Steps to be taken
before deployment of application
Set the build options: Make the project compatible with an
earlier Microsoft .NET. Select the Enable Optimizations check box
to make the compiled code smaller, faster, and more efficient.
Disable integer overflow checks:Allow classes to be used from the
Component Object Model (COM).
Identify the application: To identify your application, open
the AssemblyInfo file and enter the application’s
information.
Configure the
application:
Configuration files are Web.config and
Machine.config.
The Machine.config file located in the
Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\version\config directory.
Machine.config sets the base configuration for all .NET assemblies
running on the server.
Web.config
Attributes: Compilation, CustomErrors,
Authentication, Authorization, Trace, SessionState,
Globalization.
The global assembly
cache (GAC) is a special subfolder within the
Windows folder that stores the shared .NET components. When you
open the folder, Windows Explorer starts a Windows shell extension
called the Assembly Cache Viewer (ShFusion.dll)
You can install
strong-named .NET components by dragging them into the Assembly
Cache Viewer, or by using the Global Assembly Cache tool
(GacUtil.exe).
Monitoring the
Server: Windows provides MMC snap-ins for monitoring
security, performance, and error events.
Event Viewer
snap-in: Lists application, system, and security events on
the system.
Performance snap-in: Lets you create new
events to display in the Event Viewer.
Tuning Deployed
Applications
ProcessModel
element’s attributes in the server’s Machine.config file: control
the number of threads and the time-out behavior etc.
Use the
sessionState element’s attributes in the application’s Web.config
file: control how session state information is
saved.
ProcessModel
Attributes
Maximum number of
requests to be queued, How long to wait before checking whether a
client is connected, How many threads to allow per processor
etc.
Optimization
Tips
Turn off debugging for
deployed applications.
Avoid round-trips between the client and
server.
Turn off
Session state if it isn’t needed.
Turn off ViewState for server controls that
do not need to retain their values. Use stored procedures with
databases.
Use
SqlDataReader rather than data sets for read-forward data
retrieval.
The ability to add
capacity to an application is called scalability.
ASP.NET Web applications support this concept through their
ability to run in multiple processes and to have those processes
distributed across multiple CPUs and/or multiple
servers.
A Web application
running on a single server that has multiple CPUs is called a
Web
garden and application running on multiple servers
is called a Web
farm.
Web Garden
Attributes in processModel are
webGarden: Set to “true” to run
applications on more than one processor on this server.
cpuMask: Specifies which CPUs should run
ASP.NET Web applications.
Multiple
Servers
For multiple servers
to handle requests for a single HTTP address, you need to install
load balancing to your network. Load-balancing services can be
provided by hardware or software solutions.
Running a web
application on multiple servers requires that you take special
steps to handle application and session state information. To
share data across multiple sessions in a web garden or web farm,
you must save and restore the information using a resource that is
available to all the processes. This can be done through an XML
file, a database, or some other resource using the standard file
or database access methods. You can share session state using: A
state server, as specified by a network location. A SQL database,
as specified by a SQL connection.
ASP.NET Web
applications also have a limited ability to repair
themselves through process recycling.
Process recycling is the
technique of shutting down and restarting an ASP.NET worker
process (aspnet_wp.exe) that has become inactive or is consuming
excessive resources. You can control how ASP.NET processes are
recycled through attributes in the processModel element in the
Machine.config file.
Types of Tests
Unit test, Integration test,
Regression test, Load test (also called stress test), Platform
test.
Web user
controls combine one or more server or HTML controls
on a Web user control page. User controls create a single visual
component that uses several controls. User controls can be used on
Web forms throughout a project. User controls are not compiled
into assemblies.
Steps to create user
control
Add a Web user control page (.ascx) to your
project.
Draw
the visual interface of the control in the designer.
Write code to create
the control’s properties, methods, and events.
Use the control by
dragging it from Solution Explorer to the Web form.
Use the control from
a Web form’s code by declaring the control at the module
level.
Composite custom
controls combine one or more server or HTML controls
composite custom compiles to create an assembly
(.dll)
Rendered custom
controls are created almost entirely from
scratch.
Caching
@OutputCache page
directive caches a Web form in the server’s memory.
OutputCache
directive has two required attributes: Duration and VaryByParam.
The VaryByParam
attribute caches multiple responses from a single Web form.
VaryByParam to None caches only one response for the Web
form.
XSL
Transformations
XSL
transformations generate formatted output from an XML input file.
XSL positions elements anywhere on the Web form. XSL performs
logical operations like repeating and conditional operations. XSL
places structured data on a Web form.
Steps to perform an
XSL transformation in ASP.NET
Add an XML
server control to a Web form.
Set the control’s DocumentSource property to
the XML file to format.
Set the TransformSource property to the XSL
file to use to format the output.
Creating an XML
File
XML files describe
structured data in text format. XML identifies data items using
… tags. Each item must
have a begin tag and an end tag. Item tag names are case
sensitive. Attribute values must always be enclosed in double
quotation marks. The nested items must be terminated before the
containing item is terminated. The XML structure is strictly
hierarchical. XML refers to the items in this hierarchy as XML
nodes. Nodes have parent-child relationships that are identified
using the XPath.
Globalization
Approaches in ASP.NET
Create
separate web application corresponding to each culture, detect the
culture and redirect to appropriate application. Create single web
application and adjust output at run time as per culture detected.
Create a single Web application that stores culture-dependent
strings in resource files that are compiled into satellite
assemblies. At run time, detect the user’s culture and load
strings from the appropriate
assembly.
