Trace object within a control, as shown in Listing 28.36, to display trace messages. LISTING 28.36

ControlTrace.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class ControlTrace Inherits Control Overrides Protected Sub OnLoad( e As EventArgs ) Context.Trace.Warn( “Executing OnLoad Method!” ) End Sub Overrides Protected Sub OnPreRender( e As EventArgs ) Context.Trace.Warn( “Executing OnPreRender Method!” ) End Sub Overrides Protected Sub Render( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Context.Trace.Warn( “Executing Render Method!” ) objTextWriter.WriteLine( “Hello World!” ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

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After you add trace messages to a control, you need to enable tracing for the page that contains the control. The page in Listing 28.37 illustrates how you can enable tracing and show all the trace messages from the ControlTrace control. LISTING 28.37

DisplayControlTrace.aspx

DisplayControlTrace.aspx

28

FIGURE 28.4 Displaying control trace messages.

DEVELOPING CUSTOM CONTROLS

When the page in Listing 28.37 is displayed, all the trace messages from the control appear at the bottom of the page in a red font (see Figure 28.4).

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Summary This chapter provided a detailed overview of custom control development in the ASP.NET framework. You learned how to create controls that have properties, methods, and events and create new controls from existing controls through control composition and inheritance. Finally, you learned how to access the Request, Response, and Trace objects through a control’s Context property. In the next chapter, you will tackle some more advanced topics in control development, and you will learn how to create controls that support templates and binding to a data source, such as a database table or XML file.

CHAPTER 29

Advanced Control Development

IN THIS CHAPTER • Adding Templates to a Control • Creating DataBound Controls

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• Using Custom Controls and Web Services 1286

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This chapter tackles some of the more advanced topics involved in building custom controls. In the first section, you learn how to add templates to a custom control. Implementing templates in a control enables users to customize its output. Next, you examine the topic of data binding. You learn how to add properties to a control to enable users to bind the control to data sources, such as database tables and collections. Finally, you learn how to create controls that integrate with Web Services by building a sample control that retrieves and displays information from a Web Service.

Adding Templates to a Control Several of the standard ASP.NET controls, such as Repeater, DataList, and DataGrid, support templates. By adding templates to a control, you can enable its users to customize its output. To add a template to a control, you need to complete each of the following steps: 1. Add a property that represents the template to the custom control. This property must implement the ITemplate interface. 2. Create a new control that functions as a container for the template (the template container control). 3. Instantiate the template in the template container control by calling the template’s InstantiateIn method. In Listing 29.1, for example, a new custom control named SimpleTemplate is created. This control has a property named ItemTemplate that represents a template. This property implements the ITemplate interface. Listing 29.1 also contains a declaration for a second control named TemplateItem. This control functions as a container control for the template. Finally, the SimpleTemplate control contains a CreateChildControls subroutine. Within this subroutine, the TemplateItem control is instantiated. Next, the InstantiateIn method is called on the template to instantiate all the elements of the template in the TemplateItem control. Finally, the TemplateItem is added to the SimpleTemplate control’s Controls collection. LISTING 29.1

SimpleTemplate.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI

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Namespace myControls Public Class TemplateItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _dataItem As String Public Sub New( DataItem As String ) _dataItem = DataItem End Sub Public Property DataItem As String Get Return _dataItem End Get Set _dataItem = Value End Set End Property End Class Public Class SimpleTemplate Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _itemTemplate As ITemplate Private _text As String

_ Public Property ItemTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _itemTemplate End Get Set _itemTemplate = Value End Set End Property

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Public Property Text As String Get Return _text End Get Set _text = Value End Set End Property

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continued

Public Overrides Sub DataBind() EnsureChildControls() MyBase.DataBind() End Sub Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Dim objTemplateItem As TemplateItem Controls.Clear() objTemplateItem = New TemplateItem( Me.Text ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objTemplateItem ) Controls.Add( objTemplateItem ) End Sub End Class End Namespace

After you create the file in Listing 29.1, you need to compile it by executing the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll SimpleTemplate.vb

This statement compiles the file into an assembly named SimpleTemplate.dll. You need to copy the SimpleTemplate.dll file into your application’s /bin directory before you can use the SimpleTemplate control in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 29.2 uses the SimpleTemplate control to format the value of a property named Text. LISTING 29.2

DisplaySimpleTemplate.aspx

Sub Page_Load DataBind() End Sub DisplaySimpleTemplate.aspx

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The value of DataItem is:

In Listing 29.2, an instance of the SimpleTemplate control is declared. Within this control, the ItemTemplate template is declared. The myTemplate template formats the output of a property of the SimpleTemplate property named Text. The value of the Text property is displayed in bold by the template. Notice that you must call the DataBind() method in the Page_Load subroutine. The method causes all the databinding expressions in the page to be interpreted including the databinding expression in the ItemTemplate.

DataBind()

Creating Multiple Instances of a Template After you create a template, you can instantiate it multiple times within a control. For example, imagine that you decided to create a control that displays the numbers 1 through 10. Now imagine that you want to add a template to the control to format how each number is displayed. The control in Listing 29.3 does exactly that. TemplateNumbers.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls Public Class TemplateNumbersItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _dataItem As Integer

ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

LISTING 29.3

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continued

Public Sub New( DataItem As Integer ) _dataItem = DataItem End Sub Public Property DataItem As Integer Get Return _dataItem End Get Set _dataItem = Value End Set End Property End Class

Public Class TemplateNumbers Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _numberTemplate As ITemplate _ Public Property NumberTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _numberTemplate End Get Set _numberTemplate = Value End Set End Property Public Overrides Sub DataBind() EnsureChildControls() MyBase.DataBind() End Sub Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim objTemplateNumbersItem As TemplateNumbersItem Controls.Clear() For intCounter = 1 To 10 objTemplateNumbersItem = New TemplateNumbersItem( intCounter ) NumberTemplate.InstantiateIn( objTemplateNumbersItem ) Controls.Add( objTemplateNumbersItem ) Next End Sub End Class End Namespace

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Listing 29.3 contains the declaration of a control named TemplateNumbers. This control contains the CreateChildControls subroutine, which creates multiple instances of the TemplateNumbersItem template container. Within the subroutine, a FOR...NEXT loop steps through the numbers 1 through 10. For each step in the loop, an instance of TemplateNumbersItem is created and added to the controls collection. The page in Listing 29.4 illustrates how you can use the TemplateNumbers control in an ASP.NET page. LISTING 29.4

DisplayTemplateNumbers.aspx

Sub Page_Load DataBind() End Sub DisplayTemplateNumbers.aspx
The page in Listing 29.4 uses the TemplateNumbers control to display the numbers 1 through 10. Each number is formatted with the NumberTemplate template.

Adding Multiple Templates to a Control Most likely, you need to add multiple templates to a control. For example, the standard ASP.NET Repeater control has six templates: HeaderTemplate, ItemTemplate, AlternatingItemTemplate, SeparatorTemplate, and FooterTemplate.

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You can create multiple templates for a control by adding multiple properties that implement the ITemplate interface to the control. For example, the control in Listing 29.5 contains both ItemTemplate and AlternatingItemTemplate. LISTING 29.5

MultipleTemplates.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI Namespace myControls

Public Class MultipleTemplatesTemplateItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _dataItem As Integer Public Sub New( DataItem As Integer ) _dataItem = DataItem End Sub Public Property DataItem As Integer Get Return _dataItem End Get Set _dataItem = Value End Set End Property End Class

Public Class MultipleTemplates Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _itemTemplate As ITemplate Private _alternatingItemTemplate As ITemplate _ Public Property ItemTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _itemTemplate End Get Set _itemTemplate = Value End Set End Property

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continued

_ Public Property AlternatingItemTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _alternatingItemTemplate End Get Set _alternatingItemTemplate = Value End Set End Property Public Overrides Sub DataBind() EnsureChildControls() MyBase.DataBind() End Sub Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Dim intCounter As Integer Dim objTemplateItem As MultipleTemplatesTemplateItem Controls.Clear() For intCounter = 1 To 10 objTemplateItem = New MultipleTemplatesTemplateItem( intCounter ) If Decimal.Remainder( intCounter, 2 ) = 0 Then ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objTemplateItem ) Else AlternatingItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objTemplateItem ) End If Controls.Add( objTemplateItem ) Next End Sub End Class

Listing 29.5 contains declarations for two templates. The MultipleTemplate control has properties named ItemTemplate and AlternatingItemTemplate. Within the FOR...NEXT loop, every number is displayed in either ItemTemplate or AlternatingItemTemplate. The Remainder method of the Decimal class determines whether a number is even or odd. If a number is even, it’s displayed by AlternatingItemTemplate; otherwise, it’s displayed with ItemTemplate.

ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

End Namespace

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The page in Listing 29.6 illustrates how you can specify ItemTemplate and AlternatingItemTemplate within an ASP.NET page. LISTING 29.6

DisplayMultipleTemplates.aspx

Sub Page_Load DataBind() End Sub DisplayMultipleTemplates.aspx
In Listing 29.6, an instance of the MultipleTemplates control is declared. ItemTemplate formats each number in italics, and AlternatingItemTemplate formats each number with the HTML heading tag (see Figure 29.1).

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FIGURE 29.1 Displaying content with multiple templates.

Creating DataBound Controls You can bind several of the standard ASP.NET controls to a data source. For example, you can bind a Repeater control to data sources, such as DataReaders, ArrayLists, and DataViews. You too can create a control that supports binding to a data source. To create a DataBound control, you must do the following:

• Add an OnDataBinding subroutine. This subroutine is invoked when the DataBind method is called. You examine the DataSource property and OnDataBinding subroutine in the following sections.

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

• Add a DataSource property. This property typically implements the IEnumerable, ICollection, IList, or IListSource interface.

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Note Classes that support the IEnumerable interface are required to have a method named GetEnumerator. The GetEnumerator method returns an enumerator that can be used to iterate through all the items in the underlying collection.

Implementing Different Data Sources In most cases, a control’s DataSource property should implement the IEnumerable interface, which is implemented by such classes as DataReader, DataView, and ArrayList. The IEnumerable interface exposes a method named GetEnumerator that enables you to walk through all the elements of a collection. If you simply want to display a list of items from a data source, you should implement this interface. In some situations, however, you need to implement the ICollection interface, which enables you to work with the contents of a data source as a whole. For example, it includes a Count property, which enables you to get a total count of the number of items in the collection. The ICollection interface also has a CopyTo method, which copies the contents of a data source to an array. If you’re implementing a control, such as a content rotator control that enables you to randomly select an item from a data source, you need to use the ICollection interface. Otherwise, you cannot randomly select an item from the whole data source. Standard ASP.NET controls—such as Repeater, DataList, and DataGrid—also support the IListSource interface. They support this interface so that they can be bound directly to a DataSet. For example, you can specify the data source for a Repeater control like this: rptRepeater.DataSource = dstDataSet rptRepeater.DataMember = “Products”

The first statement binds the Repeater control to a DataSet. The second statement selects a particular table in the DataSet to bind to.

Implementing a Simple DataBound Control For this example, you can start by creating a simple DataBound control that binds to an ArrayList. The control in Listing 29.7 has a DataSource property that implements the IEnumerable interface.

Advanced Control Development CHAPTER 29 LISTING 29.7 Imports Imports Imports Imports

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SimpleDataBound.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections

Namespace myControls Public Class SimpleDataBound Inherits Control Private _dataSource As IEnumerable Public Property DataSource As IEnumerable Get Return _dataSource End Get Set _dataSource = Value End Set End Property Protected Overrides Sub OnDataBinding( e As EventArgs ) Dim DataEnum As IEnumerator Dim ltlLiteral As LiteralControl

End Class End Namespace

The control in Listing 29.7, named SimpleDataBound, has a single public property named DataSource. This property reads and sets a private variable named _dataSource. The control also has an OnDataBinding subroutine, which is executed whenever the control’s DataBind() method is called.

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

If Not DataSource Is Nothing Controls.Clear() DataEnum = DataSource.GetEnumerator() While ( DataEnum.MoveNext() ) ltlLiteral = New LiteralControl( DataEnum.Current.ToString() ) Controls.Add( ltlLiteral ) Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “” ) ) End While End If End Sub

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Within the OnDataBinding subroutine, an enumerator named DataEnum is retrieved from the data source by calling the GetEnumerator method. The MoveNext method loops through all the values contained in the data source. Each item from the data source is transformed into a LiteralControl and added to the control’s Controls collection. When the control is rendered, all the items from the data source are rendered. The page in Listing 29.8 illustrates how you can bind a data source to this control. LISTING 29.8

DisplaySimpleDataBound.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim colArrayList As ArrayList colArrayList = New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Seattle” ) colArrayList.Add( “Paris” ) colArrayList.Add( “Banjarmasin” ) colArrayList.Add( “Tokyo” ) ctrlSimpleDataBound.DataSource = colArrayList ctrlSimpleDataBound.DataBind() End Sub

DisplaySimpleDataBound.aspx

In Listing 29.8, an ArrayList is bound to the custom control in the Page_Load subroutine. This ArrayList contains a list of cities. When the DataBind method is called, the OnDataBinding method of the SimpleDataBound control is executed, and the items from the ArrayList are added to the Controls collection of the custom control.

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Using DataBound Controls and Templates Typically, when you create DataBound controls, you use the control with a template. By implementing a template, you can format each of the data source items displayed by the control. The control in Listing 29.9 contains a template named ItemTemplate. LISTING 29.9 Imports Imports Imports Imports

DataBoundTemplate.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections

Namespace myControls Public Class DataBoundTemplate Inherits Control Private _dataSource As IEnumerable Private _itemTemplate As ITemplate Public Property DataSource As IEnumerable Get Return _dataSource End Get Set _dataSource = Value End Set End Property

If Not DataSource Is Nothing Controls.Clear() objDataEnum = DataSource.GetEnumerator() While ( objDataEnum.MoveNext() ) objItem = New DataBoundTemplateItem( objDataEnum.Current ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objItem ) Controls.Add( objItem ) End While End If End Sub _ Public Property ItemTemplate As ITemplate

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

Protected Overrides Sub OnDataBinding( e As EventArgs ) Dim objDataEnum As IEnumerator Dim objItem As DataBoundTemplateItem

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continued

Get Return _itemTemplate End Get Set _itemTemplate = value End Set End Property End Class Public Class DataBoundTemplateItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _DataItem As Object Public Sub New( DataItem As Object ) MyBase.New() _dataItem = DataItem End Sub Public ReadOnly Property DataItem As Object Get Return _dataItem End Get End Property End Class End Namespace

In Listing 29.9, a control named DataBoundTemplate is declared. This control has a single template named ItemTemplate. When you call the DataBind method on the DataBoundTemplate control, its subroutine executes. This subroutine iterates through the items in the data source. For each item, a new control named DataBoundTemplateItem is created to represent the item. OnDataBinding

Each element of the ItemTemplate is instantiated in the DataBoundTemplateItem control with the InstantiateIn method. The DataBoundTemplateItem control is then added to the Controls collection of the DataBoundTemplate control. The ASP.NET page in Listing 29.10 demonstrates how you can bind the control to a database table named Authors.

DataBoundTemplate

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DisplayDataBoundTemplate.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=LocalHost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Pubs” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “Select * From Authors”, conPubs ) conPubs.Open() ctrlDataBoundTemplate.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() ctrlDataBoundTemplate.DataBind() conPubs.Close() End Sub DisplayDataBoundTemplate.aspx
In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 29.10, a SqlDataReader is created to represent all the records from the Authors table. This SqlDataReader is bound to the DataBoundTemplate control. The DataBoundTemplate control is declared with a template named ItemTemplate. This template formats each item in italics.

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Using DataBound Controls and State When you bind a data source to the standard ASP.NET controls, you typically need to bind the data source only when the page is first loaded. If the page is posted back to the server, the control maintains its state. You can maintain the state of a control by taking advantage of a control’s view state. Items added to view state are automatically preserved between postbacks in a hidden __VIEWSTATE form field. The control in Listing 29.11 demonstrates how you can store the items from a data source in a control’s view state. LISTING 29.11 Imports Imports Imports Imports

DataBoundState.vb

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections

Namespace myControls _ Public Class DataBoundState Inherits Control Private _dataSource As IEnumerable Private _itemTemplate As ITemplate Public Property DataSource As IEnumerable Get Return _dataSource End Get Set _dataSource = Value End Set End Property

Protected Overrides Sub OnDataBinding( e As EventArgs ) Dim objDataEnum As IEnumerator Dim objItem As DataBoundStateItem Dim intCounter As Integer If Not DataSource Is Nothing Controls.Clear() ClearChildViewState() objDataEnum = DataSource.GetEnumerator() While ( objDataEnum.MoveNext() ) objItem = New DataBoundStateItem( objDataEnum.Current ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objItem )

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continued

Controls.Add( objItem ) intCounter += 1 End While ViewState( “NumItems” ) = intCounter ChildControlsCreated = True End If End Sub

Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Dim objNumItems As Object Dim intItemCount As Integer Dim intCounter As Integer Dim objItem As DataBoundStateItem objNumItems = ViewState( “NumItems” ) If Not objNumItems = Nothing Then Controls.Clear() intItemCount = CInt( objNumItems) For intCounter = 0 To intItemCount - 1 objItem = New DataBoundStateItem( Nothing ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objItem ) Controls.Add( objItem ) Next End If End Sub

Public Class DataBoundStateItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _DataItem As Object Public Sub New( DataItem As Object ) MyBase.New() _DataItem = DataItem End Sub

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

_ Public Property ItemTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _itemTemplate End Get Set _itemTemplate = value End Set End Property End Class

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continued

Public ReadOnly Property DataItem As Object Get Return _DataItem End Get End Property End Class End Namespace

In the OnDataBinding subroutine in Listing 29.11, a count of the number of items from the data source is added to the control’s view state. A new item, named NumItems, is assigned to the ViewState property. If NumItems can be retrieved from the control’s ViewState property, the value of NumItems is used to determine the number of child controls to add to the Controls collection. When each DataBoundStateItem control is added to the Controls collection, notice that each DataBoundStateItem is initialized with the value Nothing. The ASP.NET framework automatically retrieves the previous value of each control. You need only to instantiate each control. Here’s one final thing you should notice about Listing 29.11. At the end of the OnDataBinding subroutine, the ChildControlsCreated property is set to the value True. You set this value to prevent the CreateChildControls subroutine from executing and overwriting the controls added by the OnDataBinding subroutine. The page in Listing 29.12 illustrates how you can use the DataBoundState custom control. LISTING 29.12

DisplayDataBoundState.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=LocalHost;UID=sa;PWD=secret; ➥Database=Pubs” ) cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “Select * From Authors”, conPubs ) conPubs.Open()

Advanced Control Development CHAPTER 29 LISTING 29.12

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continued

ctrlDataBoundState.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() ctrlDataBoundState.DataBind() conPubs.Close() End If End Sub DisplayDataBoundState.aspx
If you click the Reload Page! button, the page is reloaded. However, DataBoundState continues to display all the data from the data source. The values of all the items are preserved in view state.

Binding a Custom Control to a DataSet You can bind all the standard ASP.NET controls to a number of different types of data sources. For example, you can bind a Repeater control to an ArrayList like this: colArrayList = New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Hello World!” ) rptRepeater.DataSource = colArrayList rptRepeater.DataBind()

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

The IsPostBack property in the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 29.12 detects whether this is the first time the page has been loaded. The data source is bound to the control only when IsPostBack has the value False.

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You also can bind a Repeater to a DataReader like this: rptRepeater.DataSource = dtrDataReader rptRepeater.DataBind()

You can bind a Repeater to a DataView like this: rptRepeater.DataSource = dstDataSet.Tables( “Products” ).DefaultView() rptRepeater.DataBind()

You can bind a Repeater directly to a DataSet like this: rptRepeater.DataSource = dstDataSet rptRepeater.DataBind()

If a DataSet contains multiple tables, you can select a particular table to bind to like this: rptRepeater.DataSource = dstDataSet rptRepeater.DataMember = “titles” rptRepeater.DataBind()

To create a custom control that works like the standard ASP.NET controls, you need to support all these very different data-binding options. In this section, you learn how to add a function to a custom control that enables it to bind to any standard data source. The custom control, named DataBoundDataSet, is contained in Listing 29.13. LISTING 29.13 Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

DataBoundDataSet.aspx

System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Collections System.Data

Namespace myControls _ Public Class DataBoundDataSet Inherits Control Private _dataSource As Object Private _dataMember As String = String.Empty Private _itemTemplate As ITemplate Public Property DataSource As Object Get Return _dataSource End Get Set _dataSource = Value End Set End Property

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continued

Public Property DataMember As String Get Return _dataMember End Get Set _dataMember = Value End Set End Property Private Function GetDataSource( DataSource, DataMember ) As IEnumerable If TypeOf DataSource Is IEnumerable Then Return DataSource Else If TypeOf DataSource Is DataSet Then If DataMember String.Empty Then Return DataSource.Tables( DataMember ).DefaultView Else Return DataSource.Tables( 0 ).DefaultView End If Else Throw New ArgumentException( “Invalid data source!” ) End If End Function Protected Overrides Sub OnDataBinding( e As EventArgs ) Dim objDataEnum As IEnumerator Dim objItem As DataBoundDataSetItem Dim intCounter As Integer If Not DataSource Is Nothing Controls.Clear() ClearChildViewState() objDataEnum = GetDataSource( _dataSource, _dataMember ).GetEnumerator()

Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls() Dim objNumItems As Object Dim intItemCount As Integer

ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

While ( objDataEnum.MoveNext() ) objItem = New DataBoundDataSetItem( objDataEnum.Current ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objItem ) Controls.Add( objItem ) intCounter += 1 End While ViewState( “NumItems” ) = intCounter ChildControlsCreated = True End If End Sub

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continued

Dim intCounter As Integer Dim objItem As DataBoundDataSetItem objNumItems = ViewState( “NumItems” ) If Not objNumItems = Nothing Then Controls.Clear() intItemCount = CInt( objNumItems) For intCounter = 0 To intItemCount - 1 objItem = New DataBoundDataSetItem( Nothing ) ItemTemplate.InstantiateIn( objItem ) Controls.Add( objItem ) Next End If End Sub _ Public Property ItemTemplate As ITemplate Get Return _itemTemplate End Get Set _itemTemplate = value End Set End Property End Class Public Class DataBoundDataSetItem Inherits Control Implements INamingContainer Private _DataItem As Object Public Sub New( DataItem As Object ) MyBase.New() _DataItem = DataItem End Sub Public ReadOnly Property DataItem As Object Get Return _DataItem End Get End Property End Class End Namespace

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Listing 29.13 contains a private function named GetDataSource that has two parameters: the data source and a data member. The function does the best it can to return an instance of a data source that supports the IEnumerable interface based on these parameters. If you pass an ArrayList or DataView to the function, the function simply returns the data source cast as IEnumerable. If you pass a DataSet to the function, the function does its best to return a DataTable from the DataSet. For example, if you pass a DataSet without providing a data member parameter, the function returns the first DataTable in the DataSet. Note The standard Microsoft data binding controls, such as the Repeater and DataGrid controls, use a private, undocumented function named GetResolvedDataSource. This function is a member of the private DataSourceHelper class. Microsoft’s GetResolvedDataSource function is slightly more sophisticated than our GetDataSource function. It uses methods of the IListSource interface to retrieve an enumerator from a DataSet.

Since the GetDataSource function explicitly refers to the DataSet class, you need to compile the control with the following statement: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll,System.Data.dll, ➥System.Xml.dll DataBoundDataSet.vb

You need to add a reference to both the System.Data.dll and System.Xml.dll assemblies when working with DataSets in a control.

ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

The page in Listing 29.14 illustrates how you can bind a number of different types of data sources to a custom control that uses the GetDataSource function (see Figure 29.2).

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FIGURE 29.2 Binding to multiple data sources.

LISTING 29.14

DisplayDataBoundDataSet.aspx

Sub Page_Load If Not IsPostBack Then Dim conPubs As SqlConnection Dim dadAdapter As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstDataSet As DataSet Dim cmdSelect As SqlCommand Dim colArrayList As ArrayList conPubs = New SqlConnection( “Server=LocalHost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Pubs” ) conPubs.Open() ‘ Create a dataset with 2 DataTables dadAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter( “Select top 3 * From Titles”, conPubs ) dstDataSet = New DataSet() dadAdapter.Fill( dstDataSet, “Titles” ) dadAdapter.SelectCommand = New SqlCommand( “Select top 3 * From Authors”, conPubs ) dadAdapter.Fill( dstDataSet, “Authors” )

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‘ Bind with DataSet and no DataMember ctrlDataBound1.DataSource = dstDataSet ctrlDataBound1.DataBind() ‘ Bind with DataSet and explicit DataMember ctrlDataBound2.DataSource = dstDataSet ctrlDataBound2.DataMember = “Authors” ctrlDataBound2.DataBind() ‘ Bind to DataReader cmdSelect = New SqlCommand( “Select top 3 * From Titles”, conPubs ) ctrlDataBound3.DataSource = cmdSelect.ExecuteReader() ctrlDataBound3.DataBind() ‘ Bind to ArrayList colArrayList = New ArrayList colArrayList.Add( “Milk” ) colArrayList.Add( “Toast” ) ctrlDataBound4.DataSource = colArrayList ctrlDataBound4.DataBind() conPubs.Close End If End Sub DisplayDataBoundDataSet.aspx

DataSet with DataMember
29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

DataSet and no DataMember
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continued

DataReader
ArrayList
In the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 29.14, the DataBoundDataSet control is bound to four different types of data sources. The control is bound to a DataSet, a DataSet and DataMember, a DataReader, and an ArrayList.

Using Custom Controls and Web Services An ASP.NET Web Service enables you to access object properties and methods across any network, including the Internet. You can integrate a Web Service into a custom control. When you use the control, it can use one or more Web Services behind the scenes to communicate across the network. Note To learn more details about Web Services, see the two chapters in Part VI of this book, “Building ASP.NET Web Services.”

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In the following sections, you create a custom control that displays a list of “featured products.” The control displays a list of product names and prices. The FeaturedProduct control communicates with a Web Service to retrieve the list of products. The Web Service has a single method called GetFeatured that returns the records from a database of products. This control could be used, for example, in an affiliate program. If a company sells computer games, the company could convince affiliate Web sites to use the FeaturedProduct control to promote the company’s games across the Internet.

Creating the Featured Products Web Service Before you can create the FeaturedProduct custom control, you need to create the FeaturedService Web Service; the complete code for it is contained in Listing 29.15. LISTING 29.15

FeaturedService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Data System.Data.SqlClient

_ Public Class FeaturedService : Inherits WebService

conNorthwind = New SqlConnection( “Server=Localhost;UID=sa;PWD=secret;Database=Northwind” ) dadProducts = New SqlDataAdapter( “Select * From Products”, conNorthwind ) dstDataSet = New DataSet() dadProducts.Fill( dstDataSet, “Products” ) Return dstDataSet End Function End Class

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

_ Public Function GetFeatured() As DataSet Dim dstDataSet As DataSet Dim conNorthwind As SqlConnection Dim dadProducts As SqlDataAdapter

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The Web Service in Listing 29.15 has a single method named GetFeatured that returns a DataSet that represents a list of products. Notice that the CacheDuration property of the WebMethod attribute is set to cache the output of the method for 60 seconds. Before you can use the FeaturedService Web Service in a custom control, you must first create a proxy class for the service. To do so, execute the following statement from the command line: Wsdl /l:vb http://www.YourSite.com/FeaturedService.asmx?WSDL

This statement generates a new file named FeaturedService.vb that contains the source code for a proxy class for the FeaturedService Web Service. Warning Except for the purposes of testing a Web Service locally, it is generally not a good idea to pass a URL that contains localhost to the Wsdl tool. If you generate a proxy class by using localhost, the proxy class will work only on the current machine.

Before you can use the proxy class, you must compile the FeatureService.vb file. To do so, execute the following statement from the command line: vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll, ➥System.Data.dll FeaturedService.vb

This statement references the System, System.Web, System.XML, and System.Data assemblies when compiling the proxy class. After you create the compiled proxy class, the last step is to copy the class, the file named FeaturedService.dll, into the application’s /bin directory.

Creating the Featured Products Custom Control Now that you have the FeaturedService Web Service, you can create a control that interacts with the service. The complete code for the control is contained in Listing 29.16. LISTING 29.16

FeaturedControl.vb

Imports System Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.UI

Advanced Control Development CHAPTER 29 LISTING 29.16

1289

continued

Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls Imports System.Data Namespace myControls Public Class FeaturedControl Inherits WebControl Private Function GetDataSet() As DataSet Dim objService As FeaturedService objService = New FeaturedService Return objService.GetFeatured() End Function Protected Overrides Sub RenderContents( objTextWriter As HtmlTextWriter ) Dim dstDataSet As DataSet Dim dtblDataTable As DataTable Dim drowRow As DataRow dstDataSet = Context.Cache( “FeaturedProducts” ) If dstDataSet Is Nothing Then dstDataSet = GetDataSet() Context.Cache.Insert( “FeaturedProducts”, dstDataSet, Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(5), TimeSpan.Zero ) End If

End Class End Namespace

For performance and reliability reasons, the control in Listing 29.16 does not access the Web Service every time it executes. Instead, it caches in memory the data it retrieves from the Web Service. The cache is automatically cleared every 5 minutes, and the control grabs the data from the Web Service again.

29 ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

dtblDataTable = dstDataSet.Tables( “Products” ) For each drowRow in dtblDataTable.Rows objTextWriter.Write( “
” ) objTextWriter.Write( drowRow( “ProductName” ) ) objTextWriter.Write( “ - “ ) objTextWriter.Write( String.Format( “{0:c}”, drowRow( “UnitPrice” ) ) ) objTextWRiter.WriteLine( “
” ) Next End Sub

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Note To learn more information about data caching, see Chapter 17, “Caching ASP.NET Applications.”

Within the RenderContents method, the control attempts to retrieve the list of featured products from the cache. If the products are not present in the cache, the list of products is retrieved with the getDataSet function. The getDataSet function calls the Web Service’s getFeatured method and returns the of products retrieved from the Web Service.

DataSet

The remainder of the RenderContents method is devoted to displaying each item in the list of products. A FOR...EACH loop steps through each row in the Products data table. The contents of the ProductName and UnitPrice columns are output with the HtmlTextWriter. To compile the control in Listing 29.16, you need to execute the following statement from the command line (within the same directory as the source for the control): vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll,System.Data.dll, ➥System.Web.Services.dll,System.XML.dll,FeaturedService.dll ➥ FeaturedControl.vb

Notice that you must include several references to assemblies. When you’re compiling the control, to use the DataSet in it, you must refer to the System.Data assembly. You also must refer to the System.Web.Services, System.XML, and FeaturedService assemblies to use the FeaturedService Web Service.

Displaying the Featured Products Control After you compile and copy the FeaturedControl control to the application’s /bin directory, you can use it in an ASP.NET page. The page in Listing 29.17 uses the control to list the featured products from the Web Service (see Figure 29.3). LISTING 29.17

DisplayFeatured.aspx

DisplayFeatured.aspx

Advanced Control Development CHAPTER 29 LISTING 29.17

1291

continued

Featured Products:

FIGURE 29.3 Output of the FeaturedControl.

29

Summary This chapter tackled three advanced topics in custom control development. In the first section, you learned how to add templates to a control to format its output.

ADVANCED CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

Notice that you can format the output of the control by setting the value of the Font-Name, Font-Size, and ForeColor properties. Because the FeaturedControl control inherits from the WebControl class, you can use all the formatting properties of the WebControl class when displaying the control.

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Next, you explored the topic of controls and data binding. You learned how to implement data binding in a control to enable it to be bound to such data sources as ArrayLists, DataReaders, DataViews, and DataSets. Finally, you learned how to create a custom control that works with a Web Service. You created a control that retrieves and displays a list of featured products from a Web Service.

Sample ASP.NET Applications

PART

IX IN THIS PART 30 Creating a Job Site

1295

31 Creating an Online Store

1321

CHAPTER 30

Creating a Job Site

IN THIS CHAPTER • Installing the Job Site

1297

• Creating the Home Page

1298

• Authenticating Users

1301

• Creating Vanity URLs

1307

• Listing and Updating Jobs • Creating the Jobs XML Web Service 1312

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In this chapter, you’ll build a job site from start to finish with ASP.NET. You’ll create the ASP.NET job site; a public Web site for posting and finding ASP.NET-related jobs and resumes. Building this site provides you with an opportunity to see how the different technologies in the ASP.NET Framework work together. The ASP.NET job site illustrates several advanced features of the ASP.NET framework including • Vanity URLs—All registered users of the job site have their own personalized home pages. For example, if Mark Smith adds his resume to the job site, anyone can view his resume by going to /aspnetjobs/marksmith.aspx. Mark Smith, and no one else, can update his resume by going to his home page. • XML Web Services—The job site includes two custom controls, named NewJobs and NewResumes, which display the most recent jobs and resumes added to the site. Both custom controls use an XML Web Service to retrieve current listings from the job site. By providing these custom controls to affiliate Web sites, you can drive traffic to the job site. • Forms Authentication—The job site uses Forms authentication to authenticate users. When a new user registers, the Forms Authentication module automatically adds an Authentication Ticket to the user’s browser to identify the user. • Form Validation—Several of the pages included in the job site use Validation controls to validate form information before it is added to a database table. • Caching—To improve performance, the job site caches data between requests. For example, the list of new jobs and resumes displayed on the home page is cached until a new job or resume is added. The Jobs Web service also uses caching to improve performance. • User Controls—To simplify development, all the pages in the job site are built with user controls. For example, the standard header and footer for each page are created with a header and footer user control. Users of the job site can publicly post resumes, descriptions of their companies, and jobs. If a user is interested in a job, the user can submit an application. If an employer is interested in a resume, the employer can submit an enquiry to the owner of the resume. Employers can visit their company home page or their job pages to view enquiries about their company or view applications for particular jobs. Individuals searching for jobs can visit their home pages to update their resume or view enquires about their resumes.

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30

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New job and resume listings are displayed in two places. First, they are automatically displayed on the home page of the job site. They are also displayed by any affiliate Web sites that contain the NewJobs or NewResumes custom controls. The complete code for the job site is included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book. Because of the number of files included in the job site, I won’t be able to discuss each file in detail. In the following sections, you’ll learn how some of the more interesting features of the job site are implemented. Note You can also view the job site online by visiting: http://superexpert.com/aspnetunleashed/aspnetjobs/

Installing the Job Site To install the job site, you need to complete the following two steps: 1. Create a virtual directory named aspnetjobs. 2. Execute the InstallAspNETJobsDatabase.sql script to install all the necessary database objects. First, copy all the files from the CD-ROM to a directory on your computer. Next, launch Internet Services Manager and create a new virtual directory named aspnetjobs that points to the directory where you copied the files. Next, install all the tables and stored procedures used by the job site. An installation script for the database objects is included on the CD-ROM that accompanies this book. Follow these steps: 1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Query Analyzer. Make sure you login using the sa account. 2. Open the InstallAspNETJobsDatabase.sql script in Query Analyzer. 3. Execute the script (click the green VCR Run button) in Query Analyzer.

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

The script creates a new database named AspNETJobs. It automatically adds all the necessary database tables and stored procedures. Finally, it adds a new login named AspNETJobsUser with the password secret.

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Caution The InstallAspNETJobsDatabase.sql script assumes that you have your SQL Server database configured to use SQL Server authentication. If you have only Windows authentication enabled, you need to manually add a login that has access to the AspNETJobs database. You’ll also need to modify the Web.Config file to use the proper login.

After you complete these steps, you can request the home page of the job site application by entering the following URL in your browser: http://localhost/aspnetjobs

Note If you encounter problems when executing the InstallAspNETJobsDatabase.sql script, try stopping and starting your database server to clear away any existing connections.

Creating the Home Page You can start exploring the ASP.NET job site with the home page. The main function of this page is to display a list of the newest jobs and resumes posted to the site and to display links for posting new jobs and resumes (see Figure 30.1). The complete code for the home page is included in Listing 30.1. LISTING 30.1

Default.aspx

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.1

1299

continued

FIGURE 30.1 The ASP.NET job site home page.

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

At the top of the home page in Listing 30.1 is an include directive that includes a file named header.aspx. This file contains page Import directives for importing standard namespaces, such as System.Data and System.Data.SqlClient. It also includes page Register directives for the Header, Footer, and UserLinks user controls. If you know that you’ll need to add the same Import and Register directives to several pages, its much easier to throw all the statements into a single include file.

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If you examine the page in Listing 30.1, you’ll notice that it includes four user controls: Header, Footer, UserLinks, and NewListings. The Header and Footer user controls are used throughout the job site to render standard content for the top and bottom of each page. For example, the Header user control contains the AdRotator control that renders the banner advertisement at the top of each page. Note To learn more about user controls see Chapter 5, “Creating Custom Controls with User Controls.”

The UserLinks user control is used to display one of two sets of navigation links. If a user is not authenticated, the UserLinks control displays a link for logging in, a link for listing a new job, and a link for listing a new resume. If, on the other hand, the user of the page is authenticated, the UserLinks control displays a link to the user’s home page, a link for listing a new job, and a link for logging out. Finally, the NewListings user control is used to display the newest jobs and resumes posted to the site. The control contains two DataGrids, named dgrdNewJobs and dgrdNewResumes, which actually display the new listings. The NewListings user control uses the Cache object to cache the new job and resume listings between requests. Using the Cache object in this way can dramatically improve the performance of the home page. Performing a database operation can be a slow procedure. By placing the results of the last database operation in the Cache object, you can avoid communicating with the database. Note To learn more about the Cache object, see Chapter 17, “Caching ASP.NET Applications.”

What happens when the database data changes? If a person adds a new job or adds a new resume, the cached listings are automatically invalidated. For example, the following statement appears in the ListJob.aspx page: Cache.Remove( “NewJobs” )

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30

1301

This statement is executed immediately after a new job is added to the database. Because the statement removes the list of new jobs from the Cache object, the job just added appears without any delay on the home page of the job site.

Authenticating Users The ASP.NET job site uses Forms authentication to authenticate users. Forms authentication is enabled for the site by including the Web.Config file in Listing 30.2 in the root directory of the site. LISTING 30.2

Web.Config

Forms authentication is configured in the authentication section in Listing 30.2. This authentication section sets the authentication mode to Forms. It also specifies the login page where unauthenticated users are automatically redirected when they request a password-protected page. Note To learn more about Forms authentication, see Chapter 19, “Using Forms-Based Authentication.”

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

Notice that the Web.Config file in Listing 30.2 does not contain an authorization section. Anonymous users can access any page within the job site except those pages in a directory named password. The password directory contains a separate Web.Config file that contains an authorization section that prevents anonymous access to pages in that directory. The Web.Config file in the password subdirectory is included in Listing 30.3.

1302

Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 30.3

Password\Web.Config

The Web.Config file in Listing 30.3 contains an authorization section that denies access to all anonymous users (anonymous users are represented in the Web.Config file with the special symbol “?”). The password directory includes pages that require authentication, such as the and ListJob.aspx pages. If you try to request one of these pages, and you can’t be identified by the Forms Authentication module, you are automatically redirected to the Login.aspx page (also included in the password directory). ListResume.aspx

The login.aspx page enables you to log in, if you are an existing user, or click a link to navigate to the register.aspx page, if you are a new user (see Figure 30.2). The login.aspx page is contained in Listing 30.4. FIGURE 30.2 The Login page.

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.4

1303

Site\Password\Login.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim strReturnUrl As String If Not IsPostBack Then strReturnUrl = Request.QueryString( “ReturnUrl” ) lnkRegister.NavigateUrl = _ String.Format( _ “/aspnetjobs/site/register.aspx?ReturnUrl={0}”, _ Server.URLEncode( strReturnUrl ) ) End If End Sub Sub Button_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) If isValid Then Select Case VerifyPassword( txtUsername.Text, txtPassword.Text ) Case 0 FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage( txtUsername.Text, ➥chkPersist.Checked ) Case 1 lblError.Text = “You did not enter a registered username” Case 2 lblError.Text = “You did not enter a valid password” End Select End If End Sub Function VerifyPassword( strUsername, strPassword ) As Integer Dim strConString As String Dim conJobs As SqlConnection Dim cmdVerify As SqlCommand Dim parmReturn As SqlParameter

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “constring” ) conJobs = New SqlConnection( strConString ) cmdVerify = New SqlCommand( “VerifyPassword”, conJobs ) cmdVerify.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure parmReturn = cmdVerify.Parameters.Add( “@return”, SqlDbType.Int ) parmReturn.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue cmdVerify.Parameters.Add( “@username”, strUsername ) cmdVerify.Parameters.Add( “@password”, strPassword ) conJobs.Open() cmdVerify.ExecuteNonQuery() conJobs.Close() Return cmdVerify.Parameters( “@return” ).Value End Function

1304

Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 30.4

continued

Login
Username:
Password:

Automatically remember me
Register Are you a new user?

It’s free and it only takes a minute.

If you enter a username and password in the login form contained in Listing 30.4, the Button_Click subroutine is executed. This subroutine passes the username and password entered into the form to a SQL stored procedure named VerifyPassword. The VerifyPassword stored procedure is included in Listing 30.5. LISTING 30.5

VerifyPassword

CREATE PROCEDURE VerifyPassword ( @username Varchar( 20 ), @password Varchar( 20 ) ) AS DECLARE @foundUser Varchar( 20 ) SELECT @foundUser = ul_username FROM UserList WHERE ul_username = @username AND ul_password = @password

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

IF @foundUser IS NOT NULL Return 0 ELSE IF Exists( SELECT ul_username FROM UserList WHERE ul_username = @username ) Return 2 ELSE RETURN 1

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Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX

The VerifyPassword stored procedure matches a username and password against a table named UserList. The stored procedure returns one of three possible values: • 0—When the username and password combination is matched in the UserList table. • 2—When the username is found, but the password is invalid. • 1—When the username cannot be found in the UserList table. The Login.aspx page displays different error messages depending on the value returned by the VerifyPassword stored procedure. When a person attempting to login cannot be authenticated against the database, the person is given an exact reason. The Login.aspx page also enables new users to link to the Register.aspx page. The Register.aspx page contains a form for registering at the ASP.NET job site (see Figure 30.3). When a new user registers, the AddUser stored procedure is executed and the new user is added to the UserList database table. The AddUser stored procedure is contained in Listing 30.6. FIGURE 30.3 The Register page.

LISTING 30.6

AddUser

CREATE procedure AddUser ( @username Varchar( 20 ), @password varchar( 20 ),

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.6

1307

continued

@firstname varchar( 30 ), @lastname varchar( 30 ), @email varchar( 255 ), @briefdesc varchar( 50 ), @fulldesc Text, @isresume Bit ) As If Exists( SELECT ul_username FROM UserList WHERE ul_username = @username ) RETURN -1 ELSE INSERT UserList ( ul_username, ul_password, ul_firstname, ul_lastname, ul_email, ul_briefdesc, ul_fulldesc, ul_isresume ) VALUES ( @username, @password, @firstname, @lastname, @email, @briefdesc, @fulldesc, @isresume )

The AddUser stored procedure does one of two things. If the username passed to the stored procedure already exists in the UserList database table, the stored procedure returns the value -1. You don’t want two users to be assigned the same username. So, if someone attempts to register with a username that has already been taken, an error message is displayed on the Register.aspx page. If the username does not already exist in the UserList table, the AddUser stored procedure adds the new user to the table. After the user is added, the user can login by using the username and password combination at any point in the future.

One interesting feature of the ASP.NET job site is its use of vanity URLs. Each user who registers at the job site is automatically given a personalized home page. For example, if

CREATING A JOB SITE

Creating Vanity URLs

30

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Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX

you register with the username marksmith, you can access your home page by going to /aspnetjobs/marksmith.aspx (see Figure 30.4). FIGURE 30.4 A vanity URL.

The vanity URLs are implemented with two files: the Global.asax and UserPage.aspx files. The Global.asax file checks the path of each request made to the job site. When appropriate, the Global.asax file rewrites the path of the request to the UserPage.aspx page. The complete code for the Global.asax file is contained in Listing 30.7. LISTING 30.7

Global.asax

Sub Application_BeginRequest Dim strPageOwner As String Dim strCurrentPath As String Dim strCustomPath As String strCurrentPath = Request.Path.ToLower() If strCurrentPath.IndexOf( “/site/” ) = -1 _ AND strCurrentPath.IndexOf( “userpage.aspx” ) = -1 _ AND strCurrentPath.IndexOf( “default.aspx” ) = -1 Then strCustomPath = _ String.Format( _ “/aspnetjobs/userpage.aspx?pageowner={0}”, _

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.7

1309

continued

Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension( Request.Path ) ) Context.RewritePath( strCustomPath ) End If End Sub

The Global.asax file in Listing 30.7 handles the BeginRequest event that is raised whenever someone requests a page from the job site. When appropriate, the RewritePath method is used to redirect a page request to the UserPage.aspx page. First, the Application_BeginRequest subroutine checks whether the request is for the Default.aspx page, the Userpage.aspx page, or a page below the /site/ subdirectory. These requests are ignored. You only want to redirect a user when the user makes a request with a vanity URL. You must be careful not to redirect users when they are requesting actual pages at the job site. Note You also can implement vanity URLs by creating a custom HTTP module. An HTTP module is a class that is executed whenever a request is made for an ASP.NET page. To learn more about creating HTTP modules, see Chapter 15, “Creating ASP.NET Applications.”

If the user is not requesting an actual page at the Web site, the RewritePath method is used to redirect the user to the UserPage.aspx page. For example, if the user requests /aspnetjobs/marksmith.aspx

the Global.asax file automatically rewrites the request like this: /aspnetjobs/userpage.aspx?pageowner=marksmith

The value of the pageowner query string variable is captured within the UserPage.aspx page. The pageowner variable is used within the UserPage.aspx page to look up and display the information for the appropriate user from the database.

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

When using the Global.asax file in Listing 30.7, you must be cautious about the physical layout of the files in your Web site. All the actual files for the job site are located beneath the /site/ subdirectory. If you add a new page to the root directory, the page

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could never be accessed because any requests for the page would be interpreted as a request for a vanity URL. If you need to add new files to the ASP.NET job site, add the new files beneath the /site/ subdirectory.

Listing and Updating Jobs You can list a new job at the ASP.NET job site by clicking the list job link that appears at the top of most pages. When you click the list job link, you are brought to the ListJob.aspx page (see Figure 30.5). FIGURE 30.5 The List Job page.

This page contains a form for entering a brief and long description of the job. When you submit the form, the job information is added to the database with the stored procedure in Listing 30.8. LISTING 30.8

AddJob

CREATE Procedure addJob ( @username Varchar( 20 ), @briefdesc Varchar( 50 ), @fulldesc Text ) AS

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.8

1311

continued

Insert Jobs ( job_username, job_briefdesc, job_fulldesc ) Values ( @username, @briefdesc, @fulldesc ) UPDATE Userlist SET ul_isresume = 0 WHERE ul_username = @username

The stored procedure in Listing 30.8 adds a new job listing to a database table named Jobs. The stored procedure also updates the UserList table to identify the person who listed the job as an employer, rather than an employee. After a new job has been listed, a link to the job appears on the home page of the company at the job site. If you click the link to the job listing, you are brought to the Job.aspx page. The Job.aspx page satisfies a dual function. For the public, the Job.aspx page displays the job listing. However, if you are the person who listed the job, the Job.aspx page also enables you to update the job listing. If you are identified as the person who listed the job, a panel appears that gives you the option of updating the job listing (see Figure 30.6). If you decide to update the job listing, the listing is converted into a form. When you save any changes to the form, the updated job listing appears immediately. The Job.aspx page uses Panel and Placeholder controls to display either the job listing itself, or a form for updating the job. By setting the Visible property of the various Panels and Placeholders in the page, either the job listing or form for updating the job listing is displayed. Note

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

To learn more about using Panel and Placeholder controls, see Chapter 4, “Advanced Control Programming.”

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FIGURE 30.6 Updating a job listing.

Creating the Jobs XML Web Service One effective way of driving traffic to your Web site is by creating an affiliate program. For example, Amazon has an affiliate program for books. You can list books on your Web site that link back to the Amazon.com Web site. Every time a person buys a book after linking to Amazon through your Web site, you get a small commission. In this section, you’ll build the infrastructure to create an affiliate program for the ASP.NET job site. To do this, you must create an XML Web Service and two custom controls. The custom controls work with the XML Web Service to display the most recent jobs and resumes listed at the job site. These controls can be distributed to affiliate Web sites to display current job and resume listings. The ASP.NET job site exposes an XML Web Service called the JobService. This Web Service has two methods: GetNewJobs and GetNewResumes. The GetNewJobs method returns a DataSet that represents the most recent 50 jobs listed and the GetNewResumes method returns a DataSet that represents the most recent 50 resumes listed.

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30

1313

Note To learn more about XML Web Services see Part VI, “Building ASP.NET Web Services.”

The complete code for the XML Web Service is contained in Listing 30.9. LISTING 30.9

Site\Services\JobService.asmx

Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.Web.Services System.Data System.Data.SqlClient System.Configuration

Namespace myServices _ Public Class JobService Inherits WebService Function GetNewJobs() As DataSet Dim strConString As String Dim conJobs As SqlConnection Dim dadJobs As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstJobs As DataSet

30 CREATING A JOB SITE

dstJobs = Context.Cache( “NewJobs” ) If dstJobs Is Nothing Then ‘ Ready Database Connection strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “constring” ) conJobs = New SqlConnection( strConString ) dstJobs = New DataSet() ‘ Get Newest 50 Jobs From Database dadJobs = New SqlDataAdapter( “getNewJobs”, conJobs ) dadJobs.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure dadJobs.Fill( dstJobs, “NewJobs” ) Context.Cache( “NewJobs” ) = dstJobs End If Return dstJobs End Function

1314

Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 30.9

continued

Function GetNewResumes() As DataSet Dim strConString As String Dim conJobs As SqlConnection Dim dadResumes As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstResumes As DataSet dstResumes = Context.Cache( “NewResumes” ) If dstResumes Is Nothing Then ‘ Ready Database Connection strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “constring” ) conJobs = New SqlConnection( strConString ) dstResumes = New DataSet() ‘ Get Newest 50 Resumes From Database dadResumes = New SqlDataAdapter( “getNewResumes”, conJobs ) dadResumes.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure dadResumes.Fill( dstResumes, “NewResumes” ) Context.Cache( “NewResumes” ) = dstResumes End If Return dstResumes End Function End Class End Namespace

To access the XML Web Service in Listing 30.9, you can enter the following URL in the Address Bar of your Web browser: http://localhost/aspnetjobs/site/services/jobservice.asmx

Included with the job site are two custom controls, named NewJobs and NewResumes, which interact with the XML Web Service to display a list of new jobs and resumes. The custom controls are located in an assembly named NewListings.dll, which can be found in the /bin directory of the job site. You can distribute these controls to other affiliate Web sites. The affiliate Web sites can use these controls in their ASP.NET pages to display links to jobs at your Web site (see Figure 30.7). Because the controls retrieve the list of new jobs and resumes from an XML Web Service, the list of jobs and resumes displayed by the controls is always current. The complete code for the NewJobs and NewResumes controls is contained in Listing 30.10. (This file can be found in the aspnetjobs\site\services subdirectory of the job site.)

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30

1315

FIGURE 30.7 The NewJobs and NewResumes

controls.

LISTING 30.10 Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

NewListings.vb

myControls System System.Web System.Web.UI System.Web.UI.WebControls System.Web.Services System.Data

Namespace myControls Public Class NewJobs: Inherits WebControl Const aspnetjobsUrl = “http://localhost/aspnetjobs/” Public PageSize AS Integer = 5 Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls Dim dgrdNewJobs As DataGrid Dim objBoundColumn As BoundColumn Dim objHyperLinkColumn As HyperLinkColumn

CREATING A JOB SITE

‘ Build DataGrid dgrdNewJobs = New DataGrid dgrdNewJobs.ID = “NewJobsGrid” dgrdNewJobs.AllowPaging = True

30

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Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 30.10

continued

dgrdNewJobs.PageSize = PageSize dgrdNewJobs.PagerStyle.Visible = False dgrdNewJobs.Cellpadding = 4 dgrdNewJobs.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Solid dgrdNewJobs.AutoGenerateColumns = False dgrdNewJobs.ShowHeader = False dgrdNewJobs.GridLines = GridLines.None ‘ Add Date Column objBoundColumn = New BoundColumn() objBoundColumn.DataField = “job_entrydate” objBoundColumn.DataFormatString = “{0:m}” dgrdNewJobs.Columns.Add( objBoundColumn ) ‘ Add HyperLink Column objHyperLinkColumn = New HyperlinkColumn objHyperLinkColumn.DataTextField = “job_briefdesc” objHyperLinkColumn.DataNavigateUrlField = “job_id” objHyperLinkColumn.DataNavigateUrlFormatString = _ aspnetjobsUrl & “site/job.aspx?id={0}” dgrdNewJobs.Columns.Add( objHyperLinkColumn ) ‘ Bind DataGrid dgrdNewJobs.Datasource = GetNewJobs() dgrdNewJobs.Databind() ‘ Add Child Controls Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “New Jobs!” ) ) Controls.Add( dgrdNewJobs ) End Sub Private Function GetNewJobs() As DataSet Dim dstJobs As DataSet Dim objJobService As JobService dstJobs = Context.Cache( “JobService_NewJobs” ) If dstJobs Is Nothing Then objJobService = New JobService dstJobs = objJobService.GetNewJobs() Context.Cache.Insert( _ “JobService_NewJobs”, _ dstJobs, _ Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( 15 ), _ Timespan.Zero ) End If Return dstJobs End Function End Class

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30 LISTING 30.10

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continued

Public Class NewResumes : Inherits WebControl Const aspnetjobsUrl = “http://localhost/aspnetjobs/” Public PageSize AS Integer = 5 Protected Overrides Sub CreateChildControls Dim dgrdNewResumes As DataGrid Dim objBoundColumn As BoundColumn Dim objHyperLinkColumn As HyperLinkColumn ‘ Build DataGrid dgrdNewResumes = New DataGrid dgrdNewResumes.ID = “NewResumesGrid” dgrdNewResumes.AllowPaging = True dgrdNewResumes.PageSize = PageSize dgrdNewResumes.PagerStyle.Visible = False dgrdNewResumes.Cellpadding = 4 dgrdNewResumes.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Solid dgrdNewResumes.AutoGenerateColumns = False dgrdNewResumes.ShowHeader = False dgrdNewResumes.GridLines = GridLines.None ‘ Add Date Column objBoundColumn = New BoundColumn() objBoundColumn.DataField = “ul_entrydate” objBoundColumn.DataFormatString = “{0:m}” dgrdNewResumes.Columns.Add( objBoundColumn ) ‘ Add HyperLink Column objHyperLinkColumn = New HyperlinkColumn objHyperLinkColumn.DataTextField = “ul_briefdesc” objHyperLinkColumn.DataNavigateUrlField = “ul_username” objHyperLinkColumn.DataNavigateUrlFormatString = _ aspnetjobsurl & “{0}.aspx” dgrdNewResumes.Columns.Add( objHyperLinkColumn ) ‘ Bind DataGrid dgrdNewResumes.Datasource = GetNewResumes() dgrdNewResumes.Databind() ‘ Add Child Controls Controls.Add( New LiteralControl( “New Resumes!” ) ) Controls.Add( dgrdNewResumes ) End Sub

CREATING A JOB SITE

Private Function GetNewResumes() As DataSet Dim dstResumes As DataSet Dim objJobService As JobService

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dstResumes = Context.Cache( “JobService_NewResumes” ) If dstResumes Is Nothing Then objJobService = New JobService dstResumes = objJobService.GetNewResumes() Context.Cache.Insert( _ “JobService_NewResumes”, _ dstResumes, _ Nothing, _ DateTime.Now.AddMinutes( 15 ), _ Timespan.Zero ) End If Return dstResumes End Function End Class End Namespace

Both the NewJobs and NewListings controls inherit from the WebControl class. The NewJobs control contains one subroutine and one function. The subroutine overrides the CreateChildControls method of the base control class. This subroutine is used to add a DataGrid control to the custom control. The DataGrid control is bound to the DataSet returned by the GetNewJobs function. The GetNewJobs function uses the JobService Web Service to retrieve a DataSet. Notice that the NewJobs control caches the DataSet in the Cache object to improve performance. The control retrieves a new list of jobs from the JobService Web Service every 15 minutes. When the jobs listings are displayed by the NewJobs control, each listing contains a link back to the ASP.NET job site. The NewJobs control contains a property, named PageSize, which determines how many job listings are displayed by the control. Warning Before you compile the NewListings control, you must modify the aspnetjobsUrl constants that appear at the top of both the NewJobs and NewResumes classes. These constants specify the location of the ASP.NET job site.

The NewResumes control is similar to the NewJobs control. It also overrides the CreateChildControls subroutine to display a DataGrid. The NewResumes control uses the GetNewResumes function to retrieve a list of new resumes from the JobService Web Service every 15 minutes.

Creating a Job Site CHAPTER 30

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Both the NewJobs and NewResumes controls depend on a proxy class for the JobService Web Service. Before you can compile the source code for the controls, you must first create a proxy class for the JobService Web Service. To create and compile the proper proxy class, you can execute the MakeJobServiceProxy.bat batch file contained in Listing 30.11. Caution Before you compile the JobService proxy class, modify the MakeJobServiceProxy.bat file to point to the location of the JobService Web Service on your server. You’ll need to replace the phrase “localhost” with the proper domain name for your Web site.

LISTING 30.11

Site\Services\MakeJobServiceProxy.bat

Wsdl.exe /l:VB /n:myControls http://localhost/aspnetjobs/site/services/ ➥jobservice.asmx?wsdl vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.data.dll, ➥System.XML.dll Jobservice.vb copy JobService.dll ..\..\bin pause

The batch file in Listing 30.11 creates a compiled class named JobService.dll. After the JobService.dll proxy class is created, it is copied to the /bin directory of your application. After you create the proxy class, you can compile the NewJobs and NewResumes custom controls contained in Listing 30.10. Execute the batch file in Listing 30.12 to compile these controls. LISTING 30.12

Site\Services\MakeNewListings.bat

vbc /t:library /r:System.dll,System.Web.dll,System.Web.Services.dll,System.Xml.dll, ➥System.Data.dll,Jobservice.dll NewListings.vb copy NewListings.dll ..\..\bin pause

CREATING A JOB SITE

After you compile the NewJobs and NewResumes controls, you can distribute the controls to any site on the Internet. An affiliate Web site simply needs to copy the NewListings. dll file into its application /bin directory. The page in Listing 30.13 illustrates how you can use these controls in an ASP.NET page located at another Web site.

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Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 30.13

Site\Services\Affiliate.aspx

Affiliate.aspx

The page in Listing 30.13 contains a Register page directive to register the NewListings custom controls for the current page. After the controls are registered, they can be used exactly like any of the standard ASP.NET controls. In Listing 30.13, the PageSize property of both the NewJobs and NewResumes controls are set to display a maximum of 10 listings.

Summary In this chapter, you built the ASP.NET job site. This site illustrates many of the advanced features of ASP.NET. For example, the job site illustrates how to use Forms authentication to password-protect pages and identify users, how to implement vanity URLs to create customized home pages, how to cache data between page requests, and how to structure pages with user controls. You also learned how to build an XML Web Service and custom controls to implement an affiliate program. You created the JobService Web Service to expose a list of recent jobs and resumes posted to the site. You also created the NewJobs and NewResumes controls, which consume the JobService Web Service, to distribute to affiliate Web sites.

CHAPTER 31

Creating an Online Store

IN THIS CHAPTER • Overview of the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store 1322 • Installing the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store 1324 • Building the Navigation System • Caching the Product Data

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• Building the Shopping Cart • Dynamically Loading Product Templates 1337

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In this final chapter, you learn how to build the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store. The ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store illustrates a number of advanced features of ASP.NET: • Dynamically loaded user controls—The store that you build in this chapter takes advantage of user controls to display product information. You’ll use user controls to create product templates so that you can display product information with different page layouts. • A database-driven shopping cart—The shopping cart that you’ll build for your store makes use of several advanced features of ADO.NET. The shopping cart uses a DataSet and a DataAdapter to automatically synchronize its contents with a SQL Server database table. • Complex interaction between ASP.NET objects—Your online store will be built out of a wide variety of objects from the ASP.NET Framework, such as custom business components, user controls, a module, and ASP.NET pages. In the course of this chapter, you’ll learn some tricks to make it easier to exchange information between all these objects. Note You can view the store described in this chapter online by visiting: http://superexpert.com/aspnetunleashed/aspnetstore/

Overview of the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store Before getting into the details of building the store, you’ll benefit from a quick tour of the structure of the application. The ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store contains the following six ASP.NET pages (all these pages can be found in the root directory of the application): •

Default.aspx—The

homepage of the store.

•

Category.aspx—Displays

•

Product.aspx—Displays

•

CheckOut.aspx—A page that confirms whether a user wants to check out of the store and purchase the items in the shopping cart.

links to all the products in a category.

information on a particular product.

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31 PlaceOrder.aspx—The final check out page that contains a form for billing and shipping information.

•

ThankYou.aspx—A

page that thanks the user for purchasing items at the Web site.

You navigate between the pages in the store by using a tab control. Each tab on the tab control corresponds to a product category (see Figure 31.1). When you click a tab, you arrive at the Category.aspx page. From the Category.aspx page, you can link directly to different product descriptions. All product descriptions are displayed by the Product. aspx page. FIGURE 31.1 Navigating with the tab control.

The Default.aspx, Category.aspx, and Product.aspx pages all contain a shopping cart within their left panel. The shopping cart includes a link for checking out of the store. When you click this link, you arrive at the CheckOut.aspx page. From the CheckOut. aspx page, you link to the PlaceOrder.aspx page and ultimately to the ThankYou.aspx page. All the ASP.NET pages (except the ThankYou.aspx page) use several SQL Server database tables. The application relies on the following database tables: •

Products—Contains

the information for all the products displayed at the Web site

•

Categories—Contains

•

ShoppingCarts—Contains

a list of the product categories all the user shopping carts

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

•

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•

OrderDetails—When

a user finalizes a purchase, all the items in the user’s shopping cart are transferred to this table.

•

Orders—Contains the billing and shipping information that the user submits from the PlaceOrder.aspx page.

The ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store also uses three user controls for common user interface elements. All these controls can be found in the UserControls subdirectory: •

Tabs.ascx—A

simple tab control that enables you to navigate from one page to another at the store.

•

ShoppingCart.ascx—The

•

Address.ascx—A

user interface portion of the shopping cart.

user control used for the shipping and billing address forms within the PlaceOrder.aspx page.

Finally, the store makes use of one assembly named StoreComponents. The source code for this assembly can be found in the Components subdirectory. The StoreComponents assembly contains three components: •

CachedData—This

component represents all the cached product and category information. The component automatically retrieves all the products and product categories from SQL Server and stores this information in the Cache object.

•

ProductTemplate—A code-behind class for the product template user controls. All the product template user controls inherit from this class.

•

ShoppingCart—The

guts of the shopping cart can be found in this class. This class handles adding and removing items from the shopping cart. It also takes care of automatically updating the ShoppingCarts database table when changes are made to the items in the shopping cart.

In the next section, you learn how to install these files on your server so that you can experiment with the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store.

Installing the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store The complete source code for the sample store is included on the CD that accompanies this book. Three steps are required to install the sample store: 1. Create a new virtual directory named aspnetstore. 2. Execute the CreateSQLObjects.sql installation script to create all the necessary tables and stored procedures to use the store.

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31

3. Modify the Web.Config file so that it contains a valid connection string to your database.

The next step is to generate the necessary SQL database tables and stored procedures. Open the CreateSQLObjects.sql script from the CD that accompanies this book and execute the script from the SQL Query Analyzer. The script builds the Categories, Products, OrderDetails, and Orders tables. It also copies the contents of the Categories and Products tables from the Northwind database to the new Categories and Products tables. Caution The ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store uses the Categories and Products tables from the Northwind database table. If you have uninstalled this database from your server, the CreateSQLObjects.sql script won’t work.

The final installation step is to modify the Web.Config file. The Web.Config file contains the SQL Server connection string used by all the ASP.NET pages and components. You must change the connection string to one that will work for your installation of SQL Server.

Building the Navigation System Users navigate the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store with the help of a tabs user control. The tabs user control displays a tab for each product category in the Categories database table. The complete code for the tabs control is contained in Listing 31.1. LISTING 31.1

Tabs.ascx

Sub Page_Load Dim intTabIndex intTabIndex = Context.Items( “Category” ) dlstTabs.SelectedIndex = intTabIndex

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

After you copy the directory that contains all the files for the sample store to your computer, you’ll need to create a virtual directory that points to it. This virtual directory must be named aspnetstore.

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Sample ASP.NET Applications PART IX LISTING 31.1

continued

dlstTabs.DataSource = CachedData.GetCategories() dlstTabs.DataBind() End Sub

The bulk of the tabs control consists of a single DataList control. A DataList control is perfect for displaying a tab list because a DataList can automatically display content in a horizontal HTML table. The tabs control is bound to its data source in the Page_Load subroutine. The records for the Categories table are retrieved through the GetCategories() method of the CachedData component. Because the GetCategories() method caches the Categories table in memory, you can use the tabs control without worrying about its impact on the performance of your Web site. When you click a tab, you are always brought to the Category.aspx file. You should notice that a cat query string parameter is also sent. This parameter represents the currently selected tab. The value of the cat query string variable is automatically retrieved at the start of each page request within the Global.asax file. The Global.asax file used for the store is contained in Listing 31.2. LISTING 31.2

Global.asax

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31 LISTING 31.2

continued

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31

‘ Get current category index If Request.QueryString( “cat” ) “” Then intCategory = Request.QueryString( “cat” ) End If ‘ Store Category in Context Context.Items( “Category” ) = intCategory ‘ Get current product ID If Request.QueryString( “pid” ) “” Then intProductID = Request.QueryString( “pid” ) objProductInfo = CachedData.GetProductRow( intProductID ) Context.Items( “ProductInfo” ) = objProductInfo Context.Items( “ProductName” ) = objProductInfo( “ProductName” ) Context.Items( “UnitPrice” ) = objProductInfo( “UnitPrice” ) End If ‘ Store ProductID in Context Context.Items( “ProductID” ) = intProductID End Sub

The BeginRequest event is raised right before a page request is processed. In the Global.asax file in Listing 31.2, the cat query string variable is retrieved. Next, it is added to the Items collection of the HttpContext object. What’s the purpose of the HttpContext Items collection? You should think of it as a universal portal. You can use the HttpContext Items collection to pass objects from the Global.asax to an Active Server Page or even from the Global.asax file to a user control or business component. The HttpContext Items collection is accessible wherever you go. The current Category is added to the HttpContext Items collection in Listing 31.2 for the benefit of the Category.aspx page. The Category.aspx page retrieves the current Category to display the proper set of products when you click a tab.

CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

Sub Application_BeginRequest( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) Dim intCategory As Integer = -1 Dim intProductID As Integer = -1 Dim objProductInfo As DataRowView

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Caching the Product Data The tabs user control discussed in the previous section does not retrieve a list of categories from the Categories database table every time it is displayed. Instead, a cached copy of the data is used. The same thing is true in the case of the Products database table. For performance reasons, when product information is displayed in the Products.aspx page, cached information from the Products database table is displayed. All the caching in the ASP.NET store happens in a custom component located within the StoreComponents assembly. The source code for this component is contained in Listing 31.3. LISTING 31.3

CachedData Class

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ ‘ Contains shared methods for retrieving ‘ cached database data ‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Public Class CachedData Public Shared Function GetCategories() As DataView If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) Is Nothing Then HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) = GetCategoriesFromDB End If Return HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) End Function Public Shared Function GetCategoryDescription( ➥intCategory As Integer ) As String If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) Is Nothing Then HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) = GetCategoriesFromDB End If Return HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ).Item( intCategory ) ➥( “Description” ) End Function Private Shared Function GetCategoriesFromDB() As DataView Dim strConString As String Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim dadCategories As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstCategories As DataSet

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31 LISTING 31.3

continued

Public Shared Function GetProducts( intCategoryIndex As Integer ) As DataView Dim intCategoryID As Integer Dim dvwProducts As DataView dvwProducts = HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) If dvwProducts Is Nothing Then dvwProducts = GetProductsFromDB HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) = dvwProducts End If If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) Is Nothing Then HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ) = GetCategoriesFromDB End If intCategoryID = HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Categories” ).Item( ➥intCategoryIndex )( “CategoryID” ) dvwProducts.RowFilter = “CategoryID=” & intCategoryID Return dvwProducts End Function Public Shared Function GetProductTemplate( intProductID As Integer ) As String Dim intProductIndex As Integer If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) Is Nothing Then HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) = GetProductsFromDB End If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).RowFilter = “” intProductIndex = HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).Find( ➥intProductID ) Return HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).Item( ➥intProductIndex )( “Template” ) End Function Public Shared Function GetProductRow( intProductID As Integer ) As DataRowView Dim intProductIndex As Integer If HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) Is Nothing Then HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ) = GetProductsFromDB End If

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “connectionString” ) conMyData = New SqlConnection( strConString ) strSelect = “Select CategoryID,CategoryName,Description From Categories” dadCategories = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, conMyData ) dstCategories = New DataSet dadCategories.Fill( dstCategories, “Categories” ) Return dstCategories.Tables( “Categories” ).DefaultView End Function

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continued

HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).RowFilter = “” intProductIndex = HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).Find( ➥intProductID ) Return HttpContext.Current.Cache( “Products” ).Item( intProductIndex ) End Function Private Shared Function GetProductsFromDB() As DataView Dim strConString As String Dim conMyData As SqlConnection Dim strSelect As String Dim dadProducts As SqlDataAdapter Dim dstProducts As DataSet strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “connectionString” ) conMyData = New SqlConnection( strConString ) strSelect = “Select * From Products” dadProducts = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, conMyData ) dstProducts = New DataSet dadProducts.Fill( dstProducts, “Products” ) dstProducts.Tables( “Products” ).DefaultView.Sort = “ProductID” Return dstProducts.Tables( “Products” ).DefaultView End Function End Class

Most of the methods in the CachedData class work by attempting to retrieve data from the cache first. If that doesn’t work, the information is retrieved from the original database and cached for the next request. For example, if the GetCategories() method can’t retrieve the categories from the the method immediately calls the GetCategoriesFromDb function.

Cache,

Building the Shopping Cart The shopping cart for the store appears within the Default.aspx, Category.aspx, and Product.aspx pages. For example, Figure 31.2 displays what the shopping cart looks like in the Products page. The shopping cart actually has two parts. The user interface portion of the shopping cart is implemented as a user control. The source code for the ShoppingCart.ascx user control is contained in Listing 31.4.

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31

31

FIGURE 31.2

CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

The shopping cart.

LISTING 31.4

ShoppingCart.ascx

Dim Dim Dim Dim Dim

1331

intProductID As Integer intCategory As Integer strProductName As String decUnitPrice As Decimal objShoppingCart As ShoppingCart

Sub Page_Load intProductID = Context.Items( “ProductID” ) intCategory = Context.Items( “Category” ) strProductName = Context.Items( “ProductName” ) decUnitPrice = Context.Items( “UnitPrice” ) objShoppingCart = New ShoppingCart If Not IsPostBack Then If intProductID = -1 Then btnAdd.Visible = False End If BindDataGrid End If End Sub

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continued

Sub Page_PreRender If objShoppingCart.Items.Count = 0 Then btnCheckOut.Visible = False Else btnCheckOut.Visible = True btnCheckOut.NavigateUrl = String.Format( _ “/aspnetstore/CheckOut.aspx?cat={0}”, intCategory ) End If End Sub

Sub btnAdd_Click( s As Object, e As EventArgs ) objShoppingCart.Add( intProductID, strProductName, decUnitPrice ) BindDataGrid End Sub Sub LinkButton_Click( s As Object, e As DataGridCommandEventArgs ) objShoppingCart.Remove( e.Item.ItemIndex ) BindDataGrid End Sub Sub BindDataGrid dgrdShoppingCart.DataSource = objShoppingCart.Items dgrdShoppingCart.DataBind() End Sub

Your Shopping Cart

Total:

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Listing 31.4 is long, but easy to understand. The majority of Listing 31.4 is devoted to formatting a DataGrid control to look like a tiny shopping cart. Two links appear directly below the shopping cart. One link enables you to add the current product to your shopping cart. The second link enables you to purchase all the items in your shopping cart by going to the CheckOut.aspx page. When you click the Add to Cart link, the btnAdd_Click subroutine executes. This subroutine adds a new item to the shopping cart by calling the Add method of the ShoppingCart class. All the database functionality for the shopping cart control is implemented within the assembly in a class named, appropriately enough, ShoppingCart. The full source for this class is contained in Listing 31.5. StoreComponent

LISTING 31.5

ShoppingCart.vb

Public Class ShoppingCart Private Private Private Private Private

_conCart As SqlConnection _dadCart As SqlDataAdapter _dstCart As DataSet _cbCart As SqlCommandBuilder _guidUserID As GUID

Sub New() Dim strConString As String Dim strSelect As String Dim objCookie As HttpCookie ‘ Prepare db connection strConString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( “connectionString” ) _conCart = New SqlConnection( strConString ) ‘ Check for StoreUserID cookies objCookie = HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies( “StoreUserID” ) If objCookie Is Nothing Then _guidUserID = Guid.NewGuid objCookie = New HttpCookie( “StoreUserID”, _guidUserID.ToString ) objCookie.Expires = DateTime.Now.AddYears( 3 ) HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Add( objCookie ) Else _guidUserID = New GUID( objCookie.Value ) End If ‘ Retrieve the shopping cart strSelect = “Select itemID, userID, ProductID, ProductName, ➥UnitPrice, Quantity From ShoppingCarts Where userID = @userID”

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31 LISTING 31.5

continued

Public ReadOnly Property Items As DataView Get Return _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).DefaultView End Get End Property Public Sub Add( ProductID As Integer, ProductName As String, UnitPrice ➥As Decimal ) Dim blnMatch As Boolean = False Dim drowItem As DataRow For each drowItem in _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).Rows If drowItem( “ProductID” ) = ProductID Then drowItem( “Quantity” ) += 1 blnMatch = True Exit For End If Next If Not blnMatch Then drowItem = _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).NewRow drowItem( “UserID” ) = _guidUserID drowItem( “ProductID” ) = ProductID drowItem( “ProductName” ) = ProductName drowItem( “UnitPrice” ) = UnitPrice drowItem( “Quantity” ) = 1 _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).Rows.Add( drowItem ) End If UpdateCartDB End Sub Public Sub Remove( ItemIndex As Integer ) _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).Rows( itemIndex ).Delete UpdateCartDB End Sub Function GetItemTotal() As Decimal Dim intCounter As Integer Dim drowItem As DataRow Dim decRunningTotal As Decimal

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

_dadCart = New SqlDataAdapter( strSelect, _conCart ) _dadCart.SelectCommand.Parameters.Add( “@userID”, _guidUserID ) _dadCart.MissingSchemaAction = MissingSchemaAction.AddWithKey _cbCart = New SqlCommandBuilder( _dadCart ) _dstCart = New DataSet _dadCart.Fill( _dstCart, “Cart” ) End Sub

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continued

For intCounter = 0 To _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).Rows.Count - 1 drowItem = _dstCart.Tables( “Cart” ).Rows( intCounter ) decRunningTotal += ( drowItem( “UnitPrice” ) * drowItem( “Quantity” ) ) Next Return decRunningTotal End Function Private Sub UpdateCartDB _dadCart.Update( _dstCart, “Cart” ) End Sub End Class

The shopping cart contained in Listing 31.5 automatically tracks users through a cookie named StoreUserID. The shopping cart automatically creates a persistent cookie that lasts (in theory at least) three years. When a user returns to the store, all the items that the user previously added to the shopping cart will still be there. The nice thing about this feature is that it works even if the user never registers at the Web site. If an anonymous user adds items to a shopping cart and waits several months to return to the site, all the items previously selected will remain in the shopping cart. The cookie is created with a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID). The NewGuid method of the Guid structure can return a GUID in a number of different formats. In this case, you just use the default string version of the GUID. Behind the scenes, the shopping cart in Listing 31.5 is implemented as a DataSet. A DataAdapter is used to create the DataSet and to update the existing database table when changes are made to the data. In the constructor subroutine in Listing 31.5, a DataAdapter is used to retrieve the shopping cart from the ShoppingCarts table. If any kind of change is made to a shopping cart item, the UpdateCartDB subroutine is called. The UpdateCartDB subroutine contains only the following statement: dadCart.Update( _dstCart, “Cart” )

This statement saves any changes to the shopping cart to the ShoppingCarts table. The DataAdapter Update statement automatically checks each row in DataTable for changes between its original and current value. If a change is discovered, the Update() method executes a SQL command to modify the data in the database to match the new value of the row.

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31

One common problem that many Web site developers encounter when building an online store concerns the variety of products that the store sells. For example, a store might want to sell a wide range of products including ping-pong balls, cameras, and CDs. The problem is how to create a single product page that can be used to sell anything. A page layout that works well with one product might not work well at all with another product. For example, a common problem is that one product will have pictures and another product won’t. One way around this problem is not to try to create a single page for all the products that your Web site might sell. That’s the approach taken in the case of the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store. Every product sold through the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store is associated with a product template. Products are associated with individual templates through the Template database column in the Products database table. When you install the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store, by default, the same template is associated with every product. This template is named the default template and can be found in the ProductTemplates subdirectory. However, it’s easy to add a new template. To create a special template for all the products in the Seafood category, for example, you first make a new template file. A file with the proper format is contained in Listing 31.6. LISTING 31.6

Seafood.ascx

The Custom Seafood Template

Notice that the product template is a user control file (an .ascx file). Also, notice that it displays the value of a database column that the default product template doesn’t display. This template displays the value of the QuantityPerUnit column.

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

Dynamically Loading Product Templates

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Now that you have a new template, you need to associate it with all the Seafood products. You can do this by executing the following SQL statement from SQL Query Analyzer: Update Products Set Template=’Seafood’ Where CategoryID=8

This SQL Update statement changes the value of the Template column to Seafood so that your new template will be displayed. If you browse to a Seafood product in the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store, the product should be displayed with your new template (see Figure 31.3). FIGURE 31.3 The Seafood template.

Using dynamically loaded controls in this way provides a great deal of flexibility. You can use user controls to free yourself from being locked down to a particular user interface. In the next two sections, you examine how these templates are implemented.

Using the LoadControl Method You can display different templates for the different products in your store because of the way the Product.aspx page was written. The Product.aspx page was written to take advantage of dynamically loaded user controls.

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31

31

Note

The code for the Product.aspx page is contained in Listing 31.7. Product.aspx

Sub Page_Load Dim intProductID As Integer Dim strProductTemplate As String Dim objProductTemplate As ProductTemplate intProductID = Context.Items( “ProductID” ) strProductTemplate = CachedData.GetProductTemplate( intProductID ) strProductTemplate = String.Format( “/aspnetstore/ProductTemplates/{0}.ascx”, ➥strProductTemplate ) objProductTemplate = LoadControl( strProductTemplate ) plhProductTemplate.Controls.Add( objProductTemplate ) End Sub

Within the Page_Load subroutine in Listing 31.7, you dynamically load a user control. The user control is dynamically loaded with the LoadControl method of the Page class. The LoadControl method takes a single parameter: the path of the user control that you want to load. Next, the dynamically loaded control is added to the controls collection of a PlaceHolder Web control. The PlaceHolder control is located in the body of the page.

The Code-Behind Product Template You have to use one more trick to get your dynamically loaded product template to work. You might be wondering how you have access to all the columns from the Products database table in your product templates. The answer is that all the product templates derive from a single code-behind product template. The code-behind product template is declared in the StoreComponents assembly. The source code for this class is contained in Listing 31.8. LISTING 31.8

ProductTemplate.vb

Public Class ProductTemplate : inherits UserControl Public ReadOnly Property ProductID As Integer Get Return Context.Items( “ProductID” ) End Get End Property Public ReadOnly Property ProductName As String Get Return Context.Items( “ProductName” ) End Get End Property Public ReadOnly Property UnitPrice As Decimal Get Return Context.Items( “UnitPrice” )

Creating an Online Store CHAPTER 31 LISTING 31.8

continued

Public ReadOnly Property Product As DataRowView Get Return Context.Items( “ProductInfo” ) End Get End Property End Class

The code-behind product template contains four properties that represent the values of four database columns: ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice. The template contains one additional property named Product. The Product column contains all the columns from the underlying database row that represents the product. You can use the Product property to display the value of any database column. For example, this property was used in the Seafood product template to display the value of the QuantityPerUnit database column like this:

Summary In this chapter, you built the ASP.NET Unleashed Sample Store. This sample store illustrated several advanced features of ASP.NET. First, you learned how to use the HttpContext Items collection to pass information between modules (such as the Global.asax file) and ASP.NET pages. You learned how the HttpContext Items collection enables you to easily pass information throughout your ASP.NET applications. Next, you learned how to build a shopping cart with ADO.NET. You saw an example of how to use the methods of the ADO.NET DataSet and DataAdapter classes to synchronize a shopping cart with a database table. Finally, you learned how to use user controls to create dynamic product templates. You learned how to use the LoadControl method to dynamically load a user control. You also learned how to provide dynamically loaded controls with shared properties by creating a product template code-behind file.

31 CREATING AN ONLINE STORE

End Get End Property

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Appendices

PART

X IN THIS PART A Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET B HTML Control Reference C Web Control Reference

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APPENDIX A

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET

IN THIS APPENDIX • ASP.NET Pages End with the Extension .aspx 1346 • Option Explicit is On by Default 1347 • No More Variants

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• Use Parentheses When Passing Parameters to Subroutines and Methods 1349 • Functions and Subroutines Must be Declared in Tags 1350 • Parameters Are Passed by Value

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• Forms Should Post Back to the Same Page 1352 • Only One Server-Side Form per Page 1353 • Don’t Use Set and Let When Working With Objects 1353 • Apartment-Threaded Components Are Not Supported 1354 • No Nonindexed Default Properties 1355 • ASP.NET Pages Can Contain Only a Single Language 1355 • Differences in Request, Request.Form, and Request.QueryString 1355

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Appendixes PART X

This appendix provides information on migrating from earlier versions of Active Server Pages to ASP.NET. If you are an existing Active Server Pages developer, one of the first questions that you’ll likely ask is “How compatible is ASP.NET with previous versions of Active Server Pages?” In other words, you might be wondering whether you can simply upgrade your existing Active Server Pages Web site to ASP.NET without rewriting any code. The answer to this question is complicated. In one trivial sense, ASP.NET is completely backward compatible with previous versions of Active Server Pages. As long as you name your pages with the extension .asp, they will be executed by exactly the same engine that was used to execute previous versions of Active Server Pages (ASP.dll). However, if you continue to execute pages with the extension .asp, you will gain none of the benefits of ASP.NET. For example, you will not gain any of the speed benefits of dynamic page compilation and page caching, and you will not gain access to the functionality encapsulated in the thousands of .NET classes available within an ASP.NET page. The real answer is that you will have to do some work to get old ASP pages to work within the new ASP.NET framework. You’ll have to do some work to migrate your VBScript pages to Visual Basic .NET. You’ll have to do even more work to reconstruct your Web site to take full advantage of the ASP.NET framework. In the following sections, I describe several of the important changes between Active Server Pages Classic and ASP.NET.

ASP.NET Pages End with the Extension .aspx ASP Classic pages end with the extension .asp, and ASP.NET pages end with the extension .aspx. This fact can be very inconvenient if you have existing links to your Web site. For example, you might have a Web site with hundreds of existing pages with names that end with the extension .asp and that have already been indexed by a search engine, such as AltaVista or Google. You might not want to change the extension of these filenames because you fear that you’ll lose ranking in the search engines. You can, in fact, use any extension that you want for ASP.NET pages. To change the extension used for ASP.NET pages, follow these steps:

Migrating from ASP to ASP.NET APPENDIX A

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1. Launch the Internet Services Manager by choosing Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Internet Services Manager. 2. Open your Web site’s property sheet by right-clicking the name of your Web site and selecting Properties. 3. Select the Home Directory tab on the property sheet. 4. In the Application Settings section, click the Configuration button. 5. In the Application Configuration dialog box that appears, select the App Mappings tab.

2. Find the section. This section lists handlers for files with different extensions, such as .aspx, .asmx, and .asp. 3. Change the handler used for .asp files to System.Web.UI.PageHandlerFactory like this:

These last three steps are necessary to associate .asp files with the correct handler. If you neglect to complete these steps, you receive an error message when attempting to open an .asp file.

Option Explicit Is On by Default In previous versions of Active Server Pages, Option Explicit was Off by default. In ASP.NET, on the other hand, Option Explicit is On.

FROM

1. Open the machine.config file for your Web server with Notepad. The machine.config file is located under the WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\ [version]\CONFIG directory.

MIGRATING

After you complete the preceding steps, pages with an .asp extension will be processed by the ASP.NET engine. However, you have to complete one more series of steps before they will function correctly as ASP.NET pages:

A ASP TO ASP.NET

6. By default, the aspnet_isapi.dll file is mapped to the .aspx extension. If you click Edit, you can map aspnet_isapi.dll to any extension you choose. For example, if you map the extension to .asp files, all pages that end with the extension .asp will work as ASP.NET pages. (You need to delete the existing mapping for .asp files before you do this.)

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Appendixes PART X

When Option Explicit is On, you must declare any variable before you use it. For example, although the following script works fine in ASP Classic, it generates an error in ASP.NET:

If you execute an ASP.NET page that contains this script, you receive the error message The name ‘strMessage’ is not declared. You can avoid this error in two ways. If you want to follow good programming practices and get the best performance from your ASP.NET pages, you should declare all variables before you use them like this:

Alternatively, if you just don’t feel like declaring all your variables, you can turn Option Explicit Off at either the page level or server level. To set Option top of a page:

Explicit Off

at the page level, add the following page directive to the

You can disable Option Explicit for every ASP.NET page on your Web server within the machine.config file (located under the WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\[version]\CONFIG directory). In the section, set the explicit attribute to the value False.

No More Variants VBScript is not a strongly typed language. In VBScript, you cannot declare the type of a variable, which results in all variables being created as variants. Variants are not supported by the .NET framework. The .NET framework equivalent to a variant is the Object type. Consider the following script. In this script, a variable is declared, a value is assigned to it, and its value is displayed:

Because the type of the strMessage variable is not explicitly declared, it is treated as an Object. When the string “Hello!” is assigned to the variable, the variable is automatically converted to a String data type. Automatically converting variables to the appropriate data type is convenient, but it has a negative impact on performance. For performance reasons, the variable type of strMessage should be explicitly declared like this:

A

The process of automatically converting a variable to the right type is called late binding. You can avoid late binding in your code by using the Option Strict statement. You enable Option Strict by adding the following page directive to the top of an ASP.NET page:

When you enable Option

Strict, Option Explicit

is also automatically enabled.

Alternatively, you can enable Option Strict for every ASP.NET page in the machine.config file. To do so, add the attribute strict=”true” to the section.

Use Parentheses When Passing Parameters to Subroutines and Methods In ASP.NET, unlike ASP Classic, you must always use parentheses when passing parameters to a subroutine or a method call. For example, in ASP Classic, the following script works fine:

FROM

ASP TO ASP.NET

strMessage = “Hello!” Response.Write( strMessage ) %>

MIGRATING

Parameters Are Passed by Value By default, in VBScript and earlier versions of Visual Basic, parameters passed to subroutines and functions are passed by reference. In Visual Basic .NET, however, parameters are passed by value. When a parameter is passed to a function by value, changes to the parameter within the function are not reflected outside the function. When a parameter is passed by value, on the other hand, any changes made to the parameter are retained outside the function. You can still use the ByVal and ByRef keywords to specify whether a parameter is passed by value or by reference. For example, the following page illustrates how to explicitly pass a parameter to a subroutine by value and by reference: Sub AddByVal( ByVal intParam ) intParam += 1 End Sub

FROM

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