Beginning Ajax with ASP. NET

by Wallace B. McClure; Scott Cate; Paul Glavich; Craig Shoemaker

• ISBN13: 9780471785446
• ISBN10: 047178544X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-01
• Publisher: Wrox

Summary

Ajax has the power to revolutionize the way web-based applications are designed. This book provides you with a thorough working knowledge of what Ajax has to offer and how to take full advantage of it in your application development. Following an exploration of how Ajax works with .NET, you'll get acquainted with DHTML, the role of JavaScript and the Document Object Model, and the XMLHttpRequest Object, which is the foundation of Ajax. Then you will examine the Ajax-type features built into ASP.NET and explore the Ajax.NET Professional Library in detail. Finally, you will explore client scripting as well as building and using controls with Microsoft's Atlas. With an entire chapter devoted to debugging, you will have all you need to use this cutting-edge technology. What you will learn from this book * What you can do with the open source Ajax.NET Professional Library * How to use the corresponding functionality, Asynchronous Client Script Callbacks, that comes with ASP.NET 2.0 * Techniques for using the XMLHttpRequest Object to communicate between the client web browser and the server * An overview of XML, XSLT, and other ways to send data between client and server * How to integrate Microsoft's Atlas with many of the services available in ASP.NET 2.0 Who this book is for This book is for programmers who use ASP.NET and are just starting to use Ajax technologies to create more responsive, modern applications. Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

Author Biography

Wallace B. "Wally" McClure graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He continued his education there, receiving a master’s degree in the same field in 1991. Since that time, he has done consulting and development for such organizations as The United States Department of Education, Coca-Cola, Bechtel National, Magnatron, and Lucent Technologies, among others. Products and services have included work with ASP, ADO, XML, and SQL Server, as well as numerous applications in the Microsoft .NET Framework. Wally has been working with the .NET Framework since the summer of 2000. Wally McClure specializes in building applications that have large numbers of users and large amounts of data. He is a Microsoft MVP and an ASPInsider, and a partner in Scalable Development, Inc. You can read Wally’s blog at http://weblogs.asp.net/wallym.
Wally and coauthor Paul Glavich also co-host the ASP.NET Podcast. You can listen to it at www.aspnetpodcast.com. In addition, Wally travels around the southeast United States doing user group talks and sessions at various CodeCamps.
When not working or playing with technology, Wally tries to spend time with his wife Ronda and their two children, Kirsten and Bradley. Occasionally, Wally plays golf and on July 30, 2005, broke par on a real golf course for the first time in his life. If he hadn’t been there, he would not have believed it.

Scott Cate is the President of myKB.com, Inc., in Scottsdale, Arizona. myKB.com, Inc., is a technology company specializing in commercial ASP.NET applications. His product line includes myKB.com (knowledge base software), kbAlertz.com (Microsoft knowledge base notifications), and EasySearchASP.net (a pluggable search engine for ASP.NET sites). Scott also runs AZGroups.com (Arizona .NET user groups), one of the largest and most active user group communities in the country, and is a member of ASPInsiders.com, a group devoted to giving early feedback to the Microsoft ASP.NET team. In addition, Scott has coauthored the novel Surveillance, which can be found at http://surveillance-the-novel.com.

Paul Glavich is currently an ASP.NET MVP and works as a senior technical consultant for Readify. He has over 15 years of industry experience ranging from PICK, C, C++, Delphi, and Visual Basic 3/4/5/6 to his current specialty in .NET C++ with C#, COM+, and ASP.NET. Paul has been developing in .NET technologies since .NET was first in beta and was technical architect for one of the world’s first Internet banking solutions using .NET technology. Paul can be seen on various .NET related newsgroups, has presented at the Sydney .NET user group (www.sdnug.org) and is also a board member of ASPInsiders (www.aspinsiders.com). He has also written some technical articles that can be seen on community sites, such as ASPAlliance.com (www.aspalliance.com).
On a more personal note, Paul is married with three children and two grandkids, and holds a third degree black belt in budo-jitsu.

Craig Shoemaker can’t sit still. As the host of the Polymorphic Podcast (polymorphicpodcast.com), Craig teaches on topics as timely as software architecture and as cutting edge as the latest Ajax technologies. Whether he’s writing for CoDe Magazine, ASPAlliance, or DotNetJunkies or speaking at local user groups, Southern California Code Camp, or VSLive!, Craig loves to share his passion for the art and science for software development. Craig is also a full-time software engineer for Microsoft Certified Partner PDSA, Inc. (pdsa.com) in Tustin, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xix
Introduction to Ajax on ASP.NET	1	(10)
Development Trends	1	(1)
ASP.NET Development	2	(2)
Design Methodology	2	(1)
Problems ASP.NET Solves	2	(2)
So, What's the Problem?	4	(1)
Improving the User Experience	5	(1)
What Is Ajax?	6	(3)
Advantages of Ajax	6	(1)
History of Ajax	7	(1)
Technologies That Make Up Ajax	8	(1)
Running Ajax Applications	8	(1)
Who's Using Ajax?	9	(1)
Problems Ajax Won't Solve	9	(1)
Summary	10	(1)
Introduction to DHTML	11	(18)
What JavaScript Is, and What It Isn't	11	(1)
General Rules of JavaScript	12	(1)
Writing Your First Block of JavaScript Code	13	(4)
document.write()	14	(1)
Using document.write() in Nested for() Loops	14	(2)
window.status and Events	16	(1)
Getting Input from the User	17	(2)
Security Concerns When Getting Text Input	18	(1)
Canceling the Normal Outcome of an Event	18	(1)
Causing an Event Not to ``Bubble Up''	19	(1)
Working with Images	19	(5)
Working with the image src Attribute	20	(1)
Using Functions	20	(1)
Programmatically Populating the Options in <select>	21	(2)
Using the innerHTML Property	23	(1)
Manipulating the Style Sheet	24	(2)
Creating a Context Menu	26	(1)
Summary	27	(2)
JavaScript and the Document Object Model	29	(48)
From Static to Dynamic --- A Brief History	30	(1)
Attempts at Standardization	30	(1)
Digging into Some More JavaScript Basics	31	(4)
Functions and Syntax	33	(1)
Event Handlers	34	(1)
Core Language	35	(16)
Variables	35	(1)
Comments	35	(1)
Datatypes	36	(3)
Operators and Expressions	39	(1)
Flow Control and Loops	40	(3)
More on Objects and Functions	43	(8)
Summary of Material So Far	51	(1)
The Document Object Model	51	(23)
Object Model Standardization (or Lack Thereof)	53	(4)
Working with the DOM	57	(5)
Manipulating Nodes	62	(2)
Properties of a Node	64	(5)
DOM Level O General Collections	69	(1)
The DOM, Styles, and CSS	70	(4)
Summary	74	(3)
The XMLHttpRequest Object	77	(26)
Code Examples for This Chapter	77	(1)
What Is the XMLHttpRequest Object?	78	(24)
A Little History	78	(3)
Synchronous Requests	81	(1)
Asynchronous Requests	82	(2)
Dealing with Response Data	84	(4)
Enhancing Usability	88	(5)
Passing Parameters to the Server	93	(4)
What about Web Services?	97	(5)
Summary	102	(1)
Data Communication: XML, XSLT, and JSON	103	(24)
XML	104	(8)
History of XML	104	(1)
XML Documents	105	(6)
Parsing XML	111	(1)
XML Summary	112	(1)
XSLT	112	(9)
How Processing Occurs	112	(2)
Built-In Functions	114	(2)
Processing with XSLT	116	(4)
Writing Functions in XSLT	120	(1)
X Path	121	(1)
Integrating XML and Ajax	122	(2)
JSON	124	(2)
Layout of JSON	124	(1)
JSON Example	125	(1)
Summary	126	(1)
What Is Built into ASP.NET	127	(32)
Out-of-the-Box Controls	127	(5)
TreeView Control	128	(1)
GridView Control	129	(3)
DetailsView Control	132	(1)
Browser Compatibility	132	(1)
The Framework	133	(2)
ICallbackEventHandler Interface	133	(1)
Page.ClientScript --- System.Web.UI.ClientScriptManager	134	(1)
Making All the Moving Parts Work Together	135	(9)
Obtaining a Callback Reference	135	(1)
Implementing the ICallbackEventHandler Interface	136	(2)
Initiating the Asynchronous Process from the Browser	138	(1)
Handling the Result of Asynchronous Server-Side Call on the Client	138	(3)
Handling Errors in the Asynchronous Process	141	(3)
Dealing with Complex Data	144	(12)
Enabling the Page for Asynchronous Callbacks	145	(1)
Obtaining the Data --- Implementing the ICallbackEventHandler interface	146	(3)
Dealing with the Returned Data on the Client	149	(5)
Limitations on Returning Complex Data in XML	154	(1)
ICallbackContainer Interface	154	(2)
Summary	156	(3)
Ajax.NET Professional Library	159	(20)
Acquiring Ajax.NET Pro Version 6.4.16.1	160	(1)
Preparing Your Application	160	(1)
Using the Ajax.NET Pro Library	161	(13)
Registering Your Page for Ajax.NET Pro	163	(1)
Registering Your Methods for Ajax.NET Pro	163	(1)
Examining the Request Object	164	(1)
Executing Your Ajax on the Client	165	(2)
Digging into response.value	167	(2)
Returning Custom Objects	169	(1)
More Advanced Callbacks and Context	170	(2)
Ajax.NET Pro Request Events --- Keeping Your Users Updated	172	(1)
Errors, Errors, Errors. They Happen, You Trap 'em.	173	(1)
Using the Ajax.NET Pro Library --- Looking under the Hood	174	(3)
When Is the Proxy JavaScript Created?	175	(1)
What Does the JavaScript Do?	176	(1)
What Happens on the Server after the Proxy JavaScript Has Been Fired?	176	(1)
How Is the Method in the Code-Behind Actually Executed and How Is the Page Actually Created?	177	(1)
What Is Really Being Sent Back to the Client	177	(1)
Summary	177	(2)
Anatomy of Ajax.NET Pro Library	179	(16)
Getting the Ajax.NET Pro Code	180	(2)
What Do the Ajax.NET Pro Web.Config Settings Accomplish?	182	(1)
What Happens When You Register the Page Class?	183	(8)
What Role Does the Ajax.AjaxMethod() Attribute Play?	191	(1)
How Does the JavaScript Call Get to the Server and Back?	192	(1)
What Is an Ajax.NET Pro Converter?	193	(1)
Summary	194	(1)
Other Ajax Frameworks for .NET	195	(54)
Client-Side Frameworks	195	(8)
Sarissa	196	(3)
HTMLHttpRequest	199	(2)
MochiKit	201	(2)
Server-Side Frameworks	203	(4)
Architectural Distinctions	203	(4)
Introduction to the Frameworks	207	(1)
ComfortASP.NET	208	(11)
Setup	208	(1)
Using ComfortASP.NET	209	(10)
What You Have Learned	219	(1)
MagicAjax	219	(12)
Setup	219	(1)
Using MagicAjax	220	(11)
What You Have Learned	231	(1)
Anthem.NET	231	(15)
Setup	231	(1)
Using Anthem.NET	232	(14)
What You Have Learned	246	(1)
Summary	246	(3)
Atlas Client Script	249	(36)
Introduction to Atlas	249	(3)
Major Components	250	(1)
Ajax Support	251	(1)
Asynchronous Communication Only	251	(1)
Adding Atlas Support with the ScriptManager Control	252	(1)
Communicating with Web Services	253	(4)
Generating the JavaScript Proxies	253	(2)
Calling Out to Web Services	255	(2)
Passing Types	257	(6)
Simple Data Types	257	(1)
Complex Data Types	258	(5)
Caching Web Services	263	(2)
Exposing Web Services from a Web Form	265	(2)
Atlas Extensions to JavaScript	267	(14)
Language Enhancements	267	(6)
Registering Namespaces and Classes in Atlas	273	(1)
Namespaces and Classes	274	(2)
Inheritance	276	(1)
Interfaces	277	(3)
Enumerations	280	(1)
Debugging	281	(2)
Debugging Using debug.dump	281	(2)
Debugging Using for() loop	283	(1)
Special Notes Concerning Atlas Client-Side Script	283	(1)
Resources Used	283	(1)
Summary	284	(1)
Atlas Controls	285	(26)
Controls	285	(10)
Buttons	285	(1)
Sys.UI.Data Controls	286	(1)
Server Controls	287	(8)
Data Binding	295	(14)
Declarative Data Binding	295	(2)
Programmatic Data Binding	297	(3)
Binding Directions	300	(1)
Binding Transformations	300	(1)
Validation	300	(7)
Behaviors	307	(2)
Resources Used	309	(1)
Summary	309	(2)
Atlas Integration with ASP.NET Services	311	(18)
Examining ASP.NET Services	312	(2)
Authentication	312	(1)
Authorization/Roles	313	(1)
Membership	314	(1)
Profiles	314	(1)
Web Part Personalization	314	(1)
Using Atlas to Integrate with ASP.NET Services	314	(6)
Authentication	314	(4)
Authorization/Roles	318	(2)
Accessing Profiles via Atlas	320	(5)
Profile Property Names	320	(2)
Loading Profile Data	322	(1)
Save Profile Data	323	(1)
Avoiding Profile Service Gotchas	324	(1)
Implementing Drag and Drop via Atlas	325	(3)
Summary	328	(1)
Debugging	329	(34)
Server-Side Debugging	329	(3)
Enabling Debugging Support	330	(1)
Setting Breakpoints	331	(1)
JavaScript and Client-Side Debugging	332	(29)
Tools and Techniques of the Trade	332	(10)
Other Ways of Invoking the Debugger	342	(2)
Other Ways of Inspecting the Value of Variables	344	(3)
Script Debugging So Far	347	(1)
Browser Debugging Tools	347	(4)
The Man in the Middle	351	(10)
Summary	361	(2)
Appendix A: XSLT Commands	363	(10)
Index	373