public knowledge blog_load(sender Virendra)

                                                                                                             Nothing shocks me, I am a Software Engineer.

Starting with JQuery

Posted by Virendra Dugar on November 24, 2009

Introduction

JQuery is a Java script libarary/ Java Script framework that simplifies the interaction process or access process of traversing in HTML document. It provides methods to make animations, add ajax interaction to the page, provides an easy way to apply CSS to any items and provides an easy mechanism for binding and unbinding events. Huge code written using Java script can easily replaced by few lines of code in JQuery.

History of JQuery

Initially it’s was released in January 2006 but the very first stable version of JQuery 1.0 was released in August 2006. This version had support for CSS, events and Ajax. After that many version of JQuery were released but the latest version is JQuery 1.3.2. You can download this from JQuery website.

What can be done using JQuery

1. Allows to access elements in the document

If one need to access the DOM tree without any JavaScript libarary, one has to write many lines of code. JQuery provides a selector mechanism to access any part of DOM.

2. Easily apply CSS

As it’s known that CSS is the most powerful and mostly used for good appreance of any webpage. JQuery provides CSS Selectors which allows to change the CSS classes or individual style for any portion of the document. This can be done even after the page is rendered.

3. Make Animation

For better user experience, animation can do the job for you. JQuery provides many methods to perform animations like show,hide, fade, wipe, start, stop etc. Doing all this with JQuery is fun as No huge lines of code, no complex logic.

4. Ajax Interaction

In today’s world, Ajax is one of the most popular technology used in almost every website for better user experience. Jquery provides support for ajax also which allows to access server side event without refreshing the web page.

5. API to change document’s content

JQuery provides API (Application Program Interface) which allows to change the content of the document. Changing Text, inserting images, ordering of list can be done with few keystrokes with JQuery API. Entire structure of HTML can be rewritten or extended.

6. Event handling

Any technology is a failure if it cannot responsed to the user when any event takes place. Jquerys’s event handling is one the decent feature. It quickly responsed to any event such as user clicking a button.

Demo

To start with JQuery, first download the Jquery from it’s official website (http://JQuery.com). Make sure you download the latest copy of the JQuery.

<script src="Script/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

I have copied the jquery.js and placed it in script directory of the project. In this demo, I am going to show you how easily you can change the CSS and do animation.

Let’s first take a look at HTML

<h2>
History of JQuery</h2>
<div id="content">
Initially it's was released in January 2006 but the very first stable version of JQuery 1.0 was released in August 2006. This version had support for CSS,events and Ajax. After that many version of JQuery were released but the latest version is JQuery 1.3.2. You can download this from JQuery website.
</div>

As you can see, I have placed a div tag with it’s ID set to content. Now, I will show you how you can find the div and apply CSS to it using JQuery.

<style type="text/css">
    .ApplyColor
        {
            background-color: Gray;
            font-family: Arial;
            font-size: 10pt;
            color: White;
        }
    h2
        {
            font-size: 20pt;
        }
</style>

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#content').addClass('ApplyColor');
    });
</script>

.ready() is a jQuery event handler. This particular event handler will execute when the document is ready to be accessed and scripts have completed loading. A .ready() handler can be placed anywhere on the page and you can even have multiple ready handlers in the page.

Now, if you run this page, you will see the div with content id is having gray background and white color foreground.

Let’s go to the animation part with JQuery.

Place a button and some text in Paragraph tag. Using JQuery, I will add a click event handler.

<asp:Button ID="btnShow" runat="server" Text="Show" />
<p style="display: none;background-color:Red">
    Hello
</p>

Now add this Jquery code to document.ready event

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#btnShow').click(function() {
              $("p").show("");
              return false;
        });
    });

</script>

Above code will find the btnshow and add a click event handler to it. When the button is click then Jquery will find the p tag and make a call to show function which will display the content of the p tag on the screen.

Like wise there are many more functions for animation. You can find the whole list over here.

Reference

 

http://jquery.com/

Conclusion

This is just an overview of starting with Jquery. Many more complex things can be done via jquery with ease. Go to this main page of Jquery and learn as much as you can.

Happy Programming…

Virendra Dugar :)

Posted in jQuery | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Copy DLL From GAC

Posted by Virendra Dugar on November 16, 2009

Introduction

The idea behind writing this article is to share solution to one problem that I faced recently for one my project. The problem was how we can copy an assembly (.DLL) file from Global Assembly Cache (GAC). Well, if it simply copy and paste then I am wasting my and your valuable time over here. There is no point have an article such as this. When you read the article heading, it looks pretty simple but it is not. Let’s first start with the basics.

The Basics

Assembly: According to MSDN “Assemblies are the building blocks of .NET Framework applications; they form the fundamental unit of deployment, version control, reuse, activation scoping, and security permissions. An assembly is a collection of types and resources that are built to work together and form a logical unit of functionality. An assembly provides the common language runtime with the information it needs to be aware of type implementations.

There are two types of assembly

  • Private: The assembly which is used only by a single application is called as private assembly.It does not require strong name and versioning.
  • Shared: Assembly which can be used across multiple applications is called shared assembly.

Click here to find more details about assembly.

GAC (Global assembly cache):  GAC is a place where .NET assemblies are stored, specifically used to be shared by multiple applications on that computer.

GACUtil is a command line tool which allows you to place, to remove assembly from GAC.

To install an assembly called VirendraAssembly in the GAC, you can use the command.

gacutil /i VirendraAssembly.dll

To uninstall an assembly called VirendraAssembly in the GAC, you can use the command

gacutil /u VirendraAssebmly.dll

I will not go into the details of gacutil you can find from this link.

But have you ever tried to copy DLL from GAC (Global assembly cache)? Well, first time when someone asked me, I said go to GAC (c:\Windows\Assembly) folder, Select the assembly you want to copy, then right click on it and select copy option and paste it at your desired location. Well, I tried the same way but unfortunately there is no option available to copy when you make a right click on any assembly. Only available options are uninstall and properties option.

See the below screen shot.

Options

One more thing that is noticeable is, go to DOS prompt and fire DIR command to see the listing of C:\Windows\Assembly folder and you will be surprised to see the listing. See below screen shot.

Screen2

Where C:\Windows\Assembly folder looks like this.See Screenshot below:

Screen1

Surprised!! Well, what you see on the DOS Prompt is the internal structure of GAC folder then why windows is not showing such structure of the GAC. Well, this is because off SHFusion.dll (Assembly cache Viewer). On the Dos Prompt fire Dir /AH command. It shows desktop.ini. SHFusion.dll uses this desktop.ini file to show abstract view of GAC.

Various Techniques to show internal structure of GAC

There are 4 ways to show the same structure for GAC in windows as we will in DOS.

Rename the Desktop.ini file

As I mentioned previously, SHFusion.dll make use of desktop.ini to determine how to display the content of the GAC folder. From DOS prompt, fire these commands to rename the desktop.ini file.

attrib desktop.ini -h -r -s
rename desktop.ini desktop.ini.bak

Now, go to C:\Windows\Assembly folder to see its content. Screen will look something like below screenshot

Screen3

You can also see the particular folder content. Select GAC and you will see something like this.

Screen4

If you want to see both the view together run this series of commands on DOS Prompt.

Assuming you are on c:\ drive.

cd Windows\Assembly
attrib -r -h -s desktop.ini
mkdir OriginalView
move desktop.ini OriginalView
attrib +s OriginalView
attrib +r +h +s OriginalView/desktop.ini

Now, go to assembly folder. You will internal structure of GAC and plus one more folder named OriginalView. When you go in this folder, you will  see original view of GAC.

By Modifying the Registry

The following steps will modify the registry. If you make any incorrect entry in registry, that can cause some serious problems. Sometimes you may need to install operating system again. Use registry editor at your own risk. I prefer, before you follow these steps, take a backup of registry.

We need to add a key in registry that will disable the abstract view of the GAC.

To open registry editor, Go to Run and type regedit. Locate following registry, in the registry editor.
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\

Registry1

Right click on Fusion Folder and select New ->DWord Value.

Registry 2

Add a new Dword named “DisableCacheViewer” and set its value 1.

Registry 3

Now go to C:\Windows\Assembly folder and you will see folders in GAC.

By Uninstalling SHFusion.dll

Go to Visual Studio Command Prompt and fire this command to uninstall the SHFusion.dll

regsvr32 -u C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\shfusion.dll

Command

Following message will appear.

Message

Now go to C:\Windows\Assembly folder and you will see folders in GAC.

To get back to the previous state of view register the SHfusion.dll using the following command, fire this command on Visual Studio Command prompt.

regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\shfusion.dll

Command

And you will see following message on the screen.

Message

Now go to Assembly folder again and it will show the abstract view of GAC.

Using SUBST Command

Go to Windows DOS Prompt and type following command and press enter.

SUBST L: “C:\Windows\Assembly”

SUBST

This command will create a virtual drive “L” and this drive will have the internal view of GAC, where C:\Windows\Assembly will have the abstract view of GAC. Kindly ensure that the drive name that you type in SUBST command, it must not exist in your system. Go to My Computer and you will see the Drive named “L:”.

Now to delete this drive, run this command on command prompt.

SUBST L: /D

This will delete the L: drive.

By all above these four techniques, you can see the internal structure of GAC. Via Internal structure you can copy the DLL and paste it at desired location.

Now, let’s see what every folder contains in GAC. Mainly there are 5 Folders.

  1. GAC : This folder contains non-native images of DLL used in .NET Framework 1.x.
  2. GAC_32 : A 32-bit system will only have the GAC_32 directory.  A 64-bit system will have both the directory GAC_32 and GAC_64. These directories contain assemblies that are specific to 32-64 bit mode.
  3. GAC_MSIL: The GAC_MSIL cache contains assemblies that can be run in either 32-bit or 64-bit mode. They don’t have any dependency.
  4. NativeImage Framework Version :  Native image generated for Framework version. If you have .NET Framework 1.0 and 2.0 both, then there will be two directories.
  5. Temporary and Tmp : Temporary Directories.

The folder GAC, GAC_32, GAC_64 and GAC_MSIL contains non-native images of the DLLs. They all contain the MSIL that will be complied into native images and placed in NativeImage_Framework Version folder.

Reference

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/demystifygac.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/junfeng/archive/2004/09/12/228635.aspx

Conclusion

During this article, I have showed you various techniques to show internal structure of GAC and one can easily copy the DLL from the GAC folder and can paste it at desired location. I hope that readers will learn something new.

Kindly post your comments regarding feedback for this article.

Thanks,
Virendra Dugar

Posted in .NET Framework | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

AsyncFileUpload Control – New Control in Ajax Control ToolKit

Posted by Virendra Dugar on October 6, 2009

I have already posted an article on new release of AjaxControl ToolKit.

Ajax Control Toolkit is not new for every dotnet developer. A new version of the AJAX Control Toolkit is now available for download from the CodePlex website. This new version of the AJAX Control Toolkit contains two new controls:

SeaDragon Java Script Code (SJC) – The SJC control allows you SeaDragon scripts are used to display an image, and to zoom in and out of that image using mouse button keys without resizing the window. I saw the demo and it’s really cool control.

AsyncFileUpload – Finally, we have a control which uploads file asynchronously. This new control enables you to perform file uploads without doing a postback. The control displays a throbber image during upload and raises client and server events when the upload is complete. Check the live demo here.

In this article, we are going to take a look at AsyncFileUpload control.

Note: This control will only work with .NET 3.5 or higher version.

AsyncFileUpload Control Features

As we know, File Upload control of ASP.NET does not work with in update panel. If we want to place it in update panel, then also postback trigger is required to upload the file. This cool control allows you to upload the file in asynchronous manner. Below are few key points about this control:

  1. It works within the Update Panel.
  2. Uploads the file without any postback.
  3. Provides Client Side and Server side events.
  4. Different coloring options for showing file upload. As for example, it shows green color if upload is successful, otherwise it shows red if there is unsuccessful upload.
  5. You can show the loading image while file uploading is in progress.

But it also comes with certain disadvantages.

  1. When I was working with the control, once the file is uploaded there is no way to clear the content of file upload control.
  2. I went into the source code of this control and noticed that the control stores the file in Session. It never clears the session, which means every time to navigate back to the page it loads the last file uploaded into the text box.
  3. There is no way to cancel the upload.
  4. There is no way to monitor the progress (How much % is completed) of uploading.
  5. Uploading starts as soon as you select the file. It stores the files in the session.

Besides, these disadvantages control looks good.

Now let’s go thru some of the properties of this control.

Properties and Methods

Some Available Properties

  1. CompleteBackColor : This Property set the background color of the control on successful upload. Default Value is “Lime”.Image1
  2. ErrorBackColor : This Property set the background color of the control on unsuccessful upload. Default Value is “Red”.

  3. UploadingBackColor : This Property set the background color of the control when file uploading is in progress.Image2
  4. UploaderStyle : There are two options available for styling of the control. Traditional and modern. Default is “Traditional”.

  5. ThrobberID : ID of control that is shown while the file is uploading. It will be used to display the loading/in progress image.

  6. HasFile : Returns a bool value which indicates control has a file or not.

Available Events:

  1. OnClientUploadError : This is a client side event. If there is an unsuccessful upload then specified JavaScript function will be executed.

  2. OnClientUploadStarted : This is also a client side event. Specified JavaScript function will be called when the uploading start. This event will be called before uploading and once this function is executed, uploading will start.

  3. OnClientUploadComplete : This is also a client side event. If there is successful upload then specified JavaScript function will be executed.

  4. onuploadedcomplete : This is a server side event which will be executed once the uploading is complete. One thing to notice over here is, as soon as you select the file, uploading starts but it remains in session. It is not stored on any physical location. In this event, we can specify the path and save the file into physical location.
    Things will be clear once we go thru the code.

Available Methods:

  1. SaveAs() : This method saves the file on specified path.

Demo

Let’s create a new website and add reference of newly downloaded AjaxControl ToolKit dll. On default.aspx page, Place a script manager and register the ajax control toolkit dll.

Now let’s place the AsyncFileUpload control.

< cc1:AsyncFileUpload ID="AsyncFileUpload1" Width="400px" runat="server"

OnClientUploadError="uploadError" OnClientUploadStarted="StartUpload"

OnClientUploadComplete="UploadComplete"

CompleteBackColor="Lime" UploaderStyle="Modern"

ErrorBackColor="Red" ThrobberID="Throbber"

onuploadedcomplete="AsyncFileUpload1_UploadedComplete" UploadingBackColor="#66CCFF" />

We can place this within update panel or outside the update panel. As you can see, I have set the most of the properties and events which I have already explained above. Let’s place the Throbber control to show in progress image. It is not compulsory to have ThrobberID. If it is set then it will display the content of the control.

< asp:Label ID="Throbber" runat="server" Style="display: none">;
          <img src="Images/indicator.gif" align="absmiddle" alt="loading" />;
</asp:Label>

I have also placed a label on the page, which shows the status of the uploading. Value of this control get’s updated via Client Side function.

< asp:Label ID="lblStatus" runat="server" Style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"> < /asp:Label>

Let’s place the JavaScript functions.

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">

function uploadError(sender,args)
{
  document.getElementById('lblStatus').innerText = args.get_fileName(), "&lt;span style='color:red;'&gt;" + args.get_errorMessage() + "&lt;/span&gt;";
}

function StartUpload(sender,args)
{
    document.getElementById('lblStatus').innerText = 'Uploading Started.';
}

function UploadComplete(sender,args)
{
  var filename = args.get_fileName();
  var contentType = args.get_contentType();
  var text = "Size of " + filename + " is " + args.get_length() + " bytes";
  if (contentType.length &gt; 0)
  {
    text += " and content type is '" + contentType + "'.";
  }
  document.getElementById('lblStatus').innerText = text;
}
</script> 

The UploadComplete function displayes the file name, it’s size and content type on the screen.
Below is server side code of UploadedComplete event.

protected void AsyncFileUpload1_UploadedComplete(object sender, AjaxControlToolkit.AsyncFileUploadEventArgs e)
{
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(5000);
    if (AsyncFileUpload1.HasFile)
    {
	string strPath = MapPath("~/Uploads/") + Path.GetFileName(e.filename);
	AsyncFileUpload1.SaveAs(strPath);
    }
}

That’s it. We are good to go now. Now just run the application.

Conclusion

This is a cool control which some good user experience but as stated above I cannot find a way to clear the content of the control even if you refresh the page. Another thing that is quite annoying is as soon as you select any file, it starts uploading. Another lacking feature is it does not show the progress in percentages. Despite, few disadvantages, I found this control pretty useful. Hope to see some enhancement in this tool.

Enjoy..

Posted in ASP.NET, Ajax Control Toolkit | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

AJAX Control Toolkit – September 30, 2009 Release (30930)

Posted by Virendra Dugar on October 6, 2009

Good news for every developer. A new version of the AJAX Control Toolkit is now available for download from the CodePlex website. This new version of the AJAX Control Toolkit contains two new controls:

  • SeaDragon Java Script Code (SJC) – The SJC control allows you SeaDragon scripts are used to display an image, and to zoom in and out of that image using mouse button keys without resizing the window. I saw the demo of the tool and it’s looks really good. Check the live demo here.
  • AsyncFileUpload – Finally, we have a control which supports async file upload. This new control enables you to perform file uploads without doing a postback. The control displays a throbber image during upload and raises client and server events when the upload is complete. Check the live demo here.

This new release also includes fixes for over 20 bugs in existing AJAX Control Toolkit controls.

Enjoy..

Posted in Ajax Control Toolkit | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Difference between C# and VB.NET

Posted by Virendra Dugar on September 18, 2009

This question is almost asked in every interview, if you have worked with both the language. There are syntax difference, keyword difference in both the language. But the interviewer is not looking for such answers. One need to explain the functional difference between both the languages.

Here are some key difference in C# and VB.NET other than syntax differences.

  1. In C#, using keyword is used to release unmanaged resources. (Not available in VB.NET)
  2. Optional parameter is supported in VB.NET. (Not available in C# 3.0 or below version).
  3. Structure and unstructured error handling (On Error GoTo) is supported in VB.NET. (Unstructured error handling is not supported in C#).
  4. Event gets bind automatically in VB.Net.
  5. VB.NET is not case sensitive where C# is.
  6. Shadowing: – This is a VB.Net Concept by which you can provide a new implementation for the base class member without overriding the member. You can shadow a base class member in the derived class by using the keyword “Shadows”. The method signature, access level and return type of the shadowed member can be completely different than the base class member.

    Hiding: – This is a C# Concept by which you can provide a new implementation for the base class member without overriding the member. You can hide a base class member in the derived class by using the keyword “new”. The method signature, access level and return type of the hidden member has to be same as the base class member.

    Comparing the two:-
    1) The access level, signature and the return type can only be changed when you are shadowing with VB.NET. Hiding and overriding demands these parameters as same.
    2) The difference lies when you call the derived class object with a base class variable. In class of overriding although you assign a derived class object to base class variable it will call the derived class function. In case of shadowing or hiding the base class function will be called.

  7. Visual Basic .NET can also force parameters to be passed by value, regardless of how they are declared, by enclosing the parameters in extra parentheses. There is no way to achieve this thing in C#.
    For Example:

    Dim y As Integer = 5
    Dim z As Integer
    z = Add(y) //This will set both Y and Z to 6.
    z = Add((y)) //This will set Z to 6 but Value of Y will not be change, as we have included extra parenthese while calling.
    

    The Add function:

    Public Function Add(ByRef x As Integer) As Integer
    x = x + 1
    Return x
    End Function
    

I know this is not a complete list, so if you know any other difference kindly post your comments.

Enjoy..

Posted in C#, VB.NET | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Execute Web Service via GET Method

Posted by Virendra Dugar on September 8, 2009

When we created any web service via Vistual Studio, we always get a default method named “Hello world”.

When you hit this URL in your browser, http://localhost/SampleWebService/Service.asmx, it shows list of all the web method. Click on Hello World and then Invoke. It gives following output:

I am assuming that you have hosted your web service in IIS.

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<string xmlns=”http://tempuri.org/“>Hello World</string>

Looks good. Now let’s go and modify our service.cs file and add a new method which takes one parameter.

[WebMethod]
public string HelloWorldWithParam(int a)
{
return "Hello World " + a.ToString();
}

Now, hit this URL http://localhost/SampleWebService/Service.asmx. It is showing both the methods.

WebService

Click on HelloWorldWithParam. It asks for parameter value. Without giving any value just click invoke.

WebService1

It shows following error:

Error1

Above error is coming as method is expecting a value, and method tries to convert null value to string. If you refresh your browser then following error comes:

Error

Now let’s provide the parameter value via URL only. Hit this URL, http://localhost/SampleWebService/Service.asmx/HelloWorldWithParam?a=1 , and then also you will receive the above error.

Reason: By default, Web service created via Visual Studio executes through HTTP Post method. When Post method is used, querystring is not visible. We need to configure our web service, so it works with HTTP GET and POST method. How can we do this?

Go to web.config and add this code in system.web section.

<webServices>
      <protocols>
        <add name=”HttpGet”/>
        <add name=”HttpPost”/>
      </protocols>
</webServices>

Good to go now. Hit this URL again and this time you will see “Hello World 1”.

Enjoy….

Posted in ASP.NET | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Difference between Theme and StylesheetTheme attribute

Posted by Virendra Dugar on August 31, 2009

The Page directive includes the attribute Theme and StylesheetTheme.You can use both to apply themes to a page. So, the question is: If you have a Theme attribute and a StylesheetTheme attribute for the Page directive, what is the difference between the two?

<%@ Page Language=”VB” StylesheetTheme=”Theme1” %>

The StylesheetTheme attribute works the same as the Theme attribute. The difference is that the when attributes are set locally on the page within a particular control, the attributes are overridden by the theme if you use the Theme attribute. They are kept in place, however, if you apply the page’s theme using the StylesheetTheme attribute. Suppose you have a text box control like the following:

<asp:Textbox ID=”TextBox1” Runat=”server” ForeColor=”#ffffff” /> 

In this example, the ForeColor settings is overridden by the theme if you have applied theme using the Theme attribute in the Page directive. If, you applied the theme using the StylesheetTheme attribute in the Page directive, the ForeColor settings remain in place, even if they are explicitly defined in the theme.

Enjoy…

Posted in ASP.NET | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Case Sensitive Comparison in SQL Server

Posted by Virendra Dugar on July 24, 2009

SQL Server performs the string comparison irrespective of the case. For eg. ”VIRENDRA” and ‘virendra’ are equal when we do comparison in SQL Server.

I found an article which gives complete detail about case sensitive string comparison.

Below are the techniques to do case sensitive comparison

  • Converting data to binary type before comparison.
  • Using the COLLATE clause to dictate the case sensitiveness of the query.
  • Using BINARY_CHECKSUM function.
  • Changing the collation of the column permanently, so that all comparisons are case sensitive by default.
  • Using computed columns.

Check the original article for more details.

Enjoy…

Posted in SQL Server | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

JavaScript Best Pratices

Posted by Virendra Dugar on July 17, 2009

Check this article on Best Pratices of JavaScript.

Enjoy….

Posted in JavaScript | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Access ViewState Across the Pages

Posted by Virendra Dugar on July 2, 2009

Before I start this article, Let me ask you something. Is it possible to access the ViewState variable of one page to another page? I don’t know what is your answer. Well, frankly speaking, My answer was  also “NO”  before writing this article As it is said that ViewState is page specific that means it is available on the same page only on which it is created. Once you redirect to another page, previous page viewstate is no more accessible. But that is not true.Yes, we can access the viewstate variables across the pages. This is only possible if Cross Page Posting or Server.transfer is used to redirect the user on other page. If Response.redirect is used then ViewState can not be accessed across the pages.

Before you go down, Please read these articles on Cross Page Posting and Server.transfer.

Ok, So all set now.. I will demonstrate this using the demo created by me. You can download the demo from here.

I have created two .aspx page named
1. ViewStateContainer.aspx : This page set the ViewState variable and transfers the user to another page using Server.transfer.
2. AccessViewState.aspx : This page access the ViewState variable of ViewStateContainer.aspx Page.

This is the code of ViewStateContainer.aspx Page :

ViewState Container Page

As you can see, I have set a ViewState variable in Page Load and transfers the user to AccessViewState.aspx page using Server.transfer() method.
This page also contains a method ReturnViewState() which actually returns the ViewState of this page to the calling function. Return type of the method is StateBag Class.

StateBag Class : This class is the primary storage mechanism for all HTML and Web server controls. It stores attribute/value pairs as strings associated with the control. It tracks changes to these attributes only after the OnInit method is executed for a page request, and saves the changes to the page’s or control’s view state.

Now let’s take look at AccessViewState.aspx Page code:

Access View State

Whenever we use Server.transfer or Cross Page Posting, We can get the previous page object via PreviousPage Property. Using Previous Page, we can find the controls of previous page. As for example, One can access Label control placed in ViewStateContainer Page in Current Page.

Looking at the code, I have created a PreviousPageViewState property in this page, which returns the previous page’s ViewState. It first checks whether PreviousPage is null or not, if it’s not null then create an object of the previous page. Now using Reflection, we can invoke the method of the previous class. Using MethodInfo class, I have invoked the ReturnViewState() method of ViewStateContainer Page.

In Page_Load event, I am able to access the ViewState variable of  ViewStateContainer Page. You can access all the viewstate variables set in ViewStateContainer Page.

Enjoy..

Posted in ASP.NET | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »