Introduction
Many web applications are required to be complex yet intuitive to the user. One way to achieve this is to create objects or areas of the web page draggable and droppable. Unfortunately, ASP.NET server controls do not have the Drag events and DragEventArgs. Fortunately, there is a way to enable drag and drop functionalities within a web page. Now keep in mind, this is not like a Windows application where you can drag files from the user's PC to the application. The drag and drop is limited to the boundaries of the web page.
Using the code
- Create a web application within your solution.
- Create a web page.
- Add the provided JavaScript in the
<HEAD>of your<HTML>. - Add two textboxes and a button in the web form.
- Add the
DrawContainersmethod to the code-behind of the web page. - Ensure that the
clickevent for the button calls theDrawContainersmethod.
or
- Download the source code and run the sample application.
JavaScript
This is the JavaScript that enables the drag and drop to take place:
Collapse--------- Drag and Drop JavaScript -----------var TimerID = 0;
var oEl = null;
var oTarget = null;
var beginDrag = false;
var tmpHTML = ""; function killTimer()
{ if (TimerID != 0 )
{
clearTimeout(TimerID);
TimerID = 0;
}
} function fnShowDragWindow()
{ var obj = document.all("DW");
killTimer(); if (oEl == null)
{ return;
}
obj.style.top = oEl.offsetTop;
obj.style.left = oEl.offsetLeft;
obj.style.height = oEl.offsetHeight - 3;
obj.style.width = oEl.offsetWidth - 3;
obj.innerText = oEl.SpecimenId;
obj.style.display = "block";
obj.style.zIndex = 999;
window.document.attachEvent( "onmousemove" , fnMove );
window.document.attachEvent( "onscroll" , fnMove );
window.document.attachEvent( "onmousemove" , fnCheckState );
window.document.attachEvent( "onmouseup" , fnRelease );
window.document.attachEvent( "onselectstart", fnSelect ); //window.document.attachEvent("onmouseover",setTarget); beginDrag = true;
} function setTarget(id)
{ var src = document.getElementById(id); if (src == null)
{ return;
} if (src.target == 'true')
{
oTarget = src;
} else {
oTarget = null;
}
} function BeginDrag(id)
{ // Get the item to be dragged. oEl = document.getElementById(id); // Is there an item? if(oEl == null)
{ return;
}
tmpHTML = oEl.innerHTML; // Set the window timeout. TimerID = setTimeout(fnShowDragWindow, 1);
} function fnCheckState()
{ if(event.button != 1)
{
fnRelease();
}
} function fnSelect()
{ return false;
} function fnMove()
{ if (event.button != 1)
{
fnRelease(); return;
} var obj = document.all("DW");
obj.style.top =
event.clientY - (obj.offsetHeight/2) + window.document.body.scrollTop;
obj.style.left = event.clientX + window.document.body.scrollLeft;
window.status = 'Top=' + obj.style.top + ' Left=' + obj.style.left; if (event.clientY > window.document.body.clientHeight - 10 )
{
window.scrollBy(0, 10);
} else if (event.clientY < 10)
{
window.scrollBy(event.clientX, -10);
}
} function fnRelease()
{ if (beginDrag == false) return;
window.document.detachEvent( "onmousemove" , fnMove );
window.document.detachEvent( "onscroll" , fnMove );
window.document.detachEvent( "onmousemove" , fnCheckState );
window.document.detachEvent( "onmouseup" , fnRelease );
window.document.detachEvent( "onselectstart", fnSelect ); //window.document.detachEvent( "onmouseover", setTarget ); var obj = document.all("DW"); if (oTarget != null)
{ var targetHTML = oTarget.innerHTML; var targetSpecId = oTarget.SpecimenId; var sourceSpecId = oEl.SpecimenId;
oEl.innerHTML = targetHTML;
oEl.SpecimenId = targetSpecId;
oTarget.SpecimenId = sourceSpecId;
oTarget.innerHTML = tmpHTML; // Is the container empty? if(oTarget.innerHTML != "")
{
oTarget.style.backgroundColor="beige";
} else {
oTarget.style.backgroundColor = "turquoise";
} if(oEl.innerHTML != "")
{
oEl.style.backgroundColor = "beige" } else {
oEl.style.backgroundColor = "turquoise" }
}
killTimer();
obj.style.display = "none";
oEl = null;
oTarget = null;
beginDrag = false;
TimerID = 0;
} function CancelDrag()
{ if (beginDrag == false)
{
killTimer();
}
}
--------- End of Drag and Drop JavaScript -----------C# code behind - DrawContainers method
This is the code behind used to create the drag and drop objects:
Collapseprivate void DrawContainers()
{
TableRowCollection trCol = this.Table1.Rows;
TableRow tr = null; // Should we continue? if(this.txtContX.Text == null this.txtContY.Text == null) return; // Size of the row. int rowSize = Int32.Parse(this.txtContX.Text); // Number of rows. int rowNumber = Int32.Parse(this.txtContY.Text); // Total number of containers. int numberOfContainers = rowSize * rowNumber; // Boolean value for empty table cells. bool isEmpty = false; // Loop through all of the containers. for(int i=0; i< numberOfContainers; i++)
{ // new row mod. int newRow = i % rowSize; // Should we create a new row? if(tr == null newRow == 0)
{
tr = new TableRow();
trCol.Add(tr);
} // Empty cell generator. if((i+1)%17==0)
{
isEmpty = true;
} else {
isEmpty = false;
} // Set the cell collection. TableCellCollection tdc = tr.Cells; // Create a new table cell. TableCell td = new TableCell();
td.ID = "cell_" + i.ToString(); // Set the cell backcolor. td.BackColor = Color.Turquoise; // Set the cell's class. td.CssClass = "SpecimenLoc";
td.Attributes.Add("SpecimenId", ""); // Is the cell empty? if(!isEmpty)
{
td.Attributes.Add("SpecimenId", i.ToString());
td.BackColor = Color.Beige;
td.Text = i.ToString();
} // Add javascript attributes to the cell. td.Attributes.Add("target", "true");
td.Attributes.Add("onmousedown", "BeginDrag(this.id);");
td.Attributes.Add("onmouseup", "CancelDrag();");
td.Attributes.Add("onmouseover", "setTarget(this.id);this.style.cursor='hand';");
td.Attributes.Add("onmouseout", "this.style.cursor='default';");
td.Width = Unit.Pixel(35);
td.Height = Unit.Pixel(35); // Add the cell to the cell collection. tdc.Add(td);
}
}C# code behind - button click event
The click event of the button:
private void btnDrawContainers_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{ // Draw the containers. this.DrawContainers();
}
About Kenny Young
B.S. - University of South Florida.
Kenny currently works as a software architect at the Data Technology Coordinating Center for the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network http://www.rarediseasesnetwork.org.
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