INFO: Migrating Visual InterDev Design-Time Controls to ASP.NET

This article describes how to migrate Microsoft Visual InterDev Design-Time Controls (DTCs) to ASP.NET Web server controls and HTML server controls.

For general information about how to migrate Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) pages, refer to the "References" section.

Microsoft Visual InterDev 6.0 includes 22 design-time controls.

• Seven of these controls have equivalent ASP.NET server controls:
  • Button
  • CheckBox
  • Grid
  • Label
  • ListBox
  • OptionGroup
  • TextBox
  
  
  
• Two of these controls have other equivalent ASP.NET features:
  • Include
  • PageObject
  
  
  
• Three of these controls are Microsoft Visual InterDev 1.0 DTCs that are included in Visual InterDev 6.0 only for backward compatibility. Other DTCs replace their functionality in Visual InterDev 6.0.
  • Data Command
  • Data Range Header
  • Data Range Footer
  
  
  
• Ten of these controls require that you write custom code to migrate to ASP.NET:
  • FormManager
  • Layout Header Start
  • Layout Header End
  • Layout Footer Start
  • Layout Footer End
  • PageNavBar
  • PageTransitions
  • Recordset
  • RecordsetNavBar
  • Timelines

For additional information about ASP.NET server controls, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For DTCs that do not have equivalent features in ASP.NET, you can keep pages that use these DTCs as ASP pages in your ASP.NET application. You can then share session state and application state between the ASP pages and the ASP.NET pages with cookies, form fields, query strings, or a database.

Button DTC

To migrate pages that use the Button DTC to ASP.NET, use the Button Web server control or the HtmlButton control.

CheckBox DTC

To migrate pages that use the CheckBox DTC to ASP.NET, use the CheckBox Web server control or the HtmlInputCheckBox control.

For additional functionality that is not available in the CheckBox DTC, you can also use a CheckBoxList Web server control to create a multiselection check box group.

Data Command DTC

Visual InterDev 6.0 includes the Data Command DTC for backward compatibility with Visual InterDev 1.0. Visual InterDev 6.0 replaces the functionality of the Data Command DTC with the Recordset DTC. The Data Command DTC is not added to the Visual InterDev 6.0 toolbox by default. You must use the Customize Toolbox dialog box to add this DTC.

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the Data Command DTC. To migrate pages that use Data Command DTCs, follow these steps:

1. Write ADO.NET code that creates DataView, DataSet, or DataReader objects.
2. Set the DataSource properties of the data-bound Web Forms controls to the objects from step 1.
3. Call the DataBind methods of the controls from step 2.

Data Range Header and Data Range Footer DTCs

Visual InterDev 6.0 includes the Data Range Header and the Data Range Footer DTCs for backward compatibility with Visual InterDev 1.0. Visual InterDev 6.0 replaces the functionality of these DTCs with the Grid DTC. The Data Range Header and the Data Range Footer DTCs are not added to the Visual InterDev 6.0 toolbox by default. You must use the Customize Toolbox dialog box to add these DTCs.

To migrate pages that use Data Range Header and Data Range Footer, use the DataGrid Web server control.

FormManager DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the FormManager DTC. To migrate pages that use the FormManager DTC, you must write ASP.NET code that automates all necessary events.

Grid DTC

To migrate pages that use the Grid DTC to ASP.NET, use the DataGrid Web server control.

Include DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control that is equivalent to the Include DTC. The Include DTC is not added to the Visual InterDev 6.0 toolbox by default. You must use the Customize Toolbox dialog box to add this DTC.

To migrate pages that use Include DTCs, encapsulate the functionality of the include file in an ASP.NET Web Forms user control.

For more information about Web Forms user controls, refer to the following topic in the .NET Framework Developer's Guide: Alternately, you can use an ASP server-side include directive. For example: For more information on ASP server-side include directives, refer to the following MSDN documentation:

Label DTC

To migrate pages that use the Label DTC to ASP.NET, use the Label Web server control or the HtmlGeneric control.

Layout Header Start, Layout Header End, Layout Footer Start, and Layout Footer End DTCs

ASP.NET does not include features that are equivalent to the Visual InterDev Layouts. In addition, ASP.NET does not include server controls or other features that are equivalent to the Layout Header Start, the Layout Header End, the Layout Footer Start, and the Layout Footer End DTCs.

These DTCs are not added to the Visual InterDev 6.0 toolbox by default. You must use the Customize Toolbox dialog box to add these DTCs. In addition, these controls are added to pages automatically when you use Layouts.

To migrate pages that use these DTCs, use one of the following options:

• Use the HyperLink or the Button Web server control.
• Create HTML hyperlinks that are set to run as server controls.
• Use the HtmlButton control.

ListBox DTC

To migrate pages that use the ListBox DTC to ASP.NET, use one of the following controls:

• ListBox Web server control
• DropDownList Web server control
• HtmlSelect control

OptionGroup DTC

To migrate pages that use the OptionGroup DTC to ASP.NET, use one of the following controls:

• RadioButton Web server control
• RadioButtonList Web server control
• HtmlInputRadioButton control

PageNavBar DTC

ASP.NET does not include a feature that is equivalent to Visual InterDev Site Diagrams. In addition, ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the PageNavBar DTC.

To migrate pages that use PageNavBar DTCs, use one of the following options:

• Use the HyperLink or the Button Web server control.
• Create HTML hyperlinks that are set to run as server controls.
• Use the HtmlButton control.

PageObject DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control that is equivalent to the PageObject DTC. To migrate pages that use PageObject DTCs, create an ASP.NET Web service. To call an ASP.NET Web Service from client-side script, use a WebService behavior.

For more information about ASP.NET Web services, refer to the "ASP.NET Web Service Projects in Visual Studio" topic in the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Online Help documentation.

For more information on WebService behaviors, refer to the following MSDN documentation:

PageTransitions DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the PageTransitions DTC. To migrate pages that use PageTransitions DTCs, use the revealTrans filter in an HTML <META> tag. For example: For more information about the revealTrans filter, refer to the following MSDN documentation:

Recordset DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the Recordset DTC. To migrate pages that use Recordset DTCs, follow these steps:

1. Write ADO.NET code that creates DataView, DataSet, or DataReader objects.
2. Set the DataSource properties of the data-bound Web server controls to the objects from step 1.
3. Call the DataBind methods of the page or of the controls from step 2.

RecordsetNavBar DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the RecordsetNavBar DTC. To migrate pages that use RecordsetNavBar DTCs, follow these steps:

1. Use Button Web server controls or HtmlButton controls.
2. Write ADO.NET code in the Click events of these buttons to control DataView, DataSet, or DataReader navigation.

TextBox DTC

To migrate pages that use the TextBox DTC to ASP.NET, use one of the following controls:

• TextBox Web server control
• HtmlTextArea control
• HtmlInputText control

Timelines DTC

ASP.NET does not include a server control or other feature that is equivalent to the Timelines DTC. To migrate pages that use Timelines DTCs, use the JScript SetTimeout or SetInterval method in client-side script.

For more information about ASP.NET Web server controls and HTML server controls, refer to the following MSDN documentation: For general information about how to migrate from ASP to ASP.NET, refer to the following Microsoft Web sites: Look for additional references under the "ASP to ASP.NET Migration" heading in the above QuickStart Tutorials page.