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ASP.NET

What Is ... .NET (ASP) | This series covers the basics the new (or practicing) .NET developer will need to know before they being to develop a Website in ASP.NET. It comprises 4 articles; Chapter 1: Introduction to .NET (ASP) | This chapter begins by asking the questions, "What is .NET?" and, "What is ASP.NET?" It then goes on to explain what you'll need to get started, and how to install all the necessary software. Finish off by developing your first ASP.NET page! (SOURCE >> www.sitepoint.com/asp-dot-net-introduction/) >> For more on .NET in general, see >> our .NET page

What is ASP.NET? | For years now, Active Server Pages (ASP) has been arguably the leading choice for Web developers building dynamic Websites on Windows Web servers. ASP has gained popularity by offering the simplicity of flexible scripting via several languages. That, combined with the fact that it’s built into every Microsoft Windows-based Web server, has made ASP a difficult act to follow.

ASP.NET is a server-side technology for developing Web applications based on the Microsoft .NET Framework.

ASP.NET is server-side; that is, it runs on the Web server. Most Web designers start by learning client-side technologies like HTML, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). When a Web browser requests a Web page created with client-side technologies, the Web server simply grabs the files that the browser (the client) requests and sends them down the line. The client is entirely responsible for reading the code in the files and interpreting it to display the page on the screen. Server-side technologies, like ASP.NET, are different. Instead of being interpreted by the client, server-side code (for example, the code in an ASP.NET page) is interpreted by the Web server. In the case of ASP.NET, the code in the page is read by the server and used dynamically to generate standard HTML/JavaScript/CSS that is then sent to the browser. As all processing of ASP.NET code occurs on the server, it’s called a server-side technology.

ASP.NET is a technology for developing Web applications. A Web application is just a fancy name for a dynamic Website. Web applications usually (but not always) store information in a database on the Web server, and allow visitors to the site to access and change that information.

Finally, ASP.NET is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework. The .NET Framework collects all the technologies needed for building Windows applications, Web applications, and Web Services into a single package with a set of more than twenty programming languages.

(SOURCE >> www.sitepoint.com/asp-dot-net-introduction/)

Software and related

How to .NET (ASP) | Installing the Required Software > This section tackles the necessary installation and configuration of software that you'll need for this book, including:

- a Server; it is recommended to use Internet Information Services (IIS): IIS is the Web server they will use in their case. For that, you'll need your copy of the Windows CD for the installation and configuration.

+Installing Internet Information Services (IIS) or other? (Apache?)

+Configuring (IIS, +) server; or other ...

How to Run Apache and IIS at the Same Time: Part 1 | If your requirements are relatively modest, I’d suggest running IIS only. It’ll happily run ASP.NET, Classic ASP and PHP on the same installation.

Virtual Machines | VM software allows you to create a software-simulated PC inside your PC. I’m a big fan of VirtualBox >> www.sitepoint.com/virtualbox-review/ <<, although Microsoft Virtual PC and VMware have their good points.

The advantage of a VM is that you can set up any number of server configurations and switch to the one that’s most appropriate. Developers can still access shared folders and backup systems will work just as well as on a real server.

However, VMs add an extra layer of effort and must be configured and maintained. On a single PC, you’ll also need to boot your VM whenever you start coding. That may only take a minute or two, but it’ll soon become tiresome. Finally, VMs are just blocks of data — they’re easy to back up, but they’re fragile. An OS crash, corruption, or file deletion could trash your VM and destroy your work. * SOURCE >> http://www.sitepoint.com/run-apache-iis-same-time-1/

Simultaneous Servers | You can install Apache and IIS on the same Windows PC at the same time. Although the applications will run, they both listen for web requests on TCP port 80 — there will be clashes so a little configuration is required.

The easiest fix is to change the default port for one of the servers to 81 (or any other spare number). On Apache, you can change the Listen directive in the httpd.conf configuration file. On IIS, you change the Bindings setting in the IIS Manager.

Microsoft provides a useful TCP port how-to page for all versions of IIS. >> support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/149605

The browser URL will therefore be http://localhost/ for the server using port 80 and http://localhost:81/ for the server using port 81.

This method allows you to test the same application on different servers, although you may experience file locking or some other strange issues.

It’s a great solution but I don’t use it. The main reasons: I often forget to change the port when testing, the alternative port number can cause development complications, it’s rare that I need both servers at the same time, and I don’t like background programs running when I’m not using them. Fortunately, there is an alternative ...

Server Switching | My preferred solution is to run whichever server I want when I need it. Apache and IIS are both launched as a Windows service — open Administrative Tools > Services. Locate Apache and IIS (W3SVC – World Wide Web Publishing Service) and set both Startup types to Manual. (Make a note of Apache’s service name — in the screenshot above, it’s “Apache2.2?.)

Neither server will run when your PC is booted. To start and stop the services, we’re going to create 4 batch (.bat) files in the same folder. Batch files are a list of command line instructions which have been around since the MS-DOS days:

start-apache.bat | This will stop IIS and start/restart Apache. (Note that ‘Apache’ is assumed to be the service name in the third line, but your installation may be different.)

@call stop-iis.bat
@call stop-apache.bat @net start Apache

stop-apache.bat | This will stop Apache (change the service name if necessary).

@net stop Apache

start-iis.bat | This will stop Apache and start/restart IIS.

@call stop-apache.bat @call stop-iis.bat @net start W3SVC

stop-iis.bat | This will stop IIS on Windows Vista or 7.

@net stop was /y

stop-iis.bat | This will stop IIS on Windows XP or earlier.

@net stop iisadmin /y

You can double-click these files to run them or create desktop / start menu shortcuts for easier access. * SOURCE >> www.sitepoint.com/run-apache-iis-same-pc-2/

Can I host ASP.NET on an apache server? | On a windows box, can I simply drop a ASP.NET application into Apache server and have it work? Or are there any other server alternatives to IIS?

If you are windows user then you can go along with mod_aspdotnet >> sourceforge.net/projects/mod-aspdotnet/ << and if you are linux user then you can use mod_mono. >> www.mono-project.com/docs/web/mod_mono/ * SOURCE >> stackoverflow.com/questions/3126017/can-i-host-asp-net-on-an-apache-server

How to run ASP.Net(4.0) website on apache server? | I understood, that I need to use mod_aspdotnet, but I can't find this module for ASP.Net(4.0) - only for 2.0.

Try the Mod.Mono instead of mod_aspdotnet: * SOURCE >> stackoverflow.com/questions/5247383/how-to-run-asp-net4-0-website-on-apache-server

ASP.net on Apache? | Has anyone EVER gotten ASP.net pages to work on an Apache server? I went to their site and followed their instructions to install mod_aspdotnet.so, then spent hours trying different settings in the httpd.conf file, and it won't even allow the Apache server to start if I add the module!

It sounds like you have IIS and Apache installed (Apache doesn't use the InetPub folder by default and it doesn't exist unless you created it manually or installed IIS). My first guess is Apache isn't running because IIS is, you need to use separate IP's or separate ports. See the Apache support options for advice on configuring it.

My Apache server works fine for PHP and HTML content. My IIS server works fine for PHP, HTML and ASP.NET content. Yes you can have IIS and Apache on the same machine, just make sure one isn't running at the same time as the other (well I think you can adjust port settings or something to get around that, but I can only work on one project at a time anyways).

Read the ASP.NET faq here: www.mono-project.com/FAQ:_ASP.NET

> Does Mono's ASP.NET run on Linux ?
> Yes. And other supported platforms. In Windows you must use XSP as mod_mono can't work > with the Windows version of Apache, nor with IIS.

XSP is a very limited web server which is used typically during development or for testing. Some people use it for production, but this server is not likely going to ever grow to support all the features that Apache has.

1. Have you installed the mod_aspdotnet.so module on the web server ?

2. Have you changed the Apache.exe.config file to use the latest .NET runtime version ?

3. Have you changed the httpd.default.conf file so that it understands all the asp.net file extention ?

SOURCE >> forums.asp.net/t/962964.aspx?ASP+net+on+Apache+

Mono: ASP.NET with Apache & Linux ASP.Net is Microsoft's platform for developing Web applications. Until recently every ASP.Net application was executable only under a same Microsoft-developed runtime environment and its Internet Information Server Web server. In late June Novell released the first major version of Mono, an open source implementation of the .Net framework that lets you execute .Net applications on Linux and the Apache Web server. Here's how you can begin using Mono and its ancillary tools XSP and mod_mono.

To get started you need to download three distinct packages: The Mono Runtime, XSP Web server, and the Apache Mono Module (mod_mono), all of which are available from the Mono Project . Besides these packages you obviously also need to have an Apache Web server installed, from either the 1.x or 2.x branch. SOURCE >> www.webforefront.com/about/danielrubio/articles/ostg/monoaspnet.html

Run ASP.Net in Ubuntu with Apache | In this programming tutorial, you will learn how to run ASP.Net in Ubuntu using an Apache server and the Mod_mono module. A Mono platform allows you to run ASP.NET 2.0 in a Unix hosting environment. For example, this ASP.NET website: www.dotnetdevelopment.net << runs under Apache in Unix as shown in these headers ... SOURCE >> www.aspfree.com/c/a/asp-net/run-asp-net-in-ubuntu-with-apache/

- A Modern Web Browser: You can use any modern, standards-compliant browser to test your work. Throughout this book, they'll be using Internet Explorer 6.

+Internet Explorer (or other browser);

- The .NET Framework Redistributable: As you will learn in the chapter, the .NET Framework is what drives ASP.NET. Installing the .NET Framework installs the necessary files to run ASP.NET.

- The .NET Framework SDK: The .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) contains necessary Web application development tools, a debugger for error correcting, a development database engine in MSDE, and a suite of samples and documentation.

+Installing the .NET Framework and SDK; Download, Install, Configure, Using. .NET Framework and .NET SDKs >> msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa496123

download Visual Studio for free, >> www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/free-developer-offers-vs.aspx

more Information

Plus -

- also going to need a database.

+DB ... Microsoft Access or

+SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE). For that, you can go to ( Start > Programs > Microsoft Framework SDK, and choose Samples and QuickStart Tutorials.

Choose the Download and Install the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine link. You will be redirected to a download page on Microsoft's Website.

+Web Data (dB) Administrator (like phpAdmin); you can download this program from Microsoft's developer site.

Or ... MySQL? use LAMP Stack? the MySQL website. >> www.mysql.com/

MySQL on Windows | MySQL provides you with a suite of tools for developing and managing business critical applications on Windows. >> dev.mysql.com/downloads/windows/

Download Connector/Net | Connector/Net is a fully-managed ADO.NET driver for MySQL. >> dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net

A Step-by-Step Guide To Using MySQL with ASP.NET - Part 1 | Step 1 - Installation Step 2 - Configuration The MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard makes configuring your server really simple.

> server type as "Developer Machine" > Multi-functional Database > enable TCP/IP networking, port 3306 ? ... enable TCP/IP networking in order to allow the web server to connect to the database when we get to building a web page to query the database. > Standard Chatacter set > Install as Windows service > Modify Security settings (root pwd)

recommend you download and install the MySQL Administrator. >> www.mysql.com/products/workbench/ << (can also use phpAdmin ) Because,

1. In order to create our database, we first need to connect to the server. Run (MySQL/php) Administrator and login to your server using the password you set during installation.

2. You'll then want to select the "Catalogs" item at the bottom left of the MySQL Administrator window. This should bring up a list of the current databases on the server (There should be two of them: "mysql" and "test"). If you right-click in the small window where they are listed you should get the option to "Create New Schema".

3. You'll then be prompted to enter a name for the new database in the Schema Name.

4. Creating a Table | To create a table simply click on the "Create Table" button.

When you're done making changes, you simply click the "Apply Changes" button. A window that looks something like the one below will pop up showing you the SQL that will be executed and asking you to confirm that you want to save changes to the table design.

5. Adding Data | In the real world, data in your table would probably come in via your application. To get some sample data into our table, I'm simply going to insert a few lines by hand, entering INPUT statements using the MySQL Command Line Client. SOURCE >> www.codeguru.com/csharp/.net/net_data/article.php/c19407/A-StepbyStep-Guide-To-Using-MySQL-with-ASPNET--Part-1.htm

Step 7 - Creating a New MySQL User Account | I'm assuming that you're been following along with part one, so at this point you should have the MySQL Server and MySQL Adminstrator installed, and have a sample database named "mydatabase" which contains a sample table named "mytable" with two rows of data in it.

In order to add a new user account, we'll once again need to run MySQL Administrator and login to your server using the password you set during installation. You'll then want to select the "User Administration" item from the list of items at the left of the MySQL Administrator window. This should bring up a list of the current user account on the server (There should already be once called "root").

Step 8 - Granting the User Account Access to the Database | By default new users have permission to do almost nothing. In order to allow our new user to connect to the MySQL database server, we need to grant him what MySQL calls "Schema Privileges". This is naturally done from the "Schema Privileges" tab in MySQL Administrator.

Step 9 - Connecting to the Database Server from an ASP.NET Page | To my knowledge there are currently two main ways to connect to a MySQL database server from .NET: MySQL Connector/ODBC (aka. MyODBC) and MySQL Connector/Net. >> www.mysql.com/products/connector/ << While the ODBC connector is cross-platform and is compliant with ODBC standards, the .NET version is generally the better choice when using MySQL with .NET.

The setup files can be downloaded from the MySQL Connector/Net page and installation is straight-forward.

Step 10 - A Sample ASP.NET Page to Query a MySQL Database | So with our MySQL database finally squared away and MySQL Connector/Net installed, we can now start using MySQL from our ASP.NET web pages.

// MySQL.aspx

<%@ Page Language="VB" debug="true" %>

<%@ Import Namespace = "System.Data" %> <%@ Import Namespace = "MySql.Data.MySqlClient" %>