Using SQL Server and Datagrids in Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver supports several different kinds of server programming models. One of these models is ASP.NET for both VB.NET as well as C#. As a Dreamweaver developer it’s sometimes difficult to understand exactly what you can or cannot do with ASP.NET. Working with the .NET framework can seem daunting to those who are not familiar with the technology.

Probably the best advantage of working with a RAD tool such as Dreamweaver is that the developer is protected from the complexities of OO design patterns and does not need a thorough understanding of the .NET framework in order to work with ASP.NET. Through the use of extremely powerful and highly intuitive wizards and input forms you can implement most of the components and features of ASP.NET without writing a single line of VB.NET or C# code.

In this tutorial we will explore two basic but powerful concepts in ASP.NET: Connecting to an SQL Server database, and using the data within that database to populate a DataGrid component to display a dynamic table on an ASPX Web Form.

We will deploy a simple test database with a single table for testing purposes and then learn how we can connect to this database through Dreamweaver. We’ll then learn how to retrieve data from our test table and use it to populate a DataGrid component.

Using Custom Session Objects

When it comes to the topic of using session objects within a web based application there is certainly a lot of controversy and discussion. Some developers believe the session should never be used or even be considered no matter what the design may be, while others grossly overuse it and stick massive amounts of information within it without considering the performance impact. A more reasonable middle of the road approach can be used in most situations without radically affecting performance while still providing some niceties to the end user experience.

In this tutorial we will build a simple functional ASP.NET web application which leverages a reasonable approach to implementing session objects. We will see how we can use an object oriented approach to this implementation in order to keep the session maintainable and the code very clean and easy to read.

The web application will be comprised of two main session object classes, one login page and one home page for displaying a welcome message and the session details. Providing even basic customized user data creates a personalized look and feel in your application where the user feels more involved in your application since they are given a sense that the application knows who they are and details about their previous visits.

Creating a Reusable Navigation Menu

Nearly all web sites and web applications on the internet today have some form of user friendly navigation system that allows you to jump from page to page with ease from any location in the website. Most interface developers know how cumbersome it is to place this navigation menu on every single page in the website. Moreover, when something in the navigation changes such as a page name or title, every instance of the menu needs to be updated across all pages.

Dreamweaver developers are probably familiar with the use of templates to solve this recurring problem, whereby a single template for the menu may be defined and then placed onto the web pages requiring the navigation menu. You can then manage a single template and when you make changes, those changes are automatically propagated across all web pages using that template.

VS.NET developers have access to a similar style of implementation, but its design is slightly more object oriented. It also takes advantage of the code-behind pattern, where a front end HTML designer can implement an interface separately from the server side code.

In this tutorial we’ll examine this reusable pattern called a Web User Control, and implement a simple demonstration of how this user control can be used to construct a navigation menu component that can be placed on any page in your web application.

Server-side validation with PHP

Introduction

In the previous article Hacking around with JavaScript we have looked at some techniques that can be used to bypass client-side (JavaScript) validation.  Although beneficial, client-side validation is not that reliable and should be utilized more as a usability rather than security feature. Having one in place does not eliminate the need for the server-side validation.

For the purpose of this article we will set up a simple MySQL table to store user registration data, design a user registration form and write some PHP code to validate user’s input.

Implementing a Uniform IsNull Pattern

Implementing a Uniform IsNull Pattern

One of the more confusing aspects of the .NET framework is the multiple empty or NULL values an intrinsic object type can contain. To compound the confusion there are also differences between the way VB.NET and C# handle NULL references.

It’s important to understand all of the built-in object types and their initial values upon declaration. For example, Integer and Date types never contain Null values.

In this tutorial we will examine these default types in VB.NET and implement an object oriented Utilities class to handle the data types and their default values, allowing for a much more clean error checking pattern in your code-behind classes or class libraries.