Sharepoint: Web Part vs. ASP.NET User Control

sharepointweb-parts

When creating web parts for Sharepoint, is it better to create an actual web part, or is using and ASP.NET User Control (.ascx) just as good?

I already know how to create the user controls that I need, so it seems like the extra effort of creating a web part is just unnecessary leg work.

What are the advantages of using a web part over just creating and ASP.NET user control?

Best Answer

I am a big fan of user controls except for the simplest web parts. I create a webpart that instantiates and loads the user control. There are other tools out there that you can use to expose your user control, like smartpart, but I would suggest you wrap it up yourself, as it is a good learning experience. Once you have done it once, you basically have a template for any other webpart you want to create.

Good Luck!

Related Solutions

Displaying the current authenticated Sharepoint user from an asp.net Page Viewer Web Part

If you want to retrieve the currently authenticated user from the SharePoint context, you need to remain within the SharePoint context. This means hosting your custom web application within SharePoint (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc297200.aspx). Then from your custom application reference Microsoft.SharePoint and use the SPContext object to retrieve the user name. For example:

SPContext.Current.Web.CurrentUser.LoginName

You can still use the Page Viewer Web Part to reference the URL of the site, now located within the SharePoint context.

R – Add ASP.NET control to Sharepoint Web Part

Add it in the CreateChildControls() event in the webpart, like:

protected override void CreateChildControls()
{      
    LinkButton linkbutton = new LinkButton();
    linkbutton.Click += ClickButton;
    this.Controls.Add(linkbutton);

}

protected void ClickButton(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // handle event
}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Displaying the current authenticated Sharepoint user from an asp.net Page Viewer Web Part

R – Add ASP.NET control to Sharepoint Web Part

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