A Base page in ASP.NET

Question

Do you recommend from every web site created in Visual Studio, that you should create a Base page that serves as the parent class?

What are the exact benefits/drawbacks?

Answer 1

It depends on the size and complexity of your project. For small websites with minimal functionality, a base page might be overkill. That said, I would typically use it for site-wide functionality, such as security. I tend to keep functionality in the master pages to a minimum since their primary purpose is to organize your layout and factor out common display areas from you content pages to avoid duplication and ease maintenance.

To create a base page for use in a master page scenario, you could use the following syntax:

Master Page:

 <%@ Master Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="MyProject.master.cs"
        Inherits="MyProject.MasterPages.MyProject" %>

       
    

Base Page:

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/MasterPages/MyProject.Master"
    AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="BasePage.aspx.cs"
        Inherits="MyProject.BasePage" %>

Content Page:

<%@ Page Title="MyProject - Home" Language="C#"
    MasterPageFile="~/MasterPages/MyProject.Master" AutoEventWireup="true"
        CodeFileBaseClass="MyProject.BasePage" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs"
            Inherits="MyProject.Default"
                Meta_Description="Code Snippet: Master Page and Base Page"
                    Meta_Keywords="master, base, content" Theme="Style" %>