Inheriting a web server control in a simple fashion?

Question

Hi, I'm having a Repeater used as a sort of Paging TagCloud. To do so, I've added simple properties to the Page's ViewState such as a Page, RowCount, etc...

I feel like it doesn't belong there but I had bad experiences with server controls, debugging, dll and deployment.

Could I just inherit the Repeater class, add a few ControlState/ViewState properties and be able to use it exactly as a Repeater dragged straight from the ToolBox?

Here, having the following simple class:

    public class TagCloud : Repeater
{
    public int selectedIndex;

    public TagCloud()
    {
        selectedIndex = -1;
     //
     // TODO: Add constructor logic here
     //
    }

    public int SelectedIndex
    {
        get { return selectedIndex; }
        set { selectedIndex = value; }
    }
}

Without creating a new WebControlLibrary project, could this cs file stands in the App_Code folder and work like expected?

Thanks.

Answer 1

This works, and is one suggested way of building server controls. Try it and see.

Answer 2

Yes, there is no problem doing this. As long as you use the control's property syntax:

public int RowCount {

  get { return (int) (ViewState["RowCount"] ?? 0); }
  set { ViewState["RowCount"] = value; }

}

Also, to make your properties look the same as the default ones you can add Description or DefaultValue attributes.

Answer 3

Inheriting from the ASP Repeater is a completely valid approach, so long as the control you are building IS a repeater with additional properties.

If you feel the control you need is actually "something else" that happens to have a repeater as part of its control set, then you likely need to make a composite control which adds a repeater to its control collection, along with whatever other controls are needed.

For example, you might want to have a control that has a repeater, a label of search results, links to go to the top and the bottom of the repeater's contents, etc. This composite control is not a repeater, but does use a repeater.