Asp.net

ASP.NET Architecture

ASP.NET uses the CLR to replace the existing
ISAPI/ASP infrastructure of IIS with a more
efficient and easier-to-use framework for
servicing HTTP requests. At the same time,
ASP.NET provides its own framework for
compilation, execution, and building user
interfaces.

2

Evolution

• On one hand, ASP.NET is an evolution of the ASP
programming model
– Still provides the same intrinsic objects
– Still can mix script and html
– Some ASP code can be ported with no changes
– ASP.NET supports any .NET language
– Pages use .aspx extension to distinguish from .asp pages

3

Revolution

• ASP.NET is more than just ASP 4.0
– Pages are compiled into assemblies improving performance
and diagnostics
– Code-behind encourages better separation of code from
HTML
– Extensible, server-side control architecture
– Server-side data binding model
– Form validation architecture
– Web Services allow Assemblies to expose themselves as
SOAP servers

4

Page Compilation

• Every ASP.NET page is compiled into an assembly on first
access
– It is compiled into an assembly containing a single class that
derives from System.Web.UI.Page
– The name for the Page-derived class is the file name of the
page, replacing the '.' with a '_' (like foo_aspx)
– Any static HTML along with any interspersed code is
rendered in the Render function of a single control
embedded in the page
– The generated assembly is stored in the CodeGen directory
on the server machine

5

ASP.NET Page Compilation

HTTP Request
IIS & PageParser::
GET /foo/foo.aspx
ASP.NET GetCompiledPageInstance

Locate foo.aspx Compiled
assembly already
Generate Page-derived no exists?
class foo_aspx from file

Compile to assembly yes

Create foo_aspx
instance

Call
Page::ProcessRequest
HTTP Response
HTTP/1.1 200 OK ...
Content-Type: text/html;
Page::ProcessRequest
Content-Length: 300
calls
<html><body>
Page::RenderControl
...
</body></html>
6

ASP.NET Compilation model

• ASP.NET compiles code on demand based on source code
dependencies (much like NMAKE)
– ASP.NET compiles .ASPX files once and caches the
resultant DLL
– If source file(s) newer than cached DLL, a new compilation
takes place and the new DLL is cached
– If source file(s) not newer than cached DLL, the cached DLL
is used
– Shadow-copies of the DLLs are used to allow existing
requests to be processed using the "old" code

7

System.Web.UI.Page

• The Page class provides facilities for rendering HTML
– Response and Request objects are available as properties
of the class
– Methods for rendering are provided
– Events associated with generating the page are defined

8

System.Web.UI.Page

class Page : TemplateControl, IHttpHandler
{
// State management
public HttpApplicationState Application {get;}
public HttpSessionState Session {virtual get;}
public Cache Cache {get;}

// Intrinsics
public HttpRequest Request {get;}
public HttpResponse Response {get;}
public HttpServerUtility Server{get;}
public string MapPath(string virtualPath);
public void Navigate(string url);

// Client information
public ClientTarget ClientTarget {get; set;}
public bool IsUplevel {virtual get;}
public IPrincipal User {get;}
//...
}

9

System.Web.UI.Page

class Page : TemplateControl, IHttpHandler
{
// Core
public UserControl LoadControl(string virtualPath);
public ControlCollection Controls {virtual get;}
public string ID {virtual get; virtual set;}

public bool IsPostBack {get;}
protected virtual void Render(HtmlTextWriter writer);

// Events
public event EventHandler Init;
public event EventHandler Load;
public event EventHandler PreRender;
public event EventHandler Unload;

//...
}

10

Sample aspx file customizing Page

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<html><body><head><script language="C#" runat=server>
private ArrayList m_values = new ArrayList();
void Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
if (!Page.IsPostBack) {
m_values.Add("v1"); m_values.Add("v2");
} }
</script> </head>
<h2>My test page</h2>
<%if (IsUplevel) {
Response.Write("<div style="width:100%; filter:");
Response.Write("progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.");
Response.Write("Wheel(duration=3);">");
Response.Write("My page array has:</div>");
}
else
Response.Write("<div>My page array has:</div>");
%> <br/><ul>
<% for (int i=0; i<m_values.Count; i++)
Response.Write("<li>" + m_values[i] + "</li>");
%>
</ul> </body> </html> 11

Code Behind

• In addition to customizing the generated Page class using
embedded code, ASP.NET supports page inheritance
– Technique of Page inheritance is called code-behind
– Supported through the Inherits attribute of the Page
directive
– Promotes separation of code and presentation
– Code-behind files can either be pre-compiled, or compiled
on demand using the src attribute of the Page directive

12

Sample aspx file with code behind

<%@ Page Language="C#" src="SamplePage.cs"
Inherits="DM.AspDotNet.MyPage" %>

<html>
<body>
<h2>My test page</h2>

<% WriteTitle(); %>
<br/>
<% WriteArray(); %>

</body>
</html>

13

Sample code-behind file – SamplePage.cs
using System; using System.Web.UI; using System.Collections;
namespace DM.AspDotNet
{
public class MyPage : Page {
private ArrayList m_values = new ArrayList();
protected void Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
if (!Page.IsPostBack) {
}
}
public void WriteTitle() {
if (IsUplevel) {
Response.Write("<div style="width:100%; filter:");
Response.Write("progid:DXImageTransform.");
Response.Write("Microsoft.Wheel(duration=3);">");
Response.Write("My page array has the following values:</div>");
}
else
Response.Write("<div>My page array has the following values:</div>");
}
public void WriteArray() {
Response.Write("<ul>");
for (int i=0; i<m_values.Count; i++)
Response.Write("<li>" + m_values[i] + "</li>");
Response.Write("</ul>");
14
} } }

ASP.NET Directives

• ASP.NET supports a variety of directives to control compilation
and linkage
– All assemblies in the bin subdirectory are automatically
referenced
– csc.exe /r command-line parameter exposed via
@Assembly directive
– C# using statement exposed via @Import directive
– Several techniques available for referencing secondary
source files

15

ASP.NET Directives

Directive Name Description
@Page Compilation and processing options
@Import Replaces C#'s using statement
@Assembly Replaces csc.exe's /r: switch
@OutputCache Controls ASP.NET's output caching
@Register Registers tag prefix/name to class name

csc.exe /r:bob.dll /r:steve.dll main.cs aux.cs

<%@page language="C#" %>
<%@import namespace="DevelopMentor" %>
using DevelopMentor; <%@import namespace="DevelopMentor.Web" %>
using DevelopMentor.Web; <%@assembly name="bob.dll" %>
// code goes here <%@assembly name="steve.dll" %>
<%@assembly src="aux.cs" %>
// code/content goes here

16

@page Directives

Name Description
language Programming language to use for <%

buffer Response buffering

contenttype Default Content-Type header (MIME)

enablesessionstate Turns session state on/off

transaction Controls COM+ transaction affiliation

src Indicates source file for code-behind

inherits Indicates base class other than Page

errorpage URL for unhandled exception page

<%@page language="C#" buffer="true" contenttype="text/xml" %>

<%@page language="C#" src="mycode.cs" inherits="MyBasePage" %>

17

Server-side controls

Web application development has always involved
extracting values from query strings and form data.
ASP.NET provides a more traditional application
development model through server-side controls.

18

Traditional HTML generation

• Traditional ASP development involves explicitly generating
client-side HTML
– Server-side script writes directly to intrinsic Response
object
– Database queries must be turned into HTML elements
– Form contents must be explicitly queried through Request
object
– Provided little more than server-side printf functionality

19

Figure 3.1: Traditional ASP page

<%@ Language="javascript" %>
<html><body>
<form>
<h3>Enter name: <input name="Name" type=text
value="<%=Request("Name") %>"></input>
Personality: <select name="Personality">
<option <% if (Request("Personality") == "extraverted") {
Response.Write("selected");
}%> >extraverted </option>
<option <% if (Request("Personality") == "introverted") {
}%> >introverted </option>
<option <% if (Request("Personality") == "in-between") {
}%> >in-between </option>
</select>
<input type=submit name="Lookup" value="Lookup"></input>
<p>
<% if (Request("Name") != "") { %>
Hi <%=Request("Name") %>,
you selected <%=Request("Personality") %>
<% } %>
</p> </form></body></html>

20

ASP.NET server side controls

• ASP.NET defines server side controls to abstract HTML
generation process
– Server side controls retain state between post-backs
– Server side controls issue events on the server
– Server side controls generate appropriate HTML to client

21

Figure 3.2: ASP.NET page using server-side controls

<html>

<body>
<form runat=server>
<h3>Enter name: <input ID="txtName" type=text runat=server/>
Personality: <select ID="Personality" runat=server>
<option>extraverted</option>
<option>introverted</option>
<option>in-between</option>
</select>
<input type=submit value="Submit"/>
<p>
<% if (IsPostBack) {%>
Hi <%=txtName.Value%>, you selected <%=Personality.Value%>
<% } %>
</p>
</form>
</body>
</html>

22

Figure 3.3: HTML generated by server side controls

<html>
<body>
<form name="ctrl1" method="post" action="ServerSideCtrls.aspx" id="ctrl1">
<input type="hidden"
name="__VIEWSTATE" value="YTB6MTY0MDA4NTc2Ml9fX3g=a7d02a14" />
<h3>Enter name: <input name="txtName" id="txtName"
type="text" value="Joe" />
Personality: <select name="Personality" id="Personality">
<option value="extraverted">extraverted</option>
<option selected value="introverted">introverted</option>
<option value="in-between">in-between</option>
</select>
<input type=submit value="Submit"/>
<p>
Hi Joe, you selected introverted
</p>
</form>
</body>
</html>

23

Server-side events

• In addition to retaining state, server-side controls can issue
events
– Many events traditionally generated on the client-side can be
propagated to the server
– Primarily 'click' and 'change' events are available
– Warning: every server-side event generates a post-back
round trip

24

Figure 3.4: Using server-side events
<html>
<head>
<script runat=server>
void WriteGreeting(Object sender, EventArgs E)
{
Greeting.InnerText = "Hi " + txtName.Value + ", you selcted " +
Personality.Value;
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form runat=server>
<h3>Enter name: <input ID="txtName" type=text runat=server/>
Personality: <select ID="Personality" runat=server>
<option>extraverted</option>
<option>introverted</option>
<option>in-between</option>
</select>
<input type=button value="Submit"
runat=server OnServerClick="WriteGreeting" />
<div id="Greeting" runat=server />
</form>
</body>
</html>
25

Figure 3.5: HTML generated using server-side events

<html>
<body>
<form name="ctrl2" method="post" action="ServerSideEvents.aspx" id="ctrl2">
<input type="hidden" name="__EVENTTARGET" value="" />
<input type="hidden" name="__EVENTARGUMENT" value="" />
<input type="hidden" name="__VIEWSTATE" value="YTB6..." />
<script language="javascript">
function __doPostBack(eventTarget, eventArgument) {
var theform = document.ctrl2
theform.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget
theform.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument
theform.submit()
}
</script>
<h3>Enter name:
<input name="txtName" id="txtName" type="text" value="Joe" />
Personality: <select name="Personality" id="Personality">
<option value="extraverted">extraverted</option>
<option value="introverted">introverted</option>
<option selected value="in-between">in-between</option> </select>
<input name="ctrl7" type="button" value="Submit" /
onclick="javascript:__doPostBack('ctrl7','')">
<div id="Greeting">Hi Joe, you selected in-between</div>
</form></body></html>
26

Controls

ASP.NET provides two sets of server controls.
HtmlControls that use the same names and
syntax as their HTML counterparts, and
WebControls which provide a more consistent
programming model and a higher level of
abstraction.

27

HtmlControls

• HtmlControls are server-side representations of standard HTML
elements
– Any HTML element in an ASPX page marked with the
runat=server attribute will become an HTML control on
the server
– All derive from HtmlControl class
– HTML elements with no distinguished server-side
functionality (like div, span, etc.) are all represented as
HtmlGenericControl instances

28

Figure 3.6: Hierarchy of HtmlControls and the tags they map to

System.Object
System.Web.UI.Control
HtmlControl
HtmlImage <img> HtmlContainerControl
HtmlInputControl HtmlForm <form>
<span>,
HtmlInputFile <input type=file> HtmlGenericControl <div>, ...
HtmlInputHidden <input type=hidden> HtmlSelect <select>

HtmlInputImage <input type=image> HtmlTable <table>

HtmlInputRadioButton <input type=radio> HtmlTableCell <td>,<th>

HtmlInputText <input type=text>
HtmlTableRow <tr>

HtmlInputButton <input type=button> HtmlTextArea <textarea>
<input HtmlAnchor <a>
HtmlInputCheckBox
type=checkbox>
HtmlButton <button>

29

WebControls

• WebControls provide a more consistent object model and a
higher level of abstraction than HtmlControls
– Most HTML elements can also be represented as
WebControls on the server
– WebControl versions typically have a more consistent
interface (background color is always BackColor property
whereas in HTML it may be a style attribute (span) or a
property (table) )
– WebControls also provide higher-level controls with more
functionality than primitive HTML elements (like the
Calendar control)
– WebControls may render themselves differently based on
client browser capabilities

30

Figure 3.7: Hierarchy of WebControls

System.Object
System.Web.UI.Control
WebControl
AdRotator LinkButton Image
BaseDataList ListControl ImageButton
DataGrid RadioButtonList Label
CheckBoxList BaseValidator
DataList
DropDownList CompareValidator
Button
ListBox CustomValidator
Calendar
Panel
CheckBox RangeValidator
Table RegularExpressionValidator
RadioButton
TableCell RequiredFieldValidator
HyperLink
TableHeaderCell ValidationSummary
TextBox
TableRow

31

Figure 3.9: A sample ASP.NET page written with HtmlControls

<html>

<body>
<form runat=server>
<input type=radio runat=server>click me</input><br/>
<input type=checkbox runat=server>check me</input><br/>
<input type=button value="Push me" runat=server /><br/>
<input type=text value="type in me" runat=server /><br/>
<textarea value="type more in me" runat=server /><br/>
<table runat=server>
<tr><td>cell00</td><td>cell01</td></tr>
<tr><td>cell10</td><td>cell11</td></tr>
</table>
</form>
</body>
</html>

32

Figure 3.8: A sample ASP.NET page written with WebControls
<html>

<body>
<form runat=server>
<asp:RadioButton Text="click me" runat=server/><br/>
<asp:CheckBox Text="check me" runat=server/><br/>
<asp:Button Text="Push me" runat=server /><br/>
<asp:TextBox Text="type in me" runat=server /><br/>
<asp:TextBox TextMode=MultiLine rows=3
Text="type more in me" runat=server /><br/>
<asp:Table runat=server>
<asp:TableRow>
<asp:TableCell>cell00</asp:TableCell>
</asp:TableRow>
<asp:TableRow>
</asp:TableRow>
</asp:Table>

</form>
</body>
</html>
33

Summary

• ASP.NET is a significant departure from classic ASP
• All pages in ASP.NET are compiled assemblies
• Pages are rendered by iteratively rendering all controls within
them
• Directives in ASP.NET control page compilation, assembly
references, namespace usage, and output caching, among
other things
• Server-side controls retain state between post-backs
• Server-side controls can issue events on the server
• HtmlControls provide server-side equivalents of HTML elements
• WebControls provide more consistent object model for server-
side controls, as well as some more sophisticated controls

34

Asp.net

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