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Web Forms—the Page and Control Framework at the heart of ASP.NET—makes it easier to develop dynamic Web applications. But you can go beyond the controls that ship with ASP.NET—and power up your Web sites and applications—by creating your own server controls. You can also develop and distribute your own controls for commercial use. This comprehensive guide, direct from key insiders who really know the technology, combines conceptual and architectural details with practical, how-to information and real-world code samples to show exactly how to create custom, reusable, professional-quality server controls with rich design-time functionality. It also provides essential information about configuration and the HTTP runtime, packaging, deployment, debugging, and developing controls that incorporate XML Web services, plus other vital topics. And it introduces the ASP.NET Web Matrix tool for creating Web applications and for using server controls. Topics covered include:

OVERVIEW

• ASP.NET page programming
• Component programming

SERVER CONTROLS

• User controls
• Implementing properties
• View state management
• Rendering
• Control life cycle
• Events and Postback
• Styles
• Composite, validator, and data-bound controls
• Client-side behavior
• Design-time functionality
• Localization, licensing, and deployment

SERVER COMPONENTS

• XML Web services
• HTTP handlers

SERVER CONTROL CASE STUDIES

• Templated data-bound controls
• DHTML-based server controls

“[This book] is a must-have for all serious ASP.NET component developers.”

–Scott Guthrie, Product Unit Manager, Microsoft ASP.NET Product Team

The ASP.NET 2.0 Framework introduced web developers to dozens of new server controls and components, and a greatly expanded and easier structure for writing their own server controls and components. Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control and Component Development covers the breadth of server control functionality as well as the rest of the membership, role management, SchemaImporterExtension, and so on – the functionality referred to as components. Written for the experienced ASP.NET developer, Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control and Component Development will show you how to write your first sever control or custom component.

The step-by-step coverage drills down to the details of the extensible part of the ASP.NET 2.0 Framework that you need to extend to write the specified type of custom control or component. Rather than present the extensible part as a black box, it presents a detailed step-by-step approach to implement functional replica of the extensible part, discusses the replica’s code in detail, and provides an in-depth coverage of the techniques, tools, and technologies used in the code. From there you get a detailed practical recipe for developing the specified type of custom control or component and book then uses the recipe to implement one or more real-world custom controls or components of the specified type that you can use in your own Web applications.

Some of the many types of controls and components you'll learn to build are:

• Ajax-enabled controls and components: four chapters on Ajax discuss and use Ajax patterns, ASP.NET 2.0 client callback mechanism, CSS, DOM, XML, and JavaScript to implement a number of Ajax-enabled controls and components.
• Web Parts: four chapters on Web Parts in ASP.NET 2.0 develop a number of custom WebPart, EditorPart, CatalogPart, WebPartZone, WebPartChrome, WebPartVerb, WebPartManager, and data-bound WebPart controls.
• 5 chapters on ASP.NET 2.0 security, membership, and role management components
• 5 chapters on ASP.NET 2.0 tabular and hierarchical data source controls and custom Parameter components
• 4 chapters on ASP.NET 2.0 tabular data-bound controls and data control fields
• Developing controls and components that can access any type of data store and automate all their data operations such as Delete, Update, Insert, and Sort.
• XML Web service, WSDL, Google XML Web service API, SchemaImporterExtension, ISerializable, and CodeDom
• XmlReader, XmlWriter, XPathNavigator, DOM, and XmlResolver
• Provider-Based Services including how to implement a RSS service provider that can feed RSS from any type of data store such as SQL Server, file system, Web services, and so on
• HTTP modules, HTTP handler factories, HTTP handlers, and control builders including developing an HTTP module and an HTTP handler factory that perform URL rewriting and an HTTP handler that generates RSS feeds
• User controls and composite and templated custom controls
• State management and custom type converters.
• Events, IPostBackEventHandler, IPostBackDataHandler, and Page lifecycle

This book is also available as part of the 5-book ASP.NET 2.0 Wrox Box (ISBN: 0-470-11757-5). This 5-book set includes:

• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Special Edition (ISBN: 0-470-04178-1)
• ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (ISBN: 0764584642 )
• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Security, Membership, and Role Management (ISBN: 0764596985)
• Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control and Component Development (ISBN: 0471793507)
• ASP.NET 2.0 MVP Hacks and Tips (ISBN: 0764597663)
• CD-ROM with more than 1000 pages of bonus chapters from 15 other .NET 2.0 and SQL Server(TM) 2005 Wrox books
• DVD with 180-day trial version of Microsoft(r) Visual Studio(r) 2005 Professional Edition

Microsoft's ASP.NET technology is a popular and enduring technology that can be expanded with custom server controls. Custom server controls allow programmers to add advanced features to their web sites by extending existing, well-known controls such as text boxes and buttons.

This book covers how to work with custom server controls and how to add AJAX functions into these applications with Microsoft's implementation of AJAX, ASP.NET AJAX (formerly Atlas). ASP.NET AJAX is the de facto standard for implementing Ajax in ASP.NET 2.0 applications, and every ASP.NET 2.0 developer has to bear it in mind when creating a cutting-edge application.

The intended reader is an experienced ASP.NET developer who wants to get the most out of server controls and add Ajax development to their suite of skills. No other book on server controls covers ASP.NET AJAX, so developers interested in this hot topic have to buy this book. Uniquely, it integrates client-side development technologies such as DHTML and JavaScript with server control technology, which is essential in a modern web application.

Microsoft .NET Development Series

“Supported by the leaders and principal authorities of core Microsoft technologies, this series has an author pool that combines some of the most insightful authors in the industry with the lead software architects and developers at Microsoft and the developer community at large.”

– Don Box

Architect, Microsoft

“This is a great resource for professional .NET developers. It covers all bases, from expert perspective to reference and how-to. Books in this series are essential reading for those who want to judiciously expand their knowledge base and expertise.”

–John Montgomery

Principal Group Program Manager,

Developer Division, Microsoft

“This foremost series on .NET contains vital information for developers who need to get the most out of the .NET Framework. Our authors are selected from the key innovators who create the technology and are the most respected practitioners of it.”

–Brad Abrams

Group Program Manager, Microsoft

ASP.NET AJAX server controls can encapsulate even the most powerful AJAX functionality, helping you build more elegant, maintainable, and scalable applications. This is the first comprehensive, code-rich guide to custom ASP.NET AJAX server controls for experienced ASP.NET developers. Unlike other books on ASP.NET AJAX, this book focuses solely on server control development and reflects the significant improvements in ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX and the latest Visual Studio 2008 features for streamlining AJAX development

Adam Calderon and Joel Rumerman first review the core Microsoft AJAX Library and JavaScript techniques needed to support a rich client-side experience. Next, they build upon these techniques showing how to create distributable AJAX-enabled controls that include rich browser-independent JavaScript client-side functionality. The authors thoroughly explain both the JavaScript and .NET aspects of control development and how these two distinct environments come together to provide a foundation for building a rich user experience using ASP.NET AJAX.

• Create object-oriented cross-browser JavaScript that supports .NET style classes, interfaces, inheritance, and method overloading
• Work with components, behaviors, and controls, and learn how they relate to DOM elements
• Learn Sys.Application and the part it plays in object creation, initialization, and events in the Microsoft AJAX Library
• Build Extender and Script controls that provide integrated script generation for their corresponding client-side counterparts
• Localize ASP.NET AJAX controls including client script
• Discover ASP.NET AJAX client and server communication architecture and the new support for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• Understand ASP.NET AJAX Application Services
• Create custom Application Services
• Design controls for a partial postback environment
• Understand the AJAX Control Toolkit architecture and the many features it provides
• Develop highly interactive controls using the AJAX Control Toolkit
• Understand AJAX Control Toolkit architecture and build controls that utilize the toolkit

Foreword xxv

Preface xxvii

Acknowledgments xxxv

About the Authors xxxix

Part I: Client Code

Chapter 1: Programming with JavaScript 3

Chapter 2: Microsoft AJAX Library Programming 51

Part II: Controls

Chapter 3: Components 121

Chapter 4: Sys.Application 169

Chapter 5: Adding Client Capabilities to Server Controls 207

Chapter 6: ASP.NET AJAX Localization 255

Chapter 7: Control Development in a Partial Postback Environment 317

Part III: Communication

Chapter 8: ASP.NET AJAX Communication Architecture 371

Chapter 9: Application Services 425

Part IV: AJAX Control Toolkit

Chapter 10: ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit Architecture 481

Chapter 11: Adding Client Capabilities to Server Controls Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit 513

Appendixes

Appendix A: JavaScript in Visual Studio 2008 547

Appendix B: Validating Method Parameters 555

Appendix C: ASP.NET Handlers and Modules 559

Appendix D: Client Error Handling Code 569

Index 577

Delivering rich, Web 2.0-style experiences has never been easier. This book gives you a complete hands-on introduction to Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX 1.0, the new framework that offers many of the same benefits for Ajax development that ASP.NET provides for server-side development. With Programming ASP.NET AJAX, you'll learn how to create professional, dynamic web pages with Ajax in no time.
Loaded with code and examples that demonstrate key aspects of the framework, this book is ideal not only for ASP.NET developers who want to take their applications a step further with Ajax, but for any web developers interested in ASP.NET AJAX, no matter what technology they use currently. That includes JavaScript programmers who would like to avoid the headaches of writing cross-browser code.
Programming ASP.NET AJAX offers you:

• A high-level overview of the ASP.NET AJAX framework
• Functional code that you can cut and paste for use in your own applications
• The essentials of JavaScript and Ajax to help you understand individual technologies used by the framework
• An organization that reflects the framework's packages, including Extensions, Control Toolkit, the Futures CTP, and the AJAX Library
• Sidebars throughout the book that identify and propose solutions to potential security breaches
• Ways to use the standards-based AJAX Library with other platforms, such as PHP
• A complete chapter on the UpdatePanel control for making individual parts of a web page independently updateable -- one of the framework's most important elements

Released previously as Programming Atlas to cover the beta version of the Microsoft framework, this edition is fully up-to-date and expanded for the official 1.0 release of ASP.NET AJAX. Written by Christian Wenz -- Microsoft MVP for ASP/ASP.NET and AJAX Control Toolkit Contributor -- Programming ASP.NET AJAX contains many hard-to-find details, along with a few unofficial ways to accomplish things.

Learn to use Devexpress ASP.NET controls, and get $250 worth of controls included with the book

Devexpress is a leading supplier of ASP.NET controls - the addins used in ASP.NET sites. Not only does this book show you how to make the most of them with Silverlight and Ajax, reporting, calendars, editors, and charts, but you also get actual controls worth $250 on the CD-ROM included with the book.

Regardless of your level of ASP.NET expertise, this complete reference will show you how to implement many award-winning and useful controls into your ASP.NET applications. Controls save time and effort as well as adding functionality, and this book helps you take full advantage of what they offer.

• Devexpress is a leading vendor for ASP.NET controls that developers can use to add features, accomplish difficult tasks, and save development and testing time
• This book addresses the all-important use of controls for Silverlight and Ajax, as well as classic essentials like reporting, editors, calendars, and charts
• Covered controls include reports and charts, HTML editors, menus and treeviews, gridview, and many more
• Explains when and where to use controls and how to add functionality without additional development
• CD-ROM includes $250 worth of Devexpress controls ready for you to use right away

With Professional DevExpress ASP.NET Controls, you'll be a step ahead in developing powerful ASP.NET applications.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Make the right architectural decisions up front—and improve the quality and reliability of your results. Led by two enterprise programming experts, you’ll learn how to apply the patterns and techniques that help control project complexity—and make systems easier to build, support, and upgrade—right from the start.

Get pragmatic architectural guidance on how to:

• Build testability, maintainability, and security into your system early in the design
• Expose business logic through a service-oriented interface
• Choose the best pattern for organizing business logic and behavior
• Review and apply the patterns for separating the UI and presentation logic
• Delve deep into the patterns and practices for the data access layer
• Tackle the impedance mismatch between objects and data
• Minimize development effort and avoid over-engineering—and deliver more robust results

Get code samples on the Web.

By using C# and the final beta of NET 2.0, this book covers Windows Forms and GDI+ namespaces thoroughly for the .NET programmer in 2005. Experienced author Matthew MacDonald achieves this by combining careful treatment of the API with detailed discussion of solid user-interface design principles. This is an update for .NET 2.0 of MacDonald’s previous edition (1590590457) which gained wide community recognition. Upon reading this edition, you will be equipped to design state-of-the-art Windows interfaces and program graphics, and know how to create your own controls.

As a developer, you must know more than simply adding a control to a window. You must be able to create an entire user interface framework that's scalable, flexible, and reusable. Although this book is not a reference manual, it contains detailed discussions about user interface elements you’ll use on a regular basis. You will learn to use .NET controls, as well as extend them with your own custom controls.

Any ASP.NET developer who needs a sophisticated control solution may look to Telerik to supply them a fast solution if they understand how to use and integrate Telerik into their own projects. The Telerik suite of controls has been widely adopted by the .NET development community, and Telerik controls appear in tens of thousands of solutions across all industries, with 300,000 registered Telerik users. This book supports the ASP.NET and Silverlight professional developer community by opening up Telerik solutions.

WPF Control Development Unleashed

Building Advanced User Experiences

In this book, two leading Windows Presentation Foundation experts give developers everything they need to build next-generation WPF applications–software that is more robust, usable, and compelling.

Drawing on their close ties with Microsoft’s WPF development team, Pavan Podila and Kevin Hoffman give you a clear, robust, and practical understanding of WPF, its underpinnings, its overall architecture, and its design philosophy. Podila and Hoffman introduce never-before-published WPF design patterns and support them with robust, real-world code examples–all presented in full color, just as they appear in Visual Studio.

The authors begin by explaining how to “think in WPF,” and then introduce powerful new techniques for everything from handling 3D layouts to creating game-like physics effects. Along the way, they offer in-depth coverage of data binding, building interactivity, and control development: three of WPF’s most challenging concepts. You’ll learn how to choose the right WPF features for every programming challenge, and use those features far more creatively and effectively.

If you want to build truly outstanding WPF applications, this is the book that will get you there.

• Master the patterns and techniques you need to build state-of-the-art WPF applications
• Write more powerful and effective applications that reflect a deep understanding of WPF’s design philosophy
• Learn how WPF has evolved, and take full advantage of its growing sophistication
• Make the most of advanced declarative programming techniques
• Leverage IScrollInfo, virtualization, control theming, and other complex features
• Build more powerful interactivity into your WPF applications
• Create more visual software with 3D elements, custom animations, and shader effects
• Optimize WPF application performance in real-world environments
• Master design patterns for organizing your controls more effectively

Category: .NET Programming / WPF

Covers: Windows Presentation Foundation

User Level: Intermediate—Advanced