1 YEAR UPGRADE BUYER PROTECTION PLAN Mesbah Ahmed Chris Garrett Jeremy Faircloth Chris Payne DotThatCom.com Wei Meng Lee Series Editor Jonothon Ortiz Technical Editor ASP.NET Web Developer’s Guide solutions@syngress.com With more than 1,500,000 copies of our MCSE, MCSD, CompTIA, and Cisco study guides in print, we continue to look for ways we can better serve the information needs of our readers. One way we do that is by listening. Readers like yourself have been telling us they want an Internet-based ser- vice that would extend and enhance the value of our books. Based on reader feedback and our own strategic plan, we have created a Web site that we hope will exceed your expectations. Solutions@syngress.com is an interactive treasure trove of useful infor- mation focusing on our book topics and related technologies. The site offers the following features: ■ One-year warranty against content obsolescence due to vendor product upgrades. You can access online updates for any affected chapters. ■ “Ask the Author” customer query forms that enable you to post questions to our authors and editors. ■ Exclusive monthly mailings in which our experts provide answers to reader queries and clear explanations of complex material. ■ Regularly updated links to sites specially selected by our editors for readers desiring additional reliable information on key topics. Best of all, the book you’re now holding is your key to this amazing site. Just go to www.syngress.com/solutions, and keep this book handy when you register to verify your purchase. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve your needs. And be sure to let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help you get the maximum value from your investment. We’re listening. www.syngress.com/solutions 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page i 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page ii 1 YEAR UPGRADE BUYER PROTECTION PLAN Mesbah Ahmed Chris Garrett Jeremy Faircloth Chris Payne DotThatCom.com Wei Meng Lee Series Editor Jonothon Ortiz Technical Editor ASP.NET Web Developer’s Guide 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page iii Syngress Publishing, Inc., the author(s), and any person or firm involved in the writing, editing, or production (collectively “Makers”) of this book (“the Work”) do not guarantee or warrant the results to be obtained from the Work. There is no guarantee of any kind, expressed or implied, regarding the Work or its contents.The Work is sold AS IS and WITHOUT WARRANTY. You may have other legal rights, which vary from state to state. In no event will Makers be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out from the Work or its contents. 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KEY SERIAL NUMBER 001 ANVE48952P 002 WNBN9433ET 003 7BANL4P2WR 004 QNV984UTAP 005 KVAW939RE4 006 6JSE4FHU9W 007 4MAS8TYGF2 008 DAUTGFLRGT 009 2983K74SLF 010 VFR4MHY7Q2 PUBLISHED BY Syngress Publishing, Inc. 800 Hingham Street Rockland, MA 02370 ASP.NET WEB DEVELOPER’S GUIDE Copyright © 2002 by Syngress Publishing, Inc.All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ISBN: 1-928994-51-2 Technical Editor: Jonothan Ortiz Freelance Editorial Manager: Maribeth Corona-Evans Series Editor:Wei Meng Lee Cover Designer: Michael Kavish Co-Publisher: Richard Kristof Page Layout and Art by: Shannon Tozier Acquisitions Editor: Catherine B. Nolan Copy Editors: Janet Zunkel and Michael McGee Developmental Editor: Kate Glennon Indexer: Robert Saigh CD Production: Michael Donovan Distributed by Publishers Group West in the United States and Jaguar Book Group in Canada. 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page iv v Acknowledgments v We would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and support in making this book possible. Richard Kristof and Duncan Anderson of Global Knowledge, for their generous access to the IT industry’s best courses, instructors, and training facilities. Ralph Troupe, Rhonda St. John, and the team at Callisma for their invaluable insight into the challenges of designing, deploying, and supporting world-class enterprise networks. Karen Cross, Lance Tilford, Meaghan Cunningham, Kim Wylie, Harry Kirchner, Kevin Votel, Kent Anderson, and Frida Yara of Publishers Group West for sharing their incredible marketing experience and expertise. Mary Ging, Caroline Hird, Simon Beale, Caroline Wheeler,Victoria Fuller, Jonathan Bunkell, and Klaus Beran of Harcourt International for making certain that our vision remains worldwide in scope. Annabel Dent of Harcourt Australia for all their help. David Buckland,Wendi Wong, Daniel Loh, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim, Audrey Gan, and Joseph Chan of Transquest Publishers for the enthusiasm with which they receive our books. Kwon Sung June at Acorn Publishing for his support. Ethan Atkin at Cranbury International for his help in expanding the Syngress program. 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page v vi Contributors Todd Carrico (MCDBA, MCSE) is a Senior Database Engineer for Match.com. Match.com is a singles portal for the digital age. In addition to its primary Web site, Match.com provides back-end services to AOL, MSN, and many other Web sites in its affiliate program.Todd specializes in design and development of high-performance, high-availability data architectures primarily on the Microsoft technology. His background includes designing, developing, consulting, and project management for companies such as Fujitsu,Accenture, International Paper, and GroceryWorks.com.Todd resides in Sachse,TX, with his wife and two children. Jeremy Faircloth (CCNA, MCSE, MCP+I,A+) is a Systems Analyst for Gateway, Inc. In this position, he develops and maintains enterprise-wide client/server and Web-based technologies. He also acts as a technical resource for other IT professionals, using his expertise to help others expand their knowledge.As a Systems Analyst with over 10 years of real- world IT experience, he has become an expert in many areas of IT including Web development, database administration, enterprise security, network design, and project management. Jeremy currently resides in North Sioux City, SD and wishes to thank Christina Williams for her support in his various technical endeavors. Mesbah Ahmed (PhD and MS, Industrial Engineering) is a Professor of Information Systems at the University of Toledo. In addition to teaching and research, he provides technical consulting and training for IT and manufacturing industries in Ohio and Michigan. His consulting experi- ence includes systems design and implementation projects with Ford Motors, Dana Corporation, Riverside Hospital, Sears, and others. Currently, he provides IT training in the areas of Java Server, XML, and .NET technologies. He teaches graduate level courses in Database Systems, Manufacturing Systems, and Application Development in Distributed and Web Environment. Recently, he received the University 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page vi vii of Toledo Outstanding Teaching award, and the College of Business Graduate Teaching Excellence award. His current research interests are in the areas of data warehousing and data mining. He has published many research articles in academic journals such as Decision Sciences, Information & Management, Naval Research Logistic Quarterly, Journal of Operations Management, IIE Transaction, and International Journal of Production Research. He has also presented numerous papers and seminars in many national and international conferences. Patrick Coelho (MCP) is an Instructor at The University of Washington Extension, North Seattle Community College, Puget Sound Center, and Seattle Vocational Institute, where he teaches courses in Web Development (DHTML,ASP, XML, XSLT, C#, and ASP.NET). Patrick is a Co-Founder of DotThatCom.com, a company that provides consulting, online development resources, and internships for students. He is cur- rently working on a .NET solution with contributing author David Jorgensen and nLogix. Patrick holds a bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Washington, Bothell. Patrick lives in Puyallup,WA with his wife Angela. David Jorgensen (MCP) is an Instructor at North Seattle Community College, University of Washington Extension campus, and Puget Sound Centers. He is also developing courses for Seattle Vocational Institute, which teach .NET and Web development to the underprivileged in the Seattle area. David also provides internship opportunities through his company DotThatCom.com, which does online sample classes and chap- ters of books. David holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from St. Martin’s College and resides in Puyallup,WA with his wife Lisa and their two sons Scott and Jacob. Adam Sills is an Internet Programmer at GreatLand Insurance, a small insurance company parented by Kemper Insurance. He works in a small IT department that focuses on creating applications to expedite business processes and manage data from a multitude of locations. Previously, he had a small stint in consulting and also worked at a leading B2B 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page vii viii eCommerce company designing and building user interfaces to interact with a large-scale enterprise eCommerce application.Adam’s current duties include building and maintaining Web applications, as well as helping to architect, build, and deploy new Microsoft .NET technologies into production use.Adam has contributed to the writing of a number of books for Syngress and is an active member of a handful of ASP and ASP.NET mailing lists, providing support and insight whenever he can. Chris Garrett is the Technical Manager for a large European Web agency. He has been working with Internet technologies since 1994 and has provided technical and new media expertise for some of the world’s biggest brands. Chris lives in Yorkshire, England, with his wife Clare and his daughter Amy. Chris Payne, author of Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 21 Days, is the Co- Founder and CIO of Enfused Media, Inc., which designs and develops applications to automate and facilitate business processes. Chris has taught ASP and solution techniques through articles and tutorials and has a background in writing both technical and nontechnical material. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Boston University and is currently lives with his wife, Eva, in Orlando, FL. 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page viii ix Technical Editor and Contributor Jonothon Ortiz is Vice President of Xnext, Inc. in Winter Haven, FL. Xnext, Inc. is a small, privately owned company that develops Web sites and applications for prestigious companies such as the New York Times. Jonothon is the head of the programming department and works together with the CEO on all company projects to ensure the best possible solu- tion. Jonothon lives with his wife Carla in Lakeland, FL. Wei Meng Lee is Series Editor for Syngress Publishing’s .NET Developer Series. He is currently lecturing at The Center for Computer Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore.Wei Meng is actively involved in Web development work and conducts training for Web developers and Visual Basic programmers. He has co-authored two books on WAP. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Computer Science from the National University of Singapore.The first book in the .NET series, VB.NET Developer’s Guide (ISBN: 1-928994-48-2), is currently available from Syngress Publishing. Series Editor and Contributor 166_ASPNET_FM.qxd 11/26/01 1:40 PM Page ix [...]... History of ASP The Origins of ASP Why ASP Was Needed Why ASP Was Not Originally Embraced Developing ASP 1.x Developing ASP 2.x Major Changes with ASP 2 Weaknesses in the ASP 2 Model Developing ASP 3.0 Final Changes to Original ASP Model Weaknesses in the ASP 3 Model The Need for a New ASP Model The ASP Timeline Reviewing the Basics of the ASP.NET Platform Utilizing the Flexibility of ASP.NET Converting... ASP.NET to Previous ASP Models How Web Servers Execute ASP Files Client-Server Interaction Server-Side Processing Compiling and Delivering ASP.NET Pages Running ASP.NET Web Pages Obtaining and Installing NET Creating Your First ASP.NET Application xxv 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 xi 166_ASPNET_toc.qxd xii 11/27/01 1:13 PM Page xii Contents Upgrading from Classic ASP... Solutions Fast Track Frequently Asked Questions 26 28 29 29 32 35 36 36 37 38 38 38 39 39 40 40 40 40 43 43 45 45 46 51 52 52 53 53 55 56 58 166_ASPNET_toc.qxd 11/27/01 1:13 PM Page xiii Contents Developing ASP.NET Web Forms When you develop an ASP.NET Web form, you can use the following type of controls: s HTML Server Controls s Web Server Controls (also known as Web Controls or ASP.NET Web Form Controls)... ASP Taking Security Precautions Summary Solutions Fast Track Frequently Asked Questions Reviewing the Function of Namespaces To use a namespace in an ASP.NET page, you must use the Import directive Unlike in classic ASP, ASP.NET pages are compiled before they are run You build ASP.NET pages using a compiled language, such as VB.NET or C# Chapter 2 ASP.NET Namespaces Introduction Reviewing the Function... ASP programming within our grasp— ASP.NET Our reliance on a watered-down version of Visual Basic has been alleviated now that ASP.NET pages may be programmed in both Microsoft’s new and more powerful version of Visual Basic or the latest version of C++: C#, which is more Web friendly ASP.NET allows programmers and developers to work with both VB.NET and C# within the same ASP.NET page .NET itself is a... Solutions in this chapter: s Learning from the History of ASP s Reviewing the Basics of the ASP.NET Platform s How Web Servers Execute ASP Files s Taking Security Precautions Summary Solutions Fast Track Frequently Asked Questions 1 166_ASPNET_01.qxd 2 11/21/01 2:39 PM Page 2 Chapter 1 • Introducing ASP.NET Introduction With the advent of ASP.NET we see a shift from traditional scripting to the beginning... (however, as of this writing, only VB.NET and C# are allowed for ASP.NET) and have it run anywhere through the robust NET Framework.Visual Basic and C++ have undergone changes as well; Visual Basic was already somewhat Web- oriented through its sibling,Visual Basic Script (VBS) Since VBS was not visually orientated, like Visual Basic, this meant that a lot of the prewritten code employed by Visual Basic... enhancing the way you use ASP.NET Specifically, Chapter 4 has various examples on dealing with the internal configuration of ASP.NET while Chapter 6 deals with how to optimize the various caching methods available through ASP.NET and Chapter 9 contains code on how to work with the debugging system of NET with ASP.NET Chapters 3 and 8 contain code that deal with improved technologies in ASP.NET Chapter 3 discusses... for Web hosting and development increasing.Third-party support for anything other than small components was initially slow, but, as with all Microsoft products, after the first couple of releases they usually get things right, and ASP was no exception Whereas Perl had a huge community of developers led by the heroic figure of Larry Wall, the ASP developer was not yet well supported A Perl programmer was... database control and creation as well as basic XML control.We’ll first see how the System.Data namespace is structured, and then, by www.syngress.com 166_ASPNET_fore.qxd xxviii 11/26/01 5:12 PM Page xxviii Foreword working with a basic address book, our first general-use ASP.NET application, we will take a look at how System.Data allows us to do the following: s Connect to a database s Browse a database . Pages 18 Running ASP .NET Web Pages 19 Obtaining and Installing .NET 19 Creating Your First ASP .NET Application 20 Debugging ASP .NET Applications Debugging under classic ASP was a hit-and-miss affair,. namespace in an ASP .NET page, you must use the Import directive. Unlike in classic ASP, ASP .NET pages are compiled before they are run. You build ASP .NET pages using a compiled language, such as. 3 Why ASP Was Not Originally Embraced 4 Developing ASP 1.x 5 Developing ASP 2.x 6 Major Changes with ASP 2 6 Weaknesses in the ASP 2 Model 7 Developing ASP 3.0 7 Final Changes to Original ASP Model