Building Microsoft ASP.NET Applications for Mobile Devices

by Wigley, Andy; Roxburgh, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780735619142
• ISBN10: 073561914X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-16
• Publisher: Microsoft Press

Summary

Extend your programming expertise across the widest range of mobile devices with this incisive guide to Microsoft ASP.NET mobile controls. Now integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, ASP.NET mobile controls enable you to build applications that render intelligently on different devices regardless of markup language, browser, or form factor. The authors expertly guide you through the mobile Web application development process, explaining how to fully exploit Visual Studio .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 for rapid and more flexible development. Discover how to create innovative, intuitive solutions instead of wrestling with interoperability issues. Learn how to: Build mobile Web Forms pages with device-independent properties, methods, and events Use code-behind techniques to separate programming logic from the UI Employ the standard controls or download new custom controls Build controls from scratch and program device adapters Create styles and style sheets Customize applications for specific devices with templates Access data using Microsoft ADO.NET and the Visual Database Tools Know when to use application vs. Session state Apply best practices for using XML Web services in mobile applications Help secure applications with ASP. NET authentication services Develop multilingual and multicultural applications Debug code, trap runtime errors, and use software emulators to test applications Configure, package, and deploy applications

Author Biography

Peter Roxburgh works as a technologist for Content Master Ltd., a technical authoring company based in the United Kingdom. He graduated with a first class degree with honours in business and has since followed a diverse career path. From his home in the medieval town of Conwy, North Wales, he writes training courses for mobile developers. He has also written and contributed to a number of journals and Web sites on cutting-edge mobile technologies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	xvii
Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET for the Mobile Web	1	(12)
A Solution for the Wireless Muddle	4	(1)
Developing with Mobile Web Forms	5	(4)
Abstracting the Mobile Device User Interface	5	(1)
Using Mobile Web Forms Controls	6	(1)
Working with Mobile Web Forms Using .NET Tools	7	(1)
Implementing Code	8	(1)
Consuming Events	9	(1)
Building Mobile Solutions with Microsoft .NET	9	(3)
A Powerful Solution for Mobile Web Application Development	12	(1)
Getting Started	13	(26)
Setting Up Your Development System	13	(3)
Creating Your First Mobile Web Applications	16	(6)
Creating a Mobile Web Project with Visual Studio .NET	17	(2)
Using Solution Explorer and the Properties Dialog Box	19	(1)
Building the User Interface with the Toolbox	20	(1)
Building and Running Your Application	21	(1)
Testing with a Mobile Phone Emulator	22	(4)
Setting Up the Openwave Simulator	23	(1)
Using the Simulator for Testing	24	(2)
Working with the Mobile Internet Designer	26	(9)
The Mobile Web Forms Page and Form Control	27	(2)
Working with Multiple Form Controls	29	(3)
Backward and Forward Navigation in Mobile Web Applications	32	(1)
Device-Specific Rendering of Complex Controls	33	(2)
Basic Design Principles	35	(4)
Programming ASP.NET Mobile Web Forms	39	(36)
Understanding .aspx Files and Code-Behind Modules	40	(9)
The Code-Behind Technique	40	(2)
Design and HTML Views	42	(3)
The Inline Coding Technique	45	(2)
The MobilePage Class	47	(1)
Properties of the MobilePage Class	48	(1)
Using Events and Event Handlers	49	(7)
Programming State Management in ASP.NET	56	(7)
Persisting Class Members	58	(3)
Building and Testing the Application	61	(2)
Accessing .NET Framework Classes	63	(5)
Building and Testing the Application	66	(1)
Understanding the Application Life Cycle	66	(2)
Writing Applications with a Text Editor	68	(7)
Building the User Interface	68	(1)
Creating the Code-Behind Module	69	(3)
Building and Testing the Application	72	(3)
Programming the Standard Controls	75	(46)
How to Use the Control Descriptions	75	(1)
Introducing the Controls: Class Hierarchy	76	(2)
Common Mobile Controls Behavior	78	(5)
Container Controls	83	(10)
Containment Rules	84	(1)
Form Controls	85	(6)
Panel Controls	91	(2)
Core Controls	93	(28)
Command Controls	94	(5)
Image Controls	99	(6)
Label Controls	105	(3)
Link Controls	108	(3)
TextBox Controls	111	(6)
TextView Controls	117	(4)
Special-Purpose Controls and Validation Controls	121	(48)
Special-Purpose Controls	122	(14)
Calendar Control	122	(6)
PhoneCall Control	128	(3)
AdRotator Control	131	(5)
Validation Controls	136	(33)
Common Behavior of the Validation Controls	138	(2)
RequiredFieldValidator Control	140	(4)
CompareValidator Control	144	(4)
RangeValidator Control	148	(4)
RegularExpressionValidator Control	152	(5)
CustomValidator Control	157	(4)
ValidationSummary Control	161	(4)
Validation Controls Example	165	(4)
Programming the List Controls	169	(50)
Building Static or Data-Bound Lists	171	(4)
The SelectionList Control	175	(11)
Syntax	175	(1)
Properties and Events	176	(2)
Using the SelectionList Control	178	(8)
The List Control	186	(10)
Syntax	186	(1)
Properties and Events	187	(2)
Using the List Control	189	(7)
The ObjectList Control	196	(23)
Syntax	197	(1)
Properties and Events	198	(4)
Using the ObjectList Control	202	(17)
Using the Downloadable Controls	219	(22)
Using the Custom Controls	219	(5)
Adding the Controls to the Toolbox	220	(2)
Copying the Control Assembly to Your Application	222	(1)
Configuring Your Application to Use Custom Controls	223	(1)
The MobileCheckbox Control	224	(4)
Configuring Your Application	224	(1)
Syntax	225	(1)
Properties	226	(1)
Using the MobileCheckbox Control	227	(1)
The MobileMultiLineInput Control	228	(5)
Installation	230	(1)
Configuring Your Application	230	(1)
Syntax	231	(1)
Properties	231	(1)
Using the MobileMultiLineInput Control	232	(1)
The MobileDynamicImage Control	233	(8)
Installation	235	(1)
Configuring Your Application	235	(1)
Syntax	236	(1)
Properties	237	(1)
Using the MobileDynamicImage Control	238	(3)
Programming Styles and Style Sheets	241	(26)
Using Mobile Control Style Properties and the StyleSheet Control	241	(15)
Using Style Properties	243	(5)
Using the StyleSheet Control	248	(8)
Pagination and Styles	256	(3)
Using Pager Styles in Style Sheets	258	(1)
Working with Styles in Visual Studio .NET	259	(1)
The Styles Editor	259	(1)
Using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)	260	(7)
Managing Cascading Style Sheets	262	(1)
Programming your own CSS Style Sheet	262	(5)
Customizing with Property Overrides and Templates	267	(46)
Customization Overview	267	(2)
Property Overrides	268	(1)
Templates	268	(1)
Writing Device Filters	269	(13)
Programming <DeviceSpecific> and <Choice> Elements	282	(4)
Device-Specific Customization with Property Overrides	286	(2)
Using Templated Controls	288	(25)
Using the Form Control's <HeaderTemplate>, <FooterTemplate>, and <ScriptTemplate> Elements	291	(7)
Using the Panel Control's <ContentTemplate> Element	298	(4)
Working with Controls in Form and Panel Templates	302	(3)
Defining Templates Using Visual Studio .NET Tools	305	(3)
Defining Templates Within Style Sheets	308	(5)
Advanced List Control Programming	313	(34)
Using the Advanced Data Binding Features of the List Controls	313	(8)
Defining Static List and SelectionList Items	313	(1)
Binding to a Data Collection	314	(3)
Understanding Data Binding and ViewState	317	(3)
Why the DataItem Property Is Sometimes null	320	(1)
Overriding Single-Field Display in the List Controls	321	(2)
Overriding Single-Field Display in SelectionList and List Controls	321	(1)
Overriding Single-Field Display in ObjectList	322	(1)
Using Templates in List and ObjectList Controls	323	(24)
Programming the ListControl Templates	324	(8)
Programming the ObjectListControl Templates	332	(4)
Using the ObjectList Control's <ItemDetailsTemplate>	336	(5)
Working with Controls in Templates Programmatically	341	(2)
Accessing Controls in List and ObjectList Templates from Code	343	(4)
Accessing Data	347	(26)
Using ASP.NET Declarative Data Binding	347	(5)
Using ADO.NET	352	(12)
Understanding the ADO.NET Objects	353	(2)
Using a DataReaderObject for Read-Only Data Access	355	(1)
Using a DataSet Object for Data Binding	356	(2)
Creating a Mobile Web Application to Update a Database	358	(6)
Building Data Components with Visual Studio .NET	364	(8)
Using Server Explorer	364	(1)
Creating Data Components	365	(4)
Using a Data Component in a Web Application	369	(3)
Learning More About ADO.NET	372	(1)
State Management	373	(24)
Session State	374	(7)
Using the Session Object	376	(2)
Working with Cookies	378	(1)
Using Munged URLs	379	(1)
To Cookie or Not to Cookie	380	(1)
Hidden Variables	381	(3)
ViewState	384	(4)
Application State	388	(9)
Using Application State in Global.asax	389	(6)
Things to Consider When Using Application State	395	(2)
Enhancing Application Performance	397	(16)
Programming and Configuration Techniques	397	(4)
Turn Off Debug Support in Your Release Builds	397	(1)
Disable ViewState If It's Not Required	398	(1)
Disable Session State If It's Not Required	398	(1)
Cache Data in the Application Object	399	(1)
Use Custom Pagination with the List Controls	399	(1)
Don't Perform Unnecessary Processing on Postback	400	(1)
Concatenate Strings Using System.Text.StringBuilder	400	(1)
Optimize SQL Server Data Access	400	(1)
Explicitly Declare Object Types in Visual Basic .NET	401	(1)
Caching	401	(12)
Using Output Caching	401	(9)
Using Fragment Caching	410	(1)
Using Data Caching	411	(2)
Multilingual and Multicultural Web Applications	413	(14)
Building Multilingual and Multicultural Mobile Web Applications	413	(1)
Defining Culture for Formatting Strings, Dates, and Times	414	(4)
Creating and Using Resource Files	418	(6)
Defining Character Set Encodings	424	(3)
XML Web Services	427	(24)
Introduction to XML Web Services	427	(2)
Using XML Web Services in Web Applications	428	(1)
Managing Session and Application State	429	(1)
Creating an XML Web Service	429	(3)
Creating an XML Web Service Using a Text Editor	429	(1)
Creating an XML Web Service Using Visual Studio .NET	430	(2)
Consuming an XML Web Service	432	(5)
Consuming XML Web Services Using Visual Studio .NET	432	(5)
Defining XML Web Service Behavior	437	(3)
Working with Data Types	440	(4)
Accessing Data	444	(5)
Considerations for Mobile Devices	449	(2)
Debugging, Testing with Emulators, and Handling Run-Time Errors	451	(34)
Debugging Mobile Web Applications	452	(3)
Configuring Applications to Support Debugging	453	(2)
Using the ASP.NET Trace Facility	455	(6)
Enabling Page-Level Tracing	456	(1)
Enabling Application-Level Tracing	457	(2)
Adding Your Own Trace Statements	459	(1)
Executing Blocks of Code in Trace Mode	460	(1)
Handling Errors	461	(6)
Implementing Custom Error Pages	461	(3)
Handling Errors Programmatically	464	(3)
Testing with Emulators and Real Devices	467	(18)
Using Pocket Internet Explorer for Application Testing	468	(1)
Using a Pocket PC Emulator	469	(2)
Testing with a Microsoft Smartphone Emulator	471	(1)
Testing with Mobile Phone Emulators	472	(10)
Integrating an Emulator into Visual Studio .NET	482	(3)
Packaging and Configuration	485	(22)
Packaging and Deploying an Application	486	(8)
Copying an Application	486	(4)
Creating a Web Setup Project	490	(4)
Deploying Applications to Servers Running Different Versions of the .NET Framework	494	(3)
Installing .NET Framework Runtime on a Web Server	496	(1)
Device Update Packs	497	(1)
Configuring Applications	497	(5)
Understanding the .NET Configuration Files	498	(3)
Web.config Configuration Example	501	(1)
Building ASP.NET Applications with Integrated Desktop and Mobile Access	502	(5)
Tailoring Functionality to the Client Device	503	(1)
Implementing a Redirect Page for the Mobile Web Site	503	(4)
ASP.NET Application Security	507	(28)
Encrypting Data Transfers Between Client and Server	507	(2)
Providing Authentication	509	(21)
IIS Authentication	510	(3)
ASP.NET Authentication	513	(1)
Forms Authentication	514	(10)
Passport Authentication	524	(5)
Windows Authentication	529	(1)
User Authorization	530	(5)
Impersonating a User	531	(1)
URL Authorization	532	(3)
Supporting New Clients	535	(24)
Defining Mobile Devices in Configuration Files	536	(3)
Device Configuration Files in .NET Framework 1.1	538	(1)
Supporting a New Client	539	(12)
Identifying the Device	540	(3)
Identifying Device Capabilities	543	(8)
Configuring Device Adapters	551	(8)
The Role of Device Adapters	551	(2)
Using Device Adapter Sets	553	(1)
Defining a Device Adapter Set	554	(5)
Building a Reusable User Interface as User Controls	559	(16)
Building a User Control	559	(2)
Creating a Simple User Control	560	(1)
Coding a User Control Module	560	(1)
Using a User Control in a Web Forms Page	561	(1)
User Control Example	561	(14)
Implementing Properties in a User Control	564	(2)
Displaying the Properties of the User Control	566	(4)
Responding to Events in a User Control	570	(5)
Creating Custom Controls by Inheritance and Composition	575	(26)
Building Controls in Code	575	(5)
Understanding the Control Life Cycle	576	(4)
Building Controls by Inheritance	580	(6)
Using a Compiled Custom Control	584	(2)
Building Controls by Composition	586	(15)
Creating the Child Controls in a Composite Control	587	(4)
Processing Postback Data	591	(1)
Raising Custom Events	592	(4)
Managing ViewState	596	(5)
Programming Device Adapters and Building Controls from Scratch	601	(66)
Building Controls from Scratch	602	(10)
The Control Life Cycle	602	(4)
The Role of Device Adapters	606	(6)
Building Simple Custom Controls and Device Adapters	612	(11)
A Simple Control with Device Adapters for HTML and WML	613	(4)
Writing Device Markup with the MobileTextWriter Classes	617	(1)
Handling Style Attributes in Device Adapters	617	(3)
Using Custom Controls and Device Adapters	620	(3)
Building a Data Bound Custom Control	623	(11)
Supporting Internal and Custom Pagination	629	(3)
Implementing the OnDataBind Event	632	(2)
Supporting ViewState in a Custom Control	634	(7)
Saving Control Properties to the ViewState Object	635	(1)
Understanding the IStateManager Interface	636	(4)
Using PrivateViewState	640	(1)
Implementing a Custom MobileControlBuilder Class	641	(2)
Enabling Client Postback in a Custom Control	643	(6)
Implementing Postback for the CMTable Control	644	(5)
Processing Postdata	649	(9)
Implementing Postdata Processing in the CMTable Control	649	(2)
Providing Different User Interfaces in the DeviceAdapter Classes	651	(3)
Adding Child Controls in a Device Adapter Class	654	(4)
Developing a Templated Custom Control	658	(9)
Implementing Support for Templates	658	(2)
Implementing Template Support for a Data Bound List Control	660	(7)
Index	667