ASP.NET Project Files

In this page we will take a close look at the files that are created as part of a Web Application. When you open a new Web Application in Visual Studio .NET, in the Solution Explorer Window you will notice the following files that are already created as part of the Application: AssemblyInfo.vb, Global.asax, Style.css, Web.Config, Projectname.vsdisco and WebForm.aspx.

AssemblyInfo.vb

An assembly is the building block of an ASP.NET application. The AssemblyInfo.vb file contains information about the assembly, it's version number, dependencies, etc. The AssemblyInfo.vb file looks as follows:

Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

' General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following
' set of attributes. Change these attribute values to modify the information
' associated with an assembly.

<Assembly: AssemblyTitle("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyDescription("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCompany("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyProduct("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCopyright("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")>
<Assembly: CLSCompliant(True)>

'The following GUID is for the ID of the typelib if this project is exposed to COM
<Assembly: Guid("6ACEB232-291B-4EEC-8462-FEBD203D084B")>

' Version information for an assembly consists of the following four values:

' ' Major Version
' Minor Version
' Build Number
' Revision

' ' You can specify all the values or you can default the Build and Revision Numbers
' by using the '*' as shown below:

<Assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")>

Global.asax

The Global.asax file, also known as the ASP.NET application file, is an optional file that contains code for responding to application-level events raised by ASP.NET or by HTTP modules. The Global.asax file resides in the root directory of an ASP.NET based application. At run time, Global.asax is parsed and compiled into a dynamically generated .NET Framework class derived from the HttpApplication base class. The Global.asax file itself is configured so that any direct URL request for it is automatically rejected. External users cannot download or view the code written within it. The Global.asax file is optional. If you do not define the file, the ASP.NET page framework assumes that you have not defined any application or session event handlers. The Global.asax file looks as follows:

Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.SessionState
Imports System.Diagnostics

Public Class Global Inherits System.Web.HttpApplication

#Region " Component Designer Generated Code "

#End Region

Sub Application_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires when the application is started
End Sub

Sub Session_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires when the session is started
End Sub

Sub Application_BeginRequest(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires at the beginning of each request
End Sub

Sub Application_AuthenticateRequest(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires upon attempting to authenticate the use
End Sub

Sub Application_Error(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
End Sub

Sub Session_End(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires when the session ends
End Sub

Sub Application_End(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
' Fires when the application ends
End Sub

End Class

Style.css

The Style.css file is a cascading style sheet file that holds styles for the page. Using this file you can customize the appearance of your Web pages as it sets the styles used. You can define your own styles in this file and use them in your Web pages. To use style sheets a good working knowledge of HTML is essential. The Style.css file looks as follows:

/* Default CSS Stylesheet for a new Web Application project */

BODY
{ BACKGROUND-COLOR: white;
FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;
FONT-SIZE: .8em;
FONT-WEIGHT: normal;
LETTER-SPACING: normal;
TEXT-TRANSFORM: none;
WORD-SPACING: normal
}

H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, TH, THEAD, TFOOT
{
COLOR: #003366;
}

TFOOT, THEAD {
font-size: 1em;
word-spacing: normal;
letter-spacing: normal;
text-transform: none;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

A:link {
text-decoration: none;
color: #3333cc;
}

A:visited {
text-decoration: none;
color: #333399;
}

A:active {
text-decoration: none;
color: #333399;
}
A:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
color: #3333cc;
}

'Most of the Style.css file is omitted for the purpose of explanation.
'You can find the full file in your Web Applciation project

Web.Config

The Web.Config file is an XML based file that contains configuration information for ASP.NET resources. This file contains information about how the server will handle your application. You can set options for security, permissions, tracing, etc in this file. The Web.Config file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>

<system.web>


<compilation defaultLanguage="vb" debug="true" />


<authentication mode="Windows" />


<authorization>
<allow users="*" /> 

</authorization>


<trace enabled="false" requestLimit="10" pageOutput="false" traceMode="SortByTime" localOnly="true" />


<sessionState
mode="InProc"
stateConnectionString="tcpip=127.0.0.1:42424"
sqlConnectionString="data source=127.0.0.1;user id=sa;password="
cookieless="false"
timeout="20"
/>


<globalization requestEncoding="utf-8" responseEncoding="utf-8" />

</system.web>

</configuration>

Projectname.vsdisco

The Projectname.vsdisco (WebApplication1.vsdisco) file is an XML file that contains links (URLs) to resources providing discovery information for an XML Web service. The .vsdisco file looks as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<dynamicDiscovery xmlns="urn:schemas-dynamicdiscovery:disco.2000-03-17">
<exclude path="_vti_cnf" />
<exclude path="_vti_pvt" />
<exclude path="_vti_log" />
<exclude path="_vti_script" />
<exclude path="_vti_txt" />
<exclude path="Web References" />
</dynamicDiscovery

WebForm1.aspx, WebForm1.aspx.vb

The WebForm1.aspx file is the file with which you work. You design the interface for your application, write
client-side scripts in this file. The WebForm1.aspx.vb file the code behind where you write all the logic for the application that is processed back on the server.