Is there any documentation available for Microsoft's VS project templates?

Question

User695372294 posted

I'm on the hunt for the latest ASP.NET web design templates (using Visual Basic) to update a couple of my websites that were based on an old version of Microsoft's "ASP.NET Web Forms Site" template.

One of the standard project templates offered by VisualStudio 2019 is called "ASP.NET Web Application (.NET Framework)", but it does not appear to contain any descriptive documentation. This template contain a lot of JavaScript files, complex CSS and view switching code that is far from being self-explanatory. The latest version of the "ASP.NET Web Forms Site" template also contains no documentation.

Where can I find sources of guidance on how to use Microsoft's project templates? I've tried searching for such information but without any success.

Answer 1

User409696431 posted

What kind of documentation are you looking for?  A "template" does not generally have or need documentation.  If you don't understand what the template contains you need to look for documentation on whatever is is you don't understand.  For example when you create a project using "Asp.Net Web Application", you must choose if you are creating one for Web Forms, MVC, Web API, Single Page Application, or Empty. You have the option to include multiple variants in one project, such as Web Forms and Web API.  Depending on what you pick, you need to learn Web Forms, MVC, Web API, and/or Single Page Application (and for Empty, already know enough to code it all yourself). You have other options to configure, such as Authentication (none, or which kind), HTTPS or not, docker support or not, and optionally creating a project for Unit Tests.

For such a template to have documentation would require it to encompass a rather large swath of the .Net space (although certainly not all of it).

You specifically mention JavaScript and CSS files.  If you look at them, for the Web Forms version of the Web Application template, you will see that they are Bootstrap and JQuery files.  Those are topics outside .Net, with readily available documentation.

Answer 2

User695372294 posted

What kind of documentation are you looking for?  A "template" does not generally have or need documentation.  If you don't understand what the template contains you need to look for documentation on whatever is is you don't understand.  For example when you create a project using "Asp.Net Web Application", you must choose if you are creating one for Web Forms, MVC, Web API, Single Page Application, or Empty. You have the option to include multiple variants in one project, such as Web Forms and Web API.  Depending on what you pick, you need to learn Web Forms, MVC, Web API, and/or Single Page Application (and for Empty, already know enough to code it all yourself). You have other options to configure, such as Authentication (none, or which kind), HTTPS or not, docker support or not, and optionally creating a project for Unit Tests.

For such a template to have documentation would require it to encompass a rather large swath of the .Net space (although certainly not all of it).

I was simply choosing the vanilla Web Forms option within that template, but I take your point that the wide range of options might make the provision of documentation a bit of a challenge. Your recommendation to search for guidance on specific sections of the template therefore seems the way to go. I have quite a bit of experience in using Web Forms, but have already started to check out unfamiliar template items like ViewSwitcher.ascx.

Thanks for clarifying this matter.

Answer 3

User409696431 posted

I added a couple lines to my reply above about the JavaScript and CSS files in that template.

I don't use the ViewSwitcher myself.  I don't create separate desktop and mobile pages, but use one page and make it responsive across a wide range of desktop, tablet, and mobile screen sizes.  Responsive Design is another separate topic, although if you are using BootStrap (as the template does), you can look at the BootStrap documentation to help.

Answer 4

User695372294 posted

KathyW

I don't use the ViewSwitcher myself.  I don't create separate desktop and mobile pages, but use one page and make it responsive across a wide range of desktop, tablet, and mobile screen sizes.  Responsive Design is another separate topic, although if you are using BootStrap (as the template does), you can look at the BootStrap documentation to help.

I did have a brief look at Bootstrap for a page on one of my sites nearly two years ago, but it seemed quite a complex beast and I lost interest when I found I could make that Web Form work well enough with mobiles by changing image sizes as shown below. Visual Basic warns me that neither <picture> nor <srcset> is supported by HTML5, but the markup does the job. Is there a more up to date method for doing this?

<div class="container">
    <picture>            
        <source media="(min-width: 900px)" srcset="Images/SRMS-full-map-large.png">
        <source media="(min-width: 750px)" srcset="Images/SRMS-full-map-medium.gif">            
        <source media="(min-width: 100px)" srcset="Images/SRMS-local-map-small.gif">
    </picture>
</div>

EDIT:  A check reveals that my use of the container class (defined in bootstrap.css) suggests that I was indeed exploiting Bootstrap coding in that solution

Answer 5

User409696431 posted

User bootstrap to the point you are willing to learn and use it, and use CSS "media" queries instead of or in addition to it.  Media queries are well documented on the web.

Answer 6

User695372294 posted

User bootstrap to the point you are willing to learn and use it, and use CSS "media" queries instead of or in addition to it.  Media queries are well documented on the web.

I'm not familiar with CSS media queries, so many thanks for that suggestion. As you said, it was easy to find online guidance on this topic. I suspect that Bootstrap is the more powerful tool, but media queries look like they might be an easier solution for many types of responsive design.

Answer 7

User-1330468790 posted

Hi haggis999,

 

I suspect that Bootstrap is the more powerful tool, but media queries look like they might be an easier solution for many types of responsive design.

You can treat the bootstrap as the frame or skeleton of the site so that you don't need to create a stylish site from scratch. 

It helps you to rearrange at certain breakpoints for different screen sizes or devices, which also takes advantages from media queries. 

If you really need to make your own CSS settings, you don't need to change the bootstrap files but simply write your own media queries in self-defined CSS files to restyle your content and apply these CSS styles to elements at certain conditions.

 

In short, media queries are the CSS mechanism for applying different styles depending on screen size, orientation, and other properties.

Bootstrap is a style and feature framework that leverages media queries, among many other things. The two are not comparable or competitive in any way, just like engines vs cars.

 

Hope this can help you.

Best regards,

Sean

Answer 8

User695372294 posted

You can treat the bootstrap as the frame or skeleton of the site so that you don't need to create a stylish site from scratch. 

It helps you to rearrange at certain breakpoints for different screen sizes or devices, which also takes advantages from media queries. 

If you really need to make your own CSS settings, you don't need to change the bootstrap files but simply write your own media queries in self-defined CSS files to restyle your content and apply these CSS styles to elements at certain conditions. 

In short, media queries are the CSS mechanism for applying different styles depending on screen size, orientation, and other properties.

Bootstrap is a style and feature framework that leverages media queries, among many other things. The two are not comparable or competitive in any way, just like engines vs cars.

Hi Sean,
Thanks for that clarification.

Shortly after making my last post I found out that Bootstrap was exploiting media queries, so the fog was starting to lift. Your analogy of engines vs cars encapsulates the situation very neatly!

Answer 9

User-1330468790 posted

Hi haggis999,

 

Glad to hear that the clarification helps.

If you still have problems, you can post it here and people here will be happy to help you.

If you find any answer does solve your issues, I suggest you mark that answer. This will help other people who faces the same issue to find the right answer faster.

 

Thank you for understanding.

Best regards,

Sean