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Figure 10-16

Modifying zones

One aspect of the Portal Framework that merits special attention is the capability to modify zones on the page. These zones allow for a high degree of modification — not only in the look and feel of the items placed in the zone, but also in terms of the behaviors of zones and the items contained in the zones as well. Following are some examples of what you can do to modify zones.

Turning off the capability for modifications in a zone

As you have seen, giving end users the capability to move Web Parts around the page is quite easy, whether within a zone or among entirely different zones. When working with the Portal Framework and multiple zones on a page, you do not always want to allow the end user to freely change the items that appear in every zone. You want the items placed in some zones to be left alone. Listing 10-7 shows an example of this.

Listing 10-7: Turning off the zone modfication capability

<asp:WebPartZone ID=”WebPartZone1” Runat=”server” LayoutOrientation=”Horizontal” AllowLayoutChange=”false”>

<ZoneTemplate>

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<asp:Label ID=”Label1” Runat=”server” Text=”Label” Title=”Welcome to my web page!”>

Welcome to the page! </asp:Label>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:WebPartZone>

In this example, the first Web Part Zone, WebPartZone1, uses the AllowLayoutChange attribute with a value of False, which turns off the end user’s capability to modify this particular Web Part Zone. When you run this page and go to the design mode, notice that you cannot drag and drop any of the Web Parts from the other zones into WebPartZone1. Neither can you grab hold of the Label Web Part contained in WebPartZone1. No capability exists to minimize and close the Web Parts contained in this zone. It allows absolutely no modifications.

Here is another interesting change you may notice when you are working in the page catalog mode with the AllowLayoutChange attribute set to False. After you select items to add to the page through the page catalog, WebPartZone1 does not appear in the drop-down list of places where you can publish the Web Parts (see Figure 10-17). From this figure, you can see that only WebPartZone2 and WebPartZone3 appear and allow modifications.

Figure 10-17

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Adding controls through other means

Earlier in this chapter, you examined how to use the <asp:PageCatalogPart> control to restore controls to a page after they had been deleted. Although the <asp:PageCatalogPart> is ideal for this, you might also want to allow the end user to add Web Parts that are not on the page by default. You may want to enable the end user to add more than one of any particular Web Part to a page. For these situations, you work with the <asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart> control.

Listing 10-8 shows an example of using this type of catalog system in place of the

<asp:PageCatalogPart> control.

Listing 10-8: Using the DeclarativeCatalogPart control

<asp:CatalogZone ID=”Catalogzone1” Runat=”server”> <ZoneTemplate>

<asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart ID=”Declarativecatalogpart1” Runat=”server”> <WebPartsTemplate>

<uc1:CompanyContactInfo ID=”CompanyContact” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:PhotoAlbum ID=”PhotoAlbum” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:Customers ID=”Customers” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:Locations ID=”Locations” Runat=”Server” />

</WebPartsTemplate>

</asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:CatalogZone>

Instead of using the <asp:PageCatalogPart> control, this catalog uses the <asp:Declarative CatalogPart> control. This templated control needs a <WebPartsTemplate> section where you place all the available controls. The controls appear in the check box list in the same order in which you declare them in the <WebPartsTemplate> section. Figure 10-18 shows how the catalog will look in the Design view in Visual Studio 2005.

Figure 10-18

This catalog lets you select items from the list of Web Parts and assign the location of the zone in which they will be placed. Once placed, notice that the option to add these Web Parts has not disappeared as it did with the earlier PageCatalogPart control. In fact, you can add as many of these items to the page as you deem necessary — even if it is to the same zone within the Portal Framework.

Even using the DeclarativeCatalogPart control is not always 100% ideal. When the end user closes one of the Web Parts that initially appears on the page, he does not see that control listed in the DeclarativeCatalogPart control’s list of elements. In fact, the end user cannot re-add these deleted items. Using both the

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PageCatalogPart control and the DeclarativeCatalogPart control simultaneously is the best solution. The great thing about this framework is that it allows you to do that. The Portal Framework melds both controls into a cohesive control that not only enables you to add controls that are not on the page by default, but it also lets you add previously deleted default controls. Listing 10-9 shows an example of this.

Listing 10-9: Combining both catalog types

<asp:CatalogZone ID=”Catalogzone1” Runat=”server”> <ZoneTemplate>

<asp:PageCatalogPart ID=”Pagecatalogpart1” Runat=”server” /> <asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart ID=”Declarativecatalogpart1” Runat=”server”>

<WebPartsTemplate>

<uc1:CompanyContactInfo ID=”CompanyContact” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:PhotoAlbum ID=”PhotoAlbum” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:Customers ID=”Customers” Runat=”Server” /> <uc1:Locations ID=”Locations” Runat=”Server” />

</WebPartsTemplate>

</asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:CatalogZone>

In this example, both the PageCatalogPart control and the DeclarativeCatalogPart control are contained with the <ZoneTemplate> section. When this page is run, you see the results shown in Figure 10-19.

Figure 10-19

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You can see that each catalog is defined within the Catalog Zone. Figure 10-19 shows the PageCatalogPart control’s collection of Web Parts (defined as Page Catalog), while a link to the Declarative Catalog is provided for that particular list of items. Note that the order in which the catalogs appear in the <ZoneTemplate> section is the order in which the links appear in the Catalog Zone.

Web Part verbs

Web Part verbs declare the actions of the items (such as Minimize and Close) that appear in the title. These verbs are basically links that initiate an action for a particular Web Part. The available list of Web Part verbs includes

<CloseVerb>

<ConnectVerb>

<EditVerb>

<ExportVerb>

<HelpVerb>

<MinimizeVerb>

<RestoreVerb>

The <asp:WebPartZone> control allows you to control these verbs by nesting the appropriate verb elements within the <asp:WebPartZone> element itself. After these are in place, you can manipulate how these items appear in all the Web Parts that appear in the chosen Web Part Zone.

For example, look at graying out the default Close link included with a Web Part. This is illustrated in Listing 10-10.

Listing 10-10: Graying out the Close link in a Web Part

<asp:WebPartZone ID=”WebPartZone3” Runat=”server”> <CloseVerb Enabled=”False” /> <ZoneTemplate>

<asp:Calendar ID=”Calendar1” Runat=”server”> </asp:Calendar>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:WebPartZone>

In this example, you can see that you simply need to set the Enabled attribute of the <CloseVerb> element to False in order to gray out the Close link in any of the generated Web Parts included in this Web Part Zone. If you construct the Web Part Zone in this manner, you achieve the results shown in Figure 10-20.

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Figure 10-20

If you don’t want to gray out the Close link (or any other verb link contained within the Web Part), you must instead use the Visible attribute of the appropriate verb (see Listing 10-11).

Listing 10-11: Removing the Close link in a Web Part

<asp:WebPartZone ID=”WebPartZone3” Runat=”server”> <CloseVerb Visible=”False” /> <ZoneTemplate>

<asp:Calendar ID=”Calendar1” Runat=”server”> </asp:Calendar>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:WebPartZone>

Using the Visible attribute produces the screen shown in Figure 10-21.

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Figure 10-21

Verb elements provide another exciting feature: They give you the capability to use images for the items rather than default text. Using images instead of text makes the Web Parts appear more like the overall Windows environment. For instance, you can change the contents of WebPartZone3 again so that it now uses images instead of text for the Close and Minimize links. This is illustrated in Listing 10-12.

Listing 10-12: Using images for the Web Part verbs

<asp:WebPartZone ID=”WebPartZone3” Runat=”server”> <CloseVerb ImageUrl=”Images/CloseVerb.gif” />

<MinimizeVerb ImageUrl=”Images/MinimizeVerb.gif” /> <ZoneTemplate>

<asp:Calendar ID=”Calendar1” Runat=”server”> </asp:Calendar>

</ZoneTemplate>

</asp:WebPartZone>

To point to an image for the verb, use the ImageUrl attribute. This produces something similar to Figure 10-22, depending on the images you use.

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Figure 10-22

This chapter thus far has concentrated on creating completely customizable portal applications in a declarative manner using the capabilities provided by the ASP.NET Portal Framework. As with most aspects of ASP.NET, however, not only can you work with appearance and functionality in a declarative fashion, but you can also create the same constructs through server-side code.

Working with Classes in the Por tal Framework

The Portal Framework provides three main classes for dealing with the underlying framework presented in this chapter: WebPartManager, WebPartZone, and WebPart.

The WebPartManager class allows you to perform multiple operations in your server-side code. The following table shows a partial listing of some of the properties that this class provides.

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Beyond the properties of the WebPartManager class, you also have an extensive list of available methods at your disposal. The following table outlines some of the available methods of the

WebPartManager class.

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Whereas the WebPartManager class allows you to manipulate the location, addition, and deletion of Web Parts that appear in the page as a whole, the WebPartZone class allows you to modify a single Web Part Zone on the page. The following table provides a list of some properties available to the

WebPartZone class.

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You have a plethora of options to manipulate the look and feel of the Web Part Zone and the items contained therein.

The final class is the WebPart class. This class enables you to manipulate specific Web Parts located on the page. The following table details some of the available properties of the WebPart class.

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Summar y

This chapter introduced you to the Web Part Manager, Web Part Zone, and the Web Part controls. Not only do these controls allow for easy customization of the look and feel of either the Web Parts or the zones in which they are located, but you can also use the framework provided to completely modify the behavior of these items.

Personally, I find the Portal Framework to be one of the more exciting new features of ASP.NET 2.0. I like the idea of creating completely modular and customizable Web pages. End users like this feature, and it is quite easy for developers to implement. Just remember that you don’t have to implement every feature explained in this chapter, but with the framework provided, you can choose only the functionality that you want.

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