Question

Create Portals Menu in ASP.NET from Tree Structure Table of SQL Server 2005

Asked by: imtiazwighio

Hi Experts

I am creating a website of portals in which I have many companies and these companies are having multiple brands and even in these brands there are multiple categories, as shown below:
1.     Citizen.
        Men
               a.  Quartz
               b. ...
        Women
               a.  ....
               b.  .....
        Wrist Watch
2.     Tissot.
         Wrist Watches
         Wall Clocks
3.     Omega
.....

this is just an example, but there are no fix no. of brands or products. they want to add / modify products or categories any time...

I have created a table in this way:
         CategId            Level                    Category                   URL                        ParentId
         1                        0                         MainCompany                                          0
         2                        1                         Citizen                                                      1
         3                        1                         Tissot                                                       1
         4                        1                         Omega                                                      1
         5                        2                         Men                                                          2
         6                        2                         Women                                                    2
         7                       3                          Quartz                                                     5  

I have table but I don't know how can I retrieve all the tree (items) and add them in ASP.NET menu control.
or is there any other way to do this easily

Thanks in Advance....

Imtiaz

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-08-18 at 00:20:57ID23655605
Tags

ASP.NET with VB.NET, Visual Studio 2005

,

.Net Framework 2.0

Topics

Programming for ASP.NET

,

SQL Server 2005

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
7

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Macintosh compatibility with Portals and asp.net
    We are using Explorer 5.2 on MACOS 10.2.8 and trying to test a portal system in asp.net - in a time crunch (my expertise is not the programming end :-) and we are having difficulty viewing the logo which is to be at the top of the page - is this a browser issue with Mac or a ...
  2. ASP.NET Portal System?
    Does anyone know of a really good ASP.NET Portal/CMS system? DotNetNuke's quality is suspect @ best (have you *seen* the sites that implement it?!), and ADXStudio looks to be an ASP solution with some .NET wrapped around it. Hack. I have been thinking about building my ow...
  3. Portal System
    Hi A friend of mine, which has limited web design skills, wants to find a portal with these characterstics: - It should have a CMS system, with which he can manage the web site, add pages, modify pages, things like that. - He has a bunch of files for download, and wants the ...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: b1xml2Posted on 2008-08-20 at 07:54:39ID: 22270233

Your current table structure does not allow mobility since it hard codes the level, the following is an example of a mobile menu data table.

The appendix document contains snapshots of the SQL Table Structure, Foreign Key Constraint as well as the desired Xml from the table.

The data structure is like so;
CategoryId, CategoryName, CategoryUrl, ParentId

/*SQL Stored Procedure*/
create proc GetMenuXml
as
select
	1 as Tag,
	null as Parent,
	null as [root!1!id],
	null as [category!2!id],
	null as [category!2!name],
	null as [category!2!url],
	null as [category!3!id],
	null as [category!3!name],
	null as [category!3!url]
union all
select
	2 as Tag,
	1 as Parent,
	a.CategoryId,
	a.CategoryId,
	a.CategoryName,
	a.CategoryUrl,
	null as [category!2!id],
	null as [category!2!name],
	null as [category!2!url]
	
from
	dbo.[Q23655605] a
	inner join dbo.[Q23655605] b on a.ParentId = b.CategoryId
where
	b.ParentId is null
union all
select
	3 as Tag,
	2 as Parent,
	b.CategoryId,
	b.CategoryId,
	b.CategoryName,
	b.CategoryUrl,
	a.CategoryId,
	a.CategoryName,
	a.CategoryUrl
	
from
	dbo.[Q23655605] a
	inner join dbo.[Q23655605] b on a.ParentId = b.CategoryId
where
	b.ParentId is not null
order by [root!1!id],[category!2!id],[category!3!id]
for xml explicit
 
/* ASP.NET Page */
 
<asp:Menu ID="MainMenu" runat="server" DataSourceID="MenuXmlDataSource">
     <DataBindings>
      <asp:MenuItemBinding DataMember="category" 
          NavigateUrlField="url" TextField="name" ValueField="name" />
       </DataBindings>
</asp:Menu>
<asp:XmlDataSource ID="MenuXmlDataSource" runat="server" 
    ondatabinding="MenuXmlDataSource_DataBinding" 
    ontransforming="MenuXmlDataSource_Transforming" XPath="/*/*" />
 
 
/* ASP.NET Code-Behind */
 
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(Settings.Default.ExpertsExchangeDb))
    {
        connection.Open();
        using (SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("GetMenuXml", connection))
        {
            command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
 
            using (XmlReader reader = command.ExecuteXmlReader())
            {
                XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
                document.Load(reader);
                this.MenuXmlDataSource.Data = document.DocumentElement.OuterXml;
            }
 
        }
    }
}
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:
58:
59:
60:
61:
62:
63:
64:
65:
66:
67:
68:
69:
70:
71:
72:
73:
74:
75:
76:
77:
78:
79:
80:
81:
82:
83:
84:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: b1xml2Posted on 2008-08-20 at 07:58:05ID: 22270287

Amendment for the ASP.NET Page (removing the unnecessary ondatabinding and ontransforming events)

/* AMENDMENT: ASP.NET Page */
 
<asp:Menu ID="MainMenu" runat="server" DataSourceID="MenuXmlDataSource">
     <DataBindings>
      <asp:MenuItemBinding DataMember="category" 
          NavigateUrlField="url" TextField="name" ValueField="name" />
       </DataBindings>
</asp:Menu>
<asp:XmlDataSource ID="MenuXmlDataSource" runat="server" XPath="/*/*" />
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: imtiazwighioPosted on 2008-08-20 at 09:37:20ID: 22271519

Thanks a lot for your kind help it is working fine,
but I need to know is it supporting even further categories inside, lets suppose in WOMEN category there are further categories on the basis of colours, then will this support this ????

if it supports multiple categories then I exactly need this ...

Thanks again for your useful help, and I saw that you have created a website and database at your side, thanks for your useful time...
actually I am working in VB.NET but I can convert your C# code into VB.NET,...

 

by: b1xml2Posted on 2008-08-20 at 20:43:16ID: 22275994

My apologies. I should have realised that the For Xml Explicit is just that, explicit and the depth must be explicitly coded. In such case, the best way is to return the xml data as is and let a xslt document perform the n-level deep transformation.

Since the approach is different, I have made a second proposed solution for your perusal.

  1. The Sql Procedure returns data as is in Xml format. 
  2. The XSLT document transforms the data as can be seen in Appendix 2. 
  3. The XmlDataSource is still valid. You just add the path to the XSLT document via the TransformFile property. 
This will provide the n-level menu support.

/* SQL Stored Procedure */
create proc [dbo].[GetMenuXml]
as
select
	1 as Tag,
	null as Parent,
	null as [root!1!id],
	null as [category!2!id],
	null as [category!2!name],
	null as [category!2!url],
	null as [category!2!parent]
union all
select
	2 as Tag,
	1 as Parent,
	a.CategoryId,
	a.CategoryId,
	a.CategoryName,
	a.CategoryUrl,
	a.ParentId
from
	dbo.[Q23655605] a
order by [root!1!id],[category!2!parent]
for xml explicit
 
/* Sample Data */ 
<root>
  <category id="1" name="Main Company" url="~/Home.aspx" />
  <category id="2" name="Citizen" url="~/Citzen.aspx" parent="1" />
  <category id="3" name="Tissot" url="~/Tissot.aspx" parent="1" />
  <category id="4" name="Omega" url="~/Omega.aspx" parent="1" />
  <category id="5" name="Men" url="~/Men.aspx" parent="2" />
  <category id="6" name="Women" url="~/Women.aspx" parent="2" />
  <category id="7" name="Quartz" url="~/Quartz.aspx" parent="3" />
  <category id="8" name="HardWorkers" url="~/HardWorkers.aspx" parent="5" />
</root>
 
/* XSLT */ 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" exclude-result-prefixes="msxsl">
    <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
    <xsl:key name="categories" match="category" use="@parent"/>
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <root>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="//category[not(@parent)]" mode="root" />
    </root>  
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="category" mode="root">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="key('categories',@id)"  />
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="category">
    <category>
      <xsl:copy-of select="@*"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="key('categories',@id)" />
    </category>
  </xsl:template>
    <xsl:template match="@* | node()">
        <xsl:copy>
            <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()"/>
        </xsl:copy>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
 
/* ASPX Page */
<div>
    <asp:Menu ID="MainMenu" runat="server" DataSourceID="MenuXmlDataSource">
         <DataBindings>
          <asp:MenuItemBinding DataMember="category" 
              NavigateUrlField="url" TextField="name" ValueField="name" />
           </DataBindings>
    </asp:Menu>
    <asp:XmlDataSource ID="MenuXmlDataSource" runat="server" XPath="/*/*" 
        TransformFile="MenuBusinessLogic.xslt"/>
</div>
 
/* Code Behind */
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(Settings.Default.ExpertsExchangeDb))
        {
            connection.Open();
            using (SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("GetMenuXml", connection))
            {
                command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
 
                using (XmlReader reader = command.ExecuteXmlReader())
                {
                    XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
                    document.Load(reader);
                    this.MenuXmlDataSource.Data = document.DocumentElement.OuterXml;
                }
 
            }
        }
    }
}
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:
58:
59:
60:
61:
62:
63:
64:
65:
66:
67:
68:
69:
70:
71:
72:
73:
74:
75:
76:
77:
78:
79:
80:
81:
82:
83:
84:
85:
86:
87:
88:
89:
90:
91:
92:
93:
94:
95:
96:
97:
98:
99:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: b1xml2Posted on 2008-08-20 at 20:46:46ID: 22276006

Amended XSLT.

You can safely ignore the last template

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" exclude-result-prefixes="msxsl">
    <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
    <xsl:key name="categories" match="category" use="@parent"/>
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <root>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="//category[not(@parent)]" mode="root" />
    </root>  
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="category" mode="root">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="key('categories',@id)"  />
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="category">
    <category>
      <xsl:copy-of select="@*"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="key('categories',@id)" />
    </category>
  </xsl:template>
 </xsl:stylesheet>

                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: imtiazwighioPosted on 2008-08-21 at 06:57:05ID: 31487536

Thanks a lot b1xml2, you have solved my problem I really need this...
Thanks again, If you don't mind then please let me know that how XSLT file is working here and what is exactly need of this file... I am not familiaar with XSLT format...
once again I am really thankful to you ...

IMTIAZ

 

by: DylanJones1Posted on 2008-09-26 at 07:52:03ID: 22580090

This is a fantastic solution great explanation and it works!!!   One question I have is in regard to limiting access to menu items.  The SiteMap provider allows you to limit access based on users roles.  Can you describe how that might be accomlished with this approach.  Happy to open another question and grant points - just let me know.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...