ASP.NET 3.5

Q. I have another question. I just implemented ELMAH into my solution and
am having some difficulty because every time I use the designer and
regenerate the solution the Elmah configuration entries get
overwritten in Web.Config. I'm sure others have run into this before.
How would you suggest I remediate this issue?

Arthur Djavairian

A. You can configure the project to execute custom Web.Config modification instructions as described at /blog/2010/03/customizing-webconfig.html.

ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and Handlers) is an application-wide error logging facility that is completely pluggable. It can be dynamically added to a running ASP.NET web application, or even all ASP.NET web applications on a machine, without any need for re-compilation or re-deployment.

Arthur has shared with us his configuration settings.

The following is the markup to add ELMAH error logging to a Code OnTime project.  Make sure to copy the instructions including the text in bold.

AppendChild: /configuration/configSections

              <sectionGroup name="elmah">
                       <!-- NOTE! If you are using ASP.NET 1.x then remove the
                requirePermission="false" attribute from the section
                elements below as those are only needed for
                partially trusted applications in ASP.NET 2.0 -->
                       <section name="security" requirePermission="false" type="Elmah.SecuritySectionHandler, Elmah"/>
                       <section name="errorLog" requirePermission="false" type="Elmah.ErrorLogSectionHandler, Elmah"/>
                       <section name="errorMail" requirePermission="false" type="Elmah.ErrorMailSectionHandler, Elmah"/>
                       <section name="errorFilter" requirePermission="false" type="Elmah.ErrorFilterSectionHandler, Elmah"/>
                       <section name="errorTweet" requirePermission="false" type="Elmah.ErrorTweetSectionHandler, Elmah"/>
               </sectionGroup>

InsertAfter: /configuration/connectionStrings

       <elmah>
               <security allowRemoteAccess="1"/>
               <!--
           Use to log errors to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or 2005
           using ASP.NET 2.0. Set value of connectionStringName attribute
           to the name of the connection string settings to use from
           the <connectionStrings> section.
       -->
               <errorLog type="Elmah.SqlErrorLog, Elmah" connectionStringName="SimplePaymentPlans"/>
       </elmah>

AppendChild: /configuration/system.web/httpHandlers

<add verb="POST,GET,HEAD" path="elmah.axd" type="Elmah.ErrorLogPageFactory, Elmah"/>

AppendChild: /configuration/system.web/httpModules

<add name="ErrorLog" type="Elmah.ErrorLogModule, Elmah"/>

AppendChild: /configuration

   <location path="elmah.axd">
       <system.web>
           <authorization>
               <allow roles="Administrators"/>
               <deny users="*" />
           </authorization>
       </system.web>
   </location>

Learn to create custom search bars in Web Site Factory and Web Site Builder projects. The search bars are typically displayed above the grid views. Use any standard and commercial ASP.NET controls to capture the search parameters. We will show you how to implement a predictive input in your search fields without writing any code.

Custom Search Bar With Auto-Complete in ASP.NET/AJAX Web Apps

Watch this tutorial on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91JgqSfKsM.

Here is the custom search bar of the sample application discussed in the tutorial when displayed in Google Chrome.

The markup of the ASP.NET user control from the example is presented below.

<%@ Control Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="SearchControl.ascx.vb"
    Inherits="Controls_SearchControl" %>
<asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server">
    <ContentTemplate>
        <div class="SettingsPanel">
            <table>
                <tr>
                    <td>
                        Product:<br />
                        <aquarium:DataViewTextBox ID="ProductNameText" runat="server" 
                            DataController="Products" DistinctValueFieldName="ProductName" />
                    </td>
                    <td>
                        Supplier:<br />
                        <aquarium:DataViewTextBox ID="SupplierCompanyNameText" runat="server" 
                            DataController="Products" DistinctValueFieldName="SupplierCompanyName" />
                    </td>
                    <td>
                        Category:<br />
                        <aquarium:DataViewTextBox ID="CategoryCategoryNameText" runat="server" 
                            DataController="Products" DistinctValueFieldName="CategoryCategoryName" />
                    </td>
                    <td>
                        <br />
                        <asp:Button ID="SearchButton" runat="server" Text="Search" />
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </table>
        </div>
    </ContentTemplate>
</asp:UpdatePanel>
<div id="ProductList" runat="server">
</div>
<aquarium:DataViewExtender ID="ProductListExtender" runat="server" TargetControlID="ProductList"
    Controller="Products" ShowDescription="false" ShowQuickFind="false" />

Here is the code-behind class written in Visual Basic that uses DataViewExtender.AssignFilter method to execute the search operation in the client browser in response to the button pressed on the custom search bar.

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
Imports MyCompany.Data
Imports MyCompany.Web

Partial Public Class Controls_SearchControl
    Inherits System.Web.UI.UserControl
    
    Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        If Not IsPostBack Then
            ProductNameText.Text = Session("ProductName")
            SupplierCompanyNameText.Text = Session("SupplierCompanyName")
            CategoryCategoryNameText.Text = Session("CategoryCategoryName")
        End If
    End Sub

    Protected Sub SearchButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SearchButton.Click
        Dim filter As List(Of FieldFilter) = New List(Of FieldFilter)
        If String.IsNullOrEmpty(ProductNameText.Text) Then
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("ProductName", RowFilterOperation.None))
        Else
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("ProductName", RowFilterOperation.Like, ProductNameText.Text))
        End If
        If String.IsNullOrEmpty(SupplierCompanyNameText.Text) Then
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("SupplierCompanyName", RowFilterOperation.None))
        Else
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("SupplierCompanyName", RowFilterOperation.Like, SupplierCompanyNameText.Text))
        End If
        If String.IsNullOrEmpty(CategoryCategoryNameText.Text) Then
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("CategoryCategoryName", RowFilterOperation.None))
        Else
            filter.Add(New FieldFilter("CategoryCategoryName", RowFilterOperation.Like, CategoryCategoryNameText.Text))
        End If
        ProductListExtender.AssignFilter(filter)
        ProductNameText.Focus()
        Session("ProductName") = ProductNameText.Text
        Session("SupplierCompanyName") = SupplierCompanyNameText.Text
        Session("CategoryCategoryName") = CategoryCategoryNameText.Text
    End Sub
End Class