WSV311 - ASP.NET: Programming with the Data Controls in ASP.NET "Whidbey" (Part 2)
This talk covered went deeper into Data Controls in Whidbey covering more advanced topics like caching, configured connection strings, master-details, and much more. Overall it looks like MS has done a lot of thoughtful work on how to make data controls better in Whidbey and how to enable developers to do what they are trying to do.
Data Source Caching
- Too hard in V1 so no one used it.
- Caching now exposed as properties (EnableCaching=“true“, CacheDuration=“5“) Nice!
- Cache keys are transparent.
Sql Cache Invalidation
- Tie the cache to tables or rows in the database.
- Done via Polling in Sql 2000, notifications in Yukon
- Supported by SqlDataSource and ObjectDataSource.
- Turned on in the web.config. (Also showed named connection strings)
DataGrid Filters
- Showed adding parametrized filter string
- Filter parameter can be tied to control, querystring, etc. It's good to see the parameter types spread across many areas of the ASP.NET product.
Configured Connection Strings
- Done in the web.config and can be encrypted.
- Support at design time (in Beta 1).
- MMC tool to manage connection strings.
- Added to ConfigurationSettings as a property and can be also referenced in HTML view.
Master-Details
- Navigate relationships with data controls.
- Can span multiple pages or done in a single page.
- DetailsView control (like Access form view). Use as details view of master-details page. This can also be used to insert new records. This is a very nice control.
Databinding in Templates
- New syntax <%# Eval(“field“) %> one-way or
- <%# Bind(“field“) %> two-way (not in PDC build)
- They are “real sorry“ about old confusing syntax in V1.
- Template editing now has a nice rich UI in design view. Drag-and-Drop supported.
- Two-way databinding allows you to do things like binding a dropdownlist in the edit view of a grid to the datasource. Totally customize the editing UI without coding!
Hierarchical Data Sources
- Data as parent-child relationships
- New data-bound controls like TreeView and Menu (in Beta 1). TreeView has tons of options.
- One feature in TreeView is client-side postbacks that can update the page. This feature is available to control developer as well through an interface.
- XML Databinding - XPath databinding syntax and XPathSelect syntax
Again this was a good session that covered a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. ASP.NET developers are really going to like these new features. There wasn't a whole lot of applause during the session but I think this was mostly due to people trying to take in what all these new features mean.