Loss of properties webpart toolpart moss 2007

Question

I've got the following problem:

I created a WebPart with a ToolPart, this toolpart has multiple controls (textbox, dropdownlist, ...) when I fill in everything and apply, it all goes ok, even when i press ok. But when i go back to edit -> modify webpart, all my data i've entered is gone. How can i solve this?

Thanks

Answer 1

You'll need to save the values from the Toolpart in the webpart's properties. For example, lets say I want to save a string for "Title"... in the webpart define a property:

private const string DEFAULT_WPPColumnTitle = "Title";
private string _WPPColumnTitle = DEFAULT_WPPColumnTitle;

[Browsable(false)]
[WebPartStorage(Storage.Shared)]
public string WPPColumnTitle
{
    get { return this._WPPColumnTitle; }
    set { this._WPPColumnTitle = value; }
}

I always use the prefix "WPP" to keep all the web part properties together.

Then, in the Toolpart's ApplyChanges override, save the control's value (_ddlColumnsTitle) to the webpart (WPPColumnTitle):

/// <summary>
/// Called by the tool pane to apply property changes to
/// the selected Web Part.
/// </summary>
public override void ApplyChanges()
{
    // get our webpart and set it's properties
    MyCustomWebPart et = (MyCustomWebPart)ParentToolPane.SelectedWebPart;
    et.WPPColumnTitle = _ddlColumnsTitle.SelectedValue;
}

Lastly, if the user edited the properties already, we want the Toolpart to be pre-populated with the user's configuration. In the CreateChildControls() method of your Toolpart, initialize the controls:

protected override void CreateChildControls()
{
    try
    {
        MyCustomWebPart et = (MyCustomWebPart)ParentToolPane.SelectedWebPart;

        // ... code to create _ddlColumnsTitle and add it to the Controls

        // default our dropdown to the user's selection
        ListItem currentItem = _ddlColumnsTitle.Items.FindByValue(et.WPPColumnTitle);
        if (null != currentItem)
        {
            _ddlColumnsTitle.SelectedValue = currentItem.Value;
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        _errorMessage = "Error adding edit controls. " + ex.ToString();
    }
}