Use Visual Studio to create User Control functions

User Control functions are basically Web User Controls (.ascx/ascx.cs files) that inherit from the class Composite.AspNet.UserControlFunction and by default are located in a folder structure below ~/App_Data/UserControls.

Like it does with C1 CMS Razor functions, the folder structure dictates the User Control function's namespace and from the UserControls folder, you can create a deeper folder structure, matching the namespace you wish the function should belong to.

You should have at least one level of such folders since C1 CMS requires that a function should belong to a namespace. If you create ascx/ascx.cs files directly in the UserControl folder, it will be assigned the namespace "UserControls" and will work, but you should take control of the namespace by creating your own subfolders.

Example:

~/App_Data/UserControl/Shop/Products/PopularProducts.ascx will by default become "Shop.Products.PopularProducts" in C1 CMS.

C1 CMS Web Form extensions for Visual Studio

To be able to add User Control functions in Visual Studio's Solution Explorer under ~/App_Data/UserControls, install the Visual Studio 2012 extension that adds support for User Control functions (as well as Master Page based templates).

Download CompositeC1WebFormExtensions.vsix (for Visual Studio 2012 only)

Adding a User Control function in Visual Studio

To create a User Control function in Visual Studio:

1. Make sure you've installed CompositeC1WebFormExtensions.vsix (see above).
2. Open C1 CMS in Visual Studio.
3. In Solution Explorer, expand (your website) / App_Data / UserControl.
4. If necessary, below, create folders to serve as namespaces or use the existing ones.
5. Right-click the folder where your want to create the function and click "Add" / "Add New Item".
6. In the "Add New Item" window, select "C1 CMS User Control Function".
7. In the "Name" field, type in the name for your function and click "Add".

The new .ascx/.ascx.cs files will appear under the folder you've selected.

A bare-bones User Control function

If you create new files ~/App_Data/UserControls/Examples/HelloWorld.ascx and /HelloWorld.ascx.cs with the content below, you will get a new CMS Function named "Examples.HelloWorld" you can use inside the CMS Console:

HelloWorld.ascx:

<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="BareBonesHelloWorld.ascx.cs" Inherits="BareBonesHelloWorld" %>

<h1>Hello World!</h1>

HelloWorld.ascx.cs:

using System;
using Composite.Functions;

public partial class BareBonesHelloWorld : Composite.AspNet.UserControlFunction
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

    }
}