visual web developer 2005 express edition for dummies dec 2005

TEAM LinG Visual Web Developer TM 2005 Express Edition FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page i 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page ii by Alan Simpson Visual Web Developer TM 2005 Express Edition FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page iii Visual Web Developer ™ 2005 Express Edition For Dummies ® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Visual Web Developer is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REP- RESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CON- TENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CRE- ATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CON- TAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FUR- THER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFOR- MATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2005927626 ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-8360-5 ISBN-10: 0-7645-8360-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1B/RQ/RR/QV/IN 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page iv About the Author Alan Simpson is the author of over 90 computer books on databases, Windows, Web-site design and development, programming, and networking. His books are published throughout the world in over a dozen languages. Alan has served as a consultant on high-technology projects for the United States Navy and Air Force. 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page v 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page vi Dedication To Susan, Ashley, and Alec. 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page vii 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page viii Author’s Acknowledgments Writing a book is always a team effort, and this book is no exception. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the folks who made this book possible, and contributed to its completion. At Wiley Publishing, many thanks to Katie Feltman for providing the opportunity (and reminders to get on schedule). Thanks to Christopher Morris, Barry Childs-Helton, and Dan DiNicolo for their superior editing. Thanks to David Fugate at Waterside Productions, my literary agency, for getting the ball rolling and ironing out the details. And most of all, thanks to my family for putting up with yet another long Daddy project. 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page ix [...]... Your Site for Uploading 332 Copying the Site 334 What’s on the CD-ROM? 337 Visual Basic 2005 Express 337 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express 338 Index .341 End-User License Agreement Back of Book xix xx Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies Introduction W elcome to Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies Visual Web Developer. .. can jump in anywhere 5 6 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies Part I Planning a Web Site E In this part very project has to start somewhere In Visual Web Developer, that usually means creating a new, empty Web site and configuring it to support membership While you’re at it, you’ll need to get the hang of using the program’s major features, and techniques for getting text and pictures... you’ll see what I mean And you’ll be able to create powerful data-driven Web sites — perhaps without typing any code at all 2 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies About This Book The main goal of this book is simple: To cover everything you really need to know about Visual Web Developer to create data-driven Web sites And I do mean “need.” You won’t catch me wandering off into irrelevant... mastered the Express edition Who VWD Is For Visual Web Developer (VWD) is not a tool for computer beginners Not by a long shot VWD allows you to develop fancy Web sites by using existing Web technologies such as XHTML, XML, CSS, ASP.NET, as well as the NET Framework 2.0, SQL Server, C#, and Visual Basic In fact, most of the help and documentation for Visual Web Developer presumes that you’re already... experience, we’ve included a free copy of Visual Web Developer Express on the CD that comes with this book Like any program, you have to install Visual Web Developer Express before you can use it So before you go any further here, take a moment to complete the installation instructions presented in Appendix B Getting Around in VWD Once installed, starting Visual Web Developer is no different from starting any... data-driven Web sites The Express edition, which is the subject of this book, is specifically designed for non-professionals who want to learn to use VWD and related technologies without having to spring for the tools used by large corporations and professional programmers That’s not to say you can’t create a “real” Web site with the Visual Web Developer Express On the contrary, you can build a Web site... Transactions table .241 A Primary Key for Transactions .243 Populating Tables 244 xvii xviii Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies Linking Tables .247 Creating a view 248 A more detailed view 251 Creating a Table of Pictures 254 Creating a Table of HyperLinks 257 Chapter 12: Using Data in Web Pages ... sneak up on them later.) 3 4 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies How This Book Is Organized Building a dynamic, data-driven Web site is a process; certain things must be done in a certain order (A simple example: If you want people to be able to set up accounts on your site and log in, first you have to create some means of storing data about users.) For that reason, this book is... programming and debugging Visual Web Developer (VWD) changes all that — allowing you to create dynamic Web sites in a quicker, easier, and more intuitive visual mode where simple drag-and-drop replaces hours of typing code That’s not to say that Visual Web Developer is so easy that you can just “think” a Web site into existence There’s still plenty of knowledge and skill required to develop a Web site You just... to any Web server that supports ASP.NET 2.0 and other related technologies It’s just that the Express edition doesn’t have some advanced features needed for very large commercial Web sites But, as a beginner, you’re probably a long way from developing a large, busy commercial Web site There’s no need to spring for a more expensive version of the product until after you’ve mastered the Express edition . LinG Visual Web Developer TM 2005 Express Edition FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page i 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page ii by Alan Simpson Visual Web Developer TM 2005. Simpson Visual Web Developer TM 2005 Express Edition FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_583603 ffirs.qxd 10/21/05 6:56 PM Page iii Visual Web Developer ™ 2005 Express Edition For Dummies ® Published by Wiley Publishing,. Application 321 Developer 321 Data-Driven 322 ASP.NET 2.0 322 Visual Studio 322 IDE 322 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies xviii 02_583603 ftoc.qxd 10/21/05 6:55 PM Page xviii Control