MasterPage & CSS Layout Strategy

[Alex Maghen]

I need some help figuring out how to properly use CSS for layout in a
MasterPage environment in ASP.NET 3.5. Imagine I have a VERY simple
MasterPage layout with 4 DIVs ("header", "LeftNav", "PageBody", and
"footer"). I'm then going to use CSS to define #header{}, #LeftNav{} etc.
styles for layout.

All that is fine. But now let's say that I want to be able to access the
properties of these DIVs from the server side. What I would do is set the
DIVs to 'runat="server"'. The problem is that as soon as I do that, the IDs
of the DIVs get mangled and then things like the #header{} style definition
in my CSS is not found when the page is rendered.

How do I handle this?

Alex

 

[Anthony Jones]

I need some help figuring out how to properly use CSS for layout in a
MasterPage environment in ASP.NET 3.5. Imagine I have a VERY simple
MasterPage layout with 4 DIVs ("header", "LeftNav", "PageBody", and
"footer"). I'm then going to use CSS to define #header{}, #LeftNav{} etc.
styles for layout.

All that is fine. But now let's say that I want to be able to access the
properties of these DIVs from the server side. What I would do is set the
DIVs to 'runat="server"'. The problem is that as soon as I do that, the
IDs
of the DIVs get mangled and then things like the #header{} style
definition
in my CSS is not found when the page is rendered.

How do I handle this?

Don't use #IDName.

Give each a class: header, LeftNav etc.

Then use

div.header {}
div.LeftNav {}

etc in your CSS.

 

[Allen Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Alex,

I think what Anthony said about CSS is reasonable.

What I want to supplement is, if we want to access the
properties of these DIVs in the code behind we don't have to set it as
"runat='server'". Here's the sample that demonstrates how to change the
attribute of the <div> tag. In fact, the <div> and any other HTML elements
are translated to LiteralControl so we can use LiteralControl to render
them directly.

Aspx:

<form id="form1" runat="server">
Test:
<div id="mydiv">Hello World</div>
</form>

Aspx.cs:

protected void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
LiteralControl lc = (LiteralControl)this.form1.Controls[0];
lc.Text = lc.Text.Replace(" id=\"mydiv\"", " id=\"mydiv\"
style=\"background-color:Red\"");

}

Though it's seldom used it's also an option.


Another suggestion is to read the following tutorial:
http://quickstarts.asp.net/QuickStartv20/aspnet/doc/themes/default.aspx

In ASP.NET 2.0 it's recommended to use Theme and Skin.

If you have further questions please feel free to ask.

Regards,
Allen Chen
Microsoft Online Community Support

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[THEMES ARE EVIL]

Another suggestion is to read the following tutorial:
http://quickstarts.asp.net/QuickStartv20/aspnet/doc/themes/default.aspx

In ASP.NET 2.0 it's recommended to use Theme and Skin.

If you have further questions please feel free to ask.

Regards,
Allen Chen
Microsoft Online Community Support

<snip/>

IT IS PATHETIC, DISHONEST, AND SHAMEFUL THAT MICROSOFT SYCOPHANTS CONTINUE
TO TRY TO MISLEAD PEOPLE BY TRYING TO TRICK THEM INTO USING MICROSOFT'S
THEMES WHICH WERE CREATED TO VANDALIZE THE USE OF CSS.

YOU'VE ALL BEEN WARNED. FAILURE TO USE GOOGLE TO VERIFY WILL GET YOU
WHAT YOU DESERVE.

 

[Allen Chen [MSFT]]

Hi Alex,

Have you solved this problem?

Regards,
Allen Chen
Microsoft Online Support