ansaurus

Question

Answer 1

A:

Well, the main thing that's making that 'look bad', is you're using ViewSate and GET; so don't do that (either disable the ViewSate and adjust code accordingly, or use POST).

What you may also be interested in, however, is URL Re-Writing. You can do that in a few ways, I typically do it with a wildcard mapping in IIS and appropriate changes to the Global.asax file. Searching will reveal how to do this.

Noon Silk 2010-01-05 02:44:49

Even if you disable ViewState there will still be at least a small __VIEWSTATE field (and possibly others). I guess it's a matter of whether the question is about how to make the URL completely "pretty" or just "less ugly" :)

Eilon 2010-01-05 02:46:01

I updated my question. I can use `POST` but in this case it will be constant and not pretty as much as I want - I want to have separate URL for each word entered in TextBox. Something like Google does - for every search request it has own url and serves it without temporary redirects.

flashnik 2010-01-05 02:52:04

Well, in that case you want URL re-writing. Search around for it; you will find some tutorials on it very easily.

Noon Silk 2010-01-05 02:52:48

How will it work? I mean how can I form beutiful URL in browser wothout redirect? AFAIK rewriting will make create long URL from beautiful but how to set this smart?

flashnik 2010-01-05 03:08:06

Answer 2

+1 A:

Using GET requests with ASP.NET server forms will unfortunately always yield those "ugly" URLs.

One thing that you can do is change the form to not be a server form and instead be a regular form:

<form method="get" action="Search.aspx">
    <input type="text" name="query" />
    <input type="submit" name="SearchButton" value="Search" />
</form>

One limitation of this solution is that you can no longer place certain ASP.NET controls within this form. For example, the <asp:Button> control will not work in this form because it must be contained within a server form (that is, a form that has runat="server" on it).

Eilon 2010-01-05 02:44:53

Answer 3

A:

Since its a GET request you can also use javascript, setting the

location.href = 'http://mysite.com/search/' + query;

Then on the ASP.NET side you can use the URL Rewriting feature to redirect that url to a specific ASPX page as a query string parameter.

Let me know if you would like a more detailed sample.

Sample:

Here is a sample, please note I haven't tested it, but this should get you started.

<html>
<head>
  <script type="text/javascript">
    function searchRedirect()
    {
      var query = $get('query');
      location.href = "/search/" + query.value;
    }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="search">
        <input type="text" id="query" /><br />
        <input type="button" id="search" value="Search" onclick="searchRedirect();" />
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Then on the redirect side you have have a RouteModule like this:

public class UrlRewriter : IHttpModule
{
    public void Dispose()
    {
    }

    public void Init(HttpApplication context)
    {
        context.AuthorizeRequest += new EventHandler(OnBeginRequest); //this ensures the login page has the vitual url not the mapped url
    }


    private void OnBeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        var application = sender as HttpApplication;
        if (application != null)
        {
            var requestPath = application.Request.AppRelativeCurrentExecutionFilePath;
            if (requestPath.ToLower().StartsWith("/search/"))
            {
                var query = requestPath.Substring(8);
                application.Context.RewritePath("Search.aspx", null, "query=" + query, false);
            }
            // .. Other Routes
        }
    }
}

And assuming the code is in your App_Code folder you could use this in your web.config

<system.web>
  <!-- ... -->
  <httpModules>
      <add name="UrlRewriter" type="UrlRewriter, __code"/>
  </httpModules>
</system.web>

<!-- If IIS7 -->
<system.webServer>
  <modules>
    <add name="UrlRewriter" type="UrlRewriter, __code" />
  </modules>
</system.webServer>

bendewey 2010-01-05 02:51:47

Yes, I'm very interesting in your solution. Could you provide more detailed sample?

flashnik 2010-01-05 02:57:46

This solution of course depends on the user having JavaScript enabled. Do you need this app to work on all browsers, including mobile phones, as well as users who use accessibility aids such as screen readers?

Eilon 2010-01-05 02:59:01

I assume that JS is enabled because It'll also use AJAXAnd first of all I aim on desktop browsers - IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera

flashnik 2010-01-05 03:02:36

@flashnik, what are you using for you AJAX? jQuery? ASP.NET AJAX?

bendewey 2010-01-05 03:16:07

I'm using ASP.Net AJAX

flashnik 2010-01-05 03:19:14

I added the sample code for this technique

bendewey 2010-01-05 03:43:35

Yes, I've seen and supported. I was checking one of my ideas.Great thanks for your solution! It does what I want.And which limitations I may encounter with such code? I mean why I was asked about browsers and phones?

flashnik 2010-01-05 04:05:16

The limitation mentioned is regarding browsers without javascript enabled or javascript support.

bendewey 2010-01-05 12:48:08

Ok, now I see. Great thanks!

flashnik 2010-01-05 18:20:13

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

Make URL in ASP.Net user-friendly

Sample:

related questions