Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Website Using C# & VB (24 page)

RadioButtonList

Like the RadioButton control, the RadioButtonList control represents radio buttons.

However, the RadioButtonList control represents a list of radio buttons and uses

more compact syntax. Here’s an example:

CheckBoxList

As you may have guessed, the CheckBoxList control represents a group of check

boxes; it’s equivalent to using several CheckBox controls in a row:

BulletedList

The BulletedList control displays bulleted or numbered lists, using

(unordered


list) or

(ordered list) tags. Unlike the other list controls, the BulletedList


doesn’t allow the selection of items, so the SelectedIndexChanged event isn’t supported.


The first property you’ll want to set is DisplayMode, which can be Text (the default),


or HyperLink, which will render the list items as links. When DisplayMode is set


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to HyperLink, you can use the Click event to respond to a user’s click on one of


the items.


The other important property is BulletStyle, which determines the style of the


bullets. The accepted values are:


■ Numbered (1, 2, 3, …)


■ LowerAlpha (a, b, c, …)


■ UpperAlpha (A, B, C, …)


■ LowerRoman (i, ii, iii, …)


■ UpperRoman (I, II, III, …)


■ Circle


■ Disc


■ Square


■ CustomImage


If the style is set to CustomImage, you’ll also need to set the BulletStyleImageUrl


to specify the image to be used for the bullets. If the style is one of the numbered


lists, you can also set the FirstBulletNumber property to specify the first number


or letter that’s to be generated.


Advanced Controls


These controls are advanced in terms of their usage, the HTML code they generate,


and the background work they do for you. Some of these controls aren’t available


to older versions of ASP.NET; we’ll learn more about many of them (as well as


others that aren’t covered in this chapter) as we progress through this book.


Calendar


The Calendar is a great example of the reusable nature of ASP.NET controls. The


Calendar control generates markup that displays an intuitive calendar in which


the user can click to select, or move between, days, weeks, months, and so on.


The Calendar control requires very little customization. In Visual Web Developer,


select
Website > Add New Item…
, and make the changes indicated:


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Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB


Visual Basic


LearningASP\VB\Calendar_01.aspx


<%@ Page Language="VB" %>


"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">









































Again, the C# version is the same, except for the Page declaration:


C#


LearningASP\CS\01_Calendar.aspx
(excerpt)


<%@ Page Language="C#" %>


⋮


If you save this page in your working folder and load it, you’ll see the output shown


in
Figure 4.4
.


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Figure 4.4. Displaying the default calendar


The Calendar control contains a wide range of properties, methods, and events,


including those listed in
Table 4.3
.


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Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Web Site Using C# & VB


Table 4.3. Some of the Calendar control’s properties


Property


Description


DayNameFormat


This property sets the format of the day names. Its possible values are


FirstLetter, FirstTwoLetters, Full, and Short. The default


is Short, which displays the three-letter abbreviation.


FirstDayOfWeek


This property sets the day that begins each week in the calendar. By default,


the value of this property is determined by your server’s region settings,


but you can set this to Sunday or Monday if you want to control it.


NextPrevFormat


Set to CustomText by default, this property can be set to ShortMonth


or FullMonth to control the format of the next and previous month


links.


SelectedDate


This property contains a DateTime value that specifies the highlighted day.


You’ll use this property often, to determine which date the user has


selected.


SelectionMode


This property determines whether days, weeks, or months can be selected;


its possible values are Day, DayWeek, DayWeekMonth, and None, and


the default is Day. When Day is selected, a user can only select a day;


when DayWeek is selected, a user can select a day or an entire week; and


so on.


SelectMonthText


This property controls the text of the link that’s displayed to allow users


to select an entire month from the calendar.


SelectWeekText


This property controls the text of the link that’s displayed to allow users


to select an entire week from the calendar.


ShowDayHeader


If True, this property displays the names of the days of the week. The


default is True.


ShowGridLines


If True, this property renders the calendar with grid lines. The default is


True.


ShowNextPrevMonth


If True, this property displays
next month
and
previous month
links.


The default is True.


ShowTitle


If True, this property displays the calendar’s title. The default is False.


TitleFormat


This property determines how the month name appears in the title bar.


Possible values are Month and MonthYear. The default is MonthYear.


TodaysDate


This DateTime value sets the calendar’s current date. By default, this value


is not highlighted within the Calendar control.


VisibleDate


This DateTime value controls which month is displayed.


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Let’s take a look at an example that uses some of these properties, events, and


methods to create a Calendar control which allows users to select days, weeks, and


months. Modify the calendar in
Calendar.aspx
(both the VB and C# versions), and


add a label to it, as follows:


LearningASP\VB\Calendar_02.aspx
(excerpt)


⋮








Pick your dates:


DayNameFormat="Short" FirstDayOfWeek="Sunday"


NextPrevFormat="FullMonth" SelectionMode="DayWeekMonth"


SelectWeekText="Select Week"


SelectMonthText="Select Month" TitleFormat="Month"


OnSelectionChanged="SelectionChanged" />


You selected these dates:











⋮


Now edit the


C#


LearningASP\CS\Calendar_02.aspx
(excerpt)





Save your work and test it in a browser. Try selecting a day, week, or month. The


selection will be highlighted in a similar way to the display shown in Figure 4.5
. Figure 4.5. Using the Calendar control


In SelectionChanged, we loop through each of the dates that the user has selected,


and append each to the Label we added to the page.


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AdRotator


The AdRotator control allows you to display a list of banner advertisements at


random within your web application. However, it’s more than a mere substitute for


creating a randomization script from scratch. Since the AdRotator control gets its