ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders - Orcas New Features

Hi,

This blog post summarizes the new features of ASP.Net 3.5 and VS 2008 IDE.

Below are the new features been introduced.

§ VS 2008 Multi-Targeting Support

§ VS 2008 JavaScript Intellisense

§ VS 2008 JavaScript Debugging

§ VS 2008 Code Editing Improvements

§ VS 2008 Nested Master Page Support - - Nothing to add. Read Post.

§ VS 2008 Web Designer and CSS Improvements

§ VS 2008 Vertical Split View Support - Nothing to add. Read Post.

§ VS 2008 ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders

§ ASP.NET ListView Control (Part 1: Building a Product Listing Page with Pure CSS)

§ ASP.NET AJAX in .NET 3.5 and VS 2008

Before we go further let’s have a quick view.

Compatibility - From VS 2005 to VS 2008 and .NET Framework 2.0 to 3.5?

Though .NET Framework 3.5 is a super compatible upgrade from .NET 2.0, it does not require you to change any code in order to target the new framework version. Only non-breaking modifications to existing .NET assemblies have been made in the .NET 3.5 release, and wherever possible added new features in separate assemblies to minimize the chance of breaking changes.

Also no project model or build changes have been made with VS 2008. Both the "web site" and "web application project" models will be fully supported going forward.

ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders

Here I have been putting major points only. For other details, how it works please folow the below link.

Reference: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/08/19/using-asp-net-ajax-control-extenders-in-vs-2008.aspx

What are ASP.NET Control Extenders?

ASP.NET Control Extenders are controls that derive from the System.Web.UI.ExtenderControl base class, and which can be used to add additional functionality (usually AJAX or JavaScript support) to existing controls already declared on a page. They enable developers to nicely encapsulate UI behavior, and make it really easy to add richer functionality to an application.

The ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit is a great example of a project that takes advantage of this control extender functionality. It includes more than 40+ free control extenders that you can easily download and use to add AJAX functionality to your applications.

Note: To use such extenders, either in VS 2005 / VS 2008, required is drag and drop the AJAXControlToolkit.dll assembly into the VS 2008 Toolbox to have its control extenders show up as controls that you can add to any ASP.NET web site or project.

How it is different using ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders in VS 2008 than VS 2005:

· Manual efforts – Drag & Drop AJAXControlToolkit.dll assembly – is required to put the extender controls in toolbox – In both VS 2005 & VS 2008.

· With VS 2005 – Manual efforts required to wire-up control extenders yourself (either via source-view or via the property grid).

· VS 2008 makes it even easier to discover and attach control extenders to your controls.

· Once we add control extenders to the VS 2008 toolbox, we’ll find that a new "Add Extender..." smart task option appears when you select controls within the VS 2008 designer.

· Also when control extender is attached to a control in VS 2008, the property grid of the original control is extended to show both its original properties as well as the properties of the control extender attached to it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks & Regards,

Arun Manglick || Tech Lead