Question

I really didn’t know how to ask this question in a simple fashion.

I need to display a Client name on a page in several places and they’re not always visible at the same time.

The solution I originally had was 3 Label Controls (uxClientName1, uxClientName2 and uxClientName3) and I’d populate them in my code behind when I needed them.

uxClientName1 = CurrentClient.ClientName

A colleague suggested I use the following solution. On my page I would have this wherever I need it…

<%=DisplayClientName()%>

and in my code behind I would have this…

Protected Function DisplayClientName() As String

    Return CurrentClient.ClientName

End Function

This is great because it’s doing exactly what I want with no repeated code but I don’t really understand how it works or exactly what’s going on.

Any explanations?

EDIT: This is my Client Property on the page…

Private Property CurrentClient() As Client
    Get
        If ViewState("CurrentClient") Is Nothing Then
            '   No such value in view state, take appropriate action.
            ViewState("CurrentClient") = New Client
            Return CType(ViewState("CurrentClient"), Client)
        Else
            Return CType(ViewState("CurrentClient"), Client)
        End If
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As Client)
        ViewState("CurrentClient") = value
    End Set
End Property

Answer 1

These are embedded code blocks.

Embedded code blocks must be written
in the page’s default language. For
example, if the page’s @ Page
directive contains the attribute
language=”VB”, the page will use the
Visual Basic compiler to compile code
in any script block marked with
runat=”server” and any in-line code in
<% %> delimiters.

Embedded code blocks are supported in
ASP.NET Web pages primarily to
preserve backward compatibility with
older ASP technology. In general,
using embedded code blocks for complex
programming logic is not a best
practice, because when the code is
mixed on the page with markup, it can
be difficult to debug and maintain. In
addition, because the code is executed
only during the page’s render phase,
you have substantially less
flexibility than with code-behind or
script-block code in scoping your code
to the appropriate stage of page
processing.

Some uses for embedded code blocks:

• Setting the value of a control or markup element to a value returned by a function
• Embedding a calculation directly into the markup or control property.

Here is a list of all inline ASP.NET tags.