Creating a SharePoint 2010 Web Part That Can Read and Write Data to an External Data Source

Right-click in the VisualWebPart1UserControl.ascx file, and then select View Code. The VisualWebPart1UserControl.ascx.cs file opens in the Visual Studio Code Editor.

Replace the contents of the VisualWebPart1UserControl.ascx.cs file with the following code.

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Web.UI;

using Microsoft.SharePoint.BusinessData.SharedService;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.MetadataModel;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.Runtime;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.Infrastructure;
using Microsoft.BusinessData.MetadataModel.Collections;
namespace CustomerWebPart.VisualWebPart1
{
public partial class VisualWebPart1UserControl : UserControl
{
#region Properties
protected string EntityNamespace
{
  get { return ECTNamespace.Text.Trim(); }
}

protected string EntityName
{
  get { return ECTName.Text.Trim(); }
}

protected bool EntityValuesAreSet
{
  get
  {
    if (EntityNamespace == string.Empty ||
      EntityName == string.Empty)
      return false;
    else
      return true;
  }
}

#endregion

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}

#region Create Customer

protected void CreateNewCustomer_Click(object sender,
  EventArgs e)
{
  // Ensure that we have values for the entity namespace and name.
  if (!EntityValuesAreSet)
  {
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(true);
    return;
  }
  else
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(false);

  try
  {
    using (new Microsoft.SharePoint.SPServiceContextScope(
      SPServiceContext.GetContext(SPContext.Current.Site)))
    {
      // Get the BDC service and metadata catalog.
      BdcService service =
       SPFarm.Local.Services.GetValue<BdcService>(String.Empty);
      IMetadataCatalog catalog =
        service.GetDatabaseBackedMetadataCatalog(
        SPServiceContext.Current);

      // Get the entity by using the specified name and namespace.
      IEntity entity =
        catalog.GetEntity(EntityNamespace, EntityName);
      ILobSystemInstance LobSysteminstance =
        entity.GetLobSystem().GetLobSystemInstances()[0].Value;

      // Get the fields on the entity.
      IView createView =
        entity.GetCreatorView("CreateCustomer");
      IFieldValueDictionary valueDictionary =
        createView.GetDefaultValues();

      // Set the values of the entity fields.
      valueDictionary["EmailAddress"] = Email.Text;
      valueDictionary["FirstName"] = FirstName.Text;
      valueDictionary["LastName"] = LastName.Text;
      valueDictionary["MiddleName"] = MiddleName.Text;
      valueDictionary["Phone"] = Phone.Text;
      valueDictionary["Title"] = Title.Text;

      // Call the creator method and display the returned
      // Customer ID.
      Identity id = entity.Create(valueDictionary,
        LobSysteminstance);

      CustomerID.Text =
        id.GetIdentifierValues().GetValue(0).ToString();

      StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Green;
      StatusLabel.Text = "Customer successfully created.";
    }
  }
  catch (Exception ex)
  {
    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text = "Unable to create customer." +
      ex.Message;
  }
}

#endregion

#region Find Customer By ID

protected void FindCustomerByID_Click(
  object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  // Ensure that we have values for the entity namespace and name.
  if (!EntityValuesAreSet)
  {
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(true);
    return;
  }
  else
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(false);

  // Do simple validation of the customer ID. Ensure that it is
  // an integer.  
  int customerID = -1;

  if (!ValidateCustomerID(CustomerID.Text, ref customerID))
  {
    ClearFields(false);
    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text =
      "Please enter an integer for the Customer ID value.";
    return;
  }

  try
  {
    using (new Microsoft.SharePoint.SPServiceContextScope(
      SPServiceContext.GetContext(SPContext.Current.Site)))
    {
      // Get the BDC service and metadata catalog.
      BdcService service =
       SPFarm.Local.Services.GetValue<BdcService>(String.Empty);
      IMetadataCatalog catalog =
        service.GetDatabaseBackedMetadataCatalog(
        SPServiceContext.Current);

      // Get the entity by using the specified name and namespace.
      IEntity entity =
        catalog.GetEntity(EntityNamespace, EntityName);
      ILobSystemInstance LobSysteminstance =
        entity.GetLobSystem().GetLobSystemInstances()[0].Value;

      // Create an Identity based on the specified Customer ID.
      Identity identity = new Identity(customerID);

      // Get a method instance for the SpecificFinder method.
      IMethodInstance method =
        entity.GetMethodInstance("GetCustomerById",
        MethodInstanceType.SpecificFinder);

      // Execute the Specific Finder method to return the
      // customer data.
      IEntityInstance iei =
        entity.FindSpecific(identity, LobSysteminstance);

      // Display the data for the returned customer in the UI.
      Title.Text = iei["Title"] != null ?
        iei["Title"].ToString() : string.Empty;
      FirstName.Text = iei["FirstName"] != null ?
        iei["FirstName"].ToString() : string.Empty;
      MiddleName.Text = iei["MiddleName"] != null ?
        iei["MiddleName"].ToString() : string.Empty;
      LastName.Text = iei["LastName"] != null ?
        iei["LastName"].ToString() : string.Empty;
      Email.Text = iei["EmailAddress"] != null ?
        iei["EmailAddress"].ToString() : string.Empty;
      Phone.Text = iei["Phone"] != null ?
        iei["Phone"].ToString() : string.Empty;
    }
  }
  catch (Exception ex)
  {
    ClearFields(false);

    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text = "Unable to find customer with ID = " +
      CustomerID.Text + ". " + ex.Message;
  }
}

#endregion

#region Update Customer

protected void UpdateCustomer_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  // Ensure that we have values for the entity namespace and name.
  if (!EntityValuesAreSet)
  {
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(true);
    return;
  }
  else
    DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(false);

  // Do simple validation of the customer ID. Ensure that it is
  // an integer.     
  int customerID = -1;

  if (!ValidateCustomerID(CustomerID.Text, ref customerID))
  {
    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text =
      "Please enter an integer for the Customer ID value.";
    return;
  }

  try
  {
    using (new Microsoft.SharePoint.SPServiceContextScope(
      SPServiceContext.GetContext(SPContext.Current.Site)))
    {
      // Get the BDC service and metadata catalog.
      BdcService service =
       SPFarm.Local.Services.GetValue<BdcService>(String.Empty);
      IMetadataCatalog catalog =
        service.GetDatabaseBackedMetadataCatalog(
        SPServiceContext.Current);

      // Get the entity by using the specified name and namespace.
      IEntity entity =
        catalog.GetEntity(EntityNamespace, EntityName);
      ILobSystemInstance LobSysteminstance =
        entity.GetLobSystem().GetLobSystemInstances()[0].Value;
      
      // Create an Identity based on the specified Customer ID.
      Identity identity = new Identity(customerID);

      // Get a method instance for the Updater method.
      IMethodInstance method =
        entity.GetMethodInstance("UpdateCustomer",
        MethodInstanceType.Updater);

      // The UpdateCustomer method of the external content type
      // maps to the UpdateCustomer method in the AdventureWorks
      // web service. Looking at the source for the web service
      // shows that the UpdateCustomer method has the following
      // signature:
      //
      // public void UpdateCustomer(SalesCustomer customer)
      //
      // The SalesCustomer type has the following layout: 
      //
      // public class SalesCustomer
      // {
      //     public int CustomerId { get; set; }
      //     public String Title { get; set; }
      //     public String FirstName { get; set; }
      //     public String MiddleName { get; set; }
      //     public String LastName   { get; set; }
      //     public String EmailAddress { get; set; }
      //     public String Phone { get; set; }
      //     public DateTime ModifiedDate { get; set; }
      // }

      // Get the collection of parameters for the method.
      // In this case, there is only one.
      IParameterCollection parameters =
        method.GetMethod().GetParameters();

      // Use type reflection to get an instance of a
      // SalesCustomer object to pass as a parameter.
      ITypeReflector reflector = parameters[0].TypeReflector;
      ITypeDescriptor rootTypeDescriptor =
        parameters[0].GetRootTypeDescriptor();

      object[] methodParamInstances =
        method.GetMethod().CreateDefaultParameterInstances(
        method);
      Object instance = methodParamInstances[0];

      // Get type descriptors for each of the SalesCustomer
      // members.
      ITypeDescriptor customerIDTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[0];
      ITypeDescriptor titleTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[1];
      ITypeDescriptor firstNameTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[2];
      ITypeDescriptor middleNameTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[3];
      ITypeDescriptor lastNameTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[4];
      ITypeDescriptor emailAddressTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[5];
      ITypeDescriptor phoneTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[6];
      ITypeDescriptor modifiedDateTypeDescriptor =
        rootTypeDescriptor.GetChildTypeDescriptors()[7];

      // Set the values of the SalesCustomer object members
      // with the values specified by the user.
      reflector.Set(customerIDTypeDescriptor,
        rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, customerID);
      reflector.Set(titleTypeDescriptor, rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, Title.Text);
      reflector.Set(firstNameTypeDescriptor, rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, FirstName.Text);
      reflector.Set(middleNameTypeDescriptor,
        rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, MiddleName.Text);
      reflector.Set(lastNameTypeDescriptor, rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, LastName.Text);
      reflector.Set(emailAddressTypeDescriptor,
        rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, Email.Text);
      reflector.Set(phoneTypeDescriptor, rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, Phone.Text);
      reflector.Set(modifiedDateTypeDescriptor,
        rootTypeDescriptor,
        ref instance, DateTime.Now);

      // Execute the updater method, passing the parameter.
      entity.Execute(method, LobSysteminstance,
        ref methodParamInstances);

      StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Green;
      StatusLabel.Text = "Customer successfully updated.";
    }
  }
  catch (Exception ex)
  {
    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text = "Unable to find customer with ID = " +
      CustomerID.Text + ". " + ex.Message;
  }
}

#endregion

#region Helpers

protected void DisplaySetPropertyValuePrompt(bool showPrompt)
{
  if (showPrompt)
  {
    StatusLabel.ForeColor = Color.Red;
    StatusLabel.Text =
      "Please enter values for the ECT name and namespace!";
  }
  else
    StatusLabel.Text = string.Empty;
}

protected void ClearAllFields_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  ClearFields(true);
}

protected bool ValidateCustomerID(string CustomerIDIn,
  ref int CustomerIDOut)
{
  try
  {
    CustomerIDOut = Convert.ToInt32(CustomerIDIn);
    return true;
  }
  catch
  {
    CustomerIDOut = -1;
    return false;
  }
}

protected void ClearFields(bool clearCustomerID)
{
  if (clearCustomerID)
    CustomerID.Text = string.Empty;

  Title.Text = string.Empty;
  FirstName.Text = string.Empty;
  MiddleName.Text = string.Empty;
  LastName.Text = string.Empty;
  Email.Text = string.Empty;
  Phone.Text = string.Empty;
}

#endregion

}
}