server side include or user control?

Mark · May 10, 2005

I am setting up an asp.net site using the Ektron CMS. Every page in the
site uses the same basic template, with the look of the page changing
via CSS and an id on the body. The id is shared by all pages in a
subsection, e.g. everything in /about/ needs to have <body id="about">.

In the past what I've done is set a global variable in index.asp, then
include the template to render the page:

<%
pageid = "about"
defaultcontentid = 33
%>


mastertemplate.asp would be the entire page, echoing and processing the
variables like so:


<body id="<%= pageid %>">
<%= cmsRenderContent(defaultcontentid) %>

This worked great. I needed one index.asp for each subsection, and had
no duplication of template code. If the template needed to be updated, I
just gave it to the designer, who modified it in Dreamweaver or
whatever. The separation between presentation and logic was good, and
any code that generated html was in an easily-modified function.

I've experimented with a similar approach in asp.net, and have the start
of it working, but the additional complication is that
mastertemplate.aspx has some codebehind related to the cms server
controls that it uses, and I need to use the passed-in variables within
that codebehind. For example, I'd establish a default content id in the
calling page, and if the mastertemplate.asp doesn't detect an id in the
url, it will use the default.

I am looking for examples of this approach in asp.net but I keep running
across advice to use user controls instead. But it seems like user
controls are used for parts of pages, not the page template itself. Is
that right? Can a user control contain server controls? How would I pass
variables from a "stub" calling page to the user control page? Can a
user control be modified in something like Dreamweaver?

Thanks,

TJS · May 10, 2005

generally they are right.

You will typically put a "place holder" into the template and then replace
that "place holder" with content created from a control (.ascx file). the
content is injected into the position of the "place holder" by using the
page.loadcontrol method.

example:
------------------------
....somewhere in your code

' Dynamically inject a signin login module into the page
'---------------------------------------------------------------------
If Request.IsAuthenticated = False Then
LoginControl.Controls.Add(Page.LoadControl("~/SignIn.ascx"))
End If

..... somewhere in your template

<asp

laceholder id="LoginControl" runat="server" />

Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD] · May 10, 2005

Include files are old fashioned.
User controls are a better approach. Yes, they can contain any kind of
controls you'd like. You can create public properties, methods, and events
to facilitate communication between the user control and the page.
I agree with you that user controls do not fully achieve the "template"
functionality you seek as gracefully as we'd all like, but the only great
solution is in ASP.NET 2.0 (due out later this year) which implements
"Master Pages".

Here's more info:
http://SteveOrr.net/faq/usercustom.aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Code/2004/May/MasterPages.asp

Mark · May 10, 2005

Steve C. Orr said:
I agree with you that user controls do not fully achieve the "template"
functionality you seek as gracefully as we'd all like, but the only great
solution is in ASP.NET 2.0 (due out later this year) which implements
"Master Pages".

Here's more info:
http://SteveOrr.net/faq/usercustom.aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Code/2004/May/MasterPages.asp

Yes, Master Pages is most like what I was after. Now I am thinking about
just passing the section name in the url and have everything run through
a single page. Instead of

/about/index.aspx?id=123
/portfolio/index.aspx?id=456

I'll go

/index.aspx?s=about&id=123
/index.aspx?s=portfolio&id=456

This should work fine, especially since the cms has url aliasing.

Thnkas,

Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD] · May 11, 2005

Yes, I've tried that approach before and it's not as easy as it might seem
at first.
Since everything is essentially a postback to the same page, this opens up
new hassles related to dynamically creating controls at runtime and managing
them all between postbacks and keeping them from conflicting with eachother
in various ways.
If you can, skip to ASP.NET 2.0 and use master pages. Otherwise I'd suggest
you use multiple pages with header and/or footer controls to help manage a
common look & feel.

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server side include or user control?

Mark

TJS

Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD]

Mark

Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD]

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