Installing .NET


Installation is extremely simple, consisting of one or two executables, depending on your installation requirements. The first program installs the framework, including ASP.NET “ this is the least you need. During installation, you may be asked to update the Microsoft Windows Installer components , and if so, you should click the Yes button to update them. This update is required for the .NET SDK installation.

You may see a window indicating that Microsoft Data Access Components ( MDAC ) 2.7 is not installed on your system. You can press the Ignore button to continue with the setup process “ MDAC 2.7 isn't required for .NET, although it is recommended. If you are installing .NET as part of the Visual Studio .NET installation, then MDAC 2.7 is installed for you. Otherwise, you can get MDAC 2.7 or later as a free download from http://www.microsoft.com/data/.

The second program includes the samples and documentation. Once the SDK Installation Wizard starts you'll have the usual license screen followed by the options screen, as shown in Figure 1-1:

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Figure 1-1:

You can choose to install the required components, tools and samples, as well as the SDK samples. Leave all options ticked to ensure that everything is installed. The distributable version of the .NET Framework is around 23Mb, and doesn't contain samples or documentation.

Configuring the Samples

The installation routine creates a folder called Microsoft .NET Framework SDK containing an HTML page titled Samples and QuickStart Tutorials. From this page you should follow the steps outlined:

Step 1: Download and Install the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE) :Click this link to be taken to the MSDE download page. Follow the instructions to download and install MSDE. If you already have MSDE or SQL Server installed, ensure you install Service Pack 3.

Step 2: Set up the QuickStarts :Click this link and select Run this program from its current location to configure the databases, IIS, and perform other installation routines. You may also receive another Security Warning dialog when you run this program, and you can select Yes to allow the program to run.

At this point the samples are installed, and you have the option to Launch them. You can also launch the samples by navigating to the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK menu (installed under the Programs) and selecting Samples and QuickStart Tutorials.

Running the Samples

From the main QuickStart page, select Start the ASP.NET QuickStart Tutorial, and you will be presented with the screen shown in Figure 1-2:

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Figure 1-2:

The left-hand portion of the screen shows the samples broken into their groups. You'll see examples of these topics throughout the book.

The right-hand side of the screen shows the samples, including descriptions and sourcecode. The sourcecode for all of the samples is available in Visual Basic, C#, and JScript. The use of these languages is discussed later in the chapter.

Sample Group

Consists of

ASP.NET Web Applications

What defines an ASP.NET application, and how the global files are used.

Cache Services

The new cache features, allowing pages or data to be cached to improve performance.

Configuration

The new XML-based application configuration.

Deployment

A description of how applications are deployed.

Security

An examination of the authentication and authorization features in the .NET Framework.

Localization

Examples of how internationalization can be achieved.

Tracing

How the new tracing features of ASP.NET increase developer productivity.

Debugging

How to use the new visual debugger.

Performance

Overview, tips, and tricks on improving performance.

ASP to ASP.NET Migration

Examples showing how to migrate existing applications.

Sample Applications

Some sample applications, described below.

The Sample Applications

The sample applications give you a good idea of what can be achieved with ASP.NET, as well as showing how it can be achieved and some best practices for writing applications.

  • A Personalized Portal :A sample portal application, allowing user login, content delivery, user preferences, configuration, and so on. It's an extremely good example of the use of User Controls , which are reusable ASP.NET pages.

  • An E-Commerce Storefront :A small electronic “commerce site, based around a simple grocery store. It shows some good uses of data binding and templating, and how a shopping basket system could be implemented.

  • A Class Browser Application :Shows how you can browse through the hierarchy of classes and objects. Not only is this useful from a learning point of view, but it also shows how the classes are queried by run “time code. This is one of the great new features of the framework, and is explained in more detail in the next chapter.

  • IBuySpy.com :An electronic “commerce site, showing more features than the other sample store. It contains user logins, shopping baskets , and so on.

Additional Samples

The preceding list of samples describes just the ones that are installed by the SDK, but there are plenty of others available, such as a .NET version of the Duwamish site. All of the code for the samples in the book is available from the Wrox Press web site (at www.wrox.com). Microsoft has three additional sites where information and samples can be obtained:

  • www.asp.net is the central site for downloads and links.

  • www.ibuyspy.com is the IBuySpy application online. This code runs online as well as being available as a download (in VB.NET and C#). This site also contains links to a portal based version of IBuySpy, allowing user customization, and a news based version, aimed at content delivery.

  • www.gotdotnet.com is a community site for all .NET developers. It's full of links and samples by both Microsoft and third parties. This site also has a list of ASP.NET hosting companies. There are also plenty of third party sites, and since this list may change, your best bet is to go to www.gotdotnet.com and follow the links page.




Professional ASP. NET 1.1
Professional ASP.NET MVC 1.0 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
ISBN: 0470384611
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 243

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