ptg www.it-ebooks.info ptg 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46240 USA Scott Mitchell Sams Teach Yourself 24 in Hours ASP.NET 4 Complete Starter Kit www.it-ebooks.info ptg Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. 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. ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33305-7 ISBN-10: 0-672-33305-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Mitchell, Scott, 1978- Sams teach yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 hours complete starter kit / Scott Mitchell. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-672-33305-7 (alk. paper) 1. Active server pages. 2. Microsoft .NET. 3. Web sites—Design. I. Title. II. Title: Teach yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 hours complete starter kit. III. Title: ASP.NET 4 in 24 hours complete starter kit. TK5105.8885.A26M585 2010 006.7’882—dc22 2010016855 Printed in the United States of America First Printing June 2010 Trademarks 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. Warning and Disclaimer 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. Bulk Sales Sams Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk pur- chases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com For sales outside of the U.S., please contact International Sales international@pearson.com Editor-in-Chief Karen Gettman Executive Editor Neil Rowe Development Editor Mark Renfrow Managing Editor Kristy Hart Project Editor Lori Lyons Copy Editor Bart Reed Indexer Brad Herriman Proofreader Kay Hoskin Technical Editor Eric Weinberger Publishing Coordinator Cindy Teeters Multimedia Developer Dan Scherf Book Designer Gary Adair Compositor Nonie Ratcliff From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Contents at a Glance Introduction. 1 Part I: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 HOUR 1 Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 7 2 Understanding the ASP.NET Programming Model . 25 3 Using Visual Web Developer 57 4 Designing, Creating, and Testing ASP.NET Pages . 73 5 Understanding Visual Basic’s Variables and Operators 101 6 Managing Program Flow with Visual Basic’s Control Structures. 121 7 Working with Objects in Visual Basic . 147 8 ASP.NET Web Controls for Displaying Text 157 Part II: Collecting and Processing User Input HOUR 9 Web Form Basics 179 10 Using Text Boxes to Collect Input . 201 11 Collecting Input Using Drop-Down Lists, Radio Buttons, and Checkboxes 221 12 Validating User Input with Validation Controls 247 Part III: Working with Databases HOUR 13 Introducing Databases . 283 14 Accessing Data with the Data Source Web Controls. 305 15 Displaying Data with the Data Web Controls. 333 16 Deleting, Inserting, and Editing Data . 359 17 Working with Data-Bound DropDownLists, Radio Buttons, and CheckBoxes 393 18 Exploring Data Binding and Other Data-Related Topics. 415 19 Using Templated Data Web Controls . 441 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Part IV: Site Navigation, User Management, Page Layout, AJAX, and Deployment HOUR 20 Defining a Site Map and Providing Site Navigation. 469 21 Using Master Pages to Provide Sitewide Page Templates . 495 22 Managing Your Site’s Users 521 23 Building More Responsive Web Pages with ASP.NET AJAX 555 24 Deploying Your Website 573 Index . 595 iv Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 HOUR 1: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 7 What Is ASP.NET? 8 Installing the .NET Framework, Visual Web Developer, and SQL Server 2008 . 14 A Brief Tour of Visual Web Developer . 16 Q&A 23 Workshop 24 HOUR 2: Understanding the ASP.NET Programming Model 25 Examining the HTML Portion of an ASP.NET Page . 25 Examining the Source Code Portion of an ASP.NET Page 44 Q&A 53 Workshop 53 HOUR 3: Using Visual Web Developer 57 Creating a New Website . 58 Opening Existing Websites . 60 Working with Web Pages and Other Content . 61 Customizing the Visual Web Developer Experience . 65 Viewing, Moving, and Resizing Windows . 68 A World of Help at Your Fingertips . 69 Q&A . 70 Workshop . 71 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg HOUR 4: Designing, Creating, and Testing ASP.NET Pages 73 Specifying the Design Requirements . 73 Creating the User Interface 76 Writing the Source Code for the ASP.NET Page . 82 Testing the Financial Calculator . 86 Examining the Source Code 92 Using the Debugger 93 Q&A 97 Workshop 98 HOUR 5: Understanding Visual Basic’s Variables and Operators 101 The Purpose of Programming Languages 102 Declaring and Using Variables 103 Examining Visual Basic’s Operators . 110 Learning Visual Basic’s Type Rules . 116 Q&A . 118 Workshop . 118 HOUR 6: Managing Program Flow with Visual Basic’s Control Structures 121 Understanding Control Structures . 122 Exploring the Conditional Control Structure . 123 Working with Visual Basic’s Looping Control Structures . 128 Exploring the Modularizing Control Structures: Subroutines and Functions 131 Q&A . 142 Workshop . 144 HOUR 7: Working with Objects in Visual Basic 147 Reexamining the Role of Classes and Objects . 148 Creating an Object . 150 Setting an Object’s Properties . 151 Calling an Object’s Methods . 152 Creating Event Handlers for an Object’s Events . 153 Q&A . 155 Workshop . 155 vi Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg HOUR 8: ASP.NET Web Controls for Displaying Text 157 Examining the Web Controls Designed for Displaying Text . 157 Using the Literal Web Control . 158 Using the Label Web Control . 163 Q&A . 172 Workshop . 173 Part II: Collecting and Processing User Input HOUR 9: Web Form Basics 179 Gathering User Input in an HTML Web Page . 180 Dissecting ASP.NET Web Forms 186 Q&A . 198 Workshop . 199 HOUR 10: Using Text Boxes to Collect Input 201 Learning About the TextBox Web Control Basics 202 Creating Multiline and Password Text Boxes. 205 Examining the TextBox Web Control’s Properties 211 Q&A . 216 Workshop . 218 HOUR 11: Collecting Input Using Drop-Down Lists, Radio Buttons, and Check Boxes 221 Examining the Different Types of User Input Classifications 222 Examining the DropDownList Web Control . 224 Selecting One Option from a List of Suitable Choices with RadioButton Web Controls 233 Using the CheckBox Web Control 238 Q&A . 243 Workshop . 244 HOUR 12: Validating User Input with Validation Controls 247 Examining the Need for User Input Validation . 248 Validating User Input in an ASP.NET Page . 250 Contents vii From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Examining the RequiredFieldValidator Validation Control . 253 Examining the CompareValidator. 261 Using the RangeValidator . 268 Validating Input with the RegularExpressionValidator . 269 Formatting Properties for the Validation Web Controls . 272 A Look at the Remaining Validation Controls . 274 Q&A . 276 Workshop . 277 Part III: Working with Databases HOUR 13: Introducing Databases 283 Examining Database Fundamentals . 284 Storing Structured Data 285 Creating a New Database 290 Creating Database Tables 292 Adding Data to the Books Table . 298 Q&A . 302 Workshop . 303 HOUR 14: Accessing Data with the Data Source Web Controls 305 Examining the Data Source Controls. 306 A Look at SQL, the Language of Databases . 314 Delving into the SQL SELECT Statement. 314 Filtering and Sorting Data from the SqlDataSource Control’s Wizard . 323 Q&A . 330 Workshop . 331 HOUR 15: Displaying Data with the Data Web Controls 333 An Overview of Data Web Controls. 333 Displaying Data with the GridView Control . 337 Showing One Record at a Time with the DetailsView . 347 viii Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Contents ix Paging and Sorting with the GridView 351 Q&A . 356 Workshop . 357 HOUR 16: Deleting, Inserting, and Editing Data 359 Updating, Deleting, and Inserting Data with the SqlDataSource . 360 Looking at the Data-Modification SQL Statements. 363 Editing and Deleting Data with the GridView . 366 Inserting Data with the DetailsView . 385 Q&A . 388 Workshop . 388 HOUR 17: Working with Data-Bound DropDownLists, RadioButtons, and CheckBoxes 393 An Overview of the List Web Controls 394 Filtering Results Using the DropDownList 401 Collecting User Input with CheckBoxLists and RadioButtonLists 406 Q&A . 412 Workshop . 412 HOUR 18: Exploring Data Binding and Other Data-Related Topics 415 Looking at the GridView and DetailsView’s Fields . 416 Using Wildcards in a WHERE Filter Expression . 426 An Examination of Data Binding 429 Q&A . 436 Workshop . 438 HOUR 19: Using Templated Data Web Controls 441 Displaying Data Using the ListView Control . 442 Paging and Sorting the ListView’s Data . 450 Displaying One Record at a Time with the FormView Control . 456 Q&A . 463 Workshop . 464 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info [...]... Pages (O’Reilly); ASP.NET: Tips, Tutorials, and Code (Sams) ; ASP.NET Data Web Controls Kick Start (Sams) ; Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 24 Hours (Sams) ; Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours (Sams) ; and Teach Yourself ASP.NET 3.5 in 24 Hours (Sams) Scott’s regularly speaks at ASP.NET user groups and conferences across the country and teaches classes on ASP.NET and related web technologies at the University...x Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4 in 24 Hours Part IV: Site Navigation, User Management, Page Layout, AJAX, and Deployment HOUR 20: Defining a Site Map and Providing Site Navigation 46 9 An Overview of ASP.NET s Site-Navigation Features 47 0 Defining the Website’s Structure Using a Site Map 47 1 Displaying a Breadcrumb with the SiteMapPath Control 47 6 48 1 ... designed for developing ASP.NET websites, installing it automatically installs the NET Framework and other required ASP.NET tools You can also optionally install SQL Server 2008 To begin the installation process, insert the CD into your computer This brings up the installation program starting with the screen shown in Figure 1 .4 FIGURE 1 .4 Start the installation process by inserting the CD into your computer’s... Mitchell mitchell@4guysfromrolla.com www.it-ebooks.info From the Library of Wow! eBook This page intentionally left blank www.it-ebooks.info From the Library of Wow! eBook [(H3F)] 5 PART I Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 HOUR 1 Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 HOUR 2 Understanding the ASP.NET Programming Model 25 HOUR 3 Using Visual Web Developer 57 HOUR 4 Designing, Creating, and Testing ASP.NET Pages 73... Wow! eBook 14 HOUR 1: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 Installing the NET Framework, Visual Web Developer, and SQL Server 2008 Three components need to be installed before we can start building ASP.NET applications: The NET Framework—Contains the ASP.NET engine, which is used to handle requests for ASP.NET pages To install the NET Framework engine, your computer must be running Windows XP, Windows Server... web pages Hours 5, 6, and 7 examine the syntax and semantics of the Visual Basic programming language ASP.NET offers a variety of user interface elements for collecting user input, including text boxes, check boxes, drop-down lists, and radio buttons In Part II you will see how to collect and process user input Hour 10, “Using Text Boxes to Collect Input,” examines using single-line, multi-line, and... appear on a single line In these cases, a line-continuation character ➥ is used to indicate that the following line is a continuation of the current statement Furthermore, some code listings include line numbers These numbers are used to refer to specific lines of code in the text and are not part of the code syntax I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it Happy Programming! Scott... this hour, we will cover What ASP.NET is The system requirements for using ASP.NET The software that must be installed prior to using ASP.NET Installing the NET Framework, Visual Web Developer, and SQL Server 2008 Taking a quick tour of Visual Web Developer Creating a simple ASP.NET page and viewing it through a web browser ASP.NET is an exciting web programming technology pioneered by Microsoft... Managing Your Site’s Users 521 An Overview of User Accounts in ASP.NET Allowing Visitors to Create New User Accounts 522 533 Signing In to the Website with the Login Control 541 Displaying Content Based on Authentication Status 545 547 550 Examining the ASP.NET Web Site Template Q&A Workshop 551 HOUR 23: Building... 11, “Collecting Input Using Drop-Down Lists, Radio Buttons, and Check Boxes,” examines alternative user input controls Part III shows how easy it is to build data-driven websites with ASP.NET Starting in Hour 13, “Introducing Databases,” we begin our look at building websites that interact with databases Typically, data-driven websites enable visitors to view, update, delete, and insert data into the . (Sams) ; Teach Yourself ASP. NET in 24 Hours (Sams) ; Teach Yourself ASP. NET 2.0 in 24 Hours (Sams) ; and Teach Yourself ASP. NET 3.5 in 24 Hours (Sams) . Scott’s. Microsoft .NET. 3. Web sites—Design. I. Title. II. Title: Teach yourself ASP. NET 4 in 24 hours complete starter kit. III. Title: ASP. NET 4 in 24 hours complete