Article ID: 303247
Article Last Modified on 2/23/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft ASP.NET 1.1
- Microsoft ASP.NET 1.0
This article was previously published under Q303247
This article refers to the following Microsoft .NET Framework Class Library namespace:
- System.Web.UI
SUMMARY
This article provides a brief overview of the code-behind model, which is introduced in ASP.NET.
MORE INFORMATION
ASP.NET supports two methods to author pages:
- In-line code
- Code-behind
In-Line Code
In-line code is code that is embedded directly within the ASP.NET page. The following code represents a sample ASP.NET page that includes in-line code:
Myinlinecode.aspx
<%@ Language=C# %>
<HTML>
<script runat="server" language="C#">
void MyButton_OnClick(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MyLabel.Text = MyTextbox.Text.ToString();
}
</script>
<body>
<form id="MyForm" runat="server">
<asp:textbox id="MyTextbox" text="Hello World" runat="server"></asp:textbox>
<asp:button id="MyButton" text="Echo Input" OnClick="MyButton_OnClick" runat="server"></asp:button>
<asp:label id="MyLabel" runat="server"></asp:label>
</form>
</body>
</HTML>
Code-Behind
Code-behind refers to code for your ASP.NET page that is contained within a separate class file. This allows a clean separation of your HTML from your presentation logic. The following sample illustrates an ASP.NET code-behind page:
MyCodebehind.aspx
<%@ Language="C#" Inherits="MyStuff.MyClass" %>
<HTML>
<body>
<form id="MyForm" runat="server">
<asp:textbox id="MyTextBox" text="Hello World" runat="server"></asp:textbox>
<asp:button id="MyButton" text="Echo Input" Onclick="MyButton_Click" runat="server"></asp:button>
<asp:label id="MyLabel" runat="server" />
</form>
</body>
</HTML>
Mycodebehind.cs
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
namespace MyStuff
{
public class MyClass : Page
{
protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.Label MyLabel;
protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button MyButton;
protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.TextBox MyTextBox;
public void MyButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MyLabel.Text = MyTextBox.Text.ToString();
}
}
}
In the preceding sample, you can use the following syntax to compile Mycodebehind.cs:
csc.exe /out:mycodebehind.dll /t:library mycodebehind.cs
When you use the following code, the code-behind page inherits from the Page class. The Page class resides in the System.Web.UI namespace:
public class MyClass : Page
Inheriting from the Page class gives the code-behind page access to the ASP.NET intrinsic objects, such as Request and Response. In addition, inheriting from the Page class provides a framework for handling events for controls within the ASP.NET page.
In the preceding sample, the code-behind page is compiled before ASP.NET runs. Alternatively, you can reference the code-behind class by using an SRC tag as follows:
<%@ Language="C#" Inherits="MyStuff.MyClass" src="MyCodebehind.cs" %>
In this case, ASP.NET compiles the code-behind page on the fly. Notice that this compilation step only occurs when the code-behind file is updated (which is detected through a timestamp change).
Code-Behind Support in Visual Studio .NET
When you use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET to create ASP.NET Web Forms, code-behind pages are the default method. In addition, Visual Studio .NET automatically performs precompilation for you when you build your solution. Note that code-behind pages that are created in Visual Studio .NET include a special page attribute, Codebehind, which Visual Studio .NET uses.
REFERENCES
For additional information%1, click the article number%2 below to view the article%2 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
313105 BUG: Cannot Compile Code-Behind Files That Use Src Attribute on a UNC Share
Additional query words: codebehind
Keywords: kbinfo kbwebforms KB303247
