How to create ASP.NET web applications

In this tutorial we will show you how to create an ASP.NET web application from a sample Microsoft database AdventureWorks using Xomega.Net for Visual Studio and open source Xomega Framework.

With just several simple steps we will generate a powerful search form that allows searching records in a given table by any criteria using various operators. We will also generate a details form that allows viewing, editing and deleting selected records as well as creating new records.

• 0. Prerequisites.
• 1. Create a new solution for an Xomega ASP.NET web application.
• 2. Import model from the database.
• 3. Generate CRUD operations.
• 4. Build the model.
• 5. Generate service implementations.
• 6. Generate search and details forms.
• 7. Start the application.

Before running this tutorial please make sure that you have the AdventureWorks database set up and also the Xomega.Net for Visual Studio 2010 or 2008 installed with a valid license.

To do that you need to add a new project in Visual Studio, expand the Xomega templates and pick the Xomega ASP.NET web Solution template. You can target .NET framework 4 or .NET framework 3.5. Specify the name for the solution, which should not contain spaces or any other illegal characters to make things go smoother. In our tutorial we will just use the default name MyProject1.

Click OK to create a solution. You will have five projects in the solution as follows.

Build the model project and make sure there are no errors. Reload all the corresponding projects as prompted. Next build the entire solution and make sure that there are no errors.

Select the generator for importing the model from a database in the model project (Generators > Model Enhancements > Import from Database) and open the properties for this generator (hit F4 or Enter). Open the database connection configuration dialog for the Database Connection parameter and click the Configure button.

Select SQL Native Client in the Provider tab and click Next. Specify the connection information for the AdventureWorks sample database, test the connection, and click OK if the test was successful.

Click Next on the Database Connection Configuration dialog to review a list of tables and possibly exclude some of the tables from the model. We will import all tables in this tutorial, so you'll need to just click Next again, review the connection summary and click Finish, which will save this connection as a default for the model project.

Now you can run the generator by selecting the Generate option from the context menu.

The files with the object definitions based on each database table will be added to the model project under the Import folder.

Note: you can also watch our video tutorial on how to import from database and further enrich the model.

In this step you need to pick the object, for which you want to create the standard Create/Read/Update/Delete (CRUD) operations as well as a Read List operation to read a list of objects based on a number of criteria. In this tutorial we will use the Error Log object, for which we will generate the presentation and the service layers. Generate the model CRUD operations for the error log object by selecting the corresponding menu option from the context menu.

Make sure that the error_log.xom now contains operations as part of the object definition.

Note: you can also watch our video tutorial on how to define and customize the service layer.

In this step you need to build the model project to run all model generators that are included in the model build (i.e. the Include in Build parameter is set to true). Wait till the build finishes and reload all the projects as prompted.

If you use Visual Studio 2008 or 2010 then generate the classes for the entity data model by selecting the EntityModel.edmx file and running the custom tool on it.

Make sure that the EntityModel.Designer.cs appears under the EntityModel.edmx file.

In Visual Studio 2012 or later the Custom Tool will be run automatically. However, when running T4 text templates for the Entity Data Model, you may see the following warning pop up.

Click OK to dismiss the warning. You can check Do not show this message again to prevent it from showing during subsequent builds. You can also control it through the Tools > Options menu under the Text Templating section.

The service structures and interfaces for the error log operations should be generated whenever the model project is built as they are regenerable. Xomega also provides a generator to create the initial implementation for those interfaces that uses LINQ over the entity model and Xomega Framework base classes. This generator is not supposed to be a rerunnable after you start making manual edits and therefore it is not included in the build by default.

Generate the initial service implementation for the error log operations by selecting the corresponding option from the context menu for the error_log.xom file.

The error log service implementation class should be added to the Entities project.

Right click on the error_log.xom file and run the generators for the ASP.NET search form and the ASP.NET details form.

Select the Web project in the solution explorer and click the Show All Files button. You should now see a Gen folder that contains the details form and the search form based on the Read List operation. Include these files in the project.

Select both of the generated .aspx web forms, right click and select the Convert to Web Application from the context menu. This will generate the designer code files for these forms. (Note: In VS2008 you may need to remove the xmlns:asp attribute from the top asp:Content element of each .aspx file first. Also in VS2013 this menu is located under the main Project menu rather than in the context menu.)

Note: before you start manually editing these forms you will want to rename these files and classes and move them to the appropriate location to prevent Xomega generators from cleaning them up accidentally.

Set the generated list form as the startup page for the web project by selecting the corresponding item from the context menu.

Make sure that the Web project is set to be the startup project for the solution. Build the solution and start the application. You should see the error log search form come up.

You can run the search using a number of criteria and operators. If you have records in the database table, you will be able to see them in the results grid and view the details by clicking on the record ID link. If you don't have any records yet, you can create new ones by clicking the Create New link in the search form.

The required fields will be highlighted in bold. The form will also display any validation errors when you try to save it and a warning message when you try to delete an existing record. After you save or delete and then close the form, the updated data will be displayed in the results grid of the search form.