ASP.NET FAQs [updated July 17 2011]

[gep13]

ASP.NET FAQs

The following is a list of frequently asked questions for working with ASP.NET, including PostBacks, working with ASP.NET Server Controls, Sessions, ViewState, etc.

[atarget=contents]Sections in this Page[/atarget]

For all languages:

[jumpto=gen]General[/jumpto]
[jumpto=viewstate]ViewState[/jumpto]
[jumpto=session]Session[/jumpto]
[jumpto=querystring]QueryString[/jumpto]
[jumpto=webconfig]Using the web.config file[/jumpto]
[jumpto=globalasax]Using the global.asax file[/jumpto]
[jumpto=logging]Logging[/jumpto]
[jumpto=install]Installation[/jumpto]
[jumpto=deployment]Deployment[/jumpto]
[jumpto=hosting]Hosting[/jumpto]
[jumpto=events]Event Handling[/jumpto]
[jumpto=ajax]AJAX[/jumpto]
[jumpto=comments]Commenting your code[/jumpto]
[jumpto=database]Databases[/jumpto]
[jumpto=scraping]Screen Scraping[/jumpto]
[jumpto=modules]Http Modules[/jumpto]
[jumpto=handlers]Http Handlers[/jumpto]
[jumpto=validation]Data Input Validation[/jumpto]
​

ASP.NET Server Controls:

[jumpto=controlgen]General[/jumpto]
[jumpto=gridview]GridView[/jumpto]
​

If you can think of a "frequent" question (and preferably an answer to it as well) that you think should be added to these FAQs, please see this thread.
____________________________________________________________
Recent Additions

• July 17 2011 : Created the FAQs thread

____________________________________________________________

[atarget=gen]General[/atarget]

• What is the difference between a Web Site and a Web Application?
• Why does MsgBox/MessageBox not work in my Web Application?
• Should I be using Response.Write?
• What is FireBug?
• How do I separate code into different tiers, UI, BLL, DAL?
• What is the trace.axd?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=viewstate]ViewState[/atarget]

• What is ViewState?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=session]Session[/atarget]

• What is Session?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=querystring]QueryString[/atarget]

• What is the QueryString?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=webconfig]Using the web.config file[/atarget]

• What is the web.config?
• How can I encrypt/decrypt sections within the web.config file?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=globalasax]Using the global.asax file[/atarget]

• What is the global.asax file?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=logging]Logging[/atarget]

• How do I add logging to my Web Application using Debug/Trace?
• How do I add logging to my Web Application using log4net?
• How do I add logging to my Web Application using NLog?
• How do I add logging to my Web Application using ELMAH?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=install]Installation[/atarget]

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=deployment]Deployment[/atarget]

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=hosting]Hosting[/atarget]

• Where can I find a good Web Host?
• Where can I find a free Web Host?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=events]Event Handling[/atarget]

• How do I add event handlers for the events raised by my application?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=ajax]AJAX[/atarget]

• How do I add an AJAX Form to my Web Application?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=comments]Commenting your code[/atarget]

• Why should I comment my code?
• How do I add XML Comments to my code?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=database]Databases[/atarget]

• Where can I find the correct connection string for my database?
• Can ASP.Net Communicate with Databases other than SQL Server?
• Why should I use Parameters in my program instead of putting values directly into my SQL string?
  (aka "how do I protect against SQL Injection attacks")
• How do I connect to MySql Database?
• How do I connect to an Oracle Database?
• What is Connection Pooling?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=scraping]Screen Scraping[/atarget]

• What is Screen Scraping?
• How can I screen scrape a Web Page using WebClient?
• How can I screen scrape a Web Page using HttpWebRequest?
• What is the HTML Agility Pack?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=modules]Http Modules[/atarget]

• What is an Http Module?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=handlers]Http Handlers[/atarget]

• What is an Http Handler?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=validation]Data Input Validation[/atarget]

• What are the ASP.NET Validation Controls?
• How can I create Custom Validation Controls?
• How can I validate, for example, an email address from the user?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=controlgen]General[/atarget]

• Why does the ASPX markup that I create change when sent to the client?
• What is the ClientID?
• How can I access the ClientID of a Server Side control on the Client side?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​

[atarget=gridview]GridView[/atarget]

• How can I change the look and feel of my GridView?
• How do I display the sum of a column in a GridView?

[jumpto=contents]up to Section list[/jumpto]​