Is WebForms Dead?
Microsoft has not included WebForms in the .NET Core ecosystem, but Elanat has released WebForms Core technology in 2024 with a revolutionary idea. In WebForms Core, HTML elements are managed on the server side. In this technology, all the problems of Microsoft's former WebForms have been solved, and there is no more pressure on the processor, memory, and bandwidth.
Introduction
In recent years, web development has increasingly shifted from the server side (back-end) to the client side (front-end). The emergence of frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue.js has empowered front-end developers to create complex, responsive, and dynamic applications. Client-side web development typically involves requesting JSON data from the server, with the server responding in a structured JSON format.
However, in 2024, Elanat introduced server-based technology; WebForms Core technology represents a modern approach to web development where HTML elements are managed on the server side. Unlike its legacy counterparts, such as the former Microsoft WebForms, WebForms Core transmits only an INI structure to the client. This technology ensures that data transmission remains fully compliant with standard HTML practices.
In this article, we teach the example of sending images to the server and displaying the images sent in the client. Also, a warning message is given to the user about not choosing the file and not choosing the right extension.
Note: Please note that this tutorial is explained using the CodeBehind Framework.
Create View
The following view is a View file named upload_image.aspx created in the wwwroot folder. According to this file, a Controller class named UploadImageController is assigned in the page properties section, and a layout is specified in this View file. The following script tag has been added in the head layout section.
<script type="text/javascript" src="/script/web-forms.js"></script>
Note: WebForms Core technology includes a JavaScript library called WebFormsJS that communicates with the WebForms class on the server. The WebFormsJS library is automatically created in the CodeBehind framework.
In the continuation of the View file, there is a form tag that sends data using the post method, and because we want to upload a file, we added the enctype attribute with the value of multipart/form-data in the form tag. The action attribute in the form tag also sends data to the /upload_image path.
Note: In the settings of the options file in the CodeBehind framework, you must enable the ability to rewrite views to the directory ("rewrite_aspx_file_to_directory=true"). Otherwise, you must set the value of the action attribute to /upload_image.aspx.
To access this view, after running the project, enter the /upload_image path in the browser.
View file (upload_image.aspx)
@page
@controller UploadImageController
@layout "/layout.aspx"
@{
ViewData.Add("title","Upload image");
}
<form method="post" action="/upload_image" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<label for="File">File Upload</label>
<input name="File" id="File" type="file" />
<br>
<input name="Button" type="submit" value="Click to send data" />
</form>
Inside the form tag, an input tag has been added to select an image and a submit tag to send data.
Create Controller
When the View route is requested, an instance of the UploadImageController class is created, and the PageLoad method is executed.
Controller class (UploadImage.cs)
using CodeBehind;
public partial class UploadImageController : CodeBehindController
{
public void PageLoad(HttpContext context)
{
if (context.Request.Form["Button"].Has())
Button_Click(context);
}
private void Button_Click(HttpContext context)
{
IFormFile FileUploadValue = context.Request.Form.Files["File"];
WebForms form = new WebForms();
form.AddTag("<form>", "h3");
if ((FileUploadValue != null) && (FileUploadValue.Length > 0))
{
var ValidExtensions = new[] { ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif" };
var FileExtension = Path.GetExtension(FileUploadValue.FileName).ToLowerInvariant();
if (!ValidExtensions.Contains(FileExtension))
{
form.SetBackgroundColor("<h3>-1", "yellow");
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "Invalid file type. Please upload an image.");
form.Delete("<h3>-1");
form.AssignDelay(3);
Control(form, true);
return;
}
string FilePath = "/image/" + FileUploadValue.FileName;
using (Stream stream = new FileStream("wwwroot" + FilePath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
FileUploadValue.CopyTo(stream);
}
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "File was upload.");
form.AddTag("<form>", "img");
form.SetAttribute("<form>|<img>-1", "src", FilePath);
form.SetWidth("<form>|<img>-1", 400);
}
else
{
form.SetBackgroundColor("<h3>-1", "red");
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "Please fill upload input.");
form.Delete("<h3>-1");
form.AssignDelay(3);
}
Control(form, true);
}
}
In the PageLoad method, it is checked whether there is form data with the name Button (if the submit button with the name Button has been clicked) and if there is, the Button_Click method is executed.
public void PageLoad(HttpContext context)
{
if (context.Request.Form["Button"].Has())
Button_Click(context);
}
At the beginning of the Button_Click method, the uploaded file is retrieved from the form data using context.Request.Form.Files["File"]. Then, an instance of the WebForms class is created and the method to create an h3 tag is called in the form tag.
private void Button_Click(HttpContext context)
{
IFormFile FileUploadValue = context.Request.Form.Files["File"];
WebForms form = new WebForms();
form.AddTag("<form>", "h3");
The code below checks that the file has been uploaded correctly.
if ((FileUploadValue != null) && (FileUploadValue.Length > 0))
If the above condition is not met, the following codes are executed, and the Control method is called at the end. According to the codes below, the background color of the last h3 tag (the command to create this tag is given above the Button_Click method) will be red. Then, use the string "Please fill upload input." It is added inside this tag. Then, the command to remove the h3 tag is called, and finally, by calling the AssignDelay method, a delay of 3 seconds is assigned to the last added command (the h3 tag is removed after 3 seconds). At the end of the Button_Click method, the Control code is also called.
Note: Calling the Control method with the second true argument will prevent View and Layout from being sent again.
form.SetBackgroundColor("<h3>-1", "red");
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "Please fill upload input.");
form.Delete("<h3>-1");
form.AssignDelay(3);
}
Control(form, true);
Response sent from the server
[web-forms]
nt<form>=h3
bc<h3>-1=red
at<h3>-1=Please fill upload input.
:3)de<h3>-1=1
Screenshot after submitting the form without selecting the file. The message with a red background will be deleted after 3 seconds.
If the condition is correct in uploading the file, it is first checked that the extension of the image is correct. If the image extension is not correct, the following codes are executed. According to the codes below, the background color of the last h3 tag will be yellow. Then the string "Invalid file type. Please upload an image." It is added inside this tag. Then, the command to remove the h3 tag is called, and finally, by calling the AssignDelay method, a delay of 3 seconds is assigned to the last added command. Then the Control code is also called and return method.
var ValidExtensions = new[] { ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif" };
var FileExtension = Path.GetExtension(FileUploadValue.FileName).ToLowerInvariant();
if (!ValidExtensions.Contains(FileExtension))
{
form.SetBackgroundColor("<h3>-1", "yellow");
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "Invalid file type. Please upload an image.");
form.Delete("<h3>-1");
form.AssignDelay(3);
Control(form, true);
return;
}
Response sent from the server
[web-forms]
nt<form>=h3
bc<h3>-1=yellow
at<h3>-1=Invalid file type. Please upload an image.
:3)de<h3>-1=1
Screenshot after submitting the form by selecting a file with an incorrect extension. The message with a yellow background will be deleted after 3 seconds.
If there is no problem with the image file extension, the image will be uploaded in the image path. Then the string "File was upload." It is added inside the h3 tag. Then an img (image) tag is added at the end of the form tag. Then, the src attribute of this tag is set equal to the path of the uploaded image file. Also, the width of the img tag is set to 400 pixels. At the end of the Button_Click method, the Control code is also called.
string FilePath = "/image/" + FileUploadValue.FileName;
using (Stream stream = new FileStream("wwwroot" + FilePath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
FileUploadValue.CopyTo(stream);
}
form.AddText("<h3>-1", "File was upload.");
form.AddTag("<form>", "img");
form.SetAttribute("<form>|<img>-1", "src", FilePath);
form.SetWidth("<form>|<img>-1", 400);
// ...
Control(form, true);
Response sent from the server
[web-forms]
nt<form>=h3
at<h3>-1=File was upload.
nt<form>=img
sa<form>|<img>-1=src|/image/Wallpaper (84).jpg
sw<form>|<img>-1=400px
Screenshot after sending two images
Conclusion
WebForms Core is a modern server-side technology that simplifies the management of HTML elements compared to traditional client-side frameworks. It underscores the shift in web development paradigms and shows how WebForms Core allows for server-side control over HTML while ensuring compliance with standard practices. In scenarios where the client requests the service, WebForms Core works much better than front-end frameworks.
GitHub repository:
https://github.com/elanatframework/Code_behind
Get CodeBehind from NuGet:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/CodeBehind/
CodeBehind page:
https://elanat.net/page_content/code_behind
Videos of WebForms Core functionality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl4sxjIkBwU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuMMApM00xM
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