SITEPOINT BOOKS Advocate best practice techniques Lead you through practical examples Provide working code for your web site Make learning easy and fun ABOUT CRISTIAN DARIE Wyatt leads the in-house development team for a major industry trade association. When not slinging obscene amounts of C# and SQL at a few exceedingly large monitors, he is sharing his ASP.NET wisdom with others. Cristian is a professional software engineer with vast experience in a wide range of modern technologies. The author of numerous technical books, Cristian has mastered the complexities of ASP.NET, so you don’t have to. ABOUT WYATT BARNETT PANTONE 2955 CPANTONE Orange 021 C CMYK 100, 45, 0, 37CMYK O, 53, 100, 0 Black 100%Black 50% #-9+ 0ANTONE 'REYSCALE PANTONE 2955 CPANTONE Orange 021 C CMYK 100, 45, 0, 37CMYK O, 53, 100, 0 Black 100%Black 50% #-9+ 0ANTONE 'REYSCALE WEB PROGRAMMING ISBN 978-0-9804552-1-2 USD $44.95 CAD $44.95 Visit us on the Web at sitepoint.com or for sales and support email books@sitepoint.com ALL SOURCE CODE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB is packed full of practical examples, straightforward explanations, and ready-to-use code samples in both C# and VB. The third edition of this comprehensive step-by-step guide will help get your database-driven ASP.NET web site up and running in no time. Learn how to set up the free software you need for ASP.NET. Choose either C# or VB: this book covers both languages. Build a complete web site from scratch using ASP.NET. Use the code examples for your future ASP.NET projects. Learn how to easily integrate data from Microsoft SQL Server. START BUILDING POWERFUL ASP.NET WEB APPLICATIONS TODAY! ASP.NET 3.5 BUILD YOUR OWN ASP.NET 3.5 WEB SITE USING C# & VB DARIE & BARNETT The book not only satisfies , it excites A must-read for avid beginners” aspalliance.com I have yet to find a better book” csharp-online.net The book not only satisfies it excites” aspnetpro.com coveraspnet3.indd 1 8/27/2008 11:04:40 AM BUILD YOUR OWN ASP.NET 3.5 WEB SITE USING C# & VB BY CRISTIAN DARIE & WYATT BARNETT 3RD EDITION THE ULTIMATE ASP.NET BEGINNER’S GUIDE Thank you for downloading the sample chapters of Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB published by SitePoint. This excerpt includes the Summary of Contents, Information about the Author, Editors and SitePoint, Table of Contents, Preface, four sample chapters from the book, and the index. We hope you find this information useful in evaluating this book. For more information or to order, visit sitepoint.com Summary of Contents of this Excerpt Preface xxi I. Introducing ASP.NET and the .NET Platform 1 2. ASP.NET Basics 25 3. VB and C# Programming Basics 45 4. Constructing ASP.NET Web Pages 93 Index 701 Summary of Additional Book Contents 5. Building Web Applications 153 6. Using the Validation Controls 223 7. Database Design and Development 259 8. Speaking SQL 303 9. ADO.NET 343 10. Displaying Content Using Data Lists 413 11. Managing Content Using Grid View and Details View 441 12. Advanced Data Access 483 13. Security and User Authentication 545 14. Working with Files and Email 591 15. ASP.NET AJAX 631 A. Web Control Reference 651 B. Deploying ASP.NET Web Sites 691 BUILD YOUR OWN ASP.NET 3.5 WEB SITE USING C# & VB BY CRISTIAN DARIE & WYATT BARNETT 3RD EDITION iv Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB by Cristian Darie and Wyatt Barnett Copyright © 2008 SitePoint Pty. Ltd. Expert Reviewer: Wyatt Barnett Editor: Georgina Laidlaw Managing Editor: Chris Wyness Index Editor: Russell Brooks Technical Editor: Andrew Tetlaw Cover Design: Alex Walker Cover Image: Lucas Chan Printing History: First Edition: April 2004 Second Edition: October 2006 Third Edition: September 2008 Notice of Rights All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Notice of Liability The author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information herein. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors and SitePoint Pty. Ltd., nor its dealers or distributors, will be held liable for any damages to be caused either directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book, or by the software or hardware products described herein. Trademark Notice Rather than indicating every occurrence of a trademarked name as such, this book uses the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Published by SitePoint Pty. Ltd. 48 Cambridge Street Collingwood VIC Australia 3066. Web: www.sitepoint.com Email: business@sitepoint.com ISBN 978-0-9804552-1-2 Printed and bound in the United States of America v About the Authors Cristian Darie is a software engineer with experience in a wide range of modern technologies, and the author of numerous technical books, including the popular Beginning E-Commerce series. Having worked with computers since he was old enough to use a keyboard, he initially tasted programming success with a prize in his first programming contest at the age of 12. From there, Cristian moved on to many other similar achievements, and is now studying distributed application architectures for his PhD. He always loves hearing feedback about his books, so don't hesitate to drop him a “hello” message when you have a spare moment. Cristian can be contacted through his personal web site at http://www.cristiandarie.ro. Wyatt Barnett leads the in-house development team for a major industry trade association in Washington DC. When not slinging obscene amounts of C# and SQL at a few exceedingly large monitors, he is most often spotted staring at HDTV and other forms of entertainment in local watering holes. He also writes for SitePoint's .NET blog, The Daily Catch. 1 About the Technical Editor Andrew Tetlaw has been tinkering with web sites as a web developer since 1997 and has also worked as a high school English teacher, an English teacher in Japan, a window cleaner, a car washer, a kitchen hand, and a furniture salesman. At SitePoint he is dedicated to making the world a better place through the technical editing of SitePoint books, kits, and articles. He is also a busy father of five, enjoys coffee, and often neglects his blog at http://tetlaw.id.au/. About the Technical Director As Technical Director for SitePoint, Kevin Yank oversees all of its technical publica- tions—books, articles, newsletters, and blogs. He has written over 50 articles for SitePoint, but is best known for his book, Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL. Kevin lives in Melbourne, Australia, and enjoys performing improvised comedy theater and flying light aircraft. About SitePoint SitePoint specializes in publishing fun, practical, and easy-to-understand content for web professionals. Visit http://www.sitepoint.com/ to access our books, newsletters, articles, and community forums. 1 http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/category/net/ To my family and friends. —Cristian Darie To my Father, whose guidance got me this far. —Wyatt Barnett [...]... Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) 701 Preface Web development is very exciting There’s nothing like the feeling you have after you place your first dynamic web site online, and see your little toy in action while other people are actually using it! Web development with ASP.NET is particularly exciting If you’ve never created a dynamic web site before,... the most out of each technology and tool Let’s begin! 2 Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB What is ASP.NET? ASP.NET is a sophisticated and powerful web development framework If you’ve never used ASP.NET before, it will likely take you some time and patience to grow accustomed to it Development with ASP.NET requires not only an understanding of HTML and web design, but also a firm grasp... processing of a simple ASP.NET page through a web browser Chapter 3: VB and C# Programming Basics In this chapter, we’ll look at two of the programming languages that are used to create ASP.NET pages: VB and C# You’ll learn about the syntax of the two languages as we explore the concepts of variables, data types, conditionals, Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) xxiii... http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=141 2 Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) xxvii The SitePoint Newsletters In addition to books like this one, SitePoint publishes free email newsletters includ­ ing The SitePoint Tribune and The SitePoint Tech Times In them, you’ll read about the latest news, product releases, trends, tips, and techniques for all aspects of web development If nothing... Acknowledgments I'd like to thank the SitePoint team, and especially Andrew Tetlaw, for being ex­ tremely supportive during the process of writing this book —Cristian Darie Order the print version of this book to get all 700+ pages! Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) Chapter 1 Introducing ASP.NET and the NET Platform ASP.NET is one of the most exciting web development technologies... Deploying ASP.NET Web Sites This appendix will show you, step by step, how to use Visual Web Developer and to move your web site from your development environment to a web hosting service and make it live on the Internet It also covers tips for choosing a reliable web host, ASP.NET deployment gotchas, and hints for using the SQL Server Hosting Toolkit to migrate your database The Book’s Web Site Located... access, retrieval, and manipulation We’ll start by looking at direct data access using ADO.NET’s data source controls We’ll then compare this approach with that of using data sets to access data in a disconnected fashion In this section, you’ll Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) xxv also learn to implement features such as paging, filtering, and sorting, using custom code... programming technologies and supported languages have been developed to create web applications; PHP, JSP, Ruby on Rails, CGI, and ColdFusion are just a few of the more popular ones However, rather than tying you Order the print version of this book to get all 700+ pages! 3 4 Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB to a specific technology and language, ASP.NET lets you write web applications in... formatting purposes only, and should be ignored URL.open("http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/05/28/user-style-she ➥ets-come-of-age/"); Tips, Notes, and Warnings Hey, You! Tips will give you helpful little pointers Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) xxix Ahem, Excuse Me … Notes are useful asides that are related—but not critical—to the topic at hand Think of them as extra... the server and used to generate the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, which is then sent to the browser Since the processing of the ASP.NET code occurs on the server, it’s called a server-side technology As Figure 1.1 shows, the client only sees the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS The server is entirely responsible for processing the server-side code Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB (www.sitepoint.com) . ASP. NET AJAX 631 A. Web Control Reference 651 B. Deploying ASP. NET Web Sites 691 BUILD YOUR OWN ASP. NET 3. 5 WEB SITE USING C# & VB BY CRISTIAN DARIE &. book” csharp-online .net The book not only satisfies it excites” aspnetpro.com coveraspnet3.indd 1 8/27/2008 11:04:40 AM BUILD YOUR OWN ASP. NET 3. 5 WEB SITE USING C#