Paul Ballard

ASP.NET version 1.0 and 1.1 were giant leaps forward in making data-driven Web sites easier to create. With only a few lines of code you can create Web sites that dynamically query and update databases, XML files, and more. Furthering the goal of making Web development easier, ASP.NET version 2.0 makes even those few lines of code unnecessary, thanks to a new set of server controls called Data Source controls. Using the new Data Source controls you can declaratively create a link between the Web user interface (ASP.NET and HTML controls) and the data used to populate them. The standard CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations are supported, including parameterized queries and stored procedures, all of which are defined using standard HTML syntax. This declarative model allows you to focus on how the data is used instead of how to get to it. It also means you ... (more)

Creating a Data-Driven Web Page

In my previous article (.NETDJ, Vol. 2, issue 4) we took a look at how ASP.NET v2.0's SqlDataSource control allows Web developers to create a dynamic Web site using data stored in a SQL database with little or no server code. In this article we're going to build on that by delving into some of the other new DataSource controls and how we can integrate data from non SQL sources into an interactive Web page. XmlDataSource The XmlDataSource is a new server control used to provide access to hierarchical data stored as XML. The first step in defining an XmlDataSource is to specify th... (more)