Components enable you to reuse application logic across multiple pages or even across multiple applications. For example, you can write a method named GetProducts()
once and use the method in all the pages in your website. By taking advantage of components, you can make your applications easier to maintain and extend.
For simple applications, there is no reason to take advantage of components. However, as soon as your application contains more than a few pages, you’ll discover that you are repeating the same work over and over again. Whenever you discover that you need to write the same method more than once, you should immediately rip the method out of your page and add the method to a component.
In classic ASP, programmers often used massive and difficult to maintain #INCLUDE
files to create libraries of reusable subroutines and functions. In ASP.NET, you use components to build these libraries.
In this chapter, you learn how to build components in the .NET framework. First, you are provided with an overview of writing components: You learn how to create simple components and use them in the pages in your application. In particular, you learn how to define component methods, properties, and constructors. You also learn how to take advantage of overloading, inheritance, and interfaces.
Next, you learn how to build component libraries that can be shared across multiple applications. Different methods of compiling a set of components into assemblies are examined. You also learn how you can add a component library to the Global Assembly Cache.
Finally, architectural issues involved in using components are discussed. The final section of this chapter shows you how to build a simple three-tiered application that is divided into distinct User Interface, Business Logic, and Data Access layers.
Let’s clarify the terminology. In this book, I use the word component as a synonym for the word class. Furthermore, by the word object, I mean an instance of a class.
I am ignoring a special meaning for the word component in the .NET Framework. Technically, a component is a class that implements the System.ComponentModel.IComponent
interface. I am ignoring this special meaning of the word component in favor of the common language use of the word.
Let’s start by building a super simple component. The HelloWorld
component is contained in Listing 14.1.
When using Visual Web Developer, you create a component by selecting the menu option Website, Add New Item, and then selecting the Class item (see Figure 14.1). The first time you add a component to a project, Visual Web Developer prompts you to create a new folder named App_Code. You want your new component to be added to this folder.
The HelloWorld
component consists of a single method named SayMessage()
which returns the string Hello World!
.
Make sure that you save the HelloWorld.vb
file to your application’s App_Code folder. If you don’t save the component to this folder, then you won’t be able to use the component in your pages.
Next, you need to create a page that uses the new component. This page is contained in Listing 14.2.
Example 14.2. ShowHelloWorld.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <script runat="server"> Sub Page_Load() Dim objHelloWorld As New HelloWorld() lblMessage.Text = objHelloWorld.SayMessage() End Sub </script> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <title>Show Hello World</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <asp:Label id="lblMessage" Runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
In the Page_Load()
event handler, an instance of the HelloWorld
component is created. Next, the result returned by a call to the SayMessage()
method is assigned to a Label
control. When you open the page in your browser, you’ll see the message Hello World!
.
Notice how simple this process of creating the component is. You don’t need to perform any special registration and you don’t need to compile anything explicitly. Everything just works magically.
You are not required to explicitly compile (build) the component because the ASP.NET Framework automatically compiles the component for you. Any component that you add to the App_Code folder is compiled dynamically in the same way as an ASP.NET page. If you add a new component to the App_Code folder and request any page from your website, the contents of the App_Code folder are compiled into a new assembly and saved to the Temporary ASP.NET Files folder, located at the following path:
C:WINDOWSMicrosoft.NETFramework[version] Temporary ASP.NET Files[application name]
Whenever you modify the component, the existing assembly in the Temporary ASP.NET Files folder is deleted. The App_Code folder is compiled again when you make a new page request.
You can add as many subfolders to the App_Code folder as you need to organize your components. The ASP.NET Framework finds your component no matter how deeply you nest the component in a subfolder.
One significant drawback of this process of dynamic compilation is that any errors in any component contained in the App_Code folder prevent any pages from executing. Even if a page does not use a particular component, any syntax errors in the component raise an exception when you request the page.
If a component contains an error, and you want to temporarily hide the component from the ASP.NET Framework, change the file extension to an extension that the ASP.NET Framework does not recognize, such as HelloWorld.vb.exclude
. Visual Web Developer uses this method to hide a component when you right-click a component and select the menu option Exclude From Project.
You don’t have to do anything special, just as long as all the components in the App_Code folder are written in the same language. For example, if you use Visual Basic .NET to create all your components, then the ASP.NET Framework automatically infers the language of your components and everything just works.
However, if you mix components written in more than one language in the App_Code folder—for example, Visual Basic .NET, and C#—then you must perform some extra steps.
First, you need to place components written in different languages in different subfolders. You can name the subfolders anything you want. The point is to not mix different language components in the same folder.
Furthermore, you need to modify your web configuration file to recognize the different subfolders. For example, if you create two subfolders in the App_Code folder named VBCode and CSCode, then you can use the web configuration file in Listing 14.3 to use components written in both VB.NET and C#.
When the contents of the App_Code folder are compiled, two assemblies are created: one that corresponds to the VBCode folder and one that corresponds to the CSCode folder. Notice that you don’t need to indicate the language used for each folder—the ASP.NET Framework infers the language for you.
There is nothing wrong with mixing components written in different languages in the same ASP.NET page. After a component is compiled, the .NET Framework treats VB.NET and C# components in the same way.
The simple HelloWorld
component in Listing 14.1 contains a single method named SayMessage()
, which returns a string value. When writing components with Visual Basic .NET, you create methods by creating either a subroutine or a function. Use a subroutine when a method does not return a value, and use a function when a method does return a value.
The SayMessage()
method in Listing 14.1 is an instance method. In other words, you must create a new instance of the HelloWorld
class before you can call the SayMessage()
, method like this:
Dim objHelloWorld As New HelloWorld() lblMessage.Text = objHelloWorld.SayMessage()
In the first line, a new instance of the HelloWorld
component is created. The SayMessage()
method is called from this instance. For this reason, the SayMessage()
method is an instance method.
As an alternative to creating an instance method, you can create a shared method. The advantage of a shared method is that you do not need to create an instance of a component before calling it. For example, the SayMessage()
method in the modified HelloWorld
component in Listing 14.4 is a shared method.
The SharedHelloWorld
component defined in Listing 14.3 is exactly the same as the HelloWorld
component created in Listing 14.1 with one change: The SayMessage()
method includes a Shared modifier.
The page in Listing 14.5 uses the SharedHelloWorld
component to display the Hello World!
message.
Example 14.5. ShowSharedHelloWorld.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <script runat="server"> Sub Page_Load() lblMessage.Text = SharedHelloWorld.SayMessage() End Sub </script> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <title>Show Shared Hello World</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <asp:Label id="lblMessage" Runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
Notice that the page in Listing 14.5 does not create an instance of the SharedHelloWorld
component. The SayMessage()
method is called directly from the SharedHelloWorld
class.
The advantage of using shared methods is that they save you typing. You don’t have to go through the pain of instantiating a component before calling the method. Many classes in the .NET Framework include shared methods. For example, the String.Format()
method, the Int32.Parse()
method, and the DateTime.DaysInMonth()
method are all shared methods.
There is nothing wrong with mixing both shared and instance methods in the same component. For example, you might want to create a Product
component that has a shared GetProducts()
method and an instance SaveProduct()
method.
The one significant limitation of using a shared method is that a shared method cannot refer to an instance field or property. In other words, shared methods should be stateless.
You can define a property for a component in two ways: the lazy way and the virtuous way.
The lazy way to create a property is to create a public field. If you declare any field with the Public access modifier, then the field can be accessed from outside the component.
For example, the component in Listing 14.6 contains a public field named Message
.
The Message
field is declared near the top of the FieldHelloWorld
class definition. Notice that the Message field is returned by the SayMessage()
method.
The page in Listing 14.7 uses the FieldHelloWorld
component to display a message.
Example 14.7. ShowFieldHelloWorld.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <script runat="server"> Sub Page_Load() Dim objFieldHelloWorld As New FieldHelloWorld() objFieldHelloWorld.Message = "Good Day!" lblMessage.Text = objFieldHelloWorld.SayMessage() End Sub </script> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <title>Show Field Hello World</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <asp:Label id="lblMessage" Runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
In the Page_Load()
event handler in Listing 14.7, an instance of the FieldHelloWorld
class is created, a value is assigned to the Message
field, and the SayMessage()
method is called.
There are a couple of serious disadvantages to creating properties by creating public fields. First, the .NET Framework recognizes properties as separate entities. Several methods in the .NET Framework recognize properties but not fields.
For example, you can refer to component properties and not fields when using the Eval()
method in a databinding expression. If you want to bind a collection of Product
objects to a GridView
control, then you should expose the properties of the Product component as true properties and not as fields.
The other disadvantage of fields is that they do not provide you with a chance to validate the value being assigned to the field. For example, imagine that a property represents a database column and the column accepts no more than five characters. In that case, you should check whether the value being assigned to the property is less than five characters.
The component in Listing 14.8 uses a property instead of a field. (It does things the virtuous way.)
Example 14.8. PropertyHelloWorld.vb
Imports System Public Class PropertyHelloWorld Private _message As String Public Property Message() As String Get Return _message End Get Set(ByVal Value As String) If Value.Length > 5 Then Throw New Exception("Message too long!") End If _message = Value End Set End Property Public Function SayMessage() As String Return _message End Function End Class
Notice that the component in Listing 14.8 contains a property named Message
and a private backing field named _message
. The Message
property contains both a Get()
and a Set()
function. The Get()
function is called when you read the value of the Message
property, and the Set()
function is called when you assign a value to the Message
property.
The Get()
function simply returns the value of the private _message
field. The Set()
function assigns a value to the private _message
field. The Set()
function throws an exception if the length of the value being assigned to the _message
field exceeds five characters.
In Listing 14.8, the private field is named _message
. The underscore character (_
) has no programmatic significance. By convention, private members of a class are named with a leading underscore, but there is nothing wrong with following some other convention.
The page in Listing 14.9 uses the PropertyHelloWorld
component.
Example 14.9. ShowPropertyHelloWorld.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <script runat="server"> Sub Page_Load() Dim objPropertyHelloWorld As New PropertyHelloWorld() objPropertyHelloWorld.Message = "Hello World!" lblMessage.Text = objPropertyHelloWorld.SayMessage() End Sub </script> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <title>Show Property Hello World</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <asp:Label id="lblMessage" Runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
If you open the page in Listing 14.9 in your web browser, you will get a big, fat error message (see Figure 14.2). Because a string longer than 5 characters is assigned to the Message property in the Page_Load() method, the Message property raises an exception.
You can also create read-only properties when the situation warrants it. For example, the component in Listing 14.10 returns the current server time. It would not make sense to assign a value to this property, so the property is declared as read-only.
You can create shared fields and properties in the same way as you create shared methods, by using the Shared
keyword. Any value you assign to a shared field or property is shared among all instances of a component.
I recommend that you avoid using shared fields and properties when building ASP.NET applications. Using shared fields and properties raises nasty concurrency issues in a multi-threaded environment such as ASP.NET. If you insist on creating a shared property, make the property read-only.
A constructor is a special class method that is called automatically when you create a new instance of a class. Typically, you use the constructor to initialize private fields contained in the class.
When creating a constructor in Visual Basic .NET, you create a public subroutine named New()
. For example, the class in Listing 14.11 displays a random quotation (see Figure 14.3). The collection of random quotations is created in the component’s constructor.
Example 14.11. Quote.vb
Imports System.Collections.Generic Public Class Quote Private _quotes As New List(Of String) Public Function GetQuote() As String Dim rnd As New Random() Return _quotes(rnd.Next(_quotes.Count)) End Function Public Sub New() _quotes.Add("All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind -- Aristotle") _quotes.Add("No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death -- Plato") _quotes.Add("The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance -- Plato") End Sub End Class
Notice that the collection named _quotes
is declared in the body of the class. That way, you can refer to the _quotes
field in both the constructor and the GetQuote()
method.
When a method is overloaded, a component contains two methods with exactly the same name. Many methods in the .NET Framework are overloaded, including the String.Replace()
method, the Random.Next()
method, and the Page.FindControl()
method.
For example, here is a list of the three overloaded versions of the Random.Next()
method:
Next()
—. Returns a random number between 0 and 2,147,483,647.
Next(upperbound)
—. Returns a number between 0 and the upper bound.
Next(lowerbound, upperbound)
—. Returns a number between the lower bound and the upper bound.
Because all three methods do the same thing—they all return a random number—it makes sense to overload the Next()
method. The methods differ only in their signatures. A method signature consists of the order and type of parameters that a method accepts. For example, you can’t overload two methods that have exactly the same set of parameters (even if the names of the parameters differ).
Overloading is useful when you want to associate related methods. Overloading is also useful when you want to provide default values for parameters. For example, the StoreProduct
component in Listing 14.12 contains three overloaded versions of its SaveProduct()
method.
Example 14.12. StoreProduct.vb
Public Class StoreProduct Public Sub SaveProduct(ByVal name As String) SaveProduct(name, 0, String.Empty) End Sub Public Sub SaveProduct(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal) SaveProduct(name, price, String.Empty) End Sub Public Sub SaveProduct(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) ' Save name, price, description to database End Sub End Class
You can call any of the three SaveProduct()
methods in Listing 14.12 to save a new product. You can supply the new product with a name, a name and a price, or a name and a price and a description.
When typing an overloaded method in Source view, the Intellisense pops up with all the different sets of parameters that you can use with the overloaded method. See Figure 14.4.
Because a constructor is just a special method, you also can use overloading when declaring constructors for a class. For example, the ProductConstructor
class in Listing 14.13 contains three overloaded constructors that can be used to initialize the Product
class.
Example 14.13. ProductConstructor.vb
Public Class ProductConstructor Public Sub New(ByVal name As String) Me.New(name, 0, String.Empty) End Sub Public Sub New(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal) Me.New(name, price, String.Empty) End Sub Public Sub New(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) ' Use name, price, and description End Sub End Class
When you instantiate the component in Listing 14.13, you can instantiate it in any of the following ways:
Dim objProduct As New ProductConstructor("Milk") Dim objProduct As New ProductConstructor("Milk", 2.99D) Dim objProduct As New ProductConstructor("Milk", 2.99D, "Whole Milk")
A namespace enables you to group logically related classes. You are not required to provide a class with a namespace. To this point, all the components that we have created have been members of the global namespace. However, several advantages result from grouping components into namespaces.
First, namespaces prevent naming collisions. If two companies produce a component with the same name, then namespaces provide you with a method of distinguishing the components.
Second, namespaces make it easier to understand the purpose of a class. If you group all your data access components into a DataAccess namespace and all your business logic components in a BusinessLogic namespace, then you can immediately understand the function of a particular class.
In an ASP.NET page, you import a namespace like this:
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Collections" %>
In a Visual Basic component, on the hand, you import a namespace like this:
Imports System.Collections
You can create your own custom namespaces and group your components into namespaces by using the Namespace statement. For example, the component in Listing 14.13 is contained in the AspUnleashed.SampleCode
namespace.
The file in Listing 14.14 uses the Namespace
statement to group the Namespaced
component into the AspUnleashed.SampleCode
namespace. Components in different files can share the same namespace, and different components in the same file can occupy different namespaces.
The periods in a namespace name have no special significance. The periods are used to break up the words in the namespace, but you could use another character, such as an underscore character, instead.
Microsoft recommends a certain naming convention when creating namespaces:
CompanyName.TechnologyName[.Feature][.Design]
So, if your company is named Acme Consulting and you are building a data access component, you might add your component to the following namespace:
AcmeConsulting.DataAccess
Of course this is simply a naming convention. No serious harm will come to you if you ignore it.
You can define a single component that spans multiple files by taking advantage of a new feature of the .NET 2.0 Framework called partial classes.
For example, the files in Listings 14.15 and 14.16 contain two halves of the same component.
Example 14.15. FirstHalf.vb
Partial Public Class Tweedle Private _message As String = "THEY were standing under a tree," _ & "each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew" _ & "which was which in a moment, because one of them had" _ & """DUM"" embroidered on his collar, and the other ""DEE""." End Class
Notice that the private _message
field is defined in the first file, but this private field is used in the GetMessage()
method in the second file. When the GetMessage()
method is called, it returns the value of the private field from the other class.
Both files define a class with the same name. The class declaration includes the keyword Partial
. The Partial
keyword marks the classes as partial classes.
When one class inherits from a second class, the inherited class automatically includes all the non-private methods and properties of its parent class. In other words, what’s true of the parent is true of the child, but not the other way around.
Inheritance is used throughout the .NET Framework. For example, every ASP.NET page inherits from the base System.Web.UI.Page
class. The only reason that you can use properties such as the IsPostback
property in an ASP.NET page is that the page derives from the base Page
class.
All classes in the .NET Framework derive from the base System.Object
class. The Object
class is the great-grandmother of every other class. This means that any methods or properties of the Object
class, such as the ToString()
method, are shared by all classes in the Framework.
You can take advantage of inheritance when building your own components. You indicate that one class inherits from a second class by using the Inherits
keyword.
For example, the file in Listing 14.17 includes three components: a BaseProduct
class, a ComputerProduct
class, and a TelevisionProduct
class.
Example 14.17. Inheritance.vb
Public Class BaseProduct Private _price As Decimal Public Property Price() As Decimal Get Return _price End Get Set(ByVal Value As Decimal) _price = Value End Set End Property End Class Public Class ComputerProduct Inherits BaseProduct Private _processor As String Public Property Processor() As String Get Return _processor End Get Set(ByVal Value As String) _processor = value End Set End Property End Class Public Class TelevisionProduct Inherits BaseProduct Private _isHDTV As Boolean Public Property IsHDTV() As Boolean Get Return _isHDTV End Get Set(ByVal Value As Boolean) _isHDTV = value End Set End Property End Class
Notice that both the ComputerProduct
and TelevisionProduct
components inherit from the BaseProduct
component. Because the BaseProduct
class includes a Price
property, both inherited components automatically inherit this property.
When inheriting one class from another, you also can override methods and properties of the base class. Overriding a method or property is useful when you want to modify the behavior of an existing class.
To override a property or method of a base class, the property or method must be marked with the Visual Basic .NET Overridable
or MustOverride
keyword. Only methods or properties marked with the Overridable
or MustOverride
keyword can be overridden.
For example, the file in Listing 14.18 contains two components: a ProductBase
class and a OnSaleProduct
class. The second class inherits from the first class and overrides its Price
property. The Price
property of the OnSaleProduct
component divides the price by half.
Example 14.18. OnSaleProduct.vb
Public Class ProductBase Private _price As Decimal Public Overridable Property Price() As Decimal Get Return _price End Get Set(ByVal Value As Decimal) _price = value End Set End Property End Class Public Class OnSaleProduct Inherits ProductBase Public Overrides Property Price() As Decimal Get Return MyBase.Price / 2 End Get Set(ByVal Value As Decimal) MyBase.Price = value End Set End Property End Class
Notice that the MyBase
keyword is used in Listing 14.18 to refer to the base class (the ProductBase
class).
Finally, you can use the MustInherit
keyword when declaring a class to mark the class as an abstract class. You cannot instantiate a MustInherit
class. To use a MustInherit
class, you must derive a new class from the MustInherit
class and instantiate the derived class.
MustInherit
classes are the foundation for the ASP.NET 2.0 Provider Model. Personalization, Membership, Roles, Session State, and Site Maps all use the Provider Model.
For example, the MembershipProvider
class is the base class for all Membership Providers. The SqlMembershipProvider
and ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider
classes both derive from the base MembershipProvider
class.
Chapter 21, “Using ASP.NET Membership,” discusses the MembershipProvider
classes in detail. The MembershipProvider
is responsible for saving and loading membership information such as application usernames and passwords.
The base MembershipProvider
class is a MustInherit
class. You cannot use this class directly in your code. Instead, you must use one of its derived classes. However, the base MembershipProvider
class provides a common set of methods and properties that all MembershipProvider
-derived classes inherit.
The base MembershipProvider
class includes a number of methods and properties marked as MustOverride
. A derived MembershipProvider
class is required to override these properties and methods.
The file in Listing 14.18 contains two components. The first component, the BaseEmployee
component, is a MustInherit
class that contains a MustOverride
property named Salary
. The second component, the SalesEmployee
, inherits the BaseEmployee
component and overrides the Salary
property.
Example 14.18. Employees.vb
Public MustInherit Class BaseEmployee Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property Salary() As Decimal Public ReadOnly Property Company() As String Get Return "Acme Software" End Get End Property End Class Public Class SalesEmployee Inherits BaseEmployee Public Overrides ReadOnly Property Salary() As Decimal Get Return 67000.23D End Get End Property End Class
An interface is a list of properties and methods that a class must implement. If a class implements an interface, then you know that the class includes all the properties and methods contained in the interface.
For example, the file in Listing 14.19 contains an interface named IProduct
and two components named MusicProduct
and BookProduct
.
Example 14.19. Products.vb
Public Interface IProduct ReadOnly Property Price() As Decimal Sub SaveProduct() End Interface Public Class MusicProduct Implements IProduct Public ReadOnly Property Price() As Decimal Implements IProduct.Price Get Return 12.99D End Get End Property Public Sub SaveProduct() Implements IProduct.SaveProduct ' Save Music Product End Sub End Class Public Class BookProduct Implements IProduct Public ReadOnly Property Price() As Decimal Implements IProduct.Price Get Return 23.99D End Get End Property Public Sub SaveProduct() Implements IProduct.SaveProduct ' Save Book Product End Sub End Class
The declaration of both components in Listing 14.17 includes the Implements
keyword. Both components implement the IProduct
interface. Notice, furthermore, that both the SaveProduct()
method and the Price
property include an Implements
clause. The Implements
clause associates a method or property in the derived class with a method or property contained in the interface.
Interfaces are similar to MustInherit
classes with two important differences. First, a component can inherit from only one class. On the other hand, a component can implement many different interfaces.
Second, a MustInherit
class can contain application logic. You can add methods to a MustInherit
class that all derived classes inherit and can use. An interface, on the other hand, cannot contain any logic. An interface is nothing more than a list of methods and properties.
Visual Basic .NET supports the following access modifiers (also called access levels), which you can use when declaring a class, method, or property:
Public—. A Public class, method, or property has no access restrictions.
Protected—. A Protected method or property can be accessed only within the class itself or a derived class.
Friend—. A Friend class, method, or property can be accessed only by a component within the same assembly (dll file). Because ASP.NET pages are compiled into different assemblies than the contents of the App_Code folder, you cannot access a Friend member of a class outside of the App_Code folder.
Protected Friend—. A Protected Friend method or property can be accessed within the class itself or a derived class, or any other class located in the same assembly.
Private—. A Private class, method, or property can be accessed only within the class itself.
Using access modifiers is useful when you are developing a component library that might be used by other members of your development team (or your future self). For example, you should mark all methods that you don’t want to expose from your component as private.
Visual Web Developer automatically pops up with Intellisense when you type the names of classes, properties, or methods in Source view. You can add Intellisense to your custom components to make it easier for other developers to use your components.
If you add XML comments to a component, then the contents of the XML comments appear automatically in Intellisense. For example, the component in Listing 14.20 includes XML comments for its class definition, property definitions, and method definition (see Figure 14.5).
Example 14.20. Employee.vb
''' <summary> ''' Represents an employee of Acme.com ''' </summary> Public Class Employee Private _firstName As String Private _lastName As String ''' <summary> ''' The employee first name ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property FirstName() As String Get Return _firstName End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' The employee last name ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property LastName() As String Get Return _lastName End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' Returns an employee from the database ''' </summary> ''' <param name="id">The unique employee identifier</param> ''' <returns>An instance of the Employee class</returns> Public Shared Function getEmployee(ByVal id As Integer) As Employee Return Nothing End Function ''' <summary> ''' Initializes an employee ''' </summary> ''' <param name="firstName">First Name</param> ''' <param name="lastName">Last Name</param> Public Sub New(ByVal firstName As String, ByVal lastName As String) _firstName = firstName _lastName = lastName End Sub End Class
You can generate an XML documentation file—a file that contains all the XML comments—for the components contained in a folder by using the /doc
switch with the Visual Basic command-line compiler. The Visual Basic command-line compiler is discussed in the second part of this chapter, “Building Component Libraries.”
When you add code to an ASP.NET page, you are adding code to an instance of the Page
class. The Page
class exposes several ASP.NET intrinsic objects such as the Request
, Response
, Cache
, Session
, and Trace
objects.
If you want to use these objects within a component, then you need to do a little more work. Realize that when you create a component, you are not creating an ASP.NET component. In this chapter, we are creating .NET components, and a .NET component can be used by any type of .NET application, including a Console application or Windows Forms application.
To use the ASP.NET instrinsics in a component, you need to get a reference to the current HtppContext
. The HttpContext
object is the one object that is available behind the scenes through the entire page processing lifecycle. You can access the HttpContext
object from any user control, custom control, or component contained in a page.
The HttpContext
object includes an Items collection. You can add anything to the Items collection and share the thing among all the elements contained in a page.
To get a reference to the current HttpContext
object, you can use the shared Current
property included in the HttpContext
class. For example, the component in Listing 14.21 uses the HttpContext
object to use both the Session
and Trace
objects.
Example 14.21. Preferences.vb
Imports System.Web Public Class Preferences Public Shared Property FavoriteColor() As String Get Dim context As HttpContext = HttpContext.Current context.Trace.Warn("Getting FavoriteColor") If context.Session("FavoriteColor") Is Nothing Then Return "Blue" Else Return CType(context.Session("FavoriteColor"), String) End If End Get Set(ByVal Value As String) Dim context As HttpContext = HttpContext.Current context.Trace.Warn("Setting FavoriteColor") context.Session("FavoriteColor") = value End Set End Property End Class
The Preferences
component contains a single property named FavoriteColor
. The value of this property is stored in Session
state. Anytime this property is modified, the Trace
object writes a warning.
You can use the Preferences
component in the page contained in Listing 14.22.
Example 14.22. ShowPreferences.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" trace="true" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <script runat="server"> Sub Page_PreRender() body1.Style("background-color") = Preferences.FavoriteColor End Sub Protected Sub btnSelect_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Preferences.FavoriteColor = ddlFavoriteColor.SelectedItem.Text End Sub </script> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <style type="text/css"> .content { width:80%; padding:20px; background-color:white; } </style> <title>Show Preferences</title> </head> <body id="body1" runat="server"> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div class="content"> <h1>Show Preferences</h1> <asp:DropDownList id="ddlFavoriteColor" Runat="server"> <asp:ListItem Text="Blue" /> <asp:ListItem Text="Red" /> <asp:ListItem Text="Green" /> </asp:DropDownList> <asp:Button id="btnSelect" Text="Select" Runat="server" OnClick="btnSelect_Click" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
After you open the page in Listing 14.22, you can select your favorite color from the DropDownList
control. Your favorite color is stored in the Preferences
object (see Figure 14.6).
One of the advertised benefits of using components is code reuse. You write a method once, and then you never need to write the same method ever again.
One problem with the components that have been created to this point is that they have all been application specific. In other words, you cannot reuse the components across multiple websites without copying all the source code from one App_Code folder to another.
If you want to share components among multiple websites, then you can no longer take advantage of dynamic compilation. To share components, you need to compile the components explicitly in a separate assembly.
You can use a number of methods to compile a set of components into an assembly:
Use the command-line compiler
Use Visual Basic Express
Use Visual Studio .NET 2005
These options are explored in turn.
You can use the Visual Basic command-line compiler to compile a source code file, or set of source code files, into an assembly. The Visual Basic command-line compiler is located at the following path:
C:WINDOWSMicrosoft.NETFramework[version]vbc.exe
If you have installed the .NET Framework 2.0 SDK, then you can open the SDK Command Prompt from the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK v2.0 program group. When the command prompt opens, the path to the Visual Basic .NET compiler is added to the environment automatically.
You can use the vbc.exe
tool to compile any Visual Basic source file like this:
vbc /t:library SomeFile.vb
The /t
(target) option causes the compiler to create a component library and not a Console or Windows application. When you execute this command, a new file named SomeFile.dll
is created, which is the compiled assembly.
As an alternative to compiling a single file, you can compile all the source code files in a folder (and every subfolder) like this:
vbc /t:library /recurse:*.vb /out:MyLibrary.dll
The /recurse
option causes the compiler to compile the contents of all the subfolders. The /out
option provides a name for the resulting assembly.
You need to know about two other compiler options:
/imports
—. Enables you to provide a comma-delimited list of namespaces to import.
/reference
—. Enables you to provide a comma-delimited list of assemblies to reference.
When the source code files are compiled dynamically in the App_Code folder, several imports and references are used by default. For example, the System.Collections
, System.Web
, and System.Web.UI.WebControls
namespaces are imported automatically. When compiling from the command line, you need to either add Imports
statements to your source code files or list these namespaces, using the /imports
compiler option.
Furthermore, several assembly references are added automatically during dynamic compilation, including System.Web.dll
and System.Data.dll
. When compiling from the command line, you need to add these references explicitly if you are using a class from one of these assemblies.
You can determine the assembly and namespace associated with any class in the .NET Framework by looking up the main entry for the class in the .NET Framework SDK Documentation.
You can add the vbc
command-line compiler as an external tool to Visual Web Developer. That way, you can simply select a menu option to compile the contents of the App_Code folder automatically into an assembly. To add a new external tool, select the menu option Tools, External Tools (see Figure 14.7).
You can download a trial edition of Visual Basic .NET Express from the MSDN website (http://msdn.microsoft.com). Visual Basic .NET Express enables you to build Windows applications, Console applications, and class libraries.
To create a class library that you can use with an ASP.NET application, you create a Class Library project in Visual Basic .NET Express (see Figure 14.8). When you build the project, a new assembly is created.
If you need to use ASP.NET classes in your class library, such as the HttpContext
class, then you need to add a reference to the System.Web.dll
assembly to your Class Library project. Select the menu option Project, Add Reference and add the System.Web.dll
from beneath the .NET tab (see Figure 14.9).
If you are a C# developer, then you can download Visual C# Express from the MSDN Website (http://msdn.microsoft.com).
The easiest way to create a class library that you can share among multiple ASP.NET applications is to use Visual Studio .NET 2005 instead of Visual Web Developer. Visual Studio .NET 2005 was designed to enable you to easily build enterprise applications. Building class libraries is one of the features you get in Visual Studio .NET 2005 that you don’t get in Visual Web Developer Express.
Visual Studio .NET 2005 enables you to add multiple projects to a single solution. For example, you can add both an ASP.NET project and a Class Library project to the same solution. When you update the Class Library project, the ASP.NET project is updated automatically (see Figure 14.10).
Now that you understand how you can create a class library in a separate assembly, you need to know how you can use this class library in another project. In other words, how do you use the components contained in an assembly within an ASP.NET page?
There are two ways to make an assembly available to an ASP.NET application. You can add the assembly to the application’s /Bin folder or you can add the assembly to the Global Assembly Cache.
In general, the best way to use an assembly in an ASP.NET application is to add the assembly to the application’s root Bin folder. There is nothing magical about this folder. The ASP.NET Framework automatically checks this folder for any assemblies. If the folder contains an assembly, the assembly is referenced automatically by the ASP.NET application when it is compiled dynamically.
If you are using Visual Web Developer, then you can select the menu option Website, Add Reference to add a new assembly to your application’s Bin folder (see Figure 14.11). Alternatively, you can simply copy an assembly into this folder. (If the folder doesn’t exist, just create it.)
When you add an assembly to an ASP.NET application’s Bin folder, the assembly is scoped to the application. This means that you can add different versions of the same assembly to different applications without worrying about any conflicts.
Furthermore, if you add an assembly to the Bin folder, then you can take advantage of XCopy deployment. In other words, if you need to move your website to a new server, then you can simply copy all the files in your website from one server to another. As long as you copy your Bin folder, the assembly is available at the new location.
All the assemblies that make up the .NET Framework class library are contained in the Global Assembly Cache. For example, the Random
class is located in the System.dll
assembly, and the System.dll
assembly is contained in the Global Assembly Cache. Any assembly located in the Global Assembly Cache can be referenced by any application running on a server.
The Global Assembly Cache’s physical location is at the following path:
C:WINDOWSassembly
Before you can add an assembly to the Global Assembly Cache, you must add a strong name to the assembly. A strong name is similar to a GUID. You use a strong name to provide your assembly with a universally unique identifier.
Technically, a strong name consists of the name, version number, and culture of the assembly. The strong name also includes the public key from a public/private key pair. Finally, the strong name includes a hash of the assembly’s contents so that you know whether the assembly has been modified.
You can generate a strong name by using the sn.exe
command-line tool like this:
sn.exe -k KeyPair.snk
Executing this command creates a new file named KeyPair.snk
, which includes a new random public/private key pair.
You can compile an assembly that includes a strong name by executing the Visual Basic .NET command-line compiler like this:
vbc /t:library /keyfile:KeyPair.snk /recurse:*.vb /out:MyLibrary.dll
The resulting assembly is strongly named with the public key from the KeyPair.snk
file. The /keyfile
option associates the key file with the assembly. In this case, the name of the resulting assembly is MyLibrary.dll
.
An alternative method of associating a strong name with an assembly is to use the <Assembly: AssemblyKeyFile>
attribute. You can add this attribute to any of the source files that get compiled into the assembly. For example, you can drop the file in Listing 14.23 into the folder that you are compiling and it associates the public key from the KeyPair.snk
file with the compiled assembly.
The file in Listing 14.23 actually includes two attributes. The first attribute associates the KeyPair.snk
public key with the assembly. The second attribute associates a version number with the assembly. The version number consists of four sets of numbers: the major version, minor version, build number, and the revision number.
After you add the file in Listing 14.23 to a folder that contains the source code for your components, use the following command to compile the folder:
vbc /t:library /recurse:*.vb /out:MyLibrary.dll
After you associate a strong name with an assembly, you can use the GacUtil.exe
command-line tool to add the assembly to the Global Assembly Cache. Executing the following statement from a command prompt adds the MyLibrary.dll
assembly to the Global Assembly Cache:
GacUtil.exe /i MyLibrary.dll
You can verify that the MyLibrary.dll
assembly has been added successfully to the Global Assembly Cache by opening your Global Assembly Cache folder located at the following path:
C:WINDOWSassembly
You should see the MyLibrary.dll
assembly listed in the Assembly Name column (see Figure 14.12). Note the Version and the PublicKeyToken columns. You need to know the values of these columns to use the assembly in an application.
After you install an assembly in the Global Assembly Cache, you can use the assembly in your ASP.NET Pages and App_Code
components by adding a reference to the assembly in your web configuration file. The web configuration file in Listing 14.24 adds the MyLibrary.dll
assembly to your application.
The web configuration file in Listing 14.24 adds the MyLibrary
assembly. Notice that you must supply the Version, Culture, and PublicKeyToken associated with the assembly. You need to substitute the correct values for these properties in Listing 14.24 before you use the file with an assembly that you have compiled. (Remember that you can get these values by opening the c:WINDOWSassembly folder.)
When using Visual Basic Express or Visual Studio .NET 2005, you can create a strong name automatically and associate the strong name with an assembly. Right-click the name of your project in the Solution Explorer window and select Properties. Next, select the tab labeled Signing.
In general, you should avoid adding your assemblies to the Global Assembly Cache because using the Global Assembly Cache defeats XCopy deployment. Using the Global Assembly Cache makes it more difficult to back up an application. It also makes it more difficult to move an application from one server to another.
If you embark on a large ASP.NET project, you’ll quickly discover that you spend more time writing code for components than writing code for your pages. This is not a bad thing. Placing as much of your application logic as possible in components makes it easier to maintain and extend your application.
However, the process of organizing the components itself can become time consuming. In other words, you start to run into architectural issues concerning the best way to design your web application.
The topic of architecture, like the topics of politics and religion, should not be discussed in polite company. People have passionate opinions about architecture and discussions on this topic quickly devolve into people throwing things. Be aware that any and all statements about proper architecture are controversial.
With these disclaimers out of the way, in this section I provide you with an overview of one of the most common architectures for ASP.NET applications. In this section, you learn how to build a three-tiered ASP.NET application.
One very common architecture for an application follows an n-tier design model. When using an n-tier architecture, you encapsulate your application logic into separate layers.
In particular, it is recommended that an application should be divided into the following three application layers:
User Interface Layer
Business Logic Layer
Data Access Layer
The idea is that the User Interface layer should contain nothing but user interface elements such as HTML and ASP.NET controls. The User Interface layer should not contain any business logic or data access code.
The Business Logic layer contains all your business rules and validation code. It manages all data access for the User Interface Layer.
Finally, the Data Access Layer contains all the code for interacting with a database. For example, all the code for interacting with Microsoft SQL Server should be encapsulated in this layer.
The advantage of encapsulating your application logic into different layers is that it makes it easier to modify your application without requiring you to rewrite your entire application. Changes in one layer can be completely isolated from the other layers.
For example, imagine that (one fine day) your company decides to switch from using Microsoft SQL Server to using Oracle as their database server. If you have been careful to create an isolated Data Access Layer, then you would need to rewrite only your Data Access Layer. It might be a major project, but you would not need to start from scratch.
Or, imagine that your company decides to create a Windows Forms version of an existing ASP.NET application. Again, if you have been careful to isolate your User Interface Layer from your Business Logic Layer, then you can extend your application to support a Windows Forms Interface without rewriting your entire application. The Windows Forms application can use your existing Business Logic and Data Access layers.
I spend my working life training companies on implementing ASP.NET applications. Typically, a company is migrating a web application written in some other language such as Java or ASP Classic to the ASP.NET Framework. It always breaks my heart to see how much code is wasted in these transitions (thousands of man hours of work lost). If you are careful in the way that you design your ASP.NET application now, you can avoid this sorry fate in the future.
I realize that this is all very abstract, so let’s examine a particular sample. We’ll create a simple product management system that enables you to select, insert, update, and delete products. However, we’ll do it the right way by dividing the application into distinct User Interface, Business Logic, and Data Access layers.
The User Interface layer is contained in Listing 14.25. Notice that the User Interface layer consists of a single ASP.NET page. This page contains no code whatsoever.
Example 14.25. Products.aspx
<%@ Page Language="VB" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" > <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <style type="text/css"> html { background-color:silver; } .content { padding:10px; background-color:white; } .products { margin-bottom:20px; } .products td,.products th { padding:5px; border-bottom:solid 1px blue; } a { color:blue; } </style> <title>Products</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div class="content"> <asp:GridView id="grdProducts" DataSourceID="srcProducts" DataKeyNames="Id" AutoGenerateEditButton="true" AutoGenerateDeleteButton="true" AutoGenerateColumns="false" CssClass="products" GridLines="none" Runat="server"> <Columns> <asp:BoundField DataField="Id" ReadOnly="true" HeaderText="Id" /> <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" /> <asp:BoundField DataField="Price" DataFormatString="{0:c}" HeaderText="Price" /> <asp:BoundField DataField="Description" HeaderText="Description" /> </Columns> </asp:GridView> <fieldset> <legend>Add Product</legend> <asp:DetailsView id="dtlProduct" DataSourceID="srcProducts" DefaultMode="Insert" AutoGenerateInsertButton="true" AutoGenerateRows="false" Runat="server"> <Fields> <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name:" /> <asp:BoundField DataField="Price" HeaderText="Price:"/> <asp:BoundField DataField="Description" HeaderText="Description:" /> </Fields> </asp:DetailsView> </fieldset> <asp:ObjectDataSource id="srcProducts" TypeName="AcmeStore.BusinessLogicLayer.Product" SelectMethod="SelectAll" UpdateMethod="Update" InsertMethod="Insert" DeleteMethod="Delete" Runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>
The page in Listing 14.25 contains a GridView
, DetailsView
, and ObjectDataSource
control. The GridView
control enables you to view, update, and delete the products contained in the Products database table (see Figure 14.13). The DetailsView
enables you to add new products to the database. Both controls use the ObjectDataSource
as their data source.
The page in Listing 14.25 does not interact with a database directly. Instead, the ObjectDataSource
control is used to bind the GridView
and DetailsView
controls to a component named AcmeStore.BusinessLogicLayer.Product
. The Product
component is contained in the Business Logic layer.
The page in Listing 14.25 does not contain any validation controls. I omitted adding validation controls for reasons of space. In a real application, you would want to toss some RequiredFieldValidator
and CompareValidator
controls into the page.
The ASP.NET pages in your application should contain a minimum amount of code. All your application logic should be pushed into separate components contained in either the Business Logic or Data Access layers.
Your ASP.NET pages should not communicate directly with the Data Access layer. Instead, the pages should call the methods contained in the Business Logic layer.
The Business Logic layer consists of a single component named Product, which is contained in Listing 14.26. (A real-world application might contain dozens or even hundreds of components in its Business Logic layer.)
Example 14.26. BLL/Product.vb
Imports System Imports System.Collections.Generic Imports AcmeStore.DataAccessLayer Namespace AcmeStore.BusinessLogicLayer ''' <summary> ''' Represents a store product and all the methods ''' for selecting, inserting, and updating a product ''' </summary> Public Class Product Private _id As Integer = 0 Private _name As String = String.Empty Private _price As Decimal = 0 Private _description As String = String.Empty ''' <summary> ''' Product Unique Identifier ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property Id() As Integer Get Return _id End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' Product Name ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property Name() As String Get Return _name End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' Product Price ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property Price() As Decimal Get Return _price End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' Product Description ''' </summary> Public ReadOnly Property Description() As String Get Return _description End Get End Property ''' <summary> ''' Retrieves all products ''' </summary> Public Shared Function SelectAll() As List(Of Product) Dim dataAccessLayer As SqlDataAccessLayer = New SqlDataAccessLayer() Return dataAccessLayer.ProductSelectAll() End Function ''' <summary> ''' Updates a particular product ''' </summary> ''' <param name="id">Product Id</param> ''' <param name="name">Product Name</param> ''' <param name="price">Product Price</param> ''' <param name="description">Product Description</param> Public Shared Sub Update(ByVal id As Integer, ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) If id < 1 Then Throw New ArgumentException("Product Id must be greater than 0", "id") End If Dim productToUpdate As Product = New Product(id, name, price, description) productToUpdate.Save() End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Inserts a new product ''' </summary> ''' <param name="name">Product Name</param> ''' <param name="price">Product Price</param> ''' <param name="description">Product Description</param> Public Shared Sub Insert(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) Dim NewProduct As Product = New Product(name, price, description) NewProduct.Save() End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Deletes an existing product ''' </summary> ''' <param name="id">Product Id</param> Public Shared Sub Delete(ByVal id As Integer) If id < 1 Then Throw New ArgumentException("Product Id must be greater than 0", "id") End If Dim dataAccessLayer As SqlDataAccessLayer = New SqlDataAccessLayer() dataAccessLayer.ProductDelete(id) End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Validates product information before saving product ''' properties to the database ''' </summary> Private Sub Save() If String.IsNullOrEmpty(_name) Then Throw New ArgumentException("Product Name not supplied", "name") End If If _name.Length > 50 Then Throw New ArgumentException("Product Name must be less than 50 characters", "name") End If If String.IsNullOrEmpty(_description) Then Throw New ArgumentException("Product Description not supplied", "description") End If Dim dataAccessLayer As SqlDataAccessLayer = New SqlDataAccessLayer() If _id > 0 Then dataAccessLayer.ProductUpdate(Me) Else dataAccessLayer.ProductInsert(Me) End If End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Initializes Product ''' </summary> ''' <param name="name">Product Name</param> ''' <param name="price">Product Price</param> ''' <param name="description">Product Description</param> Public Sub New(ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) Me.New(0, name, price, description) End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Initializes Product ''' </summary> ''' <param name="id">Product Id</param> ''' <param name="name">Product Name</param> ''' <param name="price">Product Price</param> ''' <param name="description">Product Description</param> Public Sub New(ByVal id As Integer, ByVal name As String, ByVal price As Decimal, ByVal description As String) _id = id _name = name _price = price _description = description End Sub End Class End namespace
The Product component contains four public methods named SelectAll()
, Update()
, Insert()
, and Delete()
. All four of these methods use the SqlDataAccessLayer
component to interact with the Products database table. The SqlDataAccessLayer
is contained in the Data Access Layer.
For example, the SelectAll()
method returns a collection of Product
objects. This collection is retrieved from the SqlDataAccessLayer
component.
The Insert()
, Update()
, and Delete()
methods validate their parameters before passing the parameters to the Data Access layer. For example, when you call the Insert()
method, the length of the Name
parameter is checked to verify that it is less than 50 characters.
Notice that the Business Logic layer does not contain any data access logic. All this logic is contained in the Data Access layer.
The Data Access layer contains all the specialized code for interacting with a database. The Data Access layer consists of the single component in Listing 14.27. (A real-world application might contain dozens or even hundreds of components in its Data Access Layer.)
Example 14.27. SqlDataAccessLayer.vb
Imports System Imports System.Data Imports System.Data.SqlClient Imports System.Web.Configuration Imports System.Collections.Generic Imports AcmeStore.BusinessLogicLayer Namespace AcmeStore.DataAccessLayer ''' <summary> ''' Data Access Layer for interacting with Microsoft ''' SQL Server 2005 ''' </summary> Public Class SqlDataAccessLayer Private Shared ReadOnly _connectionString As String = String.Empty ''' <summary> ''' Selects all products from the database ''' </summary> Public Function ProductSelectAll() As List(Of Product) ' Create Product collection Dim colProducts As New List(Of Product)() ' Create connection Dim con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(_connectionString) ' Create command Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand() cmd.Connection = con cmd.CommandText = "SELECT Id,Name,Price,Description FROM Products" ' Execute command Using con con.Open() Dim reader As SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader() While reader.Read() colProducts.Add(New Product( _ CType(reader("Id"), Integer), _ CType(reader("Name"), String), _ CType(reader("Price"), Decimal),_ CType(reader("Description"), String))) End While End Using Return colProducts End Function ''' <summary> ''' Inserts a new product into the database ''' </summary> ''' <param name="newProduct">Product</param> Public Sub ProductInsert(ByVal NewProduct As Product) ' Create connection Dim con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(_connectionString) ' Create command Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand() cmd.Connection = con cmd.CommandText = "INSERT Products (Name,Price,Description) VALUES (@Name,@Price,@Description)" ' Add parameters cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", NewProduct.Name) cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Price", NewProduct.Price) cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Description", NewProduct.Description) ' Execute command Using con con.Open() cmd.ExecuteNonQuery() End Using End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Updates an existing product into the database ''' </summary> ''' <param name="productToUpdate">Product</param> Public Sub ProductUpdate(ByVal productToUpdate As Product) ' Create connection Dim con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(_connectionString) ' Create command Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand() cmd.Connection = con cmd.CommandText = "UPDATE Products SET Name=@Name,Price=@Price,Description=@Description WHERE Id=@Id" ' Add parameters cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", productToUpdate.Name) cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Price", productToUpdate.Price) cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Description", productToUpdate.Description) cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Id", productToUpdate.Id) ' Execute command Using con con.Open() cmd.ExecuteNonQuery() End Using End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Deletes an existing product in the database ''' </summary> ''' <param name="id">Product Id</param> Public Sub ProductDelete(ByVal Id As Integer) ' Create connection Dim con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(_connectionString) ' Create command Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand() cmd.Connection = con cmd.CommandText = "DELETE Products WHERE Id=@Id" ' Add parameters cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Id", Id) ' Execute command Using con con.Open() cmd.ExecuteNonQuery() End Using End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Initialize the data access layer by ''' loading the database connection string from ''' the Web.Config file ''' </summary> Shared Sub New() _connectionString = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("Store").ConnectionString If String.IsNullOrEmpty(_connectionString) Then Throw New Exception("No connection String configured in Web.Config file") End If End Sub End Class End Namespace
The SqlDataAccessLayer
component in Listing 14.27 grabs the database connection string that it uses when communicating with Microsoft SQL Server in its constructor. The connection string is assigned to a private field so that it can be used by all the component’s methods.
The SqlDataAccessLayer
component has four public methods: ProductSelectAll()
, ProductInsert()
, ProductUpdate()
, and ProductDelete()
. These methods use the ADO.NET classes from the System.Data.SqlClient
namespace to communicate with Microsoft SQL Server.
We discuss ADO.NET in Chapter 16, “Building Data Access Components.”
Notice that the SqlDataAccessLayer
component is not completely isolated from the components in the Business Logic Layer. The ProductSelectAll()
method builds a collection of Product
objects, which the method returns to the Business Logic layer. You should strive to isolate each layer as much as possible. However, in some cases, you cannot completely avoid mixing objects from different layers.
In this chapter, you learned how to build components in the .NET Framework. In the first part, you were given an overview of component building. You learned how to take advantage of dynamic compilation by using the App_Code folder. You also learned how to create component properties, methods, and constructors. You also examined several advanced topics related to components such as overloading, inheritance, MustInherit
classes, and interfaces.
In the second half of this chapter, you learned how to build component libraries. You saw different methods for compiling a set of components into an assembly. You also examined how you can add components to both an application’s Bin folder and the Global Assembly Cache.
Finally, you had a chance to consider architectural issues related to building applications with components. You learned how to build a three-tiered application, divided into isolated User Interface, Business Logic, and Data Access layers.