Custom WebPart connections and Custom WebPart Properties

Custom Properties does not seem to work any longer the way described in article below. Seems like new patches and SP's from Microsoft makes certain changes. Try inheriting webpart from Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart.

Note: Do not forget to include System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts in your using statements.

Updated properties are as follows:
[WebBrowsable(true)]
[Personalizable(false)]
[WebPartStorage(Storage.Shared)]
[WebDisplayName("User Name(Domain\\username)")]
[WebDescription("User to display in the WebPart.")]
[SPWebCategoryName("Options")]

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I want to share some of my finding on Custom WebPart connections and Custom WebPart Properties. Attached image, shows 2 custom web parts, communicating via a custom web part connection. Additionally, it shows grouping of custom controls under "Custom Properties" label.

Creating a custom WebPart connection is quiet easy. Simply follow the steps below:

a) Create an interface IStringConnection

public interface IStringConnection
{
string ProvidedString { get; }
}

b) Implement System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPart and IStringConnection in connection provider webpart

[ConnectionProvider("String Provider")]
public IStringConnection ConnectionInterface()
{
return this;
}

public string ProvidedString
{
get { return m_string; }
}

c) On connection receiver webpart add following code

IStringConnection m_providerPart = null;

[ConnectionConsumer("String Consumer")]
public void GetConnectionInterface(IStringConnection providerPart)
{
m_providerPart = providerPart;
}

=> However, this technique will not allow you to connect to default/out-of-box lists and libraries. For that, one needs to implement IwebPartField, IWebPartRow, and IWebPartTable on receiver webpart.

That's about it.

Snippet below adds a textbox to Web Part propery view.

// Assign the default value.
[DefaultValue(c_MyStringDefault)]
// Property is available in both Personalization
// and Customization mode.
[WebPartStorage(Storage.Personal)]
// The caption that appears in the property sheet.
[FriendlyNameAttribute("Custom String")]
// The tool tip that appears when pausing the mouse pointer over the friendly name in the property pane.
[Description("Type a string value.")]
// Display the property in the property pane.
[Browsable(true)]
[XmlElement(ElementName="MyString")]
// The accessor for this property.
public string MyString
{
get
{
return _myString;
}
set
{
_myString = value;
}
}

Hope this helps!!

Cheers