Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Back Cover Learn the strategies that developers at Microsoft use to build great ASP.NET applications—and get their sample programs! This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. From maximizing application scalability and performance to designing and implementing security features, you get the best practices, peer-to-peer advice, and reusable, real-world code to take your own Web development expertise to the next level. Discover how to: Reduce coding time with server controls and data controls Lear best practices for managing client, application, and request state Use output caching and partial page caching to boost program functionality and scalability Simplify development for mobile and handheld devices with ASP.NET mobile controls Implement security features—including authentication, authorization, impersonation, server hardening, and code access security Use debug and trace to troubleshoot bottlenecks before your site goes live Know the steps for performance tuning—and where to invest your time for the biggest payoffs Answer the “rewrite or integrate?” question when planning application migration strategy About the Authors Matthew Gibbs is a lead software design engineer on the Microsoft ASP.NET team and was part of the product teams for Active Server Pages 3.0, Internet Information Services (IIS) versions 4.0 and 5.0, Mobile Internet Toolkit, and Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1. Rob Howard is a Microsoft program manager responsible for caching, session state, and other ASP.NET infrastructure features. He also runs the ASP.NET Web site and ASP.NET Forums, as well as speaking at conferences and writing books and articles. Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Matthew Gibbs Rob Howard PUBLISHED BY Microsoft Press A Division of Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, Washington 98052-6399 Copyright © 2003 by Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gibbs, Matthew, 1971-Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team / Matthew Gibbs. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-7356-1900-X 1. Active server pages. 2. Web sites Design. 3. Microsoft .NET. I. Howard, Rob, 1973-II. Title. TK5105.8885.A26G53 2003 005.2'76 dc21 2003056218 Printed and bound in the United States of America. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 QWT 8 7 6 5 4 3 Distributed in Canada by H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at www.microsoft.com/mspress. Send comments to mspinput@microsoft.com . IntelliSense, Internet Explorer, JScript, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MSDN, MSN, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual Studio, Windows, Windows NT, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Acquisitions Editor: Anne Hamilton Technical Editors: Mike Fitzgerald, Robert Brunner Project Editor: Barbara Moreland Body Part No. X09-45919 About the Authors Matt Gibbs is a lead Software Design Engineer on the Microsoft ASP.NET team. Previously he was part of the product teams for Active Server Pages 3 .0, Internet Information Services (IIS) versions 4.0 and 5.0, Mobile Internet Toolkit version 1.0, and Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1. Matt has a master's degree in computer science from the University of Washington and a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Utah. He enjoys traveling as well as playing golf and squash. You can reach Matt at mattgi@microsoft.com . Rob Howard is a Program Manager on the Microsoft ASP.NET team. He has contributed to ASP.NET features such as session state, Web services, and caching as well as to many of the new features coming in ASP.NET 2.0. He also is actively involved in the ASP.NET community, working closely with groups such Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars as ASPInsiders, Microsoft MVPs, and community user groups. You can contact Rob at rhoward@microsoft.com . Acknowledgments We would like to thank the talented people we have worked with on this book. Anne Hamilton got the book going and helped keep it moving. Barbara Moreland did a fantastic job as project editor. Technical editors Mike Fitzgerald and Robert Brunner made sure we didn't let errors get through, and Ina Chang helped us learn to write better by relentlessly improving on what we did. I would like to thank my wife, Heather, and my two children, Josh and Kelley, for their extreme patience and understanding while I worked on this book. I missed a lot of weekend activities with them to make this book a reality. Thanks also go to Dmitry Robsman, David Ebbo, and Shanku Niyogi, with whom I have worked for the past few years. I have expanded my abilities by collaborating with them on designs and by brainstorming about problems. Matt Thanks to my family and friends for their patience with yet another book project. Rob Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Introduction In this book, we'll look at the ASP.NET platform for developing Web applications. We take it for granted that you have some experience with Microsoft ASP.NET and are looking for more ideas for tackling Web development tasks and leveraging what ASP.NET has to offer. However, we'll review some of the basics about how the page framework and server controls work. We'll also examine the features of ASP.NET and discuss how they are designed. Lots of code examples will illustrate our coding strategies, and along the way we include Tips that will help you make the most of ASP.NET. Prerequisites This book assumes some familiarity with HTML and Web application development. Code samples are written in C# but do not typically utilize complex language features, so developers familiar with C/C++, Java, or Microsoft Visual Basic should be able to follow along without difficulty. Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Structure of This Book Most of the chapters in this book, which discuss various ASP.NET features and development topics, are freestanding-that is, you don't have to read the chapters in order. Throughout we include Tips and Notes to help you leverage ASP.NET in developing dynamic Web applications. We created these Notes based on our experiences developing ASP.NET and on our work with customers, in which we explored the challenges of creating large and small Web sites, as well as sites intended for access by internal corporate groups and by the general public. Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Sample Files The complete set of sample code can be downloaded from the book’s Web site ( http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/6578.asp ). Click Companion Content in the More Information box on the right side of this page to bring up the Companion Content page.Following the structure of the book, the code samples are organized into a set of chapter subdirectories, making it easy to create a virtual directory and try out the code on your own machine. Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Software Needed to Run the Samples The .NET Framework SDK, which includes ASP.NET, is required to run the sample code. ASP.NET requires either Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, or Microsoft Windows Server 2003. You can use Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition for development, but Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is not available for that platform. An alternative is to use a development Web server. The .NET Framework SDK can be downloaded for free from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/? linkid=8862 . Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Creating an IIS Virtual Directory ASP.NET handles requests issued to a Web server, which is typically IIS on the Microsoft Windows platform. If you are using Visual Studio to create Web pages, Visual Studio will automatically create a virtual directory for you. When using the .NET Framework without Visual Studio, you will need to create a virtual directory unless you are using the default Web site physical directory. To set up an IIS virtual directory for ASP.NET, you must first have a directory on disk to be used for the application. Of course, we assume that you also have IIS and the .NET Framework installed. In this example, we'll use a sample directory created at C:\SampleApplication. To create the IIS virtual directory, perform the following steps: On Windows 2000, select Programs from the Start menu, and then select Administrative Tools and Internet Services Manager. If you are using Windows XP, select Control Panel from the Start menu. Choose Performance And Maintenance, Administrative Tools, and then Internet Information Services. Alternatively, you can type inetmgr at the prompt you see after selecting Run from the Start menu. 1. Expand the local computer node followed by the Web Sites node. 2. Right-click the Default Web Site node. Select New and then Virtual Directory from the expanded menu. 3. On the first page of the Virtual Directory Creation Wizard, click Next. Then enter the alias for the application, which will be part of the URL path used to access the Web pages of the new application. For example, you would type SampleApplication and the URL to get to the application from that machine: http://localhost/SampleApplication . Click Next to continue. 4. Enter the physical location where the Web application will exist. In our example, we would use C:\SampleApplication. Click Next to get to the Access Permission page. 5. Many any necessary changes to the security for the application. See Chapter 9 for detailed information about security considerations. Click Next and then click Finish. 6. The IIS Virtual Directory now exists, and .ASPX pages that you place in the physical location (C:\SampleApplication) are accessible from the newly created virtual directory at http://MachineName/SampleApplication . Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET features and functionality to build dynamic Web solutions faster. Companion Web Site Table of Contents Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Framework Chapter 2 - Server Controls Chapter 3 - Data Controls Chapter 4 - Developing for Mobile Browsers Chapter 5 - Managing Client State Chapter 6 - Managing Application and Request State Chapter 7 - Configuration Chapter 8 - ASP.NET Security Chapter 9 - Tuning ASP.NET Performance Chapter 10 - ASP.NET Debug and Trace Chapter 11 - Moving to ASP.NET Appendix A - Tips and Tricks Appendix B - The Cassini Sample Web Server Index List of Figures List of Tables List of Code Listings List of Sidebars Web.config Code Samples Many of the discussions in this book evolve around configuration settings placed in configuration files. The configuration data is inherited from application roots that already exist in the Web address. For example, consider the sample URL http://localhost/SomeApplication/page.aspx . Some configuration data specified in the machine.config file can be overridden in a web.config file placed in the physical directory of the Default Web Site. Again, in the SomeApplication directory, settings can be modified in a web.config file. To avoid a lot of code samples being named web.config, throughout the book we have used more descriptive names for configuration files. When using the sample .config files, remember to rename them to web.config, or the sample .ASPX pages will not behave as expected. [...]... http://www .microsoft. com/mspress/support/search.asp Companion Web Site Submit comments, questions, or ideas regarding this book to Microsoft Press using either of the following: Table of Contents Postal Mail: Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Introduction Microsoft Press Chapter 1 - ASP.NET Page Coding Strategies with the Microsoft Attn: Microsoft ASP.NET Framework ASP.NET Team, ... the form for submitting the calendar The calendar days and month navigation UI render as links that submit the form Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) ISBN:073561900x This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development team, revealing the. . .Microsoft Other Resources ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team ISBN:073561900x by site (http://www .asp.net) provides up-to-date information on ASP.NET and hosts a The ASP.NET Web Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard Microsoft Press © 2003 ASP.NET variety of discussion forums relating to(319 pages) and development with the NET Framework The developer communityin-depth... application.Context.Response.End(); } } } TheHttpModule must be registered with the ASP.NET configuration, much like the IHttpHandler.Code Listing 1-5, Microsoft ASP.NET Coding ModuleWeb.config, is a web.config file with aStrategies with the Microsoft section This file does not replace the single entry in the HttpModules ASP.NET Team HttpModules configured in the machine.config but adds to that set ISBN:073561900x by Matthew Gibbs... (string)Session["theName"]; theFinalHobby.Text = (string)Session["theHobby"]; } Done! Name: Hobby: Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team Of course, as with the single-page wizard, there are pros and cons to the multi-page version The. .. controls will then be able to manage events just as though they were placed on the page Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team declaratively Introduction Chapter 1 challenge when working with controls dynamically is remembering information about the dynamic Another - ASP.NET Page Framework controls - course, the view Chapter 2 OfServer Controls state of the controls themselves... 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IsReusable { Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft get { ASP.NET Team return true; and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x by Matthew Gibbs } Microsoft Press © 2003 (319 pages) } This in-depth insider’s guide shares the hard-won, hard-core coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) { team, revealing the most productive ways to exploit ASP.NET. .. insider’son thisshares the hard-won, hard-core This works together guide site to ask and answer questions, and they take advantage of coding experience of the Microsoft ASP.NET development an archive of previous discussion topics The authors of this book, along with the rest of the ASP.NET team, the community and enjoy receiving exploit ASP.NET team, work directly withrevealing the most productive ways . friends for their patience with yet another book project. Rob Microsoft ASP. NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP. NET Team by Matthew Gibbs and Rob Howard ISBN:073561900x Microsoft Press . Listings List of Sidebars Microsoft ASP. NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP. NET Team Matthew Gibbs Rob Howard PUBLISHED BY Microsoft Press A Division of Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, Washington. the ASP. NET Web site and ASP. NET Forums, as well as speaking at conferences and writing books and articles. Microsoft ASP. NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP. NET Team by Matthew Gibbs