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Web Application Generator
Monday, June 25, 2012PrintSubscribe
Format On Server

Format strings are used to format data before presentation to the end user. There are standard numeric and date/time format strings. In addition, custom date/time format strings can be created. The formatting is performed in the client web browser by default.

Microsoft.NET offers rich data formatting capabilities. Developers may request formatting of field values on the server to take advantage of everything it has to offer.

For example, the Unit Price field in the Order Details controller uses the standard currency format string of “c”. An application with en-US culture will format the number as a currency with a dollar sign on the left, period as a decimal separator, and parenthesis's to indicate negative values. The $0.00 indicates a zero value.

Unit Price field with default format string of 'c'.

Server-side formatting offers additional field value formatting options.

Start the Project Designer. In the Project Explorer, switch to the Controllers tab and double-click on Order Details / Fields / UnitPrice field node.

UnitPrice field of OrderDetails controller.

Change the following properties:

Property New Value
Data Format String 000,000.00;(000.00);Zero Value
Format On Client False

The data format string is a custom numeric format string. Positive, negative, and zero value strings are separated by a semicolon.

Press OK to save the field. On the toolbar, click on the Browse button to generate the web application.

Navigate to the Order Details page. The values in Unit Price field will be formatted according to the custom numerical format string. All eight digits will be displayed. Zero values will be represented with the text “Zero Value”.

Unit Price field using server-formatted custom numeric format string.

Notice that when the row is in edit mode, the values of fields formatted on the server will be displayed in raw form.

When the row is in edit mode, the values of fields formatted on the server will be displayed in raw form.

Monday, June 25, 2012PrintSubscribe
Where is my Stuff?

The “Navigate To” feature allows direct navigation to an item in the Project Designer.

It can be activated by clicking on the Navigate To icon in the Project Explorer toolbar, or by pressing the “Ctrl+,” keyboard shortcut (press “Control” key simultaneously with “Comma” key).

Navigate To icon on the Project Explorer toolbar.

This action will open the Navigate To window. In the Search terms field, enter text describing the project configuration element that you are trying to locate. The list of possible results will appear underneath as soon as you finish typing. The yellow box will show details of the selected item, with the search term highlighted.

Let’s try this feature with the Northwind sample.

When the word “Products” is typed in the Search terms field, the first matched result will be the Name property of the Products page.

Navigate To with 'Products' as the search term.

Press OK button or the Enter key to navigate to the selected result. The node containing the result will be highlighted in the Project Explorer. The node will also open in the Project Designer.

Products page selected in the Project Explorer.

Activate Navigate To, and search for “reportsto”. Results matching the exact phrase will be displayed in the Result box.

Navigate To with 'reportsto' as the search term.

Search for “reports to”. Exact matches will be listed first, followed by partial matches. Select the command from the result list. The yellow box will display all instances of each individual word.

Navigate To with 'reports to' as the search term.

Search for “order details”. Matches of identifying attributes of project configuration elements will have the highest priority in the results. Combinations of the words in the search parameter come next.

Navigate To with 'order details' as the search term.

Search for “order details”, wrapped in quotation marks. This will only find exact matches of the search term.

Navigate To with 'order details' including quotation marks as the search term.

You can mix quoted phrases and unquoted words, such as in the example below.

Navigate To allows search of combinations of quoted phrases and unquoted words.

Monday, June 25, 2012PrintSubscribe
Working with User Controls

User controls are the primary mechanism for extending the user interface of generated application pages. Instances of user controls (called controls) are placed in page containers alongside data views or other controls.

User controls have their own tab in the Project Explorer.

User Controls tab in the Project Explorer.

Creating a User Control

A user control is created by clicking on New User Control icon on the toolbar.

New User Control icon on the Project Explorer toolbar.

The Project Designer window will open the New User Control form. Enter a Name for the user control, and press OK to save. It will be added to the list of user controls.

UserControl1 added to the list of user controls.

Adding User Controls to a Page

User controls can be copied onto pages or containers to add an instance of that control to the page.

Select a user control, right-click or press Shift+F10, and choose Copy option in the context menu. This will copy the user control reference to the clipboard.

Copy context menu option for UserControl1.

Use the context menu to Paste the user control onto a page.

Paste context menu option on the Home page.

The control will be added in a new container at the bottom of the page.

UserControl1 control added to a new container on the Home page.

When a user control is pasted on a container, the control will be added to the bottom of the target container.

UserControl1 control added to the bottom of container1.

Renaming a User Control

The context menu option “Rename” or keyboard shortcut F2 can be used to change the name when applied to a user control node.

Rename context menu option on UserControl1.     UserControl1 in Rename mode.

Editing User Controls

User controls can be edited using the context menu option Edit in Visual Studio. This option is only available if the Generate property is set to “First Time Only”.

Edit in Visual Studio context menu option for user controls in the Project Explorer.

Deleting User Controls

User controls can be deleted using the context menu “Delete” option or the Delete keyboard shortcut. Corresponding controls (instances of this user control) will be deleted from the page containers.

Delete context menu option on UserControl1.

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