As the Internet user experience (UX) progresses, more users are demanding and expecting their custom-built business applications to provide the same UX that they see on the Internet every day. ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX Unleashed empowers ASP.NET developers to easily provide this type of experience with minimal code. Author Rob Foster has built AJAX-enabled web applications for a number of major corporations and uses the experience he has gained there to explain concisely, clearly, and completely what ASP.NET developers need to learn to start taking advantage of the rich opportunities made possible by ASP.NET AJAX.

• Learn ASP.NET AJAX by working with real-world examples
• Use the ScriptManager and ScriptManagerProxy controls in your ASP.NET AJAX-enabled applications
• Leverage the ASP.NET AJAX client-side API to maximize the flexibility of ASP.NET AJAX
• Build applications that use the UpdatePanel and Timer controls
• Use the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit to provide rich AJAX functionality to your web applications
• Build ASP.NET AJAX-enabled extender controls
• Integrate ASP.NET AJAX and .NET 3.5 with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Create ASP.NET AJAX-enabled Windows Vista Gadgets
• Learn advanced AJAX concepts such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and WCF Web services

Introduction     1

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction to AJAX Technologies     5

 AJAX and Web 2.0     6

 Why Use AJAX?      7

 AJAX Rationale     7

 AJAX: An Example     8

 The XMLHttpRequest Object     8

 A Simple AJAX Library     10

 Using the AJAX Library     14

 Summary     20

Chapter 2 Introduction to ASP.NET AJAX     21

 Introducing the Visual Studio Controls     22

 ScriptManager     22

 ScriptManagerProxy     23

 Timer     23

 UpdatePanel     23

 UpdateProgress     23

 Introducing the Visual Studio Projects and Web Site Items     24

 Projects     24

 Web Site Items     25

 Introducing the AJAX Control Toolkit     26

 Summary     27

Part II Working with ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX

Chapter 3 The ScriptManager and ScriptManagerProxy Controls     31

 About the ScriptManager Control.      31

 ScriptManager Properties, Methods, and Events     34

 JavaScript Proxy Classes for Web Services     37

 Partial-Page Rendering     43

 Summary     47

Chapter 4 The ASP.NET AJAX Client API     49

 The Namespaces     49

 Global     49

 Sys     52

 Sys.Net     53

 Sys.Serialization     54

 Sys.Services     62

 Sys.UI     66

 Sys.WebForms     68

 Summary     71

Chapter 5 The UpdatePanel and Timer Controls     73

 About the UpdatePanel Control     73

 Using the UpdatePanel Control     74

 Advanced Features of the UpdatePanel Control     78

 Triggers     78

 Multiple UpdatePanel Controls on a Single Page     81

 The Timer Control     89

 Using the Timer Control with Partial-Page Rendering     90

 Summary     92

Chapter 6 Advanced Techniques with the ASP.NET AJAX PageRequestManager Object     93

 Using the PageRequestManager Object     93

 A Practical Example of the PageRequestManager Object     95

 Summary     100

Chapter 7 Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit     101

 ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit: The Controls     102

 Using Controls in the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit     105

 Configuring Visual Studio to Use the Toolkit     105

 The Accordion and AccordionPane Controls     106

 The CalendarExtender Control     110

 The CollapsiblePanelExtender Control     112

 The ConfirmButtonExtender Control     118

 The DragPanelExtender Control     120

 The DropDownExtender Control     122

 The FilteredTextBoxExtender Control     125

 The HoverMenuExtender Control     127

 The TextBoxWatermarkExtender Control     130

 ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit: A Practical Example     134

 Using the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit with Microsoft Expression Web     145

 Configuring Expression Web for the ASP.NET AJAX

 Control Toolkit     145

 Summary      150

Chapter 8 Building an ASP.NET AJAX Extender Control     151

 Add ASP.NET Controls     151

 How to Build an Extender Control     154

 Server-Side Code     156

 Client-Side Code     159

 Summary     163

Chapter 9 ASP.NET AJAX and SharePoint 2007     165

 SharePoint and AJAX     165

 Modifying Web.Config     166

 Developing an AJAX-Based SharePoint Web Part     171

 Summary     177

Chapter 10 Creating ASP.NET AJAX-Enabled Vista Sidebar Gadgets     179

 Vista Sidebar Gadgets     179

 Creating the Gadget     181

 Create the Web Service     181

 Generate the JavaScript Proxy     183

 Create the Vista Gadget     186

 Test the Gadget     187

 Summary     188

Part III Appendices

Appendix A Microsoft Expression Web 191

 An Introduction to the Expression Web Interface     191

 Creating Web Pages and Web Sites     191

 Customizable Interface     194

 Creating Standards-Based Web Sites      198

 Quickly Build Standards-Based Sites     198

 Code Formatting and IntelliSense     202

 Autoformatting Code     202

 IntelliSense     204

 XML and XSLT Tools in Expression Web     204

 Drag and Drop XML     205

 Creating and Updating XSL     207

 Summary     209

Appendix B Deploying the .NET Framework 3.5 as a SharePoint Feature 211

 Features and Solutions      211

 Creating the Solution     213

 Using Visual Studio     214

 Creating the Feature Receiver     218

 Deploying the Solution to SharePoint     228

 Compiling the Solution     228

 Running STSADM.EXE to Register the Solution     234

 Deploying the Solution Using SharePoint

 Central Management     235

 Activating the Feature     237

 Summary     239

Index     241