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Building a Simple Mask Control By James Culshaw Rating: 3.0 out of 5 Rate this article email this article to a colleague suggest an article   Recently I began the task of creating my first custom server control for ASP.NET. I was under the impression that it should be reasonably straight forward as it all seemed very well documented - what a misapprehension that turned out to be! After hours of trawling through the .NET Framework SDK, numerous Web sites, and newsgroups, I finally succeeded in making my first working control. What I found was that all the important information was not all in one place. This article is an attempt to rectify some of that problem by bringing together all the standard information that is required while showing how to build a working control with client-side, rather than server-side, functionality. The final control that we will build is a basic mask control that allows input of time values. This version will accept two different formats - hour of day and duration. The only difference between the two is that duration will allow a time greater than 23:59. In both cases there is a fixed format of hh:mm, and the control will rectify the values entered to fit this format, either automatically modifying them or raising a warning to the user. My first piece of advice in creating a custom server control that is designed to do much work on the client side is to create what the control will render on the client in a standard html page, which you can do in notepad, Interdev, or any other html page development tool. It is far simpler to test and debug through this manner than trying to work out if there is something wrong with your client code or the server control code. There are two main pieces of code that we need to output - the HTML and the JavaScript. For building the basic mask control, we want to output the HTML shown in Figure 1. To create a new custom server control, create a new project in Visual Studio .NET, selecting Web Control Library as your project type. The new project will contain a single class that inherits from System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebControl. This is the base class for all .NET custom server controls, and provides all the basic properties and methods. <input name="InputMask1" size="8" maxlength="5" value="00:00" onkeypress="CheckMaskValue(this event);" onchange="CheckMaskFormat(this);"> Figure 1: Control HTML To generate the HTML for the server control, use the Render method of the class. This method has a single parameter, output, which is a System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter object. It is with this object that HTML will be emitted. There are two ways of emitting code via the HtmlTextWriter object. The first is with the write method that emits directly to the page the contents of its string parameter, allowing you to pass in complete HTML strings. The second way is to build actual HTML elements using the RenderBeginTag, RenderEndTag, and AddAttribute methods. The latter is my preferred method as the compiler will find malformed HTML, and it is closer to the method used by XSLT to produce HTML with which I was already familiar, and so I will discuss how to use them. To create a new HTML tag, issue the RenderBeginTag method with the tag name as its parameter. To close that tag, issue the RenderEndTag method. This method has no parameter, so it will close the last issued open tag. It's a shame about the lack of a parameter as it makes debugging a little difficult, and it's easy to loose track of what you have closed and which close tag matches which begin tag. My tactic has been to use comments, and it has worked satisfactorily so far. To add attributes to the tags, issue the AddAttribute method, passing in the attribute and the attribute value as parameters. What is interesting is that you must issue the AddAttribute methods before the RenderBeginTag method for the tag that you wish to attach the attributes to. This caught me out at first. Figure 2 shows the code that we need to output the HTML in Figure 1. The important thing to note is the use of Me.UniqueID for the name attribute. To reference your control on the client using JavaScript, you need to give it a unique name. Microsoft has provided a UniqueID property, which is guaranteed to contain a unique name for the control, and so it is by this that you should name your control and then reference it in any client-side script. When building multi-element controls, it is absolutely vital to name at least one form element of your control with the UniqueID property if you are maintaining state within your control, as the page framework uses it to route postback data to your control. ProtectedOverridesSub Render(ByVal output As System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter)         output.AddAttribute("name", Me.UniqueID)         output.AddAttribute("size", "8")         output.AddAttribute("maxlength", "5")         output.AddAttribute("value", Me.Text)         output.AddAttribute("onkeypress", "CheckMaskValue(this, event);")         output.AddAttribute("onchange", "CheckMaskFormat(this);")         output.RenderBeginTag("input")         output.RenderEndTag()     EndSub Figure 2: Render Method Because the custom server control is a class, you can define properties and methods just as in any other class. By default the public properties that you declare will appear in the property browser in the IDE. This control will have a property called Text, which contains the value of the control, and a property called MaskFormat, which allows the developer to set the format of the mask.. Figure 3 shows the code for these properties.     <Category("Appearance"), DefaultValue("")> _     Public Property [Text]() AsString         Get             If ViewState("Text") IsNothingThen                 Return "00:00"             Else                 ReturnCType(ViewState("Text"), String)             EndIf         EndGet         Set(ByVal Value AsString)             ViewState("Text") = Value         EndSet     EndProperty       <Category("Format"), Description("Determines the Date format to be used"), TypeConverter(GetType(InputFormatConverter))> _     PublicProperty MaskFormat() AsString         Get             If ViewState("DateFormat") IsNothingThen                 Return "Hour of Day (hh:mm)"             Else                 ReturnCType(ViewState("DateFormat"), String)             EndIf         EndGet         Set(ByVal Value AsString)             ViewState("DateFormat") = Value         EndSet     EndProperty Figure 3: Control Properties You can assign attributes to each property. The most common ones used are Category and Description. The Category attribute determines in which category in the property window the property appears. Description provides the description for that property in the bottom of the property window. There are numerous other attributes that can be used, and these are defined in the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK. In both properties, the value is stored in a collection called ViewState. This is a dictionary object that allows the values of the properties to be remembered across HTTP requests. These values aren't automatically updated when the user changes them and submits the form. We have to write some code to handle this, but that will be covered later. For the MaskFormat property, we want to provide a predefined list of options. This can be done either by defining the type of the property as an enumeration, or by associating the property with a custom type converter via the TypeConverter attribute. The TypeConverter attribute defines the custom type converter to use when the property is accessed. The use of an enumeration is the perfect way to allow options that consist of single words, but as in our case, if you wish to use phrases, then a custom type converter must be used. The custom type converter is defined in a separate class and is illustrated in Figure 4. To create a new custom type converter for your own controls, all you need to do is copy this entire class and replace the values in the _arrFormats() constructor. Imports System Imports System.ComponentModel PublicClass InputFormatConverter     Inherits TypeConverter        PrivateShared _arrFormats() AsString = {"Hour of Day (hh:mm)", "Hours duration (hh:mm)"}       PrivateShared _Formats As StandardValuesCollection = New StandardValuesCollection(_arrFormats)       'returns that the convertor supports a list of standard values     PublicOverloadsOverridesFunction GetStandardValuesSupported _       (ByVal context As ITypeDescriptorContext) AsBoolean         ReturnTrue     EndFunction       'notes whether you can manually add your own format     PublicOverloadsOverridesFunction GetStandardValuesExclusive _       (ByVal context As ITypeDescriptorContext) AsBoolean         ReturnTrue     EndFunction       'returns the list of standard values     PublicOverloadsOverridesFunction GetStandardValues _       (ByVal context As ITypeDescriptorContext) _       As StandardValuesCollection         Return _Formats     EndFunction   EndClass Figure 4: Custom Type Converter The bulk of the work of this control is handled on the client-side using JavaScript. I will not go into any detail on how this works, but I will describe how it is emitted to the Web browser from the control. Figure 5 shows the JavaScript that we wish to send to the browser, and Figure 6 shows the code within the control that generates it. The GetJavaScripts function is very long, but the bulk of it is taken up with formatting characters to emit nicely formatted JavaScript to the browser. There is no need to do this but it does make debugging a lot easier as you can actually read the code that your control has emitted. The function uses the MaskFormat property to determine what JavaScript to emit. In the example, client-side JavaScript the property had been set to 'Hour of Day (hh:mm)'. <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function CheckMaskValue(maskControl, evt) {       var strText = maskControl.value;       if ((evt.keyCode < 48) || (evt.keyCode > 57))       {             evt.keyCode = 0;       } } function CheckMaskFormat(maskControl) {       var strText = maskControl.value;       var a = strText.split(':');       if (isNaN(a[0]))       {             maskControl.value = '00:00';       }       else if (isNaN(a[1]))       {             if ((a[0].length == 5) || (a[0].length == 4))             {                   strText = strText.slice(0,2) + ':' + strText.slice(2,4);                   maskControl.value = strText;             }             if (a[0].length == 3)             {                   strText = '0' + strText.slice(0,1) + ':' + strText.slice(1,3);                   maskControl.value = strText;             }             if (a[0].length == 2)             {                   strText = strText.concat(':00');                   maskControl.value = strText;             }             if (a[0].length == 1)             {                   strText = strText.concat(':00');                   maskControl.value = strText;             }       }       else if (a[1].length == 1)       {             strText = strText.concat('0');             maskControl.value = strText;             }       else if (a[0].length == 1)       {             strText = '0' + strText;             maskControl.value = strText;       }       strText = maskControl.value;        strText = strText.slice(3,5);       if (strText > 59)       {             alert('You have entered more than 59 minutes');             maskControl.select();       }       strText = maskControl.value;        strText = strText.slice(0,2);       if (strText > 23)       {             alert('You have entered more than 23 hours');             maskControl.select();       } } --> </script> Figure 5: Client-Side JavaScript       PrivateFunction GetJavaScripts() AsString         Dim strScript AsString = "<script language=""JavaScript"">"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "<!--"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "function CheckMaskValue(maskControl, evt)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "var strText = maskControl.value;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if ((evt.keyCode < 48) || (evt.keyCode > 57))"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "evt.keyCode = 0;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "function CheckMaskFormat(maskControl)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "var strText = maskControl.value;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "var a = strText.split(':');"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if (isNaN(a[0]))"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = '00:00';"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "else if (isNaN(a[1]))"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if ((a[0].length == 5) || (a[0].length == 4))"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = strText.slice(0,2) + ':' + strText.slice(2,4);"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if (a[0].length == 3)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = '0' + strText.slice(0,1) + ':' + strText.slice(1,3);"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if (a[0].length == 2)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = strText.concat(':00');"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if (a[0].length == 1)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = strText.concat(':00');"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "else if (a[1].length == 1)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = strText.concat('0');"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "else if (a[0].length == 1)"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = '0' + strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.value = strText;"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = maskControl.value;"         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "strText = strText.slice(3,5);"         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "if (strText > 59)"         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "{"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "alert('You have entered more than 59 minutes');"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "maskControl.select();"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.Tab         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         IfMe.MaskFormat = "Hour of Day (hh:mm)" Then             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "strText = maskControl.value;"             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "strText = strText.slice(0,2);"             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "if (strText > 23)"             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "{"             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "alert('You have entered more than 23 hours');"             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "maskControl.select();"             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.Tab             strScript &= "}"             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf             strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         EndIf         strScript &= "}"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "-->"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         strScript &= "</script>"         strScript &= ControlChars.CrLf         Return strScript     EndFunction Figure 6: Generating JavaScript The generated JavaScript is emitted to the browser via the Page.RegisterClientScriptBlock method. The SDK documentation and many online sources show that it is called in the Render method. However, I have found that this does not work and that it should be called in the OnPreRender method instead. Figure 7 shows the code for this method. When a control is used more than once on the same page, each instance of the control on that page will attempt to emit its JavaScript. This would cause errors on the client, and so we wish the JavaScript specific to a control is emitted once, regardless of how many instances of that particular control there is on a specific page. Checking the Page.IsClientScriptBlockRegistered method can allow you to do this.     ProtectedOverridesSub OnPreRender(ByVal e As System.EventArgs)           Dim strScript AsString = GetJavaScripts()           If (Not Page.IsClientScriptBlockRegistered("dgcinputMaskClientScript")) Then             Page.RegisterClientScriptBlock("dgcinputMaskClientScript", strScript)         EndIf       EndSub Figure 7: OnPreRender Method The final thing that needs to be done with this control is to handle page postback. To allow the control to examine the page data that was posted back to the server the control must implement the System.Web.UI.IpostBackDataHandler interface. By implementing this interface the control can determine whether its state should be altered and raise appropriate events. Figure 8 shows the implementation. Two methods, LoadPostData and RaisePostDataChangedEvent, perform the work. The page invokes the LoadPostData method passing in the controls UniqueID as the postDataKey parameter and the form data as the values parameter. The control then gets access to its data from this collection using the postDataKey value. The form data is then compared against the data that is stored in the ViewState for the control and if different the property value is updated. If the state of the control has changed you must return True from the function. If the LoadPostData method returns true, then the page framework will later invoke the RaisePostDataChangedEvent method for the control.     'handle the postback to get the controls value     PublicEvent TextChanged As EventHandler       PublicOverridableFunction LoadPostData(ByVal postDataKey AsString, ByVal values As NameValueCollection) AsBooleanImplements IPostBackDataHandler.LoadPostData           Dim presentValue AsString = Me.Text         Dim postedValue AsString = values(postDataKey)           IfNot presentValue.Equals(postedValue) Then             Me.Text = postedValue             ReturnTrue         EndIf           ReturnFalse       EndFunction       PublicOverridableSub RaisePostDataChangedEvent() _       Implements IPostBackDataHandler.RaisePostDataChangedEvent         OnTextChanged(EventArgs.Empty)     EndSub       ProtectedOverridableSub OnTextChanged(ByVal e As EventArgs)         RaiseEvent TextChanged(Me, e)     EndSub Figure 8: Implementing System.Web.UI.IpostBackDataHandler We now have a simple but fully working time mask control. There is an issue with having more than one control on the page with different formats as the first control on the page emits the JavaScript and so determines the format for all controls on the page, but that can be easily rectified. Adding more items to the custom type converter and then creating the requisite JavaScript to handle the required mask can expand this sample. We have covered most of what is needed for creating custom server controls. There are other areas of custom server control development that have not been covered such as templated controls, but hopefully what is here will whet your appetite enough for you to learn more. About the Author James Culshaw has been developing with Microsoft technologies for over 6 years. After working for numerous companies, most recently Intel, he now works for local government in Scotland building solutions using SQL Server, VB.NET, and ASP.NET. One of these days he might actually finish his MCSD! James can be reached at culshaja@hotmail.com. Rate This Article Not Helpful Most Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Other Articles Apr 21, 2004 - Creating a Web Custom Control Conrad Jalali shows how to build Web custom controls by creating one that displays checkboxes in a categorized, hierarchical view. [Read This Article]  [Top] Mar 15, 2004 - Creating a Popup Date Picker Conrad Jalali shows how to extend the functionality of the ASP.NET Calendar control to remove some of the annoying postback delays that occur when populating a text box with a date from a popup calendar. [Read This Article]  [Top] Oct 23, 2003 - Creating a Custom .NET Web Control With Events This article covers some of the essentials of building reusable Web controls. Learn how to create a Web control and its custom events and event arguments, as well as how to use the control properly within a page. 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[Read This Article]  [Top] Jan 21, 2003 - Protecting Users from Suspect Textual Data Learn the ins and outs of composite controls by creating an application that prevents users from submitting offending text. [Read This Article]  [Top] Nov 26, 2002 - Introduction to the .NET Speech SDK Rob Chartier offers a tour of the .NET Speech SDK Beta 2 and its use of the industry specification SALT. The article shows you how to create a basic speech-enabled Web user control. [Read This Article]  [Top] Aug 27, 2002 - Creating "Self Populating" Controls In this article, Luther Stanton shows how to combine inheritance and server controls to create a self-populating drop-down-list control. [Read This Article]  [Top] Apr 30, 2002 - Building ASP.NET User and Server Controls, Part 2 Solomon Shaffer explains custom controls, describes the complexities and issues surrounding building such controls, and walks through a useful example. 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