Accessing controls in a MasterPage

If you have a regular .aspx page that utilizes a MasterPage and you need to access certain controls, like a label, within that MasterPage, it's as simple as adding this sort of code to your .aspx code:

Dim someLabel As Label = Master.FindControl("lbl_someLabel")
someLabel.Text = "Clients"

Image references in your CSS not showing?

If you have a background image in your CSS called like this,

background-image: url(/images/background.gif);

...and when you run your Web application the background isn't showing up it could be a problem with your 'Virtual Path' setting. To fix this, click on the main project path in your Solution Explorer, at the very top, change the 'Virtual Path' property to read "/"

Editing Meta Tags From Code Behind

Dynamically change the content of meta tags from the code behind. This allows you to feed the meta tags with content from a database or other dynamic content.

In your aspx source code do:

<meta id="metaDescription" name="description" content="" runat="server" />

In your aspx code behind do:

metaDescription.Content = "Description goes here"

The key is the runat="server" and the unique id within the meta tag. This allows you to "see" it in your code behind and manipulate it before sending it to the browser.

Adding a value to a dropdownlist after *.DataBind()

If you have a DropDownList component that is getting fed via a query or an ObjectDataSource, you can insert items into the list in such a way:

DropDownList.DataBind()
DropDownList.Items.Insert(<listLocation>, New ListItem("<name>", <value>))

Where <listLocation> is an integer that tells where to put the item within the DropDownList, <name> being the name that's displayed within the DropDownList, and <value> being the value associated with that item. Example:

DropDownList.DataBind()
DropDownList.Items.Insert(0, New ListItem("Select All", 0))

ObjectDataSource SelectParameters

If you have a component being bound from an ObjectDataSource (like a drop-down menu, or a grid view) and you wish to change the value's parameters SelectParameters:

ObjectDataSource.SelectParameters(#).DefaultValue = value
GridView.DataBind()

Where # is which SelectParameter you'd like to change. If there's just one SelectParamter, default is 0. Then reference your object that uses that datasource, in this case a GridView, to rebind.

Utilizing AppSettings

In web.config create a key and value:

<add key="keyName" value="keyValue" />

Access the AppSetting by calling it in your code behind:

ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("keyName")

Hex to Dec (VbScript)

Convert hexidecimal color codes (ie #C0C0C0) to decimal RGB (ie 255,255,255) in vbscript

Public Function GiveDec(Hex)
  if Hex = "A" then
    Value = 10
  elseif Hex = "B" then
    Value = 11
  elseif Hex = "C" then
    Value = 12
  elseif Hex = "D" then
    Value = 13
  elseif Hex = "E" then
    Value = 14
  elseif Hex = "F" then
    Value = 15
  else
    Value = Hex
  end if
  GiveDec = Value
End Function

Public Function HexToDec(Hex)
  Dim a,b,c,d,e,f,x,y,z,fHex
  fHex = Replace(Hex,"#","")

  a = Left(fHex,1)
  a = GiveDec(a)
  b = Mid(fHex,2,1)
  b = GiveDec(b)
  c = Mid(fHex,3,1)
  c = GiveDec(c)
  d = Mid(fHex,4,1)
  d = GiveDec(d)
  e = Mid(fHex,5,1)
  e = GiveDec(e)
  f = Right(fHex,1)
  f = GiveDec(f)

  x = (a * 16) + b
  y = (c * 16) + d
  z = (e * 16) + f

  HexToDec = """" & x & "," & y & "," & z & """"
End Function

Limit text input to numbers (Javascript)

Limit the text field to only numbers (with decimals)

function format(input){
 var num = input.value.replace(/\,/g,'');
  if(!isNaN(num)){
   if(num.indexOf('.') > -1){
   num = num.split('.');
   num[0] = num[0].toString().split('').reverse().join('').replace(/(?=\d*\.?)(\d{3})/g,'$1,').split('').reverse().join('').replace(/^[\,]/,'');
   if(num[1].length > 2){
    alert('You may only enter two decimals!');
    num[1] = num[1].substring(0,num[1].length-1);
   } input.value = num[0]+'.'+num[1];
  } else {
   input.value = num.toString().split('').reverse().join('').replace(/(?=\d*\.?)(\d{3})/g,'$1,').split('').reverse().join('').replace(/^[\,]/,'') };
  } else {
   alert('You may enter only numbers in this field!');
   input.value = input.value.substring(0,input.value.length-1);
  }
}

Limit the text field to only numbers (no decimals)

function formatInt(input){
 var num = input.value.replace(/\,/g,'');
  if(!isNaN(num)){
   if(num.indexOf('.') > -1) {
    alert("You may not enter any decimals.");
    input.value = input.value.substring(0,input.value.length-1);
   }
  } else {
   alert('You may enter only numbers in this field!');
   input.value = input.value.substring(0,input.value.length-1);
  }
}

Call the function within the html input

<input id="text" name="text" size="5" onkeyup="format(this);">