Visual Web Developer™ 2005 Express Edition For Dummies - Alan Simpson

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

	Acquisitions, Editorial, and	Composition Services
	Media Development	Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez
	Project Editor: Christopher Morris
		Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl,
	Acquisitions Editor: Katie Feltman
		Lauren Goddard, Barbara Moore,
	Senior Copy Editor: Barry Childs-Helton	Barry Offringa
		Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Dwight Ramsey,
	Technical Editor: Dan DiNicolo
		TECHBOOKS Production Services
	Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner
		Indexer: Sherry Massey
	Media Development Manager:
	Laura VanWinkle
	Media Development Supervisor:
	Richard Graves
	Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
	Cartoons: Rich Tennant
	(www.the5thwave.com)

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................	1
Part I: Planning a Web Site ..........................................	7
Chapter 1: Getting Started ................................................................................................	9
Chapter 2: Creating a Web Site ......................................................................................	21
Chapter 3: Configuring a Membership Site ..................................................................	39
Chapter 4: Creating Master Pages .................................................................................	53
Part II: Building Your Web Site ..................................	73
Chapter 5: Creating Web Pages ......................................................................................	75
Chapter 6: Designing with Styles ...................................................................................	97
Chapter 7: Working with ASP.NET Controls ...............................................................	123
Chapter 8: Easy Site Navigation ...................................................................................	153
Part III: Personalization and Databases .....................	169
Chapter 9: Using Personalization ................................................................................	171
Chapter 10: Using Themes ...........................................................................................	199
Chapter 11: SQL Server Crash Course ........................................................................	221
Chapter 12: Using Data in Web Pages .........................................................................	261
Part IV: The Part of Tens ..........................................	319
Chapter 13: Ten Terms to Make You Look Smart ......................................................	321
Chapter 14: Ten Alternatives to Being Helpless ........................................................	327
Appendix: Publishing Your Site .................................	331
What’s on the CD-ROM? ...........................................	337
Index ......................................................................	341
End-User License Agreement .......................	Back of Book

Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................	1
About This Book ...............................................................................................	2
Foolish Assumptions ........................................................................................	2
Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................	3
What You’re Not to Read .................................................................................	3
How This Book Is Organized ...........................................................................	4
Part I: Planning a Web Site .....................................................................	4
Part II: Building Your Web Site ..............................................................	4
Part III: Personalization and Databases ...............................................	4
Part IV: The Part of Tens ........................................................................	4
Icons Used in This Book ..................................................................................	5
Where to Go from Here ....................................................................................	5
Part I: Planning a Web Site ...........................................	7
Chapter 1: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.9
Who VWD Is For ................................................................................................	9
Installing Visual Web Developer ...................................................................	10
Getting Around in VWD .................................................................................	10
Using panes ...........................................................................................	11
Getting panes back to normal .............................................................	12
Don’t forget the View menu .................................................................	13
About the Start Page ......................................................................................	14
Using VWD Help ..............................................................................................	14
Closing Help pages and panes ............................................................	16
Online resources ...................................................................................	16
Being Compatible with Web Browsers ........................................................	17
Publishing Your Web Site ..............................................................................	19
Chapter 2: Creating a Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	21
Creating a Web Site ........................................................................................	21
Closing and Opening Pages ...........................................................................	23
Creating and Using Folders ...........................................................................	24
Copying files to folders ........................................................................	25
Renaming and deleting folders ...........................................................	26

xiv	Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies
	Editing Pages ...................................................................................................	26
	Adding text to a page ...........................................................................	27
	Selecting and formatting text ..............................................................	27
	Undoing changes ..................................................................................	28
	Adding pictures .....................................................................................	28
	Changing properties .............................................................................	29
	Switching views ....................................................................................	30
	Editing in Source view ..........................................................................	31
	Saving your work ..................................................................................	32
	Dealing with code-behind files ............................................................	33
	Titling Pages ....................................................................................................	34
	Viewing Pages in a Web Browser ..................................................................	35
	Opening and Closing Web Sites ....................................................................	37
	Chapter 3: Configuring a Membership Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.39
	Creating a Folder for Members-Only Content .............................................	39
	Using the Web Site Administration Tool ......................................................	40
	Choosing an authentication type .......................................................	42
	Creating Roles to Categorize People ............................................................	43
	Creating Access Rules ....................................................................................	45
	Managing access rules .........................................................................	46
	Creating a User Account ................................................................................	48
	Managing user accounts ......................................................................	50
	Closing the Web Site Administration tool ..........................................	51
	What the Web Site Administration Tool Did ...............................................	51
	Chapter 4: Creating Master Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.53
	Creating a Folder for Master Pages ..............................................................	54
	Creating a Master Page ..................................................................................	54
	Designing your page layout .................................................................	55
	Styling Master Page panes ...................................................................	57
	Styling the left pane ..............................................................................	60
	Styling the ContentPlaceHolder pane ................................................	61
	Using a Master Page .......................................................................................	63
	Editing a Master Page ....................................................................................	66
	Adding a Master Page to Existing Pages ......................................................	69
	Part II: Building Your Web Site ....................................	73
	Chapter 5: Creating Web Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.75
	Creating a New Blank Page ............................................................................	75
	Creating HTML Tables ...................................................................................	77
	Adding a table to a page ......................................................................	77
	Typing in table cells .............................................................................	78

	Table of Contents	xv
Working with HTML Tables ...........................................................................	78
Selecting rows and columns ................................................................	79
Selecting cells ........................................................................................	80
Merging cells .........................................................................................	80
Styling cells ............................................................................................	81
Adding controls to table cells .............................................................	84
Adding Hyperlinks to Pages ..........................................................................	84
Quick links to pages in your site ........................................................	85
Creating bookmarks .............................................................................	86
Linking to bookmarks ..........................................................................	86
Adding and Styling Pictures ..........................................................................	87
Sizing a picture ......................................................................................	88
Styling pictures .....................................................................................	88
Adding Lines ...................................................................................................	92
Editing in Source View ...................................................................................	92
Selecting in Source view ......................................................................	93
Typing tags and attributes ..................................................................	93
Debugging HTML ..................................................................................	95
Chapter 6: Designing with Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Understanding CSS .........................................................................................	97
Creating a CSS Style Sheet ...........................................................................	100
Creating Style Rules .....................................................................................	101
Creating CSS element styles ..............................................................	101
Creating CSS class selectors .............................................................	102
Defining Rules with Style Builder ...............................................................	104
Styling fonts .........................................................................................	105
Styling the background ......................................................................	107
Styling text alignment and spacing ..................................................	108
Styling position ...................................................................................	110
Styling layout .......................................................................................	112
Styling boxes and borders .................................................................	113
Saving Style Builder choices .............................................................	114
Saving a CSS style sheet .....................................................................	115
Linking to a Style Sheet ................................................................................	115
Using Styles in a Page ..................................................................................	116
Applying CSS element selectors .......................................................	116
Applying CSS class selectors .............................................................	117
Applying element class selectors .....................................................	119
Using DIV styles ..................................................................................	120
The CSS 2.1 Specification ............................................................................	122
Chapter 7: Working with ASP.NET Controls . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . .123
What Is ASP.NET? ..........................................................................................	123
Adding a Server Control to a Page .............................................................	125
Tweaking server controls in Design view ........................................	126
Using the Common Tasks menu ........................................................	127

xvi	Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies
	ASP.NET Login Controls ...............................................................................	130
	Allowing Users to Create an Account ........................................................	131
	Assigning new users to a role ...........................................................	133
	Testing the control .............................................................................	134
	Creating a Login Page ..................................................................................	135
	Providing a Login Link .................................................................................	136
	The LoginStatus control ....................................................................	137
	The LoginName control .....................................................................	138
	The LoginView control .......................................................................	138
	Letting Users Manage Passwords ...............................................................	141
	Using the PasswordRecovery control ..............................................	141
	The ChangePassword control ...........................................................	145
	Testing Membership ....................................................................................	146
	Server Controls in Source View ..................................................................	148
	Relaxing Password Constraints ..................................................................	149
	Chapter 8: Easy Site Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. .153
	Getting Organized .........................................................................................	153
	Using Site-Navigation Controls ...................................................................	154
	Using the TreeView and Menu Controls ....................................................	155
	Creating a Site Map ......................................................................................	158
	Customizing navigation for roles ......................................................	161
	Binding a control to Web.sitemap ....................................................	163
	Adding an Eyebrow Menu ...........................................................................	164
	Creating Web User Controls ........................................................................	165
	Creating a Web User Control .............................................................	166
	Using a Web User Control ..................................................................	167
	Part III: Personalization and Databases ......................	169
	Chapter 9: Using Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. .171
	Creating a User Profile .................................................................................	171
	Setting up user profiles ......................................................................	173
	Letting Users Enter Properties ...................................................................	176
	Adding a button ..................................................................................	178
	Writing some code ..............................................................................	179
	Tying code to an event .......................................................................	180
	Determining where to put the profile information .........................	183
	Letting users edit their profiles ........................................................	184
	Using profile properties with Visual Basic ......................................	187
	Using Validation Controls ............................................................................	188
	RequiredFieldValidator ......................................................................	189
	RangeValidator ....................................................................................	190

	Table of Contents	xvii
RegularExpressionValidator ..............................................................	190
CompareValidator ...............................................................................	191
CustomValidator .................................................................................	192
ValidationSummary ............................................................................	192
Using the Forms Designer ...........................................................................	193
Stacking absolutely-positioned objects ...........................................	194
Aligning absolutely-positioned objects ...........................................	195
Sizing objects equally .........................................................................	196
Spacing absolutely-positioned objects ............................................	197
Chapter 10: Using Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Creating Themes ...........................................................................................	199
Creating Theme Folders ..............................................................................	200
What’s in a Theme? ......................................................................................	201
Using Pictures in Themes ............................................................................	201
Creating a Theme Style Sheet .....................................................................	202
Creating Skins ...............................................................................................	204
Creating a skin file ..............................................................................	204
Default vs. named skins .....................................................................	207
Using Themes in Pages ................................................................................	209
Letting Members Choose a Theme ............................................................	210
Creating a page for viewing themes .................................................	211
Creating a control for choosing a theme .........................................	212
Storing the preferred theme ..............................................................	213
Applying a theme ................................................................................	214
A theme tester page ...........................................................................	216
Applying Themes to Master Pages .............................................................	217
Other Ways to Apply Themes .....................................................................	218
Defining a Site-Wide Default Theme ...........................................................	219
Chapter 11: SQL Server Crash Course . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Crash Course in Database Design ..............................................................	222
Tables, rows, and columns ................................................................	222
One-to-many, many-to-many ..............................................................	223
SQL Server Tables ...............................................................................	227
Assigning GUIDs automatically .........................................................	233
Creating Your Own Tables ...........................................................................	236
Defining a primary key .......................................................................	237
Creating text fields .............................................................................	238
Adding a money field .........................................................................	240
Saving the new table ..........................................................................	240
Creating the Transactions table .......................................................	241
A Primary Key for Transactions .......................................................	243
Populating Tables .........................................................................................	244

xviii Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition For Dummies
Linking Tables ...............................................................................................	247
Creating a view ....................................................................................	248
A more detailed view ..........................................................................	251
Creating a Table of Pictures ........................................................................	254
Creating a Table of HyperLinks ..................................................................	257
Chapter 12: Using Data in Web Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. .261
Binding Data to Controls .............................................................................	262
Using the Data Configuration Wizard ...............................................	262
Data controls in Design view .............................................................	273
Formatting Dates and Numbers ..................................................................	274
Some Security Considerations ....................................................................	275
Using the GridView Control ........................................................................	276
An instant GridView control ..............................................................	276
Formatting the GridView control ......................................................	278
Binding to DropDownList Controls ............................................................	280
Using a DropDownList to filter records ...........................................	282
Viewing and editing user properties ................................................	284
Using the DetailsView Control ....................................................................	287
Binding a DetailsView control ...........................................................	287
Formatting a DetailsView control .....................................................	289
Creating Master-Details Forms ...................................................................	291
Master-Details DropDownList control .............................................	292
Master-Details GridView control ......................................................	293
The Master-Details DetailsView control ..........................................	294
General GridView and DetailsView considerations ........................	295
Using the DataList Control ..........................................................................	296
Formatting a DataList control ...........................................................	298
Formatting dates and numbers in a DataList ..................................	300
Showing a DataList in columns .........................................................	301
Using DataList to show pictures .......................................................	302
Using a DataList to show HyperLinks ..............................................	309
The FormView Control .................................................................................	312
Showing subtotals ..............................................................................	314
Part IV: The Part of Tens ............................................	319
Chapter 13: Ten Terms to Make You Look Smart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. .321
Web Application ...........................................................................................	321
Developer ......................................................................................................	321
Data-Driven ....................................................................................................	322
ASP.NET 2.0 ...................................................................................................	322
Visual Studio .................................................................................................	322
IDE ..................................................................................................................	322

	Table of Contents	xix
Control ...........................................................................................................	323
Code ...............................................................................................................	323
Programmatic ...............................................................................................	324
Database ........................................................................................................	325
Chapter 14: Ten Alternatives to Being Helpless . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . .327
Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) ......................................................	327
HTML Home Page .........................................................................................	327
Cascading Style Sheets Home Page ............................................................	328
XML Home Page ............................................................................................	328
ASP.NET .........................................................................................................	328
ASP.NET Starter Kits ....................................................................................	328
ASP.NET Forums ...........................................................................................	329
SQL Server Developer Center .....................................................................	329
dotnetjunkies ................................................................................................	329
Microsoft Technical Communities .............................................................	329
Appendix: Publishing Your Site ...................................	331
Choosing a Hosting Provider ......................................................................	331
Preparing Your Site for Uploading ..............................................................	332
Copying the Site ............................................................................................	334
What’s on the CD-ROM? ...........................................	337
Visual Basic 2005 Express ...........................................................................	337
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express ..........................................................	338
Index .......................................................................	341
End-User License Agreement ........................	Back of Book