ASP 101 News

Multi-Term Database Search ASP.NET Sample

Tue, 6 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This sample shows how you can use ASP.NET to query a database table for multiple search terms. Whether you want the results that match any of the search terms or you just want results that match all of them, the process really isn't as hard as you might think.

Economic Stimulus Payment Schedule ASP.NET Sample Code

Tue, 29 April 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last week while I was talking with a friend of mine, he asked me a couple questions and then told me when I could expect my economic stimulus payment. This sample does the same thing. It's nothing fancy, but it does illustrate some basic form handling, conditional branching, and a good use of a Select Case statement. Give it a try... hopefully your payment is coming soon!

Sortable Date Format

Tue, 22 April 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Why do people insist on using mm-dd-year or dd-mm-year when creating log files? Are you really trying to see what happened on the same month of every year or the same day of every month? You might want to try this alternative, which when sorted numerically actually puts the files into chronological order.

Multi-Term Database Search

Tue, 15 April 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This sample shows how you can query a database table for multiple search terms. Whether you want the results that match any of the search terms or you just want results that match all of them, the process really isn't as hard as you might think.

Visual Studio 2008's Multi-Targeting Support

Tue, 8 April 2008 00:00:00 GMT

When people talk about new features in Visual Studio 2008, you'll usually hear them talk about improved Javascript Intellisense and debugging, amazing advances in CSS support, huge gains in the IDE's responsiveness, and the fact that Microsoft has given us mere mortals access to the actual source code of the .NET Framework libraries. But for the working developer, all those pale in comparison to a simple little feature called multi-targeting.

The Mysterious Extra Bytes

Tue, 1 April 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I recently started getting some odd characters appearing when working with an old classic ASP application. I'd been using the same scripts for years and while I knew that nothing in the application had changed, we'd recently started using Visual Studio 2008 to create the application's data files.

Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 Launch Event

Tue, 25 March 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As I'm writing this, I'm not even sure what the official name of the event I attended today actually was. The phrase "Heroes Happen Here" was used a lot, as was the term "Launch Event". Well, whatever you call it, if you're interested in what Microsoft is up to these days and you're able to find one close to you, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Microsoft Releases Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Tue, 18 March 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been available to MSDN subscribers for a while now, everyone else has been forced to wait to receive what Microsoft is calling "the benefit of a year's worth of improvements." Well that wait came to an end today...

Modifying a File's Timestamp

Tue, 11 March 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While everyone knows that you can manipulate text files and their contents via an ASP.NET Web page, did you know that you can actually modify a file's timestamps just as easily? Why would you want to do that? Read on to find out...

Editing Text Files

Tue, 4 March 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While you can append text to the end of a text file, there's no easy way to insert, edit, or remove text from a file. To do things like that, you'll need to read the text from the file, edit it, and then write it back out. Read on to learn more...

How to Show a Limited Number of Items from an RSS Feed

Tue, 26 February 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of the most common questions I receive about our RSS consuming code is how to limit the number of items displayed. Luckily, it's relatively easy to do. Best of all, you can do it without any changes to the code by simply modifying the style sheet used to transform the RSS feed's XML to HTML.

Using DefaultButton and DefaultFocus with MasterPages

Tue, 19 February 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last week we published a tip about using the DefaultButton and DefaultFocus properties of the HtmlForm object. A reader quickly informed us that he was having trouble using them on a site which uses MasterPages. Not to fret... you can still use the properties, you just need to do things a little bit differently.

DefaultButton and DefaultFocus Properties

Tue, 12 February 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ASP.NET 1.x made great strides in simplifying form management and processing, but it did miss a couple points when it came to filling forms out using the keyboard. Fortunately these oversights were quickly noticed by users and Microsoft responded in ASP.NET 2.0 by adding the DefaultButton and DefaultFocus properties to the HtmlForm object.

Use the Literal Control for Precise Rendering

Tue, 5 February 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While ASP.NET server controls make developing Web pages much simpler, sometimes they don't output their HTML exactly the way you'd like them to. That's where the Literal Web server control comes in. Unlike most other controls, it doesn't add anything to the output.

Microsoft Releases Service Pack 1 for .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0

Tue, 29 January 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Last week, Microsoft quietly released .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1. If your servers aren't configured to install updates automatically, now might be a good time to check and make sure you're up to date.

Alternate Version of PCase Function

Tue, 22 January 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While the original version accomplished its task using string functions, this version splits the phrase into an array of words and then loops through the array capitalizing each word. It just goes to show that no matter how simple a problem is, there's almost always more than one solution.

Connecting to Access 2007 .accdb Database Files

Tue, 15 January 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Along with all the other updates in Office 2007, Microsoft has also changed the file formats. Access now saves its data in .accdb files instead of the familiar .mdb format. Luckily, with some updated drivers and a few simple connection string changes, you'll be connecting to the new files in no time.

Support for Cascading Style Sheets in Visual Studio 2008

Tue, 8 January 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It sure took Microsoft long enough to add decent style sheet support to Visual Studio, but man was it worth the wait. This article examines the new CSS capabilities available in Visual Studio 2008.

The Best of 2007

Tue, 25 December 2007 00:00:00 GMT

As we get ready to welcome 2008, here's a quick list of some of the best content of 2007.

Use Option Strict

Tue, 18 December 2007 00:00:00 GMT

For years I've been telling people that they shouldn't write any VB or VBScript code without first specifying Option Explicit. Well, times change and I no longer use Option Explicit. These days it's Option Strict.

The Down Side of ViewState

Tue, 11 December 2007 00:00:00 GMT

There's no doubt about it, the fact that ASP.NET handles ViewState for us is a godsend. That being said, this magic that ASP.NET gives us does come at a cost. That cost is larger web pages... sometimes surprisingly large.

Calendar Sample Updated

Tue, 4 December 2007 00:00:00 GMT

One of the site's original samples gets a long overdue update. Along with general code improvements and greatly improved HTML, you'll also notice that the associated form now stays syncronized with the calendar.

Visual Studio 2008 Released to Manufacturing

Tue, 27 November 2007 00:00:00 GMT

On Monday, Nov. 19, Microsoft announced that Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 were released to manufacturing. With more than 250 new features, Visual Studio 2008 includes significant enhancements in every edition.

Reading From Web.config Using Classic ASP

Tue, 13 November 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Whether you're trying to share settings between your ASP.NET and classic ASP apps or are simply looking for a way to make your eventual migration to ASP.NET easier, this piece of code might be just the ticket.