ASP.NET 2.0 Web Controls, Themes, and Master Pages

Summary

This chapter examined how to make use of various ASP.NET web controls. We began by examining the role of the Control and WebControl base classes, and you came to learn how to dynamically interact with a panel’s internal controls collection. Along the way, you were exposed to the new site navigation model (*.sitemap files and the SiteMapDataSource component), the new data binding engine (via the SqlDataSource component and the new GridView type), and various validation controls.

The latter half of this chapter examined the role of master pages and themes. Recall that master pages can be used to define a common frame for a set of pages on your site. Also recall that the *.master file defines any number of “content placeholders” to which content pages plug in their custom UI content. Finally, as you were shown, the ASP.NET theme engine allows you to declaratively or programmatically apply a common UI look and feel to your widgets on the web server.