How To Add A UserControl To A Web Part In SharePoint 2007

Creating webparts has some drawbacks when it comes to developing them. Just the fact alone that you can’t visually see them while you work on them can be frustrating. User Controls are easier in that way. This is a guide to how you can create a Web Part that consists of one or more User Controls.
Get the best of both worlds

There is a link to the zipped solution in the bottom of the post.

Start with a blank Web Application.

1: Create the folders for SharePoint.

“TEMPLATE” in root of the project, “CONTROLTEMPLATES” inside that one, and finally the subfolder for your User Control(s). I named mine “Code-Journey”.

2: Add User Control

If you have created the project as a Class Library project you can’t do this in Visual Studio 2008. User Controls can’t be placed in subfolders in VS2008 using this template. No idea why not.
You can see how you can change a project from a class library to a web project here

Add a User Control to the project in the “Code-Journey” folder and user this markup for it.

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<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true"  CompilationMode="Always" Inherits="UserControlInWebPart.Code_JourneyUC,Code-Journey.UserControlInWebPart, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=efdef2519d9fa74c" %>
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<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="Name: "></asp:Label>
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<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox><br />
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<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" onclick="Button1_Click" /><br />
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<asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server"></asp:Label>

Note here that I am using codebehind for my User Control.

inherits=”namespace.classnameForYourCodeBehind, assemblyname,version, culture, publickeytoken”

3: Add Web Part to contain the User Control

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using System;
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using System.Data;
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using System.Configuration;
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using System.Web;
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using System.Web.Security;
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using System.Web.UI;
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using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
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using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
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using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
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namespace UserControlInWebPart
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{
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  public partial class UserControlInWebPart : WebPart
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  {
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    protected Control myUserControl;
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    protected override void CreateChildControls()
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    {
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      base.CreateChildControls();
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      string pathToUserControl = @"/_controltemplates/Code-Journey/Code-JourneyUC.ascx";
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      myUserControl = Page.LoadControl(pathToUserControl);
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      Controls.Add(myUserControl);
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    }
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  }
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}

We dynamically load the user control in the webpart, and voilá we have a webpart that consists of a usercontrol or more than one if we wish.

4: Sign assembly by right clicking the project in the solution explorer and selecting “Properties”. Click “Signing” in the left tabs, and “” in the drop down list. Uncheck the checkbox to avoid a password.

5: Create batch deployment script and run it as a postbuild command.

6: Build and let the script copy to gac.

7: Add the assembly for the webpart to safecontrols. The User controls are all added to safecontrols by default in the web.config by sharepoint.

8: Go to the webpart gallery and click “New”, choose your webpart and click “Populate gallery”

9: Add webpart to a webpart page by editing the page and clicking one of the yellow links to add the webpart.

Download the zipped solution below:
http://code-journey.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/usercontrolinwebpart.zip

(Download plugin apparently not working)

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