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In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you’ll learn how to build complete, professional-quality web solutions with ASP.NET 4 and Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll master the entire process, from site design through data collection, user management through debugging and deployment. Scott Mitchell, editor of top ASP.NET resource site 4GuysFromRolla.com, shows how to use the newest ASP.NET 4 enhancements and make the most of free tools like ASP.NET Ajax and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a strong, practical foundation for success!
Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common ASP.NET 4 development tasks.
Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge.
By the Way, Did You Know?, and Watch Out! boxes point out shortcuts and solutions.
Learn how to…
Introduction 1
PART I: GETTING STARTED WITH ASP.NET 4
Hour 1: Getting Started with ASP.NET 4 7
What Is ASP.NET? 8
Installing the .NET Framework, Visual Web Developer, and SQL Server 2008 14
A Brief Tour of Visual Web Developer 16
Q&A 23
Workshop 24
Hour 2: Understanding the ASP.NET Programming Model 25
Examining the HTML Portion of an ASP.NET Page 25
Examining the Source Code Portion of an ASP.NET Page 44
Q&A 53
Workshop 53
Hour 3: Using Visual Web Developer 57
Creating a New Website 58
Opening Existing Websites 60
Working with Web Pages and Other Content 61
Customizing the Visual Web Developer Experience 65
Viewing, Moving, and Resizing Windows 68
A World of Help at Your Fingertips 69
Q&A 70
Workshop 71
Hour 4: Designing, Creating, and Testing ASP.NET Pages 73
Specifying the Design Requirements 73
Creating the User Interface 76
Writing the Source Code for the ASP.NET Page 82
Testing the Financial Calculator 86
Examining the Source Code 92
Using the Debugger 93
Q&A 97
Workshop 98
Hour 5: Understanding Visual Basic’s Variables and Operators 101
The Purpose of Programming Languages 102
Declaring and Using Variables 103
Examining Visual Basic’s Operators 110
Learning Visual Basic’s Type Rules 116
Q&A 118
Workshop 118
Hour 6: Managing Program Flow with Visual Basic’s Control Structures 121
Understanding Control Structures 122
Exploring the Conditional Control Structure 123
Working with Visual Basic’s Looping Control Structures 128
Exploring the Modularizing Control Structures: Subroutines and Functions 131
Q&A 142
Workshop 144
Hour 7: Working with Objects in Visual Basic 147
Reexamining the Role of Classes and Objects 148
Creating an Object 150
Setting an Object’s Properties 151
Calling an Object’s Methods 152
Creating Event Handlers for an Object’s Events 153
Q&A 155
Workshop 155
Hour 8: ASP.NET Web Controls for Displaying Text 157
Examining the Web Controls Designed for Displaying Text 157
Using the Literal Web Control 158
Using the Label Web Control 163
Q&A 172
Workshop 173
PART II: COLLECTING AND PROCESSING USER INPUT
Hour 9: Web Form Basics 179
Gathering User Input in an HTML Web Page 180
Dissecting ASP.NET Web Forms 186
Q&A 198
Workshop 199
Hour 10: Using Text Boxes to Collect Input 201
Learning About the TextBox Web Control Basics 202
Creating Multiline and Password Text Boxes 205
Examining the TextBox Web Control’s Properties 211
Q&A 216
Workshop 218
Hour 11: Collecting Input Using Drop-Down Lists, Radio Buttons, and Check Boxes 221
Examining the Different Types of User Input Classifications 222
Examining the DropDownList Web Control 224
Selecting One Option from a List of Suitable Choices with RadioButton Web Controls 233
Using the CheckBox Web Control 238
Q&A 243
Workshop 244
Hour 12: Validating User Input with Validation Controls 247
Examining the Need for User Input Validation 248
Validating User Input in an ASP.NET Page 250
Examining the RequiredFieldValidator Validation Control 253
Examining the CompareValidator 261
Using the RangeValidator 268
Validating Input with the RegularExpressionValidator 269
Formatting Properties for the Validation Web Controls 272
A Look at the Remaining Validation Controls 274
Q&A 276
Workshop 277
PART III: WORKING WITH DATABASES
Hour 13: Introducing Databases 283
Examining Database Fundamentals 284
Storing Structured Data 285
Creating a New Database 290
Creating Database Tables 292
Adding Data to the Books Table 298
Q&A 302
Workshop 303
Hour 14: Accessing Data with the Data Source Web Controls 305
Examining the Data Source Controls 306
A Look at SQL, the Language of Databases 314
Delving into the SQL SELECT Statement 314
Filtering and Sorting Data from the SqlDataSource Control’s Wizard 323
Q&A 330
Workshop 331
Hour 15: Displaying Data with the Data Web Controls 333
An Overview of Data Web Controls 333
Displaying Data with the GridView Control 337
Showing One Record at a Time with the DetailsView 347
Paging and Sorting with the GridView 351
Q&A 356
Workshop 357
Hour 16: Deleting, Inserting, and Editing Data 359
Updating, Deleting, and Inserting Data with the SqlDataSource 360
Looking at the Data-Modification SQL Statements 363
Editing and Deleting Data with the GridView 366
Inserting Data with the DetailsView 385
Q&A 388
Workshop 388
Hour 17: Working with Data-Bound DropDownLists, RadioButtons, and CheckBoxes 393
An Overview of the List Web Controls 394
Filtering Results Using the DropDownList 401
Collecting User Input with CheckBoxLists and RadioButtonLists 406
Q&A 412
Workshop 412
Hour 18: Exploring Data Binding and Other Data-Related Topics 415
Looking at the GridView and DetailsView’s Fields 416
Using Wildcards in a WHERE Filter Expression 426
An Examination of Data Binding 429
Q&A 436
Workshop 438
Hour 19: Using Templated Data Web Controls 441
Displaying Data Using the ListView Control 442
Paging and Sorting the ListView’s Data 450
Displaying One Record at a Time with the FormView Control 456
Q&A 463
Workshop 464
PART IV: SITE NAVIGATION, USER MANAGEMENT, PAGE LAYOUT, AJAX, AND DEPLOYMENT
Hour 20: Defining a Site Map and Providing Site Navigation 469
An Overview of ASP.NET’s Site-Navigation Features 470
Defining the Website’s Structure Using a Site Map 471
Displaying a Breadcrumb with the SiteMapPath Control 476
Showing the Entire Site Structure 481
Q&A 492
Workshop 493
Hour 21: Using Master Pages to Provide Sitewide Page Templates 495
An Overview of Master Pages 496
Creating a Master Page 500
Creating a Content Page 507
Providing Default Content in a Master Page 510
Working with a Master Page’s Source Code Portion 513
Q&A 517
Workshop 517
Hour 22: Managing Your Site’s Users 521
An Overview of User Accounts in ASP.NET 522
Allowing Visitors to Create New User Accounts 533
Signing In to the Website with the Login Control 541
Displaying Content Based on Authentication Status 545
Examining the ASP.NET Web Site Template 547
Q&A 550
Workshop 551
Hour 23: Building More Responsive Web Pages with ASP.NET Ajax 555
An Overview of Ajax 556
Using the ASP.NET Ajax Library 558
Q&A 568
Workshop 569
Hour 24: Deploying Your Website 573
Choosing a Web-Hosting Company 574
Visiting the Remote Website 590
Q&A 592
Workshop 593
Index 595