Description

The Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.ContentDatabaseSection class inherits System.Web.UI.UserControl and provides methods and properties to build the required UI components for the initial setup of a Web application’s content database. These components are:

1) InputFormSection control that contains this control.

2) InputFormRadioButton controls (i.e. RadWindowsAuth ) to specify whether Sql or Window authentication must be used.

3) A drop down list (DdlSearchServer) that specifies Search Service instance.

4) InputFormSection that contains Search Service instance drop down list.

5) Several TextBox controls (i.e. TxtDatabaseAccount ) to collect data such as database server name, password, user name and etc.

6) Several required field validation controls (i.e. ReqValDatabaseAccount ) to validate the data of child input controls.

7) Several labels to provide description to child input controls.

This control exposes a public property called DisplayMode (of type ContentDatabaseSectionMode Enumeration), which puts the control in different display modes. For example, in Default mode, all of child controls are enabled, where as in other two modes (Disabled and AuthenticationEdit), some or all of controls are disabled.

This control is mostly used in custom Web parts or Web part pages targeted at Central administration Web application or any other sites meant to be used for administrative purposes. End users typically don’t need to interact with Web application content databases.

The Usage Scenario

To customize your forms to contain content database section, you can follow two approaches:

1) You can extend ContentDatabaseSection classto define your own custom control that deals with the content databases of your Web application. You can create a class library that inherits ContentDatabaseSection class, implement your custom logic and copy the DLL of your project to the global assembly cache (GAC). You also need to add an .ascx file containing your custom control template definition (which references the custom DLL) to <%WSS System Directory%>\TEMPLATE\ADMIN folder.

2) You can reuse out of the box ContentDatabaseSection user control (locatedin <%WSS System Directory%>\TEMPLATE\ADMIN) in your Web parts or Web part pages. This can be done either declaratively or using a programmatic approach by loading it dynamically and add it to the control collection of either your Web part or Web part page. Below is one example of loading the user control programmatically in CreateChildControls event of a Web part:

C# Code Example

ContentDatabaseSection cdsCtrl = (ContentDatabaseSection)Page.LoadControl("~/_admin/ContentDatabaseSection.ascx"); 
cdsCtrl.ID = "CDS"; 
this.Controls.Add(cdsCtrl); 

Visual Basic .NET Code Example

Dim cdsCtrl As ContentDatabaseSection = DirectCast(Page.LoadControl("~/_admin/ContentDatabaseSection.ascx"), ContentDatabaseSection) 
cdsCtrl.ID = "CDS" 
Me.Controls.Add(cdsCtrl) 

The following code samples demonstrate another usage scenario of ContentDatabaseSection user control in a declarative way. In this example the user control is hosted in a custom Web part page (placed in %WSS System Directory%\12\TEMPLATE\ADMIN) to display the current authentication type of a content database while allowing user to change it from Sql to Windows or vice versa.

First you need to create a custom page named ChangeConDBAuthType.aspx, then register a tag that points to the following user control:

<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="ContentDatabaseSection" src="~/_admin/ContentDatabaseSection.ascx" %>

Once the above tag is registered, you can reference the control later in the page like below and specify the properties and their respective values.

<wssuc:ContentDatabaseSection Id="ContentDatabaseSection" Title="<%$Resources:spadmin, multipages_ContentDatabase_title%>" IncludeSearchServer="true" runat="server" />

<%@ Assembly Name="Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> 
<%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="SDKBounty.ContentDBChangeAuthType,SDKBounty, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=2e879e7dc8b7c3e9" MasterPageFile="~/_layouts/application.master" %> 
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="ToolBar" src="~/_controltemplates/ToolBar.ascx" %> 
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="ContentDatabaseSection" src="~/_admin/ContentDatabaseSection.ascx" %> 
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssuc" TagName="ButtonSection" src="~/_controltemplates/ButtonSection.ascx" %> 
<%@ Register TagPrefix="wssawc" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c"%> 
<%@ Register TagPrefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls"Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> 
<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="PlaceHolderPageTitleInTitleArea" runat="server"> 
<SharePoint:EncodedLiteral ID="TitleArea" Text="Change Authentication Type" EncodeMethod="HtmlEncode" runat="server"/> 
</asp:Content> 
<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="PlaceHolderPageDescription" runat="server"> 
<wssuc:ToolBar id="onetidNavNodesTB" runat="server"> 
<Template_RightButtons> 
<wssawc:EncodedLiteral ID="EncodedLiteral1" runat="server" Text="Content DBs: "></wssawc:EncodedLiteral> 
<asp:DropDownList id="ddlContentDBs" runat="server" AutoPostBack="true" OnSelectedIndexChanged="CDBSelection_Change" /> 
<SharePoint:WebApplicationSelector id="Selector" runat="server" OnContextChange="Selector_OnContextChange" AllowAdministrationWebApplication="false" /> 
</Template_RightButtons> 
</wssuc:ToolBar> 
</asp:Content> 
<asp:Content ID="Content3" ContentPlaceHolderID="PlaceHolderMain" runat="server"> 
<asp:Label ID="Message" class="ms-info" runat="server"></asp:Label> 
<TABLE border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 
<wssuc:ContentDatabaseSection Id="cdsCtrl" 
Title="Change Authentication Type" 
IncludeSearchServer="false" 
runat="server" /> 
<wssuc:ButtonSection runat="server"> 
<Template_Buttons> 
<asp:Button UseSubmitBehavior="false" runat="server" class="ms-ButtonHeightWidth" OnClick="BtnSubmit_Click" Text="Change" id="BtnCreateSite"/> 
</Template_Buttons> 
</wssuc:ButtonSection> 
</TABLE> 
</asp:Content>

C# Code Example (Code Behind)

public class ContentDBChangeAuthType : LayoutsPageBase
    {
        protected Label Message;
        protected WebApplicationSelector  Selector;
        protected DropDownList ddlContentDBs;
        protected ContentDatabaseSection cdsCtrl;
        protected Button BtnCreateSite;
        protected override void OnInit(System.EventArgs e)
        {
            cdsCtrl.Description = "Your description goes here";
            cdsCtrl.DisplayMode = ContentDatabaseSectionMode.AuthenticationEdit;
            base.OnInit(e);
        }
        protected void Selector_OnContextChange(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            SPWebApplication selectedWebApplication = Selector.CurrentItem;
            int contentDBs = selectedWebApplication.ContentDatabases.Count;
            if (!Page.IsPostBack && contentDBs >= 1)            
                FillContentDBList();            
        }
        protected void BtnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //Your code to change the authentication type
        }
        protected void CDBSelection_Change(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            FillContentDBList();            
        }
        private void FillContentDBList()
        {            
            SPWebApplication selectedWebApplication = Selector.CurrentItem;
            foreach (SPContentDatabase cdb in selectedWebApplication.ContentDatabases)
            {
                ddlContentDBs.Items.Add(cdb.Name);
                cdsCtrl.DatabaseServer = cdb.Server;
                cdsCtrl.DatabaseName = cdb.Name; 
            }
        }     
    }

Visual Basic .NET Code Example (Code Behind)

Public Class ContentDBChangeAuthType
    Inherits LayoutsPageBase
    Protected Message As Label
    Protected Selector As WebApplicationSelector
    Protected ddlContentDBs As DropDownList
    Protected cdsCtrl As ContentDatabaseSection
    Protected BtnCreateSite As Button

    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub OnInit(ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
        cdsCtrl.Description = "Your description goes here"
        cdsCtrl.DisplayMode = ContentDatabaseSectionMode.AuthenticationEdit
        MyBase.OnInit(e)
    End Sub
    Protected Sub Selector_OnContextChange(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        Dim selectedWebApplication As SPWebApplication = Selector.CurrentItem
        Dim contentDBs As Integer = selectedWebApplication.ContentDatabases.Count
        If Not Page.IsPostBack AndAlso contentDBs >= 1 Then
            FillContentDBList()
        End If
    End Sub
    Protected Sub BtnSubmit_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        'Your code to change the authentication type
    End Sub
    Protected Sub CDBSelection_Change(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        FillContentDBList()
    End Sub
    Private Sub FillContentDBList()
        Dim selectedWebApplication As SPWebApplication = Selector.CurrentItem
        For Each cdb As SPContentDatabase In selectedWebApplication.ContentDatabases
            ddlContentDBs.Items.Add(cdb.Name)
            cdsCtrl.DatabaseServer = cdb.Server
            cdsCtrl.DatabaseName = cdb.Name
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

For the screenshot of the above content see: http://blogs.devhorizon.com/reza/?p=655