Hello all,

This is for all the novices like me in the webhosting & programming world.


Originally called ASP+, ASP.NET is the next generation scripting lanugage from microsoft, with its object oriented abilities it promises to be better then the others, while it still maintains some of the concepts of ASP & XML like declarative coding, there are a few differences from its predecessors.

ASP.NET is a structure that is built on the basis of some common laguages which makes it capable of making really powerfu web applicatons i.e. unlike ASP it features server controls that enables better editing of web pages.

All the ASP.NET files have a .aspx file extension.

FEATURES

A really cool feature about ASP.NET is its automatic compile, ASP.NET automatically detects changes in the code and compiles it for us and notifies of any errors if any, also ASP now has dynamic compile, i.e. compiles automatically at runtime.


For the full utilisation of the features of ASP.NET you need to use visual studio.net which allows you get a drag and drop coding interface resulting inn much less coding although you can even code ASP.NET using a simple text editor like notepad.

ASP.NET is much more robust and reliable and deals with memory leaks and freezes efficiently, it automatically handles memory leaks, when a memory leak is detected a new copy of the script is made and execution starts on that copy, the older copy along with the memory leak is deleted once it finishes executing all the taks that were assigned to it previously.


previously ASP supported only a few .NET languages which in a way was a big problem for many developers, however ASP.NET now has in-built support for languages like C#, VB, JScript etc.. Best of all ASP.NET code is compatible with all the major browsers i.e. it works on almost all the browsers.


ASP.NET makes sure that your applications stay secure by its inbuilt windows authetication and per-application configuration.

(Some information from http://www.asp.net)

Hello all,


Here is some more information about ASP.Net

Some features of ASP.NET


Crash protection: ASP.NET has been designed to handle your memory leaks efficiently, whenever a memory leak is detected ASP.net creates another copy of itself, all new requests are directed to this new copy, the older copy is deleted along with the memory leak it created when it finishes executing the pending processes.

Memory Leaks - In order for a program to run it needs memory(RAM), after a application is terminated it should
normally free up the computer memory it has been using. However it sometimes does not happen which could be due to a result of a bug/design problem in the application.


Lets say that out of 4 applications 3 fail to release all or a significant part of the memory that they were using. This memory is now tied up, now if a new application is started it could be possible that the computer does not have enough
memory to provide it to run properly, resulting in a huge system slowdown or sometimes crashes.


Caching: ASP.Net allows you to build web applications that are fast, it does that by caching of compiled code, i.e.
certain pages can be cached into the memory, so that they don’t take a longer time to retrieve, now the trick here is that
this code is compiled, this is it is already converted into a machine readable format.


Caching/Cache MemoryIn a computer almost all of your applications and data are stored on your hard disk, whenever you access something the CPU first searches for it in the cache memory, if the data is there it is returned back
the user, otherwise the CPU searches for it in the Hard disk, once the data is found it is first transported to the RAM of your system, and then from to the cache memory and then it is returned to the user.

The memory of the cache depends on the PC configuration, as more and more data is stored in the cache the previous data has to be deleted, caching makes data access faster as if the data is already stored in the cache then it cuts out the step of searching in the memory.

Hello all,

Here are a few more things about ASP.NET that every novice should know.

In traditional ASP the executable code was written along with the HTML code i.e. some lines of HTML and then some lines of ASP and then some more lines of HTML & so on, for a beginner this make the code very difficult to understand also it is a tiring task to read or even modify such codes.

ASP.NET adderssed this issue as well with the help of three kinds of server controls.

A. HTML Server Controls.
B. Validation Server Controls.
C. Web Server Controls.

ASP.NET was designed with the issue of scalability in mind. ASP.NET is capable of being scaled over several servers at a time with very little loss of communication.

Scalability - In a broad sense of the term scalability in computing means being able to function properly or even better when there is a change in the environment in terms of volume or size.

ASP.net is not cross platform compatible though i.e. you cant play mix and match with it, as its been made by microsoft it can only run on microsoft IIS servers.

ASP.NET is not totally compatible with ASP i.e. it is not fully backwards compatible.

Some information from http://www.w3schools.com

Hello all,

Here are a few more things about ASP.NET


HTML server controls - Normally, all HTMl elements in ASP.NET files are treated as text. HTML server controls are basically HTML tags that are processed by the web server and not the browser i.e. these are HTML tags understood by the web server.

To make a HTML server control we use the runat = "server" attribute in the <form> tag, HTML server controls can only be placed within a <form> tag. We can use the 'id' attribute in order to give the HTML server control a custom defined name.

Some very common HTML server controls are HtmlImage, HtmlButton, HtmlAnchor etc. etc.

Hello all,

Here is some information on Web Server Controls in ASP.NET


Web Server Controls - Just like HTML server controls, web server controls are also created on the server once again requiring the 'runat' attribute in the <form> tag. However these controls are different from the HTML server controls as these are controls that are special ASP.NET tags that are recognised by the server.

Hello Everyone,

Here is some more 411 on ASP.NET

The Third and last control in ASP.NET is the


Validation Server control: As the name suggests, these are controls that perform some kind of validation on data entered by the user.

What is Validation: It is a way of checking that the data entered by the user is correct and relevant before a action is performed otherwise a error message is generated to the user. There can be many different kinds of validations.

For Example you might want to validate the age of a person, i.e. in a member registration form you might want the user to be of a specific age before S/he is allowed to register, you can do that by validating the age of the person and informing them if they are below the age.

Validations can also be used to make sure that a particular data is filled by the user for example the password field in some registration forms.

Another kind of validation that you can make is that a field should hold only a certain type of data, like the 'Name' Field in a form should only accept characters and if there are any other characters present then the user should be informed of the error.


ASP.NET comes bundled with a good amount of validation controls, like most languages it allows you to make your own
validation criteria as well

Again these controls must be coded in the <form> tag with the runat "server" attribute and a id.


for more information you can visit:
www.411asp.net
www.w3schools.com
www.codewanker.com

Hiya,

Thought I should mention the validation server controls in ASP.NET coz they are pretty important.

ASP.NET has got some 6 validation controls


CompareValidator - Is used to compare two different values, returns a Boolean expression.


RequiredFieldValidator - Is used to make sure that there is a value entered in a particular input control i.e. there has been a change of value in the input field, by default the value of such a field is set to "" and if there is no change in this value, it returns a error.


RegularExpressionValidator - You can use this to make sure that the data entered in a particular field is in a pattern defined by you, for example, there might be a field where you want the user to enter the phone number along with country and area code, you can check that the user enters the data in that pattern other wise show an error to the user.


ValidationSummary - This control returns a list of error messages generated by the various validation controls used on a web page.


RangeValidator - Used to check that the data entered by the user is in between a certain range, i.e. the data entered by the user must be between a certain upper & lower limit. You can use it for numbers, character & dates.
For ex: You might want the user to enter a month and so that implies that it should be between 1-12, anything else should normally generate an error. You specify the ranges by using the 'MaximumValue' & 'MinimumValue' property.


CustomValidator - Sometimes you want to perform a validation that is not provided in ASP.NET validation controls, so ASP.NET allows you to code a user defined validation and call it in the CustomValidator. Take the case of a registration form where you want the user to have at least 8 characters, so you write the code to check that and then use it through CustomValidator.

some information from www.w3schools.com & www.411asp.net

Hello all,

Back with some more information on ASP.NET, lets talk in detail about web server controls :P

AdRotator - This control is erally useful if you want to display advertisements on your site, by using this control, you can just giev the paths of the ad images you want to show along with their URL's & then every time the page is loaded it cycles through these ads and picks one.

You can also set the priority of which ad should be shown more often by using the <impressions> tag.


Button - Used to create a clickable button, you can use this to perform a action when clicked by the user, by default it submits the information on the page backto the web server, but it can also be programmed to perfrom some other action.

Calender - Displays a calender in a very pretty graphical format, you can also move back and forth between in this calender, add notes & events for a particular day.

CheckBox - Used for displaying a Checkbox . You can set its property to be checked by default.

Data Grid - The data grid control can display data in the form of a table, also it provides functioanlity to modify the data.

Data List - Similar to Data Grid in the sense that it also displays data, but here you can specify how it will be displayed through the use of templates & styles.

Drop Down List - This allows you to create a drop-down list, from which the user can chose a particular option. Once a option has been selected it can also be automatically sent back to the server without the user having to click on any 'submit' or 'go' button.

HyperLink - Allows you to create a link.

Image - Allows you to display a image on the page.


Any comments/suggestions/corrections are welcome


Some info from: www.4guysfromrolla.com

Hey all,

Just continuing where I left off from about web server controls.



Image Button - Very similar to the button control, however in place of a clickable button, there is a image. When the image is clicked with the mouse it executes a certain function which is defined in the 'onClick' property of the image control.

Link Button - Use this to create buttons that open a new link, it has the functionality of the button control but the looks of a hyperlink control.

Label - This control is used to specify some text that will be displayed on the web page, it is normally used for displaying dynamic text on the web page, i.e. show some text after a certain event has taken place.


List Box - Creates a list box that shows the user many choices or options, you can change the property of this box to make it a single or multiple selection box.


Any comments/suggestions/corrections are welcome

You can find more details about web sever controls at www.411asp.net & www.w3schools.com

Hi all,

Here Some more Web Serve Controls.


Literal - Just like the Label control, lets you display text on web pages, only does not allow you to apply styles.

Panel - This is a container control, you can group other controls within this control and then use them together.

Place Holder - There may be some controls that you want to appear dynamically i.e. after a certain event takes place, and you want them to appear at a particular place on your page, it is at that time that place holder control is really useful, you can reserve a place for such kind of controls on your page and then when that event occurs the control will appear on the position where the place holder control has been placed.

Radio Button - Displays a Radio Button on the page, you can use radio buttons to help the user make a choice from a list of choices.

Radio Button List - The radio button list is much ore useful if you have got a lot of choices and you want the user to make only one choice, it binds radio buttons together and allows the user to make only one choice.

Any Suggestions/Comments/Corrections welcome

Some information from www.411asp.net & www.aspalliance.com

Hi all,

This is a wrap up of the rest of the web server controls.


Repeater - It displays the items from a source defined by you in a certain template way, It does not have a predefined way/template for displaying data by itself, you have to define one yourself before using it.

Table - Use this to create a table, used along with the next two controls to make a proper table. You can insert HTML elements like 'text' and/ or controls into a table.

Table Cell - Creates in a cell in a table created with the Table Control.

Table Row - Inserts a row in a table that has been created with the use of
Table Control.

Text Box - Inserts a text box, you can define it to be multi-line text box or single line by changing its 'TextMode' property.

Xml - Reads from an XML file and then puts the output from the resultant code onto the web page at the specified position.

Any suggestions/corrections/additions welcome

Some information from http://www.411asp.net

Hi all,

Just wanted to tell something to all the newbies about the various HTML server controls

Normally, all HTML elements in a ASP.NET file are treated as normal text, however, in order to process a HTML element at the server, you need to add a runat = "server" property in the form and the Html tags.

Once you do that you can programmatically control a Html element, in fact all the HTML controls allow you to control some or the other Html tag at the server.

Here is a list of the various HTML server controls along with the Html tag that they control.

HtmlAnchor - Used for controlling the <a> tag, which is associated with hyper linking.

HtmlButton - Controls the <button> tag.

HtmlForm - Controls forms.

HtmlGeneric - All those Html controls for which there is no specific Html server control are handled by this control, for ex: <body>, <div>, <span>, etc.

HtmlImage - Controls the image tags.

HtmlInputButton - Controls the submit, reset & button HTML elements.

HtmlInputCheckBox - Controls the checkbox element.

HtmlInputFile - Controls the file element.

HtmlInputHidden - Controls the hidden element.

Any suggestion/Corrections/Additions welcome

Some info from www.411asp.net & www.aspalliance.com

Hi all,


Some more HTML Server Controls.


HtmlInputImage - Use this when the browser does not support DHTML and/or the HtmlButton, this control is used for the <input type="image"> HTML element allowing you to Create a graphical button, i.e. you can create a button using a image, instead of a regular button.

HtmlInputRadioButton - Controls the <input type="radio">, use this to create & control radio buttons on a web page, you can group multiple radio buttons together using the 'name' property, just provide the same value, once radio buttons are grouped together, you can only select one button from that group, i.e. you are allowed to make only one choice.

HtmlInputText - Controls <input type="text"> and <input type="password"> HTML elements, text boxes are created on the page with the use of this control. When the input type is set to 'password' the values entered in the text field are masked i.e. instead of numbers and word '*' are displayed. These controls are normally used to accept inputs from the user.

HtmlSelect - Controls a <select> HTML element i.e. a drop down list box, you can also specify this drop down box to be either just a list box using the 'size property' or a multiple selection list box by using the 'multiple' property, in which case it ceases to be a drop-down box and just becomes a list box.


Any suggestions/corrections/comment welcome

Some information from www.411asp.net

Hey everyone,

Just finishing off the rest of the HTML server controls.

HtmlTable - Controls the <table> HTML element, allows you to customise a HTML table on a page by giving access to various table properties like background colour, border colour, visibility, inner html etc. etc. this control is normally used in conjunction with the table row and table cell control.

HtmlTableRow - Controls the <tr> HTML element, after creating the table, you need to put rows into it and then you place the data in a cell of that row, the HtmlTableRow is used after the HtmlTable control and allows you to manipulate the rows in a table by giving access to various properties like the background colour of the table row, its height etc.

HtmlTableCell - Controls the <td>and <th> HTML tags. This is the last of the table controls in HTML controls, this control is normally used after the HtmlTableRow control has been used i.e. this one manipulates the actual data inside a cell, this too gives access to cell properties like background colour, alignment etc.

HtmlTextArea - Controls a <textarea> HTML tag. Manipulates the multi line textbox crated using the <textarea> tag. you can adjust the height and width of the textarea etc.

Any suggestions/corrections/comment welcome

Some information from www.411asp.net & www.w3schools.com

Hi all,

Just wanted to talk a bit about ASP.Net Event Handlers:

An event handler is basically a action that takes place after a event is triggered i.e. a piece of code of executed following some action triggered by the user.

For example: After clicking on the ‘Submit’ button on a web page, all the information in the various fields on that page are submitted back to the server. So, the event here is the clicking of the ‘Submit’ button and the action to that is submission of the information back to the user.

Another example could be, that a piece of code is executed every time a page is loaded.

As piece of code here could be to display the current time and date every time a page is loaded, you can easily do this by using the ‘Page_Load’ event handler of ASP.NET and then writing the relevant code in it

Any comments/suggestions/corrections welcome

Some information from www.411asp.net

That was really helpfull and i think this topic should be Sticky.

Thank you Ashish

wow, thanks for that Diesel

But, For sometime now, I have been posting various things in this thread about ASP.NET.

However now I feel the time is ripe to stop talking about it, as already much has been said.

For those who are interested in learning more about ASP.NET, here is a list of sites in no particular order that I have found extremely useful myself.

www.w3schools.com
www.aspalliance.com
www.411asp.net
www.code******.com
www.msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net
www.4guysfromrolla.com
www.asp101.com
www.asp.net

Hope you all have a great time learning ASP.NET, Good Luck & Have fun

cool.....