This is part one of a three part article that demonstrates how to build an
ASP.NET navigation system. In part one, web pages are added to a web site and
then referenced in a ASP.NET 2.0 SiteMap file. In part two an ASP.NET 2.0 Menu
control will be tied to the SiteMap file created in part one. In part three an
ASP.NET SiteMapPath (bread crumbs menu) will be tied to the SiteMap created in
part one and the Menu added in part two.
Getting Started
Create a new web site solution with Visual Studio 2005.
Add a folder named 'SitePages' to the solution.
Add an ASP.NET 2.0 master page to the SitePages folder. Add an HTML table to
the master page which includes at a minimum, a column for a left side menu and a
row at the top for a 'bread crumbs menu. See the SiteMaster.master page in the
source code for an example.
Add folders to the SitePages folder and within the folders add web pages so
you have some web pages to reference in the site map file you will later create
and edit. See the folders in the example web site's SitePages folder in the
source code for ideas. You can keep your Web site's files in any folder
structure that is convenient for your application. In the example web site,
folders are used to create a hierarchal structure which holds pages that can be
used for presenting .NET topics.
Add an ASP.NET 2.0 SiteMap
Right-click the name of the web site in the Visual Studio Solution Explorer
and select 'Add New Item...'.
The 'Add New Item' window will open. Select the 'Site Map' template and then
click the 'Add' button.
A new site map file named 'Web.sitemap' is added to your web site solution.
Add an ASP.NET 2.0 SiteMapDataProvider control to your master page. View the
master page in design mode. Drag a SiteMapDataProvider from the Data tab of the
Visual Studio Toolbox and place it just under the HTML table on the master page.
Add References to Site Web Pages to the Web.sitemap File
You must modify the XML in the Web.sitemap file to create a site map for your
web site. There is no wizard in Visual Studio for editing the site map
XML.
Double-click the Web.sitemap file in your Visual Studio solution. The file
will open in an XML code editor within the Visual Studio solution:
<?xml
version="1.0"
encoding="utf-8"
?>
<siteMap
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AspNet/SiteMap-File-1.0"
>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description="">
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMap>
The default XML you see is an example of the format you must follow to create
your site map.
A siteMapNode can be nested within another site map node.
<?xml
version="1.0"
encoding="utf-8"
?>
<siteMap
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AspNet/SiteMap-File-1.0"
>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description="">
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description="">
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description="">
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title=""
description=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMap>
Open and study the Web.sitemap in the article's source code. It demonstrates
how to use and nest nodes to build a site map.
Source Code Extract
<?xml
version="1.0"
encoding="utf-8"
?>
<siteMap>
<siteMapNode
url="Home.aspx"
title="Home"
description="Home"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/VisualBasic/VisualBasic.aspx"
title="Visual
Basic"
description="Visual
Basic"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/VisualBasic/Syntax/Syntax.aspx"
title="Syntax"
description="Syntax"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/VisualBasic/Syntax/ClassStatement.aspx"
title="Class
Statement"
description="Class
Statement"
roles=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/VisualBasic/Syntax/ForEach.aspx"
title="For..Each"
description="For..Each
Statement"
roles=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/CSharp/CSharp.aspx"
title="CSharp"
description="CSharp"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/CSharp/Syntax/Syntax.aspx"
title="Syntax"
description="Syntax"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/CSharp/Syntax/ClassStatement.aspx"
title="Class
Statement"
description="Class
Statement"
roles=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/WindowsForms/Forms.aspx"
title="Win
Forms"
description="Win
Forms"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/WindowsForms/TabStripMenu.aspx"
title="TabStripMenu"
description="TabStripMenu"
roles=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/WebForms/Forms.aspx"
title="Web
Forms"
description="Web
Forms"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="SitePages/WebForms/Menu.aspx"
title="Menu
Control"
description="Menu
Control"
roles=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
<siteMapNode
url=""
title="Search
Engines"
description="Search
Engines"
roles="">
<siteMapNode
url="http://www.google.com/"
title="Google"
description="Google"
roles=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url="http://www.yahoo.com/"
title="Yahoo"
description="Yahoo"
roles=""
/>
<siteMapNode
url="http://search.msn.com/"
title="MSN
Search"
description="MSN
Search"
roles=""
/>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMapNode>
</siteMap>
Modify your site map file, using the article source code as an example of how
to edit your site map file. Add a referent to all the web pages in your
SitePages folder and its sub folders to your site map file.
About the SiteMap Class
A SiteMap object provides access to read-only site map information via the
SiteMapDataSource control. SiteMap objects are used in conjunction with
SiteMapDataSource, Menu, and SiteMapPath objects to render a navigation
interface for users to navigate a Web site.
The XmlSiteMapProvider class is the default provider for the SiteMap class,
which works with an XML configuration file, Web.sitemap. At runtime, an
XmlSiteMapProvider object reads the Web.sitemap into a SiteMap object.
Next time:
In part two of this article, an ASP.NET menu will be tied to the Web.sitemap.
For more information:
SiteMap Class
Menu Class
SiteMapPath Class
mike mcintyre
http://www.getdotnetcode.com
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