Mastering Web Development with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

849 Pages·2005·24.466 MB·English

by  John Paul Mueller

4439.book.fm Page i Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
Mastering
Web Development with
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
4439.book.fm Page ii Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
4439.book.fm Page iii Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
Mastering
™
Web Development with
Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005
John Paul Mueller
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
4439.book.fm Page iv Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
Acquisitions and Development Editor: Tom Cirtin
Technical Editor: Russ Mullen
Production Editor: Rachel Gunn
Copy Editor: Cheryl Hauser
Production Manager: Tim Tate
Vice President & Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley
Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert
Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde
Book Designer: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama; Judy Fung
Compositor: Chris Gillespie, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreader: Nancy Riddiough
Indexer: Nancy Guenther
Cover Design: Design Site
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13: 978-0-7821-4439-X
ISBN-10: 0-7821-4439-X
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States
Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-
copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the
Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN
46256, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with 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 Website 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 Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet
Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department
within the U.S. at [phone], outside the U.S. at [phone] or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
TRADEMARKS: Sybex, Wiley, Mastering and related trade dress are trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc. or its parent company, in the
United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Screen reproductions produced with FullShot 99. FullShot 99 © 1991-1999 Inbit Incorporated. All rights reserved.
FullShot is a trademark of Inbit Incorporated.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
4439.book.fm Page v Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
This book is dedicated to my brother Mark on his 41st birthday;
may all your wishes come true.
4439.book.fm Page vi Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my wife, Rebecca, for working with me to get this book completed. I really don’t know
what I would have done without her help in researching and compiling some of the information that
appears in this book. She also did a fine job of proofreading my rough draft and page proofing the
result. Rebecca also helps a great deal with the glossary and keeps the house running while I’m buried
in work.
Russ Mullen deserves thanks for his technical edit of this book. He greatly added to the accuracy
and depth of the material you see here. Russ is always providing me with great URLs for new prod-
ucts and ideas. However, it’s the testing that Russ does that helps most. He’s the sanity check for my
work and my code.
A number of people read all or part of this book to help me refine the approach, test the coding
examples, and generally provide input that every reader wishes they could have. These unpaid vol-
unteers helped in ways too numerous to mention here. I especially appreciate the efforts of Eva Beat-
tie, who read the entire book and selflessly devoted herself to this project. Bill Salkin provided me
with a great many ideas and URLs, as well as tested some of the examples for me. A number of other
readers tested procedures and helped refine the book in other ways.
Finally, I would like to thank Tom Cirtin, Mae Lum, Rachel Gunn, Cheryl Hauser, and the rest
of the editorial and production staff at Sybex for their assistance in bringing this book to print. It’s
always nice to work with such a great group of professionals and I very much appreciate the friend-
ship we’ve built over the last five books.
4439.book.fm Page vii Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
About the Author
John Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced
68 books and over 300 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and
from database management to heads down programming. Some of his current books include a
Windows power optimization book, a book on .NET security, and books on Amazon Web Services,
Google Web Services, and eBay Web Services. His technical editing skills have helped over 39 authors
refine the content of their manuscripts. John has provided technical editing services to both Data Based
Advisor and Coast Compute magazines. He’s also contributed articles to magazines like DevSource,
InformIT, SQL Server Professional, Visual C++ Developer, Hard Core Visual Basic, asp.netPRO, Software
Test and Performance, and Visual Basic Developer. He’s currently the editor of the .NET electronic news-
letter for Pinnacle Publishing (http://www.freeenewsletters.com/).
When John isn’t working at the computer, you can find him in his workshop. He’s an avid wood-
worker and candle maker. On any given afternoon, you can find him working at a lathe or putting the
finishing touches on a bookcase. He also likes making glycerin soap and candles, which comes in
handy for gift baskets. You can reach John on the Internet at [email protected]. John is also setting
up a Web site at: http://www.mwt.net/~jmueller/; feel free to look and make suggestions on how
he can improve it. One of his current projects is creating book FAQ sheets that should help you find
the book information you need much faster.
4439.book.fm Page viii Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
Contents at a Glance
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Part 1 • Discovering Visual Web Developer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 • Working with Visual Web Developer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 • Creating a Simple Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 3 • Using Server Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Part 2 • Using Built-in Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 4 • Working with ASP.NET 2.0 Master Pages and Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 5 • Building Intelligent Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 6 • Working with Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Part 3 • Creating Simple but Effective Pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Chapter 7 • Creating Feedback Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Chapter 8 • Developing a Site Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Chapter 9 • Using Pop-ups and Redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Part 4 • Working with Dynamic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Chapter 10 • Developing Simple Database Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Chapter 11 • Using SQL Server 2005 Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Chapter 12 • Creating an ASP.NET Crystal Reports Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Chapter 13 • Developing Multi-tier Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
4439.book.fm Page ix Wednesday, October 19, 2005 12:23 AM
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE ix
Part 5 • Developing Full-blown Web Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Chapter 14 • Designing Dynamic Pages with Pizzazz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Chapter 15 • Working with Client-side Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Chapter 16 • Creating a Shopping Cart Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Part 6 • The Finishing Touches: Debug, Secure, and
Distribute Your Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
Chapter 17 • Debugging Your Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Chapter 18 • Designing Secure Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Chapter 19 • Optimizing Your Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
Chapter 20 • Creating Downloadable Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Chapter 21 • Creating Accessible Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Part 7 • Application Development Within the Corporate Environment . . . . . . . 661
Chapter 22 • Developing Interoperable Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
Chapter 23 • Using the Team Development Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Chapter 24 • Converting Visual Studio 2003 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Chapter 25 • Moving to Visual Studio 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
Appendices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Appendix A • A Guide to Common Development Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
Appendix B • Working with Common Character Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745
Appendix C • 52 Indispensable Visual Studio Tricks and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789