1751 beginning ASP NET web pages with webmatrix

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Beginning
ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix®
FOREWORD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Chapter 1

Getting Started with WebMatrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2

Designing Web Pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 3

Designing Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 4

Programming Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 5

Adding User Interactivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 6

AJAX and jQuery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter 7

Packages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Chapter 8

Working with Files and Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Chapter 9

Debugging and Error Handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Chapter 10 Introduction to Data and Databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Chapter 11

A Deeper Dive Into Data Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Chapter 12

Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Chapter 13

Optimizing Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Chapter 14

Deploying Your Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Appendix

Exercise Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

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Beginning

ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix®

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Beginning

ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix®
Mike Brind
Imar Spaanjaars

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Beginning ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix®
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256

www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-1-118-05048-4
ISBN: 978-1-118-20348-4 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-20350-7 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-20349-1 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through
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(978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions
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respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including
without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold
with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services.
If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to
in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher

endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers
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Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, Wrox Programmer to Programmer, and related trade dress are
trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. WebMatrix is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any
product or vendor mentioned in this book.

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About the Authors

Mike Brind  spent the first 20 years of his working life in a series of successful sales and marketing

roles, towards the end of which he was introduced to HTML and databases. A dormant inner geek
took over and Mike became very much more interested in developing websites than selling advertising space on them.
As well as on books such as those in the Wrox Beginner series, Mike became reliant on the enormous
amount of free help provided by online communities while he learned his new craft. Mike is now
one of the all-time leading contributors to the official ASP.NET forums at
and is also a moderator there.
As a result of his contributions to the ASP.NET community via the forums, and through his

technical article site at www.mikesdotnetting.com, Mike received the Microsoft Most Valuable
Professional (MVP) Award for ASP.NET in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Beginning ASP.NET Web
Pages with WebMatrix is Mike’s first book.
Mike is currently the Operations Director for ITEC Systems, a company that produces specialist
software for recruitment agencies all around the world.
Mike lives in Rochester in the UK with his wife of over 25 years, Anna. Together they have two
daughters and a grandson.
Imar Spaanjaars  graduated in Leisure Management at the Leisure Management School in the
Netherlands, but he quickly changed his career path into the Internet world.

After working in the Internet business at various web agencies for thirteen years, he started up
his own company called De Vier Koeden (), a small Internet agency
specializing in consultancy and development of Internet and intranet applications with Microsoft
technologies such as ASP.NET 4. He’s also the technical director of Dynamicweb Netherlands and
Dynamicweb North America, two branches of the popular Danish CMS and eCommerce system
Dynamicweb.
Imar has written books on ASP.NET and Macromedia Dreamweaver, all published under the Wrox
brand. He is also one of the top contributors to the Wrox Community Forum at p2p.wrox.com,
where he shares his knowledge with fellow programmers.
Since 2008, Imar has been rewarded with Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for
his contributions to the ASP.NET community.
Imar lives in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with his girlfriend, Fleur. You can contact him through his
personal web site at or by email at

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About the Technical Editor

Michael Apostol  graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Economics. He started

his career working for Microsoft Corporation in Market Development. Michael has worked in both
software development and information technology as an I.T. manager, programmer, and consultant for numerous companies in the Western United States in addition to a few trips to Europe as a
software instructor. Presently, he is employed as a contractor writing SQL Server TSQL code for a
company in Hawaii. He has thoroughly enjoyed his work as a technical editor with his last project
being: Beginning Microsoft ASP.NET 4.0 by Imar Spaanjaars (2010, Wiley Publishing, Inc.). In his free
time, Michael tries to get as much time possible with his adopted seven year old Ethiopian son, Geremu,
and spouse, Melissa, outside in the sunshine.

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Credits
Acquisitions Editor

Production Manager

Paul Reese

Tim Tate

Project Editor

Vice President and Executive Group

Publisher

Rosanne Koneval

Richard Swadley
Technical Editor

Michael Apostol

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Neil Edde
Production Editor

Rebecca Anderson

Associate Publisher

Jim Minatel
Copy Editor

Kezia Endsley

Project Coordinator, Cover

Katie Crocker
Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Compositor

Craig Johnson, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Freelancer Editorial Manager

Rosemarie Graham

Proofreader

Nancy Carrasco
Associate Director of Marketing

David Mayhew

Indexer

Johnna VanHoose Dinse
Marketing Manager

Ashley Zurcher

Cover Designer

LeAndra Young
Business Manager

Amy Knies

Cover Image

© Nikada

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Acknowledgments

I would like to start  by thanking Imar Spaanjaars, my co-author and fellow MVP, for recommending me to Wrox for this project. I am also grateful for the advice and support he has provided as the
book became reality. I would also like to thank Paul Reese for listening to Imar and taking a chance
on me.

I would also like to thank Michael J. Apostol for his contribution as Technical Editor and for Kezia
Endsley for tirelessly translating my English into English. I am particularly appreciative of the efforts
of Rosanne Koneval for her patience and diplomacy in guiding this particular author newbie through
the process of getting a book done.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife of over 25 years, Anna, for her support and understanding
throughout the project. I lost count of how many times she asked “have you finished the book yet?”
But at last, I can answer “Yes!”

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Contents

FOREWORD

xxiii

Introduction

xxv

Chapter 1: Getting Started with WebMatrix

Introducing WebMatrix

1

2

What Is WebMatrix?
Why Should You Use WebMatrix?
How Do You Acquire WebMatrix?
Introducing the ASP.NET Web Pages Framework
How the Web Works

A Tour of WebMatrix

2
3
3
6
10

11

The Site Workspace
The Ribbon Bar
Left Pane
Workspace Selector
Right Pane
The Files Workspace
The Databases Workspace
The Reports Workspace
Common WebMatrix Templates
File Types
WebMatrix Site Templates

Anatomy of a Web Pages Application
Default Folders in a Web Pages Application
The Root Folder

12
12
12
13
13
14
14
15
15
15
17

17
17
19

Summary19
Chapter 2: Designing Web Pages

Introducing HTML

21

21

HTML Elements and Tags
22
Tag Attributes
26
HTML Entities
30
IntelliSense31
HTML533

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CONTENTS

Cascading Style Sheets

34

CSS Structure and Style Rules
A Type Selector Example
A Class Selector Example
An ID Selector Example
CSS Positioning and the Box Model
CSS Properties
Tips for Working with CSS

36
36
36
36
43
48
49

Summary50
The Sample Site

51

Chapter 3: Designing WebSites

53

Site Templates from Layout Pages

54

Layout Pages
Nesting Layout Pages

58
62

Reusable Content Blocks

66

IsSectionDefined70

Passing Data Between Content and Layout Pages
70
Practical Tips When Designing Layouts
74
Summary74
Chapter 4: Programming Your Site

77

The .NET Framework, C#, VB, and Razor

78

Why C#?
Where Does Razor Fit In?

Programming Fundamentals

78
78

78

Variables and Data Types
79
Naming Variables
79
Data Types
80
The var Keyword and Strong Typing
81
Working with Strings
82
Converting Strings to Other Data Types
83
Collections83
Arrays84
Other Types of Collections
84
Statements
85
Operators85
Selection Statements
87
Iteration Statements
89

xvi

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CONTENTS

Objects, Properties, and Methods
91
Objects91
Properties92
Methods94

Introduction to the Razor Syntax
Mixing Razor and HTML
Reusable Code
Global Values and _AppStart.cshtml
Sharing Values Across Pages with _PageStart
Reusable Functions
Reusable Custom Helpers

97
98
101
101
104
108
110

Summary111
Chapter 5: Adding User Interactivity

Creating Forms

115

115

GET versus POST

116

Creating a Form to Obtain User Input

116

Other Form Elements

120

Validating User Input

122

Server-Side or Client-Side Validation?
HTML Encoding
Persisting Values Across Postbacks
HTML Helpers
ModelState and Validation Helpers

Processing User Input

123
125
125
129
132

138

The WebMail Helper
HTML and Request Validation

138
142

Summary144
Chapter 6: AJAX and jQuery

Introduction to jQuery
How to Include jQuery in Your Pages
Content Delivery Networks

147

148
148
149

jQuery Selectors

151

Basic Selectors
Selectors with Filters

152
153

Manipulating Page Elements with jQuery

154

Applying CSS to Elements
155
css(name, value)
155
css(map)155
addClass, removeClass, and toggleClass
155
xvii

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CONTENTS

Event Handling
158
Effects
159

show()160
hide()160
toggle()160
fadeIn()160
fadeOut()160
fadeToggle()160

Introduction to AJAX

163

Other jQuery AJAX Methods
166
jQuery.get166
jQuery.post167
jQuery.ajax167
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
167
The JSON Helper
168

Introducing jQuery Plug-Ins
171
Practical Tips When Working with jQuery
175
Summary176
Chapter 7: Packages179

Introducing “Packages”

179

How to Use the Package Manager

The Web Helpers Package

180

184

Using the Twitter Helper
185
Adding Video to Your Pages
187
Flash187
Windows Media Player
187
Silverlight188
The FileUpload Helper
188
Uploading Multiple Files
192
Other Notable Helpers
193
Visual Basic Site Templates
194
BBCode Parser and Helper
194
Facebook Helper
194

PayPal Helper
194
Twitter Helper
194

Summary194

xviii

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CONTENTS

Chapter 8: Working with Files and Images

197

Creating and Modifying Files
197
Creating Folders
199
Copying and Moving Files and Folders
202
Other Types of Files
203
Working with Images
206
Summary216
Chapter 9: Debugging and Error Handling

219

Anatomy of an Error

219

Syntax Errors
Runtime Exceptions

220
222

Global Error Handling
Logical Errors

225
228

Using ObjectInfo to Debug Errors
The ServerInfo Helper

230
232

Using ASP.NET Tracing
233
Summary240
Chapter 10: Introduction to Data and Databases

243

What Is a Database?
SQL Server Compact
Using the Databases Workspace

243
245
245

SQL Server Compact Data Types

250

Structured Query Language

251

Reading Data
251
Filtering Data
252
Adding and Modifying Data
256
Selecting Data from Multiple Tables
258
Relationships261

Using the Database Helper
263

Summary267
Chapter 11: A Deeper Dive Into Data Access

What Is SQL Injection?

271

271

Parameters Provide Protection

Developing CRUD Forms

273

274

xix

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CONTENTS

Displaying Data

285

The WebGrid Helper
Some AJAX Spice

Working with Styles and Columns
Selecting Items

285
289
290
297

Summary301
Chapter 12: Security305

Membership and Roles Management

305

Membership306
Roles
306

The WebSecurity Helper

306

Creating a Registration Form
Creating a Login Form
Resetting Passwords
Locking Accounts
Managing Roles
The SimpleRoleProvider
Programmatically Applying Roles

310
317
323
323
324
325
328

Summary331
Chapter 13: Optimizing Your Site

Search Engine Optimization

333

333

SEO Reports
336
Search344

URLs and Routing

345

Web Pages Routing

346

Performance Optimization
351
Visitor Tracking
353
Summary354
Chapter 14: Deploying Your Site

Web Hosting Services

357

357

Shared Hosting
358
Dedicated Server
358
Colocation358

Finding a Hosting Company

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358


CONTENTS

Deployment Options
Common Deployment Issues
File Paths and URLs
Other Issues
What Next?

361
369
370
371
371

Summary372
Appendix: Exercise Answers

375

Index

385

xxi

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FOREWORD

Back in 1997, when I began my career as a professional web developer, I started working with
Classic ASP. After a brief training period in a few different programming languages such as C++
and Java, I was thrown in at the deep end and assigned to a project to build an Intranet application for a large consultancy firm in the Netherlands using Classic ASP. Despite the complexity of
the project and my lack of experience at the time, I was still able to make valuable contributions to
the code base. This was partly due to the great support I received from my more experienced colleagues, but also because of how approachable Classic ASP was. Although it’s considered outdated
now, Classic ASP had a few great features that made it the technology of choice for many developers
for a long period of time. One of the things I really liked about it was how approachable it was. You
didn’t need complex and overwhelming tools, but instead you could use a simple text editor that had
features such as color coding and multiple tabs. Deployment was also very easy: You just uploaded
the file to the server and the changes would be applied immediately. For features not supported outof-the-box (such as image scaling and uploading of files), one of my colleagues would write a DLL
in Visual Basic 6 to get the job done. I had great respect for those that possessed these skills as it
seemed pretty complicated at that time.
Then in early 2000, ASP.NET was released. It marked a radical change in web development as it
approached things from a completely different angle. Rather than having you work with the underlying technologies that make up the Web (such as HTTP , HTML, CSS and more) directly, ASP.NET
shields the developer from many of these concepts, and lets you work with a web application in a
similar way to how you write desktop applications. As a result, ASP.NET made the hard things easy
and the easy things hard. Things that used to take hours or days to develop in Classic ASP — such
as building data-driven web pages — could now be done in minutes, simply by dragging and dropping a few controls. But things that were dead-easy before — such as adding an in-line CSS class to
a table cell displaying records from a database — all of a sudden turned out to be very difficult.
I clearly recall how the first books on ASP.NET I read stated how unbelievably cool it all was,
how it was so much better than Classic ASP, and how it solved so many problems. Although these
claims have proven to be true over the past ten years, back then I already started wondering what
people would write the day a successor or competitor for ASP.NET would be released, and how all
the benefits of ASP.NET would be turned upside down as disadvantages to better promote the new
technology.

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