DotNet TipsAndTricks

ASP.NET 2.
0
Tips and Tricks
Scott Guthrie
General Manager
Microsoft Developer Division
scottgu@microsoft.com
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu
Agenda
• Visual Studio Project Tips/Tricks
• ASP.NET UI Tips/Tricks
• ASP.NET AJAX Tips/Tricks
• ASP.NET Caching Tips/Tricks
• ASP.NET Deployment Tips/Tricks
Download Slides + Demos
Visual Studio Project
Tips and Tricks
VS 2005 Web Project Options
• VS 2005 Web Site Project Model
• File-system based project model
• VS 2005 Web Application Project Model

• Project-file based project model
• Which is best for you?

• Depends on your development style/preferences
Tips for Optimizing VS 2005 Web
Site Build Performance
• 1) Verify no “dueling assembly reference” conflicts
• Can occur when .refresh files under \bin point to
assemblies with version conflicts
• 2) Change project build settings:

• Modify F5 to be “Build Page” not “Build Site”
• No longer have site build as part of solution
• Read my full blog posting here:

• http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/09/22/Tip_2
F00_Trick_3A00_-Optimizing-ASP.NET-2.0-Web-
Project-Build-Performance-with-VS-2005.aspx
Optimizing Build Performance
ASP.NET
UI Tips/Tricks
Default Button
• Enable developers to identify default button
behavior when the “enter” key is hit
• Cross browser: works with all modern browsers
• Can be set on <form> control to identify

default for the form
• <form defaultbutton=“Button1” runat=server>
• Can also be set on <asp:panel> control to

override form behavior when an input
control has focus in the browser
Default Button Example:
<html>
<body>
<form defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>
<asp:button id=“button1” text=“Same Page” runat=“server”/>
<asp:panel defaultbutton=“button2” runat=“server”>
<asp:textbox id=“foo” runat=“server”/>
<asp:button id=“button2” runat=“server”/>
</asp:panel>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Default Focus
• Enable developers to identify default focus
behavior when page is loaded

• <form defaultfocus=“Textbox1” runat=server>
• Can also be programmatically set:

• Page.SetFocus(control)
• TextBox.Focus()
Default Focus Example:
<html>
<body>
<form defaultfocus=“textbox2” defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>
<asp:textbox id=“textbox1” runat=“server”/>

</asp:panel>
</form>
</body>
</html>
SetFocusOnError
• Enable developers to force focus on a
control when a validation error occurs
• Set as a property on the validation control
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3“ runat="server“ />
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator
SetFocusOnError="true"
ErrorMessage="TextBox3 is empty"
ControlToValidate="TextBox3"
runat="server“/>
Default Button and Focus
Clean HTML using CSS Adapters
• ASP.NET 2.0 introduced Control Adapter API
• Enables developers to override rendering of controls
• Does not change the control’s API
• CSS Adapter Toolkit

• Free download from http://www.asp.net/
• New CSS Adapters Now support 11 Controls:
• Menu, TreeView
• DataList, GridView, FormView, DetailsView
• Login, ChangePassword, PasswordRecovery
• CreateUserWizard, LoginStatus
• Ships with both VB and C# control adapter source
CSS Control Adapters
Web.Config Registration of Controls
• Server controls can now be registered within
web.config files instead of on every page
• Full Visual Studio support w/ intellisense


<controls>
<add tagPrefix="acme" tagName="uc" src="controls/uc.ascx" />
<add tagPrefix="my" namespace="MyControls.Basic" assembly="MyControls" />
</controls>
Control Registration in
Web.config
Server Side Comments
• Useful feature for preventing server
code/controls from running on HTML
being sent to the server:
<%--
Everything in here commented out
--%>
• Useful tip: VS has a comment/uncomment

toolbar menu item in source mode
Server Side Comments
ASP.NET AJAX
Tips/Tricks
ASP.NET AJAX
• ASP.NET AJAX 1.0
• Fully supported product on top of ASP.NET 2.0
• ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit

• Library of free ASP.NET AJAX controls/extenders
• ASP.NET AJAX “Futures” CTP

• Features not quite ready to bake into the core
• Go-Live license for deployment
ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit
• Separate download from core ASP.NET AJAX
• Great library of free ASP.NET AJAX enabled controls
• Download from http://ajax.asp.net/
• Developed using a collaborative source model

• All source freely available with modification license
• Both Microsoft & non-Microsoft developers can contribute
• Already contains 30 really cool controls

• Goal is to get 50-100 great controls over the next months
AJAX Control Extenders
• Controls that can AJAX-enable existing
HTML UI and ASP.NET Server Controls
<asp:LinkButton ID=“ShowHideBtn" runat="server">Details...</asp:LinkButton>
<asp:Panel ID="detailsPanel" runat="server" CssClass="DetailsPanel">

Blah, Blah, Blah
<br />
Blah, Blah, Blah
<br />
Blah, Blah, Blah
</asp:Panel>
<ajaxToolkit:CollapsiblePanelExtender TargetControlID="detailsPanel“
CollapseControlID="ShowHideBtn"
ExpandControlID="ShowHideBtn"
Collapsed="true"
SuppressPostBack="true"
runat="server“ />
PopUpControlExtender and
CollapsablePanelExtender
Some of the AJAX
Control Toolkit Extenders
• AutoCompleteTextBoxExtender • ModalPopupExtender
• CollapsablePanelExtender • MutuallyExclusiveCheckboxExtender
• AnimationExtender • NumericUpDownExtender
• ConfirmButtonExtender • PasswordStrengthExtender
• DragPanelExtender • PopUpControlExtender
• DropShadowExtender • ResizableControlExtender
• AlwaysVisibleExtender • RoundedCornersExtender
• DynamicPopulateExtender • SliderExtender
• FilteredTextBoxExtender • TextBoxWaterMarkExtender
• HoverMenuExtender • UpdatePanelAnimationExtender
• ValidatorCalloutExtender
AJAX Control Toolkit Extenders
Building your own Extenders
• ASP.NET AJAX “Core” includes classes
needed to build your own extenders
• ExtenderControlBase class
• JavaScript framework for encapsulating classes
• AJAX network hooks and postback integration
• Check out the existing control extenders in the

ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit to learn more
ASP.NET AJAX Client Library
• Rich JavaScript library support
• JavaScript Type System
• JavaScript Network Serialization Stack
• Helper functions and common libraries
• Enables you to easily add custom

JavaScript to your site (go to the metal)
Custom AJAX UI Templating
Two Tips
• Enable debug ASP.NET AJAX Scripts for
better debugging and validation
• <compilation debug=“true”/> in web.config
• Use debugger keyword in code to enable

rapid breakpointing
ASP.NET Caching
Tips/Tricks
Output Caching
• Super powerful area of ASP.NET
• Not nearly enough developers use it
• Virtually every application can benefit from it

Page Output Caching
• Cache entire page output on the server and re-use
across multiple web requests
• Declaratively enable it via page directive:

• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybyparam=“none”
• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybyparam=“categoryid” %>
• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybycontrol=“category” %>
• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybycustom=“mymethod” %>
• Or Programmatically set it via code:

Response.Cache.SetExpires(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(60));
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.Public);
Response.Cache.VaryByParams[“categoryid"] = true;
Partial Page Output Caching
• Cache regions of a page encapsulated within
a user control (.ascx file) or server control
• Ideal for cases where you have a region of

cacheable data/output within an otherwise
dynamic page
• Declaratively enable:
• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybyparam=“none” %>
• <%@ OutputCache Duration=“10” varybyparam=“none” shared=“true” %>
Page and Partial-Page Caching
Substitution Control
• New feature with ASP.NET 2.0
• Enables you to cache everything on a page

except for indicated regions
• Controlled by adding control marker:

• <asp:substitutioncontrol methodname=“MyStaticMethod” />
public static string MyStaticMethod(HttpContext context) {

return “Dynamic value”;
}
Substitution Control
SQL Cache Invalidation
• Enables you to cache items until a backend

database change occurs
• Ensures data within site is always fresh

• No need to wait for timeout to occur
• Polling model with SQL 2000, push model

with SQL 2005
SQL Cache Invalidation
Web.Config CacheProfiles
• Output Caching configuration can now be
managed within web.config via CacheProfiles

<caching>
<outputCacheSettings>
<outputCacheProfiles>
<add name="ProductPages" duration="50000" />
</outputCacheProfiles>
</outputCacheSettings>
</caching>
ASP.NET
Deployment Tips/Tricks
App_Offline.htm
• Enables you to gracefully take a server
application “offline” for maintenance
• Useful when making big changes/upgrades
• Add “app_offline.htm” file at app root

• 1) Causes ASP.NET app to shutdown
• 2) Causes all dynamic requests to return
app_offline.htm file contents
• Tip: Make sure the app_offline.htm file is

large enough (512 bytes) to disable the IE
“friendly http errors” feature
App_Offline.htm
Always deploy Debug=“false”
• Common mistake is to deploy ASP.NET apps
with <compilation debug=“true”/> set
• Bad consequences:
• Debug compilation slows performance
• App uses much more memory
• Client-side scripts are not cached
• Always, Always make sure it is off

• VS 2005 Web Deployment Projects can help
<deployment retail=“true”/>
• Consider disabling debug=“true” on a
production server by configuring the below
setting in the machine.config file:
<configuration>
<system.web>
<deployment retail=”true”/>
</system.web>
</configuration>
One last Tip/Trick
to Stay Up to Date
RSS
• Flexible, open, format for sharing information
• Blogs, Newspapers, Events, Amazon Wishlists, etc.
• Also useful for sharing information w/ customers
• ASP.NET RSS Toolkit makes RSS super easy

• Enables developers to subscribe to RSS feeds
• Enables developers to publish RSS feeds
• Integrated caching engine
• Download from: http://blogs.msdn.com/dmitryr
RSS Toolkit Example
<h1>Recent ScottGu Posts</h1>
<asp:DataList ID="MyFeeds" DataSourceID="MyRssFeed" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<a href='<%# Eval("link") %>'>

<%# Eval("title") %>
</a>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:DataList>
<RssToolkit:RssDataSource ID="MyRssFeed"
Url="http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/Rss.aspx"
MaxItems="10"
runat="server" />
RSS Reader
Summary
• Enormous number of new features in
ASP.NET 2.0
• Tons of additional cool features out there…
• Visit the http://www.asp.net/ quickstarts to

try out hundreds of samples online
• Download these slides+demos from:

© 2003-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.
Format Databind Expressions
• Enable richer custom formatting expressions
• Avoids complicating .aspx markup:
<asp:datalist id=“datalist1” runat=“server”>
<ItemTemplate>
Value: <%# FormatPrice(Eval(“columnname”)) %>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:datalist>
Public Function FormatPrice(ByVal value As Double) As String

If (value > 15) Then
Return "<span class='expensive'>$" & value & "</span>"
Else
Return "$" & value
End If
End Function
Custom Databinding Expressions
Default Button
• Enable developers to identify default button
behavior when the “enter” key is hit

• <form defaultbutton=“Button1” runat=server>
• Can also be set on <asp:panel> control to

override form behavior when an input
control has focus in the browser
Default Button Example:
<html>
<body>
<form defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>
</asp:panel>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Default Focus
• Enable developers to identify default focus
behavior when page is loaded

• <form defaultfocus=“Textbox1” runat=server>
• Can also be programmatically set:

• Page.SetFocus(control)
• TextBox.Focus()
Default Focus Example:
<html>
<body>
<form defaultfocus=“textbox2” defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>

</asp:panel>
</form>
</body>
</html>
SetFocusOnError
• Enable developers to force focus on a
control when a validation error occurs
• Set as a property on the validation control
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3“ runat="server“ />
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator
SetFocusOnError="true"
ErrorMessage="TextBox3 is empty"
ControlToValidate="TextBox3"
runat="server“/>
Default Button and Focus

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ASP.NET 2.

• VS 2005 Web Application Project Model

• Which is best for you?

• 2) Change project build settings:

• Read my full blog posting here:

• Can be set on <form> control to identify

• Can also be set on <asp:panel> control to

<form defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>

<asp:button id=“button1” text=“Same Page” runat=“server”/>

<asp:panel defaultbutton=“button2” runat=“server”>

<asp:textbox id=“foo” runat=“server”/>

<asp:button id=“button2” runat=“server”/>

• Can be set on <form> control to identify

• Can also be programmatically set:

<form defaultfocus=“textbox2” defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>

<asp:textbox id=“textbox1” runat=“server”/>

<asp:button id=“button1” text=“Same Page” runat=“server”/>

<asp:panel defaultbutton=“button2” runat=“server”>

<asp:textbox id=“foo” runat=“server”/>

<asp:button id=“button2” runat=“server”/>

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

• CSS Adapter Toolkit

• Full Visual Studio support w/ intellisense

• Useful tip: VS has a comment/uncomment

• ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit

• ASP.NET AJAX “Futures” CTP

• Developed using a collaborative source model

• Already contains 30 really cool controls

<asp:Panel ID="detailsPanel" runat="server" CssClass="DetailsPanel">

• Check out the existing control extenders in the

• Enables you to easily add custom

• Use debugger keyword in code to enable

• Not nearly enough developers use it

• Virtually every application can benefit from it

• Declaratively enable it via page directive:

• Or Programmatically set it via code:

• Ideal for cases where you have a region of

• Enables you to cache everything on a page

• Controlled by adding control marker:

public static string MyStaticMethod(HttpContext context) {

• Enables you to cache items until a backend

• Ensures data within site is always fresh

• Polling model with SQL 2000, push model

• Add “app_offline.htm” file at app root

• Tip: Make sure the app_offline.htm file is

• Always, Always make sure it is off

• ASP.NET RSS Toolkit makes RSS super easy

<asp:DataList ID="MyFeeds" DataSourceID="MyRssFeed" runat="server">

<a href='<%# Eval("link") %>'>

• Visit the http://www.asp.net/ quickstarts to

• Download these slides+demos from:

Public Function FormatPrice(ByVal value As Double) As String

• Can be set on <form> control to identify

• Can also be set on <asp:panel> control to

<form defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>

<asp:button id=“button1” text=“Same Page” runat=“server”/>

<asp:panel defaultbutton=“button2” runat=“server”>

<asp:textbox id=“foo” runat=“server”/>

<asp:button id=“button2” runat=“server”/>

• Can be set on <form> control to identify

• Can also be programmatically set:

<form defaultfocus=“textbox2” defaultbutton=“button1” runat=“server”>

<asp:textbox id=“textbox1” runat=“server”/>

<asp:button id=“button1” text=“Same Page” runat=“server”/>