VS 2010 Web development IDE issue with control positioning

[JScannell]

What the heck is the rationale behind Microsoft not allowing controls to be moved at will around the IDE? How are you supposed to make user-friendly screen layouts if once you have placed a control on a form, that's it. it's stuck there!

This problem doesn't exist if you're making a desktop app, so it shouldn't be happening in a web app.

Does anyone out there know how to get around this HUGE shortcoming?

Thanks in advance,

Jerry Scannell

 

[JScannell]

As a follow-up to my own post, If I do View | Markup, I get an HTML view of things.

If I wish my controls to appear anywhere I want, I actually type in HTML making sure I don't step on any of the asp.net entries.

I added a table, tr, and td elements. It looks like I could include my own stylesheet files from my Classic ASP pages, and assign the elements class="" just like I do for those sites, so where is the need for a GUI IDE? All I need to do is plop a bunch of controls on my form, write down the names of each, exit the VS designer, navigate to the folder where everything is, and manually edit the HTML. is that about it? Is that what all of you VS web developers end up doing??


Jerry Scannell

 

[jbenson001]

Developing a page in web environment is MUCH different than in a Windows application. This is one of the things I struggled with as well when moving from Windows to web forms. Positioning in a web page is done through CSS, not the IDE. VS2010 does help a bit with the "Split" screen functionality. As you add controls and CSS, it will show the layout. However, remember, that VS uses IE to render it, so it may not look the same in other browsers. Again, cross browser compliance is something that you have to take into consideration in web applications, and not in Windows.

 

[JScannell]

Thanks. What I ended up doing is exactly what I said in my addendum. I took a page with a bunch of controls already on it, and did a View | Markup and created table, tr, td as I saw fit. I included my own css files and went to town.

The fact that you can't simply put controls on the form and move them where you want is stupid. Microsoft should have its head examined for ever doing this.

The rendering and css etc, could be altered as you move the things where you want them.


Jerry Scannell

 

[jbenson001]

The rendering and css etc, could be altered as you move the things where you want them

This statement comes from your frustration from coming from windows to web development. In earlier versions of VS this functionality existed. It was taken out for the very reason that what you saw in the IDE was not what you saw in the browser, unlike windows apps. Again I stress that it will never actually look like it will be rendered because each browser renders HTML differently. That's where there are certain ways of laying out a page to be cross browser compliant. Also, tables should not be used for layout of a page, this is where CSS comes in. These are things you will learn as you become more familiar with web development.

 

[jmeckley]

I second jbenson001's statements. JScannell moving from the desktop to the web is like moving to another country. the rules and languages change, some things may seem similar, but the context is different. embracing what the web is will make web development much easier, rather than complaining that it's not a windows desktop.

Jason Meckley
Programmer

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