FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Login control FAQ :

anas — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:31:50 GMT

This post contains some of the most asked questions when using login control.

1- how to redirect users to different pages based on their roles.

This can be done by handling the LoggedIn event of the Login control.

protected void Login1_LoggedIn(object sender, EventArgs e)    {
        // if there is no returnUrl in the query string , we redirect based on user role
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.QueryString["ReturnUrl"]))
        {
            // please don't use User.IsInRole here , because it will not be populated yet at this stage.
            if (Roles.IsUserInRole(Login1.UserName, "Admins"))
                Response.Redirect("~/Admins/Default.aspx");
            else if (Roles.IsUserInRole(Login1.UserName, "Editors"))
                Response.Redirect("~/Editors/Default.aspx");
        }
    }

2- how to hide the login control from the logged in users ?

To hide the login control for the logged in users , set it’s VisibleWhenLoggedIn property to false.

<asp:Login ID="Login1" runat="server" VisibleWhenLoggedIn="False" …

You can also use the LoginView control to accomplish that :

    <asp:LoginView ID="LoginView1" runat="server">
        <AnonymousTemplate>
            <asp:Login ID="Login1" runat="server">
            </asp:Login>
        </AnonymousTemplate>
    </asp:LoginView>

3-How to hide “remember me next time” checkbox ?

You may need to prevent the users from checking “remember me next time” checkbox to prevent crating a persistent authentication cookie.

To do that , you just need to set it’s DisplayRememberMe property to “false” and then you need to set it’s RememberMeSet property.

If you want to force the website to remember the users , you set the RememberMeSet property to true, else you set it to false.

<asp:Login ID="Login1" runat="server" DisplayRememberMe="false" RememberMeSet="false" …

4-How to use the login control with my existing users table ?

By default,Login control will use the membership provider to validate users credentials , but if you already have your custom users table , you can use the login control like this :

protected void  Login1_Authenticate(object sender, System.Web.UI.WebControls.AuthenticateEventArgs e)
    {
        string userName = Login1.UserName;
        string password = Login1.Password;

        bool result = UserLogin(userName, password);
        if ((result))
        {
            e.Authenticated = true;
        }
        else
        {
            e.Authenticated = false;
        }
    }

    private bool UserLogin(string userName, string password)
    {

        // read the coonection string from web.config 
        string conString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConnectionStringName"].ConnectionString;

        using (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection con = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection(conString))
        {
            //' declare the command that will be used to execute the select statement 
            SqlCommand com = new SqlCommand("SELECT UserName FROM Users WHERE UserName = @UserName AND Password = @Password", con);

            // set the username and password parameters
            com.Parameters.Add("@UserName",  SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = userName;
            com.Parameters.Add("@Password",  SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = password;

            //' execute the select command 
            try
            {
                con.Open();
                //' execute the select statment 
                string result =Convert.ToString( com.ExecuteScalar());
                //' check the result 
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(result))
                {
                    //invalid user/password , return flase 
                    return false;
                }
                else
                {
                    // else return true , valid login 
                    return true;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw;
            }
        }
    }

5-I don’t want the login control to render as html table , instead i want it to render as div , how to do that ?

You can use the CSS friendly control adapters , check this link.

6- I’m getting invalid login after i published my website , the user name and password was working locally , what’s the problem ?

One possible reason is the applicationName in membership configuration, check this link for more information .

7-After i published my website , I’m getting System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider' requires a database schema compatible with schema version '1' .. error ,what to do ?

One possible reason is that the published version of "aspnet_SchemaVersions" table doesn't have the correct values , please make sure that it have the values like below :

Feature	CompatibleSchemaVersion	IsCurrentVersion
common	1	TRUE
health monitoring	1	TRUE
membership	1	TRUE
personalization	1	TRUE
profile	1	TRUE
role manager	1	TRUE

8-How to display the login in popup ?

http://weblogs.asp.net/lkempe/archive/2007/01/28/login-control-in-an-asp-net-ajax-toolkit-popupcontrolextender-with-a-close-button.aspx

9- How can i log the invalid login attempts ?

You can handle the LoginError event of the login control :

    protected void Login1_LoginError(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // here you can login the invalid attempts
        string UserName = Login1.UserName;
        string Password = Login1.Password;
        // log the attempt 

    }

10-I' specified my website users in the credential section in web.config , can i still use the login control ?

Yes you can , you just need to handle the login control authenticate event .

Assume you have this Credential section in web.config :

<authentication mode="Forms">
    <forms>
        <credentials passwordFormat="Clear">
            <user name="User1" password="****" />
            <user name="User2" password="****" />
        </credentials>
    </forms>
</authentication>

You can let the login control use the mentioned section like this :

    protected void Login1_Authenticate(object sender, System.Web.UI.WebControls.AuthenticateEventArgs e)
    {
        string UserName = Login1.UserName;
        string Password = Login1.Password;

        if (FormsAuthentication.Authenticate(UserName, Password))
        {
            e.Authenticated = true;
        }
        else
        {
            e.Authenticated = false;
        }
    }

The FormsAuthentication.Authenticate method will automatically check users against the credential section.

11- I'm not using FormsAuthenticaiton, instead I'm using the session object to secure my website , can i still use the login control ?

Yes , you can use it , please read my post about this.

Hope it helps.

Sending an SMS Message with ASP.NET

vcsjones — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:38:37 GMT

Often times it may be a requirement for your web application to send an SMS message. Such examples would be reminders, password resetting, and spam.

Q: Can I have some code to send an SMS message?

A: Unfortunately it isn't as simple as just copying and pasting some code into your application and you can start blasting out text messages. SMS is a service, and cellular carriers will charge for it. The cost varies by carrier. SMS is a standard defined set of protocols that is authenticated to. When you contact a cellular company they will provide you with a username, password, gateway (sometimes called an Endpoint), and various other protocol related configurations.

There are several existing .NET SMS SDKs out there - some are free and open source - but that doesn't change the fact that ultimately, those SDKs need endpoints configuration and you are back to the problem of needing a provider.

Q: OK - How do I get in touch with a company to send an SMS?

A: Most often than not it isn't feasible to contact a cellular company themselves. If you were to contact say, Verizon, you would only be able to send an SMS to Verizon phones. So you would have to partner with individual carriers - then there is the pain of figuring out which number belongs to which carrier. The easiest solution is to go to a 3rd party company that handles all of the messy work for you. This gives you an advantage of sending them in a simple manner and also not needing to know or understand how the SMPP protocol (or whatever protocol they are using - there are many) works as they will almost always provide an SDK or Web Service of their own.

Q: What 3rd party Gateway Provider should I use?

A: It varies by country, but a popular one that is somewhat regional is Clickatell. (Disclaimer - I do not work for them nor have I used their services - I found them via Google). They also provide their own SDK with sample code.

Here is a list of other ones: http://www.developershome.com/sms/smsGatewayProvComp.asp

Q: I want a vanity or custom shortcode, like 134569 instead of a phone number.

A: That depends on the gateway provider. Clickatell allows you to rent one.

Q: We are going to be using A LOT of SMS messages - what if I want my own gateway?

A: If you want to setup your own gateway, then you will need some physical hardware are well as software. Kannel is a popular open source SMS Gateway that runs on Unix like operating systems. You will still need to contact an SMS Center and this does not mean you can start sending out SMS messages for free.

Good luck with your application.

Alternative ASP.NET Menu Control - Accessible and Standards Compliant

jeremydramos — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:02:21 GMT

Hi ALL,

I am just submitting this for information, also to add a relevant topic within asp.net forums for search engine searches regarding an alternative ASP.NET Menu control that is accessible and standards compliant.

First of all, I would like to thank Chris Love for his comment on one of my posts which introduced me to the CSS friendly Menu Control.

The built-in ASP.NET Menu control is encapsulated as a menu of browser incompatibilities and accessibility problems.

The CodePlex community has developed a CSS adapter solution for ASP.NET menu control (and lots of other control i.e. Tree view, Grid view etc.) to override its rendering mechanism using plainly stylesheets and C# compiled javascripts. I have tested its compatibility and accessibility and worked seamlessly compliant to WCAG.

You can download this in http://cssfriendly.codeplex.com/

This is very simple to implement in just 4 easy steps:

Add a reference to your CSSFriendly.dll in your project
Create a .browser file (you can copy the content from the download file) - this basically tells your control to inherit itself from your adapters
Link a stylesheet to your page - this is where you will define the style of your menu
On your menu control, add this attribute in <asp:Menu> tag: CssSelectorClass="YourCSSFriendlyMenuStyle"

The download file contains all the information you will need including full control on customization.

I hope this will prove helpful as reference to all especially to search engine searchers.

Best regards,

Jeremy Ramos

Why is there an ASP.NET account on my machine?

RHoward — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 14:28:33 GMT

When you installed updates or new software on your computer, you installed the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1, which contains a common runtime application that may be required by applications you’re running. During this installation, an account named ASP.NET is created. If your computer previously displayed your desktop immediately after starting, you may notice a ‘Welcome’ screen when you start the computer with your existing user account and the ASP.NET account. This happened because there are now two accounts on your computer.

The account does not allow remote or interactive login and only has "guest" level permissions. Therefore, it cannot be used by another individual or by Microsoft to log in to your machine.

If you’re just using your computer for personal use (i.e. if you’re not a software developer who needs develop and test software with Internet Information Services (IIS)) you can safely remove this account in one of the following ways:

1) Delete the account, leaving the .NET Framework installed:
• Launch the Computer Management tool within your Administrative Tools folder (under Control Panel)
• Select the Local Users and Groups node
• Click the Users sub node, highlighting the ASPNET account
• Right click the highlighted account and choose delete

2) Uninstall the .NET Framework (note: this will cause applications using .NET Framework to stop working):
• Open the Control Panel
• Open Add/Remove Programs
• Select Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
• Click Change/Remove

Either of these approaches will completely remove the account from your system.

More information about this problem is available on Microsoft’s website at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827072

Best ASP.NET FAQ for Interviews

Gopinath — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 18:07:19 GMT

Hi All,

I would like share some best ASP.NET FAQ Interview Questions ans Answers web sites.

Here Some best sites,

1) http://www.syncfusion.com/faq/aspnet/default.aspx

2) http://www.aspnetfaq.com

3) http://www.planet-source-code.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=4081&lngWId=10 ( Answers will be avilable in the downloadable document.-at bottom)

4) http://blogs.crsw.com/mark/articles/254.aspx, & http://blog.daveranck.com/archive/2005/01/20/355.aspx

5) http://www.techinterviews.com/?p=176 & http://www.techinterviews.com/?p=193

Please reply for new ASP.NET Faq sites.

Regards,

Gopinath, gopinathnet@gmail.com

Using SQL Server Stored Procedure for implementing Custom Paging

ranganh — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:19:24 GMT

Hi,

All of us would have implemented Paging in our applications.

Paging is particularly useful if you have lots of records to be displayed on a page and you can't get them displayed in one stretch. Say we have 1000 records to be displayed in a page. In this scenario, we cannot show up all the records in a single stretch in the page. Hence we need to implement Paging functionality whereby users can see a set of records and then click on a Button/Link to view the next set of records.

This <a href="http://aspnet_harish.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_aspnet_harish_archive.html">Article</a> is useful to retrieve records in sets for displaying and useful in implementing custom paging.

Thanks.

FAQ: Why do dynamic controls disappear on postback and not raise events?

mbanavige — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:50:21 GMT

One common error that many have run into when first starting out with creating dynamic page controls is an incorrect assumption that those dynamic controls will survive page postbacks.

For example - a common scenario is to:

Declare a button (Button1) in your page markup
Add an event handler for Button1 and in that handler, create a new dynamic button (Button2)
Wire up and event handler for Button2
Page loads an you see Button1
Click on Button1 and the page posts-back Button1's Click event fires and you now see Button1 and Button2
Click on Button2 and...the page posts-back, Button2 disappears and no event for Button2 is raised.

What happened to Button2?

Since Button2 is not part of your pages declared markup, the framework has no way to know if it should be recreated or not on a postback. You'll need to keep track of the fact that you have
created dynamic control(s) and you will need to add the necessary code to recreate those dynamic control(s) yourself on all subsequent page postbacks. In order for your dynamic control(s)
to work correctly, you'll need to get them all recreated by the Page_Load event at the latest.

The following example demonstrates how to toggle between 2 different sets of dynamic controls and how to handle events raised from those controls. In this example, I've chosen ViewState as the place where i will store the information needed to know which dynamic controls need to be recreated on a postback.

First - here's the basic page markup:

    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            <hr />
            <asp:Button ID="cmdAlphabet" runat="server" Text="Load Alphabet" />
            <asp:Button ID="cmdNumbers" runat="server" Text="Load Numbers" />
            <asp:Label ID="lblViewStateValue" runat="server" Text="" EnableViewState="false"></asp:Label>
            <hr />
            <asp:PlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolder1" runat="server"></asp:PlaceHolder>
            <hr />
            <asp:Label ID="lblClickResult" runat="server" Text="" EnableViewState="false"></asp:Label>
        </div>
    </form>

And here's the associated codebehind:

Partial Class DynamicControls
    Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

    Const ALPHABET_SELECTION As String = "ALPHABET"
    Const NUMBER_SELECTION As String = "NUMBERS"
    Const VIEWSTATEKEY_DYNCONTROL As String = "DynamicControlSelection"

    'store property value in viewstate so that it will survive postbacks
    Private Property DynamicControlSelection() As String
        Get
            Dim result As String = ViewState.Item(VIEWSTATEKEY_DYNCONTROL)
            If result Is Nothing Then
                'doing things like this lets us access this property without
                'worrying about this property returning null/Nothing
                Return String.Empty
            Else
                Return result
            End If
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As String)
            ViewState.Item(VIEWSTATEKEY_DYNCONTROL) = value
        End Set
    End Property

    Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
      Handles Me.Load
        'running this code on every page_load - even when it's a postback
        'check our page property (that we stored in viewstate) to see 
        'if we need to load a specific set of dynamic controls
        Select Case Me.DynamicControlSelection
            Case ALPHABET_SELECTION
                CreateDynamicAlphabetLinks()

            Case NUMBER_SELECTION
                CreateDynamicNumberButtons()

            Case Else
                'no dynamic controls need to be loaded...yet
        End Select

    End Sub

    Private Sub onClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        'all of the dynamic linkbuttons/buttons will trigger this event handler
        'since we used both linkbuttons and regular buttons for our dynamic controls, 
        'we will cast the sender control to an interface that is common to both
        'of those button controls - the IButtonControl interface
        Dim btn As IButtonControl = DirectCast(sender, IButtonControl)
        Me.lblClickResult.Text = _
           String.Format("You clicked - CommandName: {0}  CommandArgument: {1}", _
             btn.CommandName, btn.CommandArgument)
    End Sub

    Protected Sub cmdAlphabet_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
      Handles cmdAlphabet.Click
        'user is selecting to show the dynamic Alphabet buttons
        Me.CreateDynamicAlphabetLinks()
    End Sub

    Protected Sub cmdNumbers_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
      Handles cmdNumbers.Click
        'user is selecting to show the dynamic Number buttons
        Me.CreateDynamicNumberButtons()
    End Sub

    Private Sub CreateDynamicAlphabetLinks()

        'clear the placeholder first - in case something else was dynamically loaded
        Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Clear()

        'dynamically create a series of linkbuttons
        For keycode As Integer = 65 To 90 'one for each letter in the alphabet
            Dim lnk As New LinkButton

            'assign the ID ourself to make sure it is consistent
            'if you let the framework assign it, the dynamic control may
            'not behave correctly
            lnk.ID = "alpha_" & keycode.ToString
            lnk.Text = Chr(keycode)

            'we'll add a CommandName and a CommandArgument
            'so we can determine what was clicked when the event is raised
            lnk.CommandName = "ALPHABET"
            lnk.CommandArgument = Chr(keycode)

            'have them all use the same event handler
            AddHandler lnk.Click, AddressOf onClick

            'add these dynamic controls to our strategically place placeholder control
            'the position of the placeholder determines 
            'where on the page the dynamic controls will appear
            Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(lnk)
            Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(New LiteralControl(" ")) 'space them out
        Next

        'VERY IMPORTANT -> remember that we created these controls for the next postback
        Me.DynamicControlSelection = ALPHABET_SELECTION

    End Sub

    Private Sub CreateDynamicNumberButtons()

        'clear the placeholder first - in case something else was dynamically loaded
        Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Clear()

        'dynamically create a series of button controls
        For number As Integer = 0 To 25
            Dim btn As New Button
            'assign the ID ourself to make sure it is consistent
            'if you let the framework assign it, the dynamic control may
            'not behave correctly
            btn.ID = "number_" & number.ToString
            btn.Text = number.ToString

            'we'll add a CommandName and a CommandArgument
            'so we can determine what was clicked when the event is raised
            btn.CommandName = "NUMBER"
            btn.CommandArgument = number.ToString

            'have them all use the same event handler
            AddHandler btn.Click, AddressOf onClick

            'add these dynamic controls to our strategically place placeholder control
            'the position of the placeholder determines 
            'where on the page the dynamic controls will appear
            Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(btn)
            Me.PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(New LiteralControl(" ")) 'space them out
        Next

        'VERY IMPORTANT -> remember that we created these controls for the next postback
        Me.DynamicControlSelection = NUMBER_SELECTION

    End Sub

    Protected Sub Page_PreRender(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
      Handles Me.PreRender
        Me.lblViewStateValue.Text = Me.DynamicControlSelection
    End Sub
End Class

ASP.NET 2.0 - Enter Key - Default Submit Button

ranganh — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 15:31:31 GMT

Hi,

One of the most annoying things in developing web pages is handling the "Enter key" for form submission. Enter key has been the favourite way users like to submit forms. Though we provide Buttons to click on, the easiest and intuitive way is that, I can enter some text, make some changes and then hit "Enter" to accomplish my submission.

"Enter" Key is handled in a little tricky way by uplevel browsers like Internet Explorer, when it comes to ASP.NET.

If there is a single Textbox and single button, then it becomes straight forward, the button is submitted. However, the event code doesnt get executed, though the page postsback.

If there are two or more, buttons, then it takes up the first button as the default button. However, it still doesnt execute the event handler but just refreshes the page.

You can supress the Enter key event using Javascript. But this would result in other undesirable effects like, any Enter key in the form i.e. within Text Area or basically where large text is entered, would be disabled.

The earlier work around was to associate a javascript function to each Button to verify the that the relevant button is submitted upon Enter key.

ASP.NET 2.0 introduces a wonderful work around for this. By simply specifying the "defaultbutton" property to the ID of the <asp:Button>, whose event you want to fire, your job is done.

The defaultbutton property can be specified at the Form level in the form tag as well as at panel level in the <asp:panel> definition tag. The form level setting is overridden when specified at the panel level, for those controls that are inside the panel.

Also, the Event Handler for the specified button, fires thereby simulating a true submit button functionality.

The following sample code contains a form and 4 panels with each of them containing different buttons. It can be noticed that for each panel, there is a default button specified which would trigger the corresponding button's event handler when "Enter" Key is pressed upon a text changed event.

<form id="form1" runat="server" defaultbutton="btn1">

<div>

<asp:TextBox ID="txt" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:Button ID="Button5" runat="server" Text="Cancel" OnClick="Button5_Click" />

<asp:Button ID="btn1" runat="server" Text="Submit" OnClick="btn1_Click" />

<asp:Panel ID="pnl1" runat="server" defaultbutton="Button1">

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox2" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button1" OnClick="Button1_Click" />

</asp:Panel>

<asp:Panel ID="Panel1" runat="server" defaultbutton="Button2">

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox4" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:Button ID="Button2" runat="server" Text="Button2" OnClick="Button2_Click" />

</asp:Panel>

<asp:Panel ID="Panel2" runat="server" defaultbutton="Button3">

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox5" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox6" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:Button ID="Button3" runat="server" Text="Button3" OnClick="Button3_Click" />

</asp:Panel>

<asp:Panel ID="Panel3" runat="server" defaultbutton="Button4">

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox7" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox8" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>

<asp:Button ID="Button4" runat="server" Text="Button4" OnClick="Button4_Click" />

</asp:Panel>

</div>

</form>

The corresponding, sample events for the button clicks are

protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(Button1.Text);
}

protected void Button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(Button2.Text);
}

protected void Button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(Button3.Text);
}

protected void Button4_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(Button4.Text);
}

protected void btn1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(btn1.Text);
}

protected void Button5_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Write(Button5.Text);
}

Once we execute the above functionality, we can notice, the corresponding Buttons' text are displayed when the Enter key is pressed from within a panel and at the form level, it fires the btn1 Button's event.

Thanks.

ASP.NET - Silverlight XAP FAQ

erikreitan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:04:31 GMT

(This information relates to Silverlight 2 Beta 2)

What does XAP mean?

XAP (pronounced ZAP) is the file extension for a Silverlight-based application package (.xap). This file contains the compressed assemblies and resources of a Silverlight 2 application.

What is a .xap file?

A .xap file is a Silverlight-based application package (.xap) that is generated when the Silverlight project is built.

Why is XAP important?

Tools, such as Visual Studio 2008 with the Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008, allow you to create Silverlight applications that are heavily client based using managed code. You can use managed code, such as C# or Visual Basic, and benefit by using the tools that you are used to working with.

How does XAP work?

Once you have created the .xap file (explained below), the Silverlight 2 plug-in downloads the file and runs it in a separate work space.

How do I use a .xap file?

A .xap file is used to contain and transfer the assemblies and resources of a managed code application. This managed code application must be run within the Silverlight 2 browser plug-in.

Where can I find the Silverlight 2 Beta 2 plug-in?

http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/resources/install.aspx?v=2.0

What are the Compatible Operating Systems and Browsers for the Silverlight 2 plug-in?

Compatible Operating Systems and Browsers

How can I view the contents of a .xap file?

To view the contents of a .xap file you can rename the extension of the .xap file to .zip. Then view the .zip file using any standard .zip utility.

What are the files contained in the .xap file?

A basic xap file will have an assembly related to specific code for the application, an application manifest file and any additional assemblies need to run the application. At a minimum, two files are needed, the application manifest file and the application assembly.

For example:

AppManifest.xaml

MyPianoV2.dll

What is contained in the AppManifest.xaml file?

The AppManifest.xaml file contains the deployment details needed to run the application.

Basic example:

For more information, see Katrien De Graeve blog post titled Silverlight 2: structure of the new .XAP file (Silverlight packaged application).

How can I view the contents of the project related assembly?

You can use any dll inspection utility. Here’s an example of the contents of myPianoV2.dll:

What tools support creating .xap files?

· Visual Studio 2008 using the Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008.

· Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview

· Chiron.exe – Located in the Tools folder of your Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008 installation. For more information see, Dynamic Languages in Silverlight 2.

I’m unable to display the contents of the .xap file when I run the application in a Web page within the browser?

Check the following:

· Make sure you are using the Silverlight 2 Beta 2 plug-in.

· Make sure you have the XAP mime type set for IIS (see below).

· Check to be sure you included your resources, such as graphics, with your Silverlight Application (see below).

· Make sure the .xap file is contained in the ClientBin folder of your Web application.

· Check the Silverlight Tools page for additional troubleshooting details.

What is the XAP mime type?

The .xap mime type is:

application/x-silverlight

For more information, see Michael Schwarz blog post and Microsoft Help and Support.

How can I create a .xap file in Visual Studio?

1. Install the following:

· Visual Studio 2008.

· The .NET Framework version 3.5.

· Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008.

· Silverlight version 2 Beta 2 plug-in.

2. Follow the steps in the following walkthrough to create a .xap file:
Walkthrough: Integrating XAML into an ASP.NET Web Site Using Managed Code

What managed programming languages can I use to create a Silverlight 2 application?

C#, Visual Basic

What dynamic programming languages can I use to create a Silverlight 2 application?

IronPython, IronRuby, and Managed JScript

For more information, see Programming Silverlight with Dynamic Languages and Dynamic Languages in Silverlight 2.

How do I run the Silverlight 2 application (including the .xap file) with the Silverlight 2 plug-in?

You can use the ASP.NET Silverlight Server Control to reference your .xap file. Specifically, you use the Source property to reference the XAP application package. The Version must be set as well.

Code contained in an .aspx file:

<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server"></asp:ScriptManager> <asp:Silverlight runat="server" ID="Silverlight1" Height="340" Width="320" Source="MyPianoV2.xap">

Is there an example of a Silverlight 2 Beta 2 .xap application available?

Yes.

Code (C# & VB) that shows how to include a .xap file in a Web page.

Example that shows a running Silverlight 2 Beta 2 application. Note: You will need to install the current runtime plug-in, unless you already have it installed. After installing, close all browser windows and click the Example link.

How do I include resources with my Silverlight 2 application?

The example above shows one way to include resources in a Silverlight 2 application. However, Katrien De Graeve has a blog entry titled Different ways for loading images and files in Silverlight 2 applications that explains how to include resources in more detail.

What is the XmlXapResolver class?

The XmlXapResolver class is used to resolve resources that are contained in the Silverlight application’s XAP package.

What about the XACT Project File Format (.xap)? Is this the same file type as a Silverlight .xap file?

This file type is not related to Silverlight.

The Xbox Audio Creation Tool Project File format (.xap), is read and written by the XACT authoring tool (xact.exe), is utilized by the command-line build environment (xactbld.exe), and contains all of the instructions necessary to generate XACT content. It is a complete description of all XACT wave banks, sound banks, and global settings. For more information see, XACT Project File Format (.xap).

Can you point me to additional information?

Yes. Here are a number of links that you may find interesting and helpful.

ASP.NET Controls for Silverlight – ASP.NET Documentation that includes code and running examples.

System.Web.UI.SilverlightControls Namespace – ASP.NET Documentation - managed reference.

Sys.UI.Silverlight (client) Namespace – ASP.NET Documentation – client reference

Silverlight FAQ

Why Silverlight?

Silverlight Resources

Silverlight 2 Beta 2 and Silverlight Streaming

Scott Guthrie’s - Silverlight 2 Beta2 Released

Solution to the FindControl problem

justSomeone — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:12:47 GMT

I have seen may posts about having problems with the FindControl method. Most seem to come about because the control being searched for is nested within a container other than the webform.

I came across this code (sorry dont remember the web site) that I have posted in response to many of the posts related to this type of problem. I thought it would be easier if I post this code here for others to find.

/// <summary>

/// Finds a Control recursively. Note finds the first match that exists

/// </summary>

/// <param name="ContainerCtl">Should be the lowest container in the heirarchy, for eg dont choose Master page if you can pick the specific panel</param>

/// <param name="IdToFind">ID of the control you are looking for</param>

/// <returns>the control if found else null</returns>

private static Control FindControlRecursive(Control Root, string Id)

{

if (Root.ID == Id)

return Root;

foreach (Control Ctl in Root.Controls)

{

Control FoundCtl = FindControlRecursive(Ctl, Id);

if (FoundCtl != null)

return FoundCtl;

}

return null;

}

How to move databases between computers that are running SQL Server

Caddre — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:37:41 GMT

I recommend Backup and Restore because it also move your permissions, there is a known issue of orphaned permissions, meaning the permissions are created in the Master database but not in your database. The quick solution delete the restore and create a new one. Please download and read the free backup and restore chapter from SQL Server 2005 a beginner’s guide.

If you use another method remember to check your permissions if they were not moved you need to follow the direction in the section dealing with moving your logins. Hope this helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314546/en-us

http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/getbook.php?isbn=0072260939&template

textbox databinding to a Sql Database.

mikedopp — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:24:54 GMT

Not sure if anyone else is banging their head or not.

However I here is how to databind a textbox to a SQL Database using a sqldata control.

Here is the code behind

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

    }
    protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        SqlDataSource1.InsertParameters["Title"].DefaultValue = txtTitle.Text.ToString();
        SqlDataSource1.InsertParameters["Body"].DefaultValue = txtBody2.Text.ToString();
        SqlDataSource1.InsertParameters["StartDate"].DefaultValue = MyDateStartTB1.Text.ToString();
        SqlDataSource1.InsertParameters["EndDate"].DefaultValue = MyDateEndTB2.Text.ToString();
        SqlDataSource1.Insert();
    }
}

the Source:

<asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" runat="server" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:local %>"

            DeleteCommand="DELETE FROM [tblPageContent] WHERE [ID] = @ID" InsertCommand="INSERT INTO [tblPageContent] ([StartDate], [EndDate], [Title], [Body]) VALUES (@StartDate, @EndDate, @Title, @Body)"
            SelectCommand="SELECT * FROM [tblPageContent]" UpdateCommand="UPDATE [tblPageContent] SET [StartDate] = @StartDate, [EndDate] = @EndDate, [Title] = @Title, [Body] = @Body WHERE [ID] = @ID">
            <DeleteParameters>
                <asp:Parameter Name="ID" Type="Int32" />
            </DeleteParameters>
            <UpdateParameters>
                <asp:Parameter Name="StartDate" Type="DateTime" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="EndDate" Type="DateTime" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="Title" Type="String" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="Body" Type="String" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="ID" Type="Int32" />
            </UpdateParameters>
            <InsertParameters>
                <asp:Parameter Name="StartDate" Type="DateTime" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="EndDate" Type="DateTime" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="Title" Type="String" />
                <asp:Parameter Name="Body" Type="String" />
            </InsertParameters>
        </asp:SqlDataSource>

Not too hard.

Reference:

http://www.aspnettutorials.com/tutorials/database/connect-sql-datasource-csharp.aspx

Enjoy!

Mike Dopp

Server Application Unavailable Message

jose_jimenez — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:30:19 GMT

I wrote this post on my blog on how to resolve the generic Server Application Unavailable message we sometimes get as ASP.Net developers:

If you have ever received an error message on a .Net application that simply stated "Server Application Unavailable" you might find this useful.

When you receive this error, make sure to check the event viewer on the server. This is found under administrative tools. Under the application event log, you will likely find an error that states: "It is not possible to run two different versions of ASP.NET in the same IIS process. Please use the IIS Administration tool to run the application in a separate process."

An application pool is a process that responds to web requests under IIS. An application pool does not have a setting for what type of ASP.Net applications will be run in it. Instead, it loads the appropriate libraries when an ASP.Net application is loaded in the process. Because the libraries for ASP.Net 1.1 and ASP.Net 2.0 are similar, but not the same, the application pool cannot respond to requests for both types of applications at the same time. This can cause sporadic behaviour if you are using the server at the same time as another developer and you have applications using different versions of the framework in the same application pool.

Make sure that on your server there is an application pool dedicated to ASP.Net 2.0 applications and one for ASP.Net 1.1 applications. When you add an ASP.Net application to the server, make sure you select the right application pool for it.

HOW TO: Add a default ListItem to a DropDownList

StrongTypes — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:34:11 GMT

This can be done one of 2 ways. A default ListItem can be added to a DropDownList programmatically with the following syntax after binding data to the DropDownList:

//Code here to populate DropDownList
DropDownListID.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Default text", "Default value")

This will add a ListItem to index 0, which will be the first ListItem.

In .NET 2.0, this can be done declaratively using the AppendDataBoundItems property. This will append all data-bound ListItems to the DropDownList, leaving those you add manually as the first selections.

<asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownListID" AppendDataBoundItems="true" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem Text="Default text" Value="Default value" />
</asp:DropDownList>

Avoid SQL Injection attacks

bdesmet — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 16:32:53 GMT

Don't ever use string concatenation (or a StringBuilder) to create SQL commands. An example is this:

string sql = "SELECT * FROM Products WHERE Category=" + cat;

There are a lot of reasons why not to do this:
1. Strings inside the command text needs to be enclosed between ' and '. You can have a problem when the value of cat contains a ' itself. You can avoid this by doubling all single quotes inside the cat string, but it still is not recommended.
2. SQL Injection attacks!!! Don't be tricked by this one, it's easy to avoid. Think of a string cat that contains the following value:

1; DROP TABLE Products; --

-- is the comment operator in T-SQL. So, the resulting command is this:

SELECT * FROM Products WHERE Category=1; DROP TABLE Products; --

The result: the Products table is droppe. Thus, pretty simple to do if the cat value comes from the querystring or from a form input.

How to avoid this:
1. Don't ever ever connect to the database as "sa" or another db owner with full access to the underlying database. Always connect with the least privileges needed to do the job.
2. Don't use string concat, but use parameterized commands instead, like this:

string query = "SELECT * FROM Products WHERE Category=@Category";


SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query, conn);


cmd.Parameters.Add("@Category", SqlDbType.NVarChar, 50);


cmd.Parameters["@Category"].Value = cat;


//...

This will make sure the anomalities with quotes are solved for you, as well as avoid basic injections and perform checkings for the input length of the strings (+ type checking etc).
3. Even better, use a stored procedure with parameters on the server and call it using SqlCommand. The idea is the same, but the SQL command with params itself is stored on the server. This allows better performance and even better security.

How To: Make "Export to Excel" always open excel in a separate Window

laksk — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:13:28 GMT

Export to Excel in ASP.NET is a very common feature, which I'm sure everyone who has worked in ASP.NET would have had the chance to implement.

Whenever we choose the Export to Excel option from our Application, a dialog box pops us with the option to Open or to Save.

By chance if the user checks off the option "Always ask before opening this type of file" that is shown in the dialog box, from next time the user will not be able to see the dialog box. Instead, the excel file opens up in the same window.

To set back this option, the following steps can be followed:

1. Go to Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click on the File Types tab.
3. From the Registered file types list box, select the XLS extension, and then click Advanced.
4. In the Edit File Type dialog box, set the Confirm open after download to selected.
5. Make sure the Browse in same window option is not selected, and then click OK.

The above steps will make sure that we get the dialog box as shown above. However, since this is an option set at the client computer, these steps cannot be mandated to be followed in every computer that browses the application.

So, from the code level, we must make sure that the excel file is opened in a separate window. One possible option for this is to Save the file to the web server, and then open the file in a separate window.

The code for this is given below:

private void ExportToExcel(DataGrid dgExport)
{
try
{
string strFileName = String.Empty, strFilePath= String.Empty;
strFilePath = Server.MapPath(@"../Excel/") + "ExcelFileName" + ".xls";
if (File.Exists(strFilePath))
{
File.Delete(strFilePath);
}
System.IO.StringWriter oStringWriter =new StringWriter();
System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter oHtmlTextWriter = new HtmlTextWriter(oStringWriter);
StreamWriter objStreamWriter;
string strStyle =@" .text { mso-number-format:\@; }
";
objStreamWriter = File.AppendText(strFilePath);
dgExport.RenderControl(oHtmlTextWriter);
objStreamWriter.WriteLine(strStyle);
objStreamWriter.WriteLine(oStringWriter.ToString());
objStreamWriter.Close();
string strScript = "<script language=JavaScript>window.open('../Excel/" + "ExcelFileName" +
".xls','dn','width=1,height=1,toolbar=no,top=300,left=400,right=1,

scrollbars=no,locaton=1,resizable=1');</script>";
if(!Page.IsStartupScriptRegistered("clientScript"))
{
Page.RegisterStartupScript("clientScript", strScript);
}
}
catch(Exception)
{
//Handle Exception
}
}

In the above method, the file is saved to the Web Server inside the folder "Excel". Of course, this folder must have write permissions for the user. But it will definitely ensure that the excel file is opened in a new window in the client computer.

Cheers.

FAQ - Health Monitoring in ASP.NET 2.0

erikreitan — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 22:43:06 GMT

What is Health Monitoring?

Health Monitoring is a framework for monitoring status of running ASP.NET applications and logging significant ASP.NET application events.

Why would I use Health Monitoring?

Health Monitoring is runtime based for your production environment, so it provides information of your running ASP.NET applications.
Health Monitoring gives event details rather than providing a number or a total, which can be useful to solve running application issues.
Health Monitoring is customizable, so you can tailor the event information they way you need it.

What are examples of Health Monitoring events that can be logged?

Application starts and stops
Failed logins and unhandled exceptions
"Heartbeats"
Successful and failed login attempts through Membership
Successful and failed URL and ACL authorizations by authenticated users
Valid and expired forms authentication tickets
View state validation failures
Compilation errors
Configuration errors
Unhandled exceptions
Request validation failures
Anything that causes request to abort
Requests queued, processing, or rejected
Specific or periodic monitoring event
Process start time and more

What are examples of locations where Health Monitoring events can be logged?

Windows event log
SQL Server database
Email
Console window using WMI
Trace output window

What are Health Monitoring events?

Health Monitoring events help you keep track of different things that are occurring while your ASP.NET application is running. These events are divided into five main areas:

Application Lifetime Events
All Audits
All Errors
Reqeust Processing Events
Heartbeats

What are Health Monitoring providers?

Providers consume Web event data. By default, the ASP.NET health-monitoring system can deliver Web event data using the built-in providers listed in the following table. More than one provider can listen for the same event, and more than one event can be consumed by the same provider.

Event Providers	Details
EventLogWebEventProvider	Writes Web event data to the Windows event log. By default, this provider is configured to write all errors to the Windows event log. Security operation errors are logged under the event name Failure Audits and logs all other errors are logged under the event name All Errors. To read event log data, you can view data using the Windows Event Viewer or read event log data programmatically.
SqlWebEventProvider	Logs Web event data to a Microsoft SQL server database. By default, this provider logs data to the SQL Server Express database in the Web application's App_Data folder. It does not subscribe to any events by default.
WmiWebEventProvider	Passes Web events to WMI, converting them to WMI events. By default, this provider does not subscribe to any events. To listen for WMI events, you can build an application such as the one illustrated in Walkthrough: Listening for WMI Events in ASP.NET Health Monitoring. For more information, see Using WMI to Deliver ASP.NET Health Monitoring Events. WMI applications do not have to be written in managed code.
SimpleMailWebEventProvider and TemplatedMailWebEventProvider	Sends an e-mail message when Web events are raised. By default, these providers are not configured and do not subscribe to any events.
TraceWebEventProvider	Passes event data to the ASP.NET page tracing system. By default, this provider is not configured and does not subscribe to any events. Tracing provides you the ability to start and stop event tracing sessions, to instrument applications to provide trace events, and to consume trace events. You can use the events to debug an application and perform capacity and performance analysis. For more information, see ASP.NET Tracing.

What are Health Monitoring profiles?

Profiles determine how events are collected by ASP.NET and raised to providers.

By default, there are two profiles named Critical and Default included in the configuration.

What are Health Monitoring buffers?

Buffers (BufferModes) define how health-monitoring events can be buffered before they are raised. The three included providers that can use bufferModes are:

SqlWebEventProvider (included by default)
SimpleMailWebEventProvider
TemplatedMailWebEventProvider

Each of the above providers inherits from the BufferedWebEventProvider class.

What are Health Monitoring rules?

The rules define the map of how an event is raised. At a minimum each rule must list the event name, the provider and the profile.

How is Health Monitoring configured and controlled?

The configuration is the main location to control what events will be monitored and how those events will be monitored. You can either modify the configuration using a text editor or use the API. For more information see, HealthMonitoringSection Class and ASP.NET Configuration Files.

Where in the configuration is Health Monitoring found?

The <healthMonitoring> section is within the <system.web> section of the configuration.

What are the sub-sections within the <healthMonitoring> section of the configuration?

There are five sub-sections within the <healthMonitoring> section. The Health Monitoring section looks like the following:

...

</bufferModes>

...

</providers>

...

</eventMappings>

...

</profiles>

<rules>

...

</rules>

</healthMonitoring>

Are there default values (a default configuration) established in the <healthMonitoring> section of the configuration?

Yes. These values are contained at the root web.config file. The root web.config file is located at %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG. By default, a number of eventMappings, providers, profiles, rules, and bufferModes are already established within the <heathMonitoring> section.

What are the default Health Monitoring events included in the configuration?

The default events are mapped in the root web.config file:

<add name="HeartBeats"

type="System.Web.Management.WebHeartBeatEvent, ..." />

<add name="Application Lifetime Events"

type="System.Web.Management.WebApplicationLifetimeEvent, ..." />

<add name="Request Processing Events"

type="System.Web.Management.WebRequestEvent, ..." />

<add name="All Errors"

type="System.Web.Management.WebBaseErrorEvent, ..." />

<add name="Infrastructure Errors"

type="System.Web.Management.WebErrorEvent, ..." />

<add name="Request Processing Errors"

type="System.Web.Management.WebRequestErrorEvent, ..." />

<add name="Failure Audits"

type="System.Web.Management.WebFailureAuditEvent, ..." />

<add name="Success Audits"

type="System.Web.Management.WebSuccessAuditEvent, ..." />

</eventMappings>

What are the default Health Monitoring providers included in the configuration?

The default providers are included in the following section of the root web.config file:

<add name="EventLogProvider"

type="System.Web.Management.EventLogWebEventProvider, …

<add name="SqlWebEventProvider"

connectionStringName="LocalSqlServer"

maxEventDetailsLength="1073741823"

buffer="false"

bufferMode="Notification"

type="System.Web.Management.SqlWebEventProvider, …

<add name="WmiWebEventProvider"

type="System.Web.Management.WmiWebEventProvider,…

</providers>

What are the default Health Monitoring profiles included in the configuration?

The default profiles are included in the following section of the root web.config file:

<add name="Default"

minInstances="1"

maxLimit="Infinite"

minInterval="00:01:00"

custom="" />

<add name="Critical"

minInstances="1"

maxLimit="Infinite"

minInterval="00:00:00"

custom="" />

</profiles>

What are the default Health Monitoring buffers included in the configuration?

The default bufferModes are included in the following section of the root web.config file:

<add name="Critical Notification"

maxBufferSize="100"

maxFlushSize="20"

urgentFlushThreshold="1"

regularFlushInterval="Infinite"

urgentFlushInterval="00:01:00"

maxBufferThreads="1" />

<add name="Notification"

…

</>

<add name="Analysis"

…

</>

<add name="Logging“

…

</>

</bufferModes>

What are the default Health Monitoring rules included in the configuration?

The default rules are included in the following section of the root web.config file:

<rules>

<add name="Failure Audits Default"

eventName="Failure Audits"

provider="EventLogProvider"

profile="Default"

minInterval="00:00:00"

minInstances="1"

maxLimit="Infinite"

...

</rules>

I understand the basics of Health Monitoring, but I still don’t understand exactly how to implement it. How can I get started using Health Monitoring right now?

Follow the steps below:

1. Create a new Web application in Visual Web Developer.

2. From the Website menu select Add New Item.

3. Select and add a Web Configuration File.

4. Add the following node before the end of the <system.web> node in the newly added configuration file:

<rules>

<add name="Heartbeats Default"

eventName="Heartbeats"

provider="EventLogProvider"

profile="Critical"/>

</rules>

</healthMonitoring>

5. Run your Web application.

6. Run the Event Viewer (eventvwr.exe).

7. Select Application in the right pane of the Event Viewer.

8. Notice that the “heartbeat” events for your application occur every 10 seconds.

What would be an example of using the SqlWebEventProvider to log monitoring event?

There is an example on the ASP.NET site that demonstrates the SqlWebEventProvider.

I understand that the root web.config file contains the default Health Monitoring support. What should I do if I want to modify the <healthMonitoring> section?

There are three points to note:

Use the Add, Remove, and Clear elements
Do not modify the root level config files
Modify using text editor or the API.

I understand that event friendly names are mapped to the event type within the configuration, but how can I find the exact events that are related to each friendly event name, such as “All Audits”?

Take a look at the WebEventCodes on MSDN. This list will give you a more specific list of events.

In the Event Viewer I see the event code (i.e. 1005) but how can I match that code to the specific event?

The list below will help you match the event code name with the event code number.

WebEventCode	Event Code
InvalidEventCode	-1
UndefinedEventCode	0
UndefinedEventDetailCode	0
ApplicationCodeBase	1000
ApplicationStart	1001
ApplicationShutdown	1002
ApplicationCompilationStart	1003
ApplicationCompilationEnd	1004
ApplicationHeartbeat	1005
RequestCodeBase	2000
RequestTransactionComplete	2001
RequestTransactionAbort	2002
ErrorCodeBase	3000
RuntimeErrorRequestAbort	3001
RuntimeErrorViewStateFailure	3002
RuntimeErrorValidationFailure	3003
RuntimeErrorPostTooLarge	3004
RuntimeErrorUnhandledException	3005
WebErrorParserError	3006
WebErrorCompilationError	3007
WebErrorConfigurationError	3008
WebErrorOtherError	3009
WebErrorPropertyDeserializationError	3010
WebErrorObjectStateFormatterDeserializationError	3011
AuditCodeBase	4000
AuditFormsAuthenticationSuccess	4001
AuditMembershipAuthenticationSuccess	4002
AuditUrlAuthorizationSuccess	4003
AuditFileAuthorizationSuccess	4004
AuditFormsAuthenticationFailure	4005
AuditMembershipAuthenticationFailure	4006
AuditUrlAuthorizationFailure	4007
AuditFileAuthorizationFailure	4008
AuditInvalidViewStateFailure	4009
AuditUnhandledSecurityException	4010
AuditUnhandledAccessException	4011
MiscCodeBase	6000
WebEventProviderInformation	6001
ApplicationDetailCodeBase	50000
ApplicationShutdownUnknown	50001
ApplicationShutdownHostingEnvironment	50002
ApplicationShutdownChangeInGlobalAsax	50003
ApplicationShutdownConfigurationChange	50004
ApplicationShutdownUnloadAppDomainCalled	50005
ApplicationShutdownChangeInSecurityPolicyFile	50006
ApplicationShutdownBinDirChangeOrDirectoryRename	50007
ApplicationShutdownBrowsersDirChangeOrDirectoryRename	50008
ApplicationShutdownCodeDirChangeOrDirectoryRename	50009
ApplicationShutdownResourcesDirChangeOrDirectoryRename	50010
ApplicationShutdownIdleTimeout	50011
ApplicationShutdownPhysicalApplicationPathChanged	50012
ApplicationShutdownHttpRuntimeClose	50013
ApplicationShutdownInitializationError	50014
ApplicationShutdownMaxRecompilationsReached	50015
StateServerConnectionError	50016
AuditDetailCodeBase	50200
InvalidTicketFailure	50201
ExpiredTicketFailure	50202
InvalidViewStateMac	50203
InvalidViewState	50204
WebEventDetailCodeBase	50300
SqlProviderEventsDropped	50301
WebExtendedBase	100000

What are the details that get logged when a Health Monitoring event occurs?

The WebBaseEvent provides the details of the information that gets logged for each event:

public class WebBaseEvent : System.Object

{

public static WebApplicationInformation

ApplicationInformation { get; }

public int EventCode { get; }

public int EventDetailCode { get; }

public Guid EventId { get; }

public long EventOccurrence { get; }

public long EventSequence { get; }

public object EventSource { get; }

public DateTime EventTime { get; }

public DateTime EventTimeUtc { get; }

public string Message { get; }

public virtual void FormatCustomEventDetails (...);

public virtual void Raise (...);

}

For more information, see WebBaseEvent Members.

How can I modify the configuration of another Web application using C# code?

Follow the steps below:

1. Create a Web application with the following name “aspnetexample”. Use C# and HTTP (localhost).

2. Now create a new C# console application. Add the following code to the console application:

// Add references:

// System.Configuration

// System.Web

#region Using directives

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Text;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.Configuration;

#endregion

namespace HealthMonExample

{

class UsingHealthMonitoringSection

{

static void Main(string[] args)

{

try

{

// Set the path of the config file.

string configPath = "/aspnetexample";

// Get the Web application configuration object.

Configuration config = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(configPath);

// Get the section related object.

HealthMonitoringSection configSection =

(HealthMonitoringSection)config.GetSection("system.web/healthMonitoring");

// Display title and info.

Console.WriteLine("ASP.NET Configuration Info");

Console.WriteLine();

// Display Config details.

Console.WriteLine("File Path: {0}",

config.FilePath);

Console.WriteLine("Section Path: {0}",

configSection.SectionInformation.Name);

// Display Enabled property.

Console.WriteLine("Enabled (old value): {0}",

configSection.Enabled.ToString());

// Toggle the Enabled property.

if (!configSection.Enabled)

{

configSection.Enabled = true;

}

else

{

configSection.Enabled = false;

}

// Display Providers Count.

Console.WriteLine("Providers Count: {0}",

configSection.Providers.Count);

// Display EventMappings Count.

Console.WriteLine("EventMappings Count: {0}",

configSection.EventMappings.Count);

// Display Profiles Count.

Console.WriteLine("Profiles Count: {0}",

configSection.Profiles.Count);

// Display Rules Count.

Console.WriteLine("Rules Count: {0}",

configSection.Rules.Count);

// Update if not locked.

if (!configSection.SectionInformation.IsLocked)

{

config.Save();

Console.WriteLine("** Configuration updated.");

}

else

{

Console.WriteLine("** Could not update, section is locked.");

}

catch (Exception e)

{

// Unknown error.

Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

}

// Display and wait

Console.ReadLine();

}

3. Be sure to add the following references to your console application:
System.Configuration
System.Web

4. Run the console application. You’ll notice that Health Monitoring of your web application is enabled or disabled each time you run the console application.

Can the Health Monitoring subsystem be extended?

Yes, you can create your own providers, events and other objects to help customize the monitoring of your ASP.NET applications. For more information, see Web Event Providers and WebBaseEvent Class.

Where can I find out more about Health Monitoring and related topics?

ASP.NET Health Monitoring

How to: Install and Configure SMTP Virtual Servers in IIS

How to: Send E-mail for Health Monitoring Notifications

Web Event Providers (Custom Provider Example)

ASP.NET SQL Server Registration Tool

WebEventCodes Class

Walkthrough: Listening for WMI Events in ASP.NET Health Monitoring

System.Web.Management Namespace

An Easy Way to Implement SQL Parameters

wswartzendruber — Thu, 19 May 2005 05:00:04 GMT

When I learned about SQL code injection, I nearly freaked out. I found that this could be avoided by using something called SQL parameters, but that approach required extra code that was complex.

The quickest way I've found to handle parameters in SQL Server is like so:

SqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM tblTable WHERE TableID = @Parameter";
SqlCommand.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@Parameter", parameterValue));

The parameterValue variable can be of any datatype, as it is an object.

Checkbox Validation - Best Solution

DannyDep — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:07:24 GMT

I've spent a couple of hours searching for a solution to validating a checkbox, since the RequiredFieldValidator does not work with Checkboxes.

Here is a great solution.

Look for "skmValidators - custom validation controls for CheckBoxes and CheckBoxLists for ASP.NET 2.0."

http://scottonwriting.net/sowBlog/CodeProjects.htm

Thanks Scott.

Adding custom properties to MembershipUser, what are the options ?

anas — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:49:30 GMT

One of a frequently asked questions is “how to add a custom columns/properties to the MembershipUser class?”.

Based on my experience , there are many ways to do that :

You can use the user profile services to store those custom properties, article [here].
Create a custom database table with a 1-1 relationship with the membership users table and handle the read/write operations on that custom table using ADO.NET or any other data access technology, article [here]
Create a custom MembershipUser that inherits the MembershipUser class and add the new properties.articles [here] and video.

But which method is the best for you ?

every method has proc/cons , i will list them all in the table below:

Storage method	Pros	Cons
User’s profile	Doesn’t require any additional code, just you need to declare the custom properties in web.config and you can then use the Profile class to read/write or manipulate these values	not suitable if you are going to display the user information via an external reporting tool like Reporting services.This is because the Profile services will store the data in a serialized format.
Custom database table	Very flexible and can be displayed using any external reporting tool.	Needs more work to handle the data access code and write some helper classes to manipulate the custom user properties.
Custom MembershipUser and MembershipProvider	Cleaner,maintainable and flexible solution.Also integrates with the current Login controls.	It needs more more effort because it will requires to write custom membershipUser and MembershipProvider …

Can you open a new window from a post back?

PLBlum — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 17:46:26 GMT

This question has been asked time and time again. When the server sends HTML to a browser, these two rules are followed:
1. The browser must have requested the page via an HTTP GET or POST. (The server cannot change a page without the browser asking for it.)
2. The browser will only retrieve the HTML into the window that requested it.

There are only two ways to open a new window that I know about:
1. The <a> tag includes a target= property specifying a new window. (The HyperLink webcontrol is simply a way to generate the <a> tag. It includes a Target property.)
2. Use JavaScript such as a window.open or window.createPopup.

The <a> tag opens the new window before posting back and requests the new HTML from that new window.

The JavaScript technique requires that the original page already contains the JavaScript or when the server posts back, the browser is sent new HTML containing the new JavaScript to the original window. That means the original page's contents are replaced.

If you want to use the JavaScript technique to open a new window on post back:
1. Prepare the HTML necessary for the original page to draw.
2. Use Page.RegisterStartupScript() to call window.open. This will allow the new window to popup as the original window is loaded.

How to do a language switch in a master page.

rmprimo — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 04:49:55 GMT

As the rap song goes: “There’s no champagne in the champagne room...”, there is no page in MasterPage. It derives from UserControl. As such it does not support the InitializeCulture() method for us to override as described in this post. Newbies love master pages, even though half the time they do not understand them, so here is a solution, compounding the misuse, but here it goes.

Declare a dropdown as usual in the master page. Instead of overriding the InitializeCulture() place the same code in the Application_BeginRequest event handler in the global.asax. It is very similar to InitializeCulture() in the sense that it occurs early and no controls are ready yet. We have a little problem though, now the control is declared in a template and its name and id attributes rendered differently. We can't use the control id and cheat like in the other post any more. We cant use the Control.UniqueID property either, remember no controls yet. So now what?

Another collection like the form variables collection that is also not originally server collection is the cookies collection. I use the cookie but it can be any of the ways for cross page communication that do not depend on server controls, like profile, session, querystring etc. We cannot use a cookie to carry the culture name value which comes from the dropdown selected item value, because the culture would always be a step behind. It would be set early on but later the dropdown selection change it but the resources for the previous culture come up. So normally only the page containing the dropdown would be a step behind, but because the dropdown is in the master page it appears that the whole site is ALWAYS ONE STEP BEHIND.

If, however, in the cookie, we pass the control name (which is information that never changes, so we can never be behind), instead of the culture name( which we can never keep up with), and then use that key to get the form variable value, we have pieced ourselves a workaround.

in the master page:

<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="DropDownList1" AutoPostBack="true" OnSelectedIndexChanged="DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged">
      <asp:ListItem Value="en" Text="English" />
      <asp:ListItem Value="fr" Text="French" />
      <asp:ListItem Value="de" Text="German" />
</asp:DropDownList>

protected void DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e){
   HttpCookie cookie = new HttpCookie("DropDownName");
   cookie.Value=DropDownList1.UniqueID;
   Response.SetCookie(cookie);
}

in global asax

void Application_BeginRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e){
string lang = string.Empty;//default to the invariant culture
HttpCookie cookie = Request.Cookies["DropDownName"];

if (cookie != null && cookie.Value != null)
lang = Request.Form[cookie.Value];

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(lang);
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(lang);
}

Notice, there is absolutely no code in any of the content pages. Thats it ten lines of code and we are done for the whole site. This is not complete code, just a tip and trick of using master page and the .net event model to globalize code.

The new issue now is what about pages that do not have a master page? Not all pages are strapped in a template like that. This approach can be modified to support both. That is for next post.

Enjoy

ASP.NET 2.0 - Accessing controls in the previous page

ranganh — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 17:04:09 GMT

One of the problems faced by us in ASP.NET 1.x versions is the inability to transfer data between pages easily. Since ASP.NET 1.x pages postback to the same page by default, and you cannot do a post to another page (unless you remove the runat="server" and other messy things), accessing the controls in the previous page becomes very difficult unlike classic ASP where you have a action tag to specify the new page and you can use the Request.Form to access the previous page values.

There is a more effective way of accessing the Controls in the previous page in ASP.NET 2.0. Its using the PreviousPage property of the Page.

Say we have a page Default.aspx with a Textbox "Text1" and a Button "Button1".

We can access the controls in Default.aspx from another page by the following steps:-

1. Setting the PostBackUrl property of the Button to the New Page, as follows:-

<asp:Button ID="button1" Runat=server Text="submit" PostBackUrl="~/NewPage.aspx" />

2. Then, in the NewPage.aspx.cs, you can access the TextBox control on Default.aspx as follows:-

public void page_load()
{
if(!IsPostBack)
{
TextBox tb = (TextBox)PreviousPage.FindControl("Text1");
Response.Write(tb.Text);}
}

Note that a new TextBox tb is declared and typecasted using the PreviousPage and FindControl of the ID of the Control in the Previous Page. However, to retain the value across postbacks within the new page, its better to assign the text to a TextBox or Label in the NewPage.aspx such that its value is not lost across postbacks. The reason behind is that, the PreviousPage becomes invalid once you postback in the same page.

We could still achieve this in ASP.NET 1.x versions by using the Server.Transfer but Server.Transfer has other undesirable effects like URL not updated in the browser and limitation within the application etc.,

Deprecated Items and Newer Constructs

vcsjones — Sun, 21 May 2006 00:31:08 GMT

I am often asked, "What are newer constructs for such and such?", since Visual Studio does HTML validation here it is for everyone to see.

Deprecated Items and Newer Constructs

XHTML 1.0 Transitional

Note: Deprecated attributes are not included for elements that are already deprecated.

HTML Elements

<menu /> Newer Construct: Use another list type.

<dir /> Newer Construct: Use another list type.

<u /> Newer Construct: Use CSS property “text-decoration” and set its value to “underline”.

<s /> Newer Construct: Use CSS property “text-decoration” and set its value to “line-through”.

<strike /> Newer Construct: Use CSS property “text-decoration” and set its value to “line-through”.

<basefont /> Newer Construct: Use CSS styling and set the “font-family” property to desired font.

<font /> Newer Construct: Use CSS styling to set the property of the element, such as a DIV or SPAN. The CSS properties include:

· color

· font-family

· font-size

· text-decoration

· text-align

· text-indent

· text-transform

· font-weight

<applet /> Newer Construct: Use the <object /> tag instead.

<isindex /> Newer Construct: Use the <input /> tag instead.

<i />* Newer Construct: Use the <em /> tag instead or use CSS.

<b />* Newer Construct: Use the <strong /> tag instead or use CSS.

Deprecated Attributes

iframe

name Newer Construct: Use the ID attribute instead.

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align” instead.

body

background Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “background-image” or “background”.

bgcolor Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “background-color” or “background”.

text Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “color” for the “body” style.

link Newer Construct: Use the CSS section “a:link” and set the property “color”.

vlink Newer Construct: Use the CSS section “a:visited” and set the property “color”.

alink Newer Construct: Use the CSS section “a:hover” and set the property “color”.

div

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align”.

p

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align”.

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align”.

ul

type Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “list-style-type” or “list-style”.

compact No newer construct. This attribute has been removed from the HTML DOM 1.0.

ol

type Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “list-style-type” or “list-style”.

compact No newer construct. This attribute has been removed from the HTML DOM 1.0.

start Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “start”.

li

type Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “list-style-type” or “list-style”.

value Newer Construct: Set the inner text of the element.

hr

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align”.

noshade Use the CSS property “color”.

size Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “height”.

width Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “width”.

pre

width Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “width”.

name Newer Construct: Use the attribute “id”.

br

clear Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “clear”.

object

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “vertical-align” and “text-align” in the parent tag.

border Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “border”.

hspace Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “padding”.

vspace Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “padding”.

img

name Newer Construct: Use the attribute “id”.

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS alignment properties.

border Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “border”.

hspace Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “padding”.

vspace Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “padding”.

map

name Newer Construct: Use the attribute “id”.

input

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS alignment properties.

legend

name Newer Construct: Use the attribute “id”.

table

align Newer Construct: Set table's CSS properties left-margin and right-margin at "auto" for centering, or right-margin to 0 for right alignment, or the left-margin to 0 for left alignment. (Thanks NewToDev)

bgcolor Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “background-color”.

caption

align Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “text-align”.

tr

bgcolor Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “background-color”.

td, th

nowrap Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “word-wrap”.

bgcolor Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “background-color”.

width Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “width”.

height Newer Construct: Use the CSS property “height”.

* Indicates that the element is not deprecated, but has newer constructs.

Any corrections I will fix.

GridView with Insert Section - My Step-by-Step Notes (Almost a Tutorial)

JLibertor — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 23:12:22 GMT

Though I have been programming for over 10 years, I am a complete .NET noob. I have been working with GridViews for several weeks and after much blood and tears(literally) I have finally figured out how to use GridViews with ObjectData Sources.

Over the past three weeks several specific problems have cost me 3-4 days to figure out. To organize myself, I typed up a step-by-step instruction manual for creating a GridView page (with an Insert section) using my company's provided ObjectData Sources.

While the following may not be a step-by-step instruciton applicable to your specific situation, there are many little gems that may save you fellow .Net noobs a few days of frustration!

If you disagree with me on how to do something then .. well you are probablty right and I would appreciate you to set me straight!

So here it is in all of it's rawness.

Note on Refreshing Class Libraries

If you have your objects squirreled away in a class library, then it may be hard to get yoru changes to show up in the designer.

Every time a change is made in a class library the changes will not show up in the design pager until you:

Open the class library and press CTRL-ALT-B (to rebuild)
Open the DateSource's Smart Tag on the Design View and choose Refresh Schema
Some popups will jump out - DO NOT SAY YES TO EITHER QUESTION ABOUT RELOAING, unless you want to erase all work so far.

Note: If nothing happens when you press Refresh Schema, then it didn’t work. This is not uncommon. Recompile the whole project, or delete the files in the Bin folder. Try again.

Background on the DATA Objects

The GridView accepts objects as rows and will use these objects to display the editable grid. However, (to my great surprise) when you edit the row and hit “Save” the GridView DOES NOT pass back the actual object. Instead it constructs a new object from scratch and fills in only the columns explicitly displayed/handled in the GridView.

Therefore a Business-layer object need to receive the infant object/row and beef it up.

Example:

You have a collection of records. When instantiated they are quite full with all sorts of meta-data like – date of last change, created-by user. Some of these fields are to be calculated, and some of these fields are to be sent on a round-trip. Create BIZ methods objects that will take in the infantile object, handle all the columns explicitly. (you can also use the DataKeyNames property - explained later)

Create the BIZ Insert methods in the BIZ object

Will handle all fields that need to be explicitly calculated or handled.

Create the BIZ Update methods in the BIZ object

Will handle all fields that need to be explicitly calculated or handled.

Drag a new ObjectDataSource to the page and configure it

Match up the Select, Insert_BIZ, and Update_BIZ methods to their respective events.

UPDATE Section

Create a GridView

Link to the ObjectDataSource created above

Using the Property bar: Add all round-trip hidden fields to DataKeyNames Property

For example Record ID's
(If the ID's are read-only then... well... your screwed...get creative.)

Click GridViewTasks -> Edit Columns…

Delete Cols not to be displayed (Biz method will handle them)
Reorder the cols (for aesthetics)
Rename the headers (for aesthetics)
Make the non-editable fields ReadOnly

Make the Public Resolve Fields for the ID’s (i.e. you want to display UserName “Joe” instead of UserID “23343”)

I found it necessary to add actual new properties to the object for columns that require differetn data. It seems that the GridView wants 100% of the data reconcilled before it is handed over. I named them stuff like BIZ_UserName, and BIZ_WarehouseName

Add new properties to the SELECT class

i. Create a Get method

1. return string based on private data

a. (don’t forget to check for errors and scrub data)

ii. Create an empty Set statement (GridView crashes otherwise)

For each column that needs a resolved version

i. Turn the column into a template, and close

ii. Edit Binding for the Item Template

iii. Change the bound field

If the column is not handled by the Biz Update Method, add it to the DataKeyNames Property (else it will not round-trip)

Determine the fields that need a Dropdown for the editing portion

For each

i. Make the field into a Template and close – probably already a template from last step

ii. Open the templates and Delete the input field in the EditItemTemplate

iii. Create a SQL data object (or whatever you want) - and configure it to pull up the appropriate data for the dropdown

1. Note: Don’t add the DataObject into the actual template field, add it on the main page so that it can be reused by other dropdowns if needed.

2. Rename the data object to something meaningful

iv. Drag a Dropdown to the EditItemTemplate

v. Choose data source for the object

1. Choose the Value and Display fields

vi. Set the SelectedID

1. Choose Data Bindings for the DropDown

2. Set the SelectedValue property to the ID of the previously deleted field

INSERT Section

Drag and Drop a Detail View
Choose Data Source - > ObjectDateSource for the GridView (The same as above)
Edit Fields

Rearrange (for asthectics)
Rename headers (for asthectics)

For each field that needs a dropdown

Edit Field -> Change to Template
Open the INSERT template
Delete the text box
DnD a Dropdown
Change DataSource to the ALREADY existing data source used for dropdowns in the GridView above
Important –

i. Chose Edit Bindings

ii. Bind the Dropdown to the appropriate field

( This one really took me a while to figure out. You’d think that since we are only doing Inserts here, we don’t need to bind to a SelectedID. If you do not bind to the correct field, then your dropdown will always return 0! )

On the GridView Enable Inserts (using the smart tag checkbox)
Switch to Source Mode and edit the DetailView to start off in Insert Mode

<asp:DetailsView ... DefaultMode="Insert">

Miscellaneous

To have a dropdown allow blank selections you have to UNION in a blank entry, else the bind crashes. For example:

SELECT [ProductID], [ProductName] FROM [CRM_Products]

UNION ALL

SELECT '', ''

ORDER BY ProductID