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Page.PreviousPage Method in Asp.net


At times there becomes a need to transfer data from one page to another page in ASP.NET and for doing this, there are various ways through which we can transfer data from one page to another page. For transferring the data we need to store the data either on the client side or on the server side.

Client Side Storage Mechanism:-

  1. Cookies
  2. Query String
  3. Hidden Field (View State)
  4. Cache

Server Side Storage Mechanism:-

  1. Session
  2. Application

We can easily transfer data through a query string but the drawback of using this concept is that the string is visible in the address bar and your site can be easily hacked. This means we cannot transfer sensitive data such as words or any other data. And the 2nd limitation is that we can transfer data maximum up to 255 characters and not more than that.

There is one more approach that can be used for transferring data that is the  PostBackUrl property. This property can be set on a Button when you need to transfer data from one page to another page. The value of this property should be the transferred page. Let's suppose that we have 2 pages

  1. Survey.aspx
  2. SurveyReceipt.aspx

And we need to transfer data from survey.aspx to surveyReceipt.aspx. In this case we set the PostBackUrl of the button control on survey.aspx to SurveyReceipt.aspx.

Following is the design of Survey.aspx

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true"  CodeFile="Survey.aspx.cs" Inherits="_Default" %>
  
 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
  
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
 <head runat="server">
    <title>Untitled Page</title>
    <style type="text/css">
        .style1
        {
            height: 46px;
        }
    </style>
 </head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">

    <div>
        <table style="width: 100%; color: #0E0E6C">
                        <tr>
                            <td align="left" valign="top" colspan="2" style="background-color: Maroon; color: White;"> 
                              <span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Verdana; font-style: normal;">&nbsp;Help
                                    us to help you!</span>
                                <br />
                                Personal Info&nbsp;
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td align="right" valign="top">
                                Name:</td>
                            <td>
                                <input id="txtName" type="text" name="txtName" runat="server" enableviewstate="true" />
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td align="right" valign="top" class="style1">
                                Gender:</td>
                            <td class="style1">
                                <input id="Radio1" name="optGender" type="radio" value="Female" runat="server" enableviewstate="true" />Female
                                <br />
                                <input id="Radio2" name="optGender" type="radio" value="Male" runat="server" enableviewstate="true" />Male
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td align="right" valign="top">
                                Mountain Bike Rider?</td>
                            <td>
                                <input id="chkMBR" checked="checked" name="chkMBR" type="checkbox" runat="server"
                                    enableviewstate="true" />
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td align="right" valign="top">
                                Road Rider?</td>
                            <td>
                                <input id="chkRR" checked="checked" name="chkRR" type="checkbox" runat="server" enableviewstate="true" />
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td align="right" valign="top">
                                Favorite Trails from&nbsp;<br />
                                around the world:</td>
                            <td>
                                <textarea id="txtTrails" cols="50" name="txtTrails" rows="3" runat="server" enableviewstate="true"></textarea>
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                    <hr />
                    <asp:Table ID="tblOuter" runat="server" ForeColor="#0E0E6C" Width="100%">
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR1" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR1C1" runat="server" ColumnSpan="2">
                                <asp:Panel ID="pnlActivity" runat="server" Width="100px">
                                    Recent and Planned Activity</asp:Panel>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR2" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR2C1" runat="server" VerticalAlign="Middle" Width="1%" Wrap="False">Rides</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR2C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:Table ID="tblInner" runat="server" GridLines="None" Width="100%">
                                    <asp:TableRow ID="innerR1" runat="server">
                                        <asp:TableCell ID="innerR1C1" runat="server" Wrap="false" Width="1%">
                                            <asp:Literal ID="itlLast" runat="server" Text="Last Trip>>>"></asp:Literal>
                                        </asp:TableCell>
                                        <asp:TableCell ID="innerR1C2" runat="server">
                                            <asp:Calendar ID="calLast" runat="server" TodayDayStyle-BackColor="Maroon"></asp:Calendar>
                                        </asp:TableCell>
                                    </asp:TableRow>
                                    <asp:TableRow ID="innerR2" runat="server">
                                        <asp:TableCell ID="innerR2C1" runat="server" Wrap="false" Width="1%">
                                            <asp:Literal ID="ltlNext" runat="server" Text="Next Trip>>>"></asp:Literal>
                                        </asp:TableCell>
                                        <asp:TableCell ID="innerR2C2" runat="server">
                                            <asp:Calendar ID="calNext" runat="server" TodayDayStyle-BackColor="Maroon"></asp:Calendar>|
                                        </asp:TableCell>
                                    </asp:TableRow>
                                </asp:Table>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR3" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR3C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False">Your Ability:</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR3C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:DropDownList ID="ddAbility" runat="server">
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Beginner"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Competent"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Expert"></asp:ListItem>
                                </asp:DropDownList>

                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR4" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR4C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False">Your Experience:</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR4C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:ListBox ID="lstExperience" runat="server">
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Ridden only on the road"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Ridden on some forest fire-breaks"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Ridden singletrack trails"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Ridden down mountains"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Raced down mountains"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="Won races down mountains"></asp:ListItem>
                                </asp:ListBox>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR5" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR5C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False">Your Goals:</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR5C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:CheckBoxList ID="chkGoals" runat="server">
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="To get more road-riding experience"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="To get more mountain-biking experience"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="To upgrade my bike"></asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem Text="To get the latest accessories"></asp:ListItem>
                                </asp:CheckBoxList>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR6" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR6C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False">Contact:</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR6C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:RadioButtonList ID="optMarketing" runat="server">
                                    <asp:ListItem Selected="True">Do not send me sales information</asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem>Only send me sales information from Adventure Works</asp:ListItem>
                                    <asp:ListItem>Send me any sales information I might be interested in</asp:ListItem>
                                </asp:RadioButtonList>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR7" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR7C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False">Where do you normally ride?</asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR7C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:ImageMap ID="imgMap" OnClick="imgMap_Click" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/BikeTheWorld.gif"
                                    HotSpotMode="PostBack">
                                    <asp:PolygonHotSpot Coordinates="0,0,150,0,75,60,75,100,0,75" HotSpotMode="PostBack"
                                        PostBackValue="USA" TabIndex="1" />
                                    <asp:PolygonHotSpot Coordinates="160,0,225,0,200,60,125,60,125,25" HotSpotMode="PostBack"
                                        PostBackValue="Europe" TabIndex="2" />
                                </asp:ImageMap>
                                <asp:HiddenField ID="hdnRegion" runat="server" />
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                        <asp:TableRow ID="outerR8" runat="server">
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR8C1" runat="server" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top"
                                Width="1%" Wrap="False"></asp:TableCell>
                            <asp:TableCell ID="outerR8C2" runat="server">
                                <asp:ImageButton ID="ImageButton1" runat="server" PostBackUrl="~/SurveyReceipts.aspx"  ImageUrl="~/images/Submit.GIF"/>
                            </asp:TableCell>
                        </asp:TableRow>
                    </asp:Table>   
    </div>
    </form>
 </body>
</html>

Following is the Design of SurveyReceipt.aspx

 <%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="SurveyReceipts.aspx.cs" Inherits="SurveyReceipts" %>
  
 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
  
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
 <head runat="server">
    <title>Untitled Page</title>
 </head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server"></asp:Label>
    </div>
    </form>
 </body>
 </html>

Following is the code of Survey.aspx.cs

 using System;
 using System.Configuration;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Web;
 using System.Web.Security;
 using System.Web.UI;
 using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
 using System.Xml.Linq;
 
 public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
 
    }
    protected void imgMap_Click(object sender, ImageMapEventArgs e)
    {
        hdnRegion.Value = e.PostBackValue;
    }
}

Following is the code of SurveyReceipts.aspx.cs

 using System;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Configuration;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Web;
 using System.Web.Security;
 using System.Web.UI;
 using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
 using System.Xml.Linq;
 
 public partial class SurveyReceipts : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Page.PreviousPage != null)
        {
            HtmlInputText txtName = (HtmlInputText)PreviousPage.FindControl("txtName");
            HtmlInputCheckBox chkMBR = (HtmlInputCheckBox)PreviousPage.FindControl("chkMBR");
            HtmlInputCheckBox chkRR = (HtmlInputCheckBox)PreviousPage.FindControl("chkRR");
            HtmlTextArea txtTrails = (HtmlTextArea)PreviousPage.FindControl("txtTrails");
            Calendar calLast = (Calendar)PreviousPage.FindControl("calLast");
            Calendar calNext = (Calendar)PreviousPage.FindControl("calNext");
            DropDownList ddAbility = (DropDownList)PreviousPage.FindControl("ddAbility");
            ListBox lstExperience = (ListBox)PreviousPage.FindControl("lstExperience");
            CheckBoxList chkGoals = (CheckBoxList)PreviousPage.FindControl("chkGoals");
            RadioButtonList optMarketing = (RadioButtonList)PreviousPage.FindControl("optMarketing");
            HiddenField hdnRegion = (HiddenField)PreviousPage.FindControl("hdnRegion");
 
            string sName = txtName.Value.ToString();
            string sGender = Request.Form["optGender"];
            bool bMBR = chkMBR.Checked;
            bool bRR = chkRR.Checked;
            string sTrails = txtTrails.Value;
            string sLast = calLast.SelectedDate.ToLongDateString();
            string sNext = calNext.SelectedDate.ToLongDateString();
            string sAbility = ddAbility.SelectedValue.ToString();
            string sExperience = lstExperience.SelectedValue.ToString();
            string sGoals = "";
            foreach (ListItem goal in chkGoals.Items)
            {
                if (goal.Selected)
                {
                    sGoals += goal.Text + "<br />";
                }
            }
            string sMarketing = optMarketing.SelectedValue.ToString();
            string sRegion = hdnRegion.Value;
            Label1.Text = "Your Survey Details:<br />"
                + "Name: " + sName + "<br />"
                + "Gender: " + sGender + "<br />"
                + "Mountain Bike Rider: " + bMBR + "<br />"
                + "Road Rider: " + bRR + "<br />"
                + "Favourite Trails: " + sTrails + "<br />"
                + "Last Ride: " + sLast + "<br />"
                + "Next Ride: " + sNext + "<br />"
                + "Your Ability: " + sAbility + "<br />"
                + "Your Experience: " + sExperience + "<br />"
                + "Your Goals: " + sGoals + "<br />"
                + "Marketing Info: " + sMarketing + "<br />"
                + "Your Region: " + sRegion + "<br />";
        }
        else
        {
            Label1.Text = "Welcome Guest";
        }
    }
}

Now just run the page and test the functionality.  Enter some values in the survey.aspx page and click on the button; you'll see that the values are retrieved and displayed on the surveyreceipt.aspx page

Here you saw how to transfer data from one page to another page but what if we were having a master page applied on webpage then in that case than the way of transferring data from one page to another page becomes different because all your control lies inside the contentPlaceholder of your master page then in this case we need to first refer to the contentplaceholder control and then we can access the control within the webpage.

Following is the example First of all we'll have to create a master page for doing this activity just for explanation purpose we'll create a demo master page.
Following is the master page design and save it as TopLevel.master

 <%@ Master Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="TopLevel.master.cs" Inherits="TopLevel" %>
  
 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
  
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
 <head runat="server">
    <title>Untitled Page</title>
 </head>
<body>
 <form id="form1" runat="server">
 <table style="width:100%;">
        <tr>
            <td align="right" colspan="3">
                <asp:Image ID="Image1" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/images/AdvWorksLogo.gif" />
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="width: 10%">
                <asp:Image ID="Image2" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/images/AdvWorksSideBar.gif" />
            </td>
            <td valign="top">
        <asp:ContentPlaceHolder id="pageContent" runat="server">
           
            <p>
                <br />
            </p>
            <p>
            </p>
            <p>
            </p>
            <p>
            </p>
           
        </asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
            </td>
            <td style="width: 10%">
                &nbsp;</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td align="right" colspan="3">
                <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server"
                    Text="&lt;b&gt;Copyright&amp;copy;[email protected]&lt;/b&gt;"></asp:Label>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
    </form>
 </body>
</html>

Now we need to apply this master page on 2 web page for this we'll have to add 2 new web page having TopLevel.master as the master page.

1st web page design following is the code

 <%@ Page Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Toplevel.master" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="_Default" Title="Untitled
Page" %>
 <asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="pageContent" Runat="Server">
    <table style="width:30%;">
        <tr>
            <td class="style1" style="width: 120px">
                &nbsp;Enter Name :</td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="style1" style="width: 120px">
                &nbsp;Enter Add :</td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox2" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="style1" style="width: 120px">
                &nbsp;Enter City :</td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td class="style1" style="width: 120px">
                &nbsp;Enter State :</td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox4" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td align="center" class="style1" colspan="2">
                <asp:Button ID="btnSend" runat="server" Text="Send" PostBackUrl="~/Default2.aspx" />
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
 </asp:Content>

After designing you web page should look like this.

PreviousPageMethod in ASP.NET

Set the PostBackUrl property of the btnSend button to Default2.aspx page.
Now design 2nd web page with just one label control added to it, following is the design code of default2.aspx page

<%@ Page Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Toplevel.master" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default2.aspx.cs" Inherits="Default2" Title="Untitled
Page" %>
 <asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="pageContent" Runat="Server">
    <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server"></asp:Label>
 </asp:Content>

Now in default2.aspx.cs on the page load event we'll write code for accessing the values from default.aspx page and display it on the label control.

 using System;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Configuration;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Web;
 using System.Web.Security;
 using System.Web.UI;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
 using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
 using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
 
 public partial class Default2 : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Page.PreviousPage != null)
        {
            ContentPlaceHolder content = (ContentPlaceHolder)Page.PreviousPage.Form.FindControl("pageContent");
            string name = ((TextBox)content.FindControl("TextBox1")).Text;
            string add = ((TextBox)content.FindControl("TextBox2")).Text;
            string city = ((TextBox)content.FindControl("TextBox3")).Text;
            string state = ((TextBox)content.FindControl("TextBox4")).Text;
            Label1.Text = "Your Details are : <br/>Your Name : " + name + "<br/>Your Add : " + add + "<br/>Your City : " + city + "<br/>Your State : " +
            state;
        }
        else
            Label1.Text = "Welcome Guest";
    }
}

Hope this activity you have liked and it may help you in your projects.


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