ToolZone.InstructionText Property

public:
 virtual property System::String ^ InstructionText { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

public virtual string InstructionText { get; set; }

member this.InstructionText : string with get, set

Public Overridable Property InstructionText As String

Property Value

A string that contains the directions for end users. A default value appropriate to specific tool zones is provided by derived ToolZone classes.

Examples

The following code example shows how to use the InstructionText property with an inherited ToolZone control. The example shows how to change the value of the instruction text that appears in an EditorZone control by using this property.

The first part of the code example is a user control that is referenced in the page, and enables you to switch the page to different display modes. For more information on display modes and enabling users to switch among them, see Walkthrough: Changing Display Modes on a Web Parts Page.

<%@ control language="C#" classname="DisplayModeMenuCS"%>
<script runat="server">
  
 // Use a field to reference the current WebPartManager.
  WebPartManager _manager;

  void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    Page.InitComplete += new EventHandler(InitComplete);
  }  

  void InitComplete(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  {
    _manager = WebPartManager.GetCurrentWebPartManager(Page);

    String browseModeName = WebPartManager.BrowseDisplayMode.Name;

    // Fill the dropdown with the names of supported display modes.
    foreach (WebPartDisplayMode mode in _manager.SupportedDisplayModes)
    {
      String modeName = mode.Name;
      // Make sure a mode is enabled before adding it.
      if (mode.IsEnabled(_manager))
      {
        ListItem item = new ListItem(modeName, modeName);
        DisplayModeDropdown.Items.Add(item);
      }
    }

    // If shared scope is allowed for this user, display the scope-switching
    // UI and select the appropriate radio button for the current user scope.
    if (_manager.Personalization.CanEnterSharedScope)
    {
      Panel2.Visible = true;
      if (_manager.Personalization.Scope == PersonalizationScope.User)
        RadioButton1.Checked = true;
      else
        RadioButton2.Checked = true;
    }
    
  }
 
  // Change the page to the selected display mode.
  void DisplayModeDropdown_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    String selectedMode = DisplayModeDropdown.SelectedValue;

    WebPartDisplayMode mode = _manager.SupportedDisplayModes[selectedMode];
    if (mode != null)
      _manager.DisplayMode = mode;
  }

  // Set the selected item equal to the current display mode.
  void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    ListItemCollection items = DisplayModeDropdown.Items;
    int selectedIndex = 
      items.IndexOf(items.FindByText(_manager.DisplayMode.Name));
    DisplayModeDropdown.SelectedIndex = selectedIndex;
  }

  // Reset all of a user's personalization data for the page.
  protected void LinkButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    _manager.Personalization.ResetPersonalizationState();
  }

  // If not in User personalization scope, toggle into it.
  protected void RadioButton1_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    if (_manager.Personalization.Scope == PersonalizationScope.Shared)
      _manager.Personalization.ToggleScope();
  }

  // If not in Shared scope, and if user is allowed, toggle the scope.
  protected void RadioButton2_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    if (_manager.Personalization.CanEnterSharedScope && 
        _manager.Personalization.Scope == PersonalizationScope.User)
      _manager.Personalization.ToggleScope();
  }
</script>
<div>
  <asp:Panel ID="Panel1" runat="server" 
    Borderwidth="1" 
    Width="230" 
    BackColor="lightgray"
    Font-Names="Verdana, Arial, Sans Serif" >
    <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" 
      Text=" Display Mode" 
      Font-Bold="true"
      Font-Size="8"
      Width="120" 
      AssociatedControlID="DisplayModeDropdown"/>
    <asp:DropDownList ID="DisplayModeDropdown" runat="server"  
      AutoPostBack="true" 
      Width="120"
      OnSelectedIndexChanged="DisplayModeDropdown_SelectedIndexChanged" />
    <asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1" runat="server"
      Text="Reset User State" 
      ToolTip="Reset the current user's personalization data for the page."
      Font-Size="8" 
      OnClick="LinkButton1_Click" />
    <asp:Panel ID="Panel2" runat="server" 
      GroupingText="Personalization Scope"
      Font-Bold="true"
      Font-Size="8" 
      Visible="false" >
      <asp:RadioButton ID="RadioButton1" runat="server" 
        Text="User" 
        AutoPostBack="true"
        GroupName="Scope" OnCheckedChanged="RadioButton1_CheckedChanged" />
      <asp:RadioButton ID="RadioButton2" runat="server" 
        Text="Shared" 
        AutoPostBack="true"
        GroupName="Scope" 
        OnCheckedChanged="RadioButton2_CheckedChanged" />
    </asp:Panel>
  </asp:Panel>
</div>

<%@ control language="vb" classname="DisplayModeMenuVB"%>
<script runat="server">
  ' Use a field to reference the current WebPartManager.
  Dim _manager As WebPartManager

  Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    AddHandler Page.InitComplete, AddressOf InitComplete
  End Sub

  Sub InitComplete(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    _manager = WebPartManager.GetCurrentWebPartManager(Page)
      
    Dim browseModeName As String = WebPartManager.BrowseDisplayMode.Name
      
    ' Fill the dropdown with the names of supported display modes.
    Dim mode As WebPartDisplayMode
    For Each mode In _manager.SupportedDisplayModes
      Dim modeName As String = mode.Name
      ' Make sure a mode is enabled before adding it.
      If mode.IsEnabled(_manager) Then
        Dim item As New ListItem(modeName, modeName)
        DisplayModeDropdown.Items.Add(item)
      End If
    Next mode
      
    ' If shared scope is allowed for this user, display the scope-switching
    ' UI and select the appropriate radio button for the current user scope.
    If _manager.Personalization.CanEnterSharedScope Then
      Panel2.Visible = True
      If _manager.Personalization.Scope = PersonalizationScope.User Then
        RadioButton1.Checked = True
      Else
        RadioButton2.Checked = True
      End If
    End If
   
  End Sub

  ' Change the page to the selected display mode.
  Sub DisplayModeDropdown_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As EventArgs)
    
    Dim selectedMode As String = DisplayModeDropdown.SelectedValue   
    Dim mode As WebPartDisplayMode = _
      _manager.SupportedDisplayModes(selectedMode)
    If Not (mode Is Nothing) Then
      _manager.DisplayMode = mode
    End If

  End Sub
   
  ' Set the selected item equal to the current display mode.
  Sub Page_PreRender(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Dim items As ListItemCollection = DisplayModeDropdown.Items
    Dim selectedIndex As Integer = _
      items.IndexOf(items.FindByText(_manager.DisplayMode.Name))
    DisplayModeDropdown.SelectedIndex = selectedIndex

  End Sub

  ' Reset all of a user's personalization data for the page.
  Protected Sub LinkButton1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As EventArgs)
    
    _manager.Personalization.ResetPersonalizationState()
    
  End Sub

  ' If not in User personalization scope, toggle into it.
  Protected Sub RadioButton1_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As EventArgs)
    
    If _manager.Personalization.Scope = PersonalizationScope.Shared Then
      _manager.Personalization.ToggleScope()
    End If

  End Sub
   
  ' If not in Shared scope, and if user is allowed, toggle the scope.
  Protected Sub RadioButton2_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As EventArgs)
    
    If _manager.Personalization.CanEnterSharedScope AndAlso _
      _manager.Personalization.Scope = PersonalizationScope.User Then
      _manager.Personalization.ToggleScope()
    End If

  End Sub

</script>
<div>
  <asp:Panel ID="Panel1" runat="server" 
    Borderwidth="1" 
    Width="230" 
    BackColor="lightgray"
    Font-Names="Verdana, Arial, Sans Serif" >
    <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" 
      Text=" Display Mode" 
      Font-Bold="true"
      Font-Size="8"
      Width="120" 
      AssociatedControlID="DisplayModeDropdown"/>
    <asp:DropDownList ID="DisplayModeDropdown" runat="server"  
      AutoPostBack="true" 
      Width="120"
      OnSelectedIndexChanged="DisplayModeDropdown_SelectedIndexChanged" />
    <asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1" runat="server"
      Text="Reset User State" 
      ToolTip="Reset the current user's personalization data for the page."
      Font-Size="8" 
      OnClick="LinkButton1_Click" />
    <asp:Panel ID="Panel2" runat="server" 
      GroupingText="Personalization Scope"
      Font-Bold="true"
      Font-Size="8" 
      Visible="false" >
      <asp:RadioButton ID="RadioButton1" runat="server" 
        Text="User" 
        AutoPostBack="true"
        GroupName="Scope" OnCheckedChanged="RadioButton1_CheckedChanged" />
      <asp:RadioButton ID="RadioButton2" runat="server" 
        Text="Shared" 
        AutoPostBack="true"
        GroupName="Scope" 
        OnCheckedChanged="RadioButton2_CheckedChanged" />
    </asp:Panel>
  </asp:Panel>
</div>

The second part of the code example shows a partial class that contains the code to update the property programmatically in the Button1_Click method.

using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;

public partial class Toolzone_overview_cs : System.Web.UI.Page
{
  protected void Button1_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
    if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(TextBox1.Text))
      EditorZone1.InstructionText = String.Empty;
    else
      EditorZone1.InstructionText = Server.HtmlEncode(TextBox1.Text);
      TextBox1.Text = String.Empty;
  }
}

Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts

Partial Public Class Toolzone_overview_vb

    Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

    Protected Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
        If TextBox1.Text = String.Empty Or TextBox1.Text.Length < 0 Then
            EditorZone1.InstructionText = String.Empty
        Else
            EditorZone1.InstructionText = Server.HtmlEncode(TextBox1.Text)
        End If
        TextBox1.Text = String.Empty
    End Sub

End Class

The third part of the code example shows a Web page that contains two inherited ToolZone controls: a CatalogZone control and an EditorZone control. Each ToolZone control sets some properties in the declarative markup of the page.

<%@ Page Language="C#" 
  Codefile="Toolzone_overview.cs"
  Inherits="Toolzone_overview_cs"  %>
<%@ register TagPrefix="uc1" 
  TagName="DisplayModeMenuCS" 
  Src="DisplayModeMenuCS.ascx" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>Tool Zone Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
      <asp:WebPartManager ID="WebPartManager1" Runat="server" />
      <uc1:DisplayModeMenuCS ID="DisplayModeMenu1" runat="server" />
      <asp:WebPartZone ID="WebPartZone1" Runat="server" >
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:BulletedList 
            ID="BulletedList1" 
            Runat="server"
            DisplayMode="HyperLink" 
            Title="Favorite Links" >
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://msdn.microsoft.com">MSDN</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://www.asp.net">ASP.NET</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://www.msn.com">MSN</asp:ListItem>
          </asp:BulletedList>
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:WebPartZone>
      <asp:EditorZone 
        ID="EditorZone1" 
        Runat="server">
        <HeaderVerbStyle Font-Underline="true" />
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:AppearanceEditorPart ID="AppearanceEditorPart1" Runat="server" />
          <asp:LayoutEditorPart ID="LayoutEditorPart1" Runat="server" /> 
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:EditorZone>
      <asp:CatalogZone ID="CatalogZone1" Runat="server">
        <LabelStyle Font-Italic="true" />
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart ID="DeclarativeCatalogPart1" Runat="server">
            <WebPartsTemplate>
              <asp:Calendar ID="Calendar1" Runat="server" Title="My Calendar" />
            </WebPartsTemplate>
          </asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart>
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:CatalogZone>
      <asp:Button ID="Button1" Runat="server" Text="Update Edit Zone Text" OnClick="Button1_Click" />
      <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" Runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

<%@ Page Language="VB" 
  Codefile="Toolzone_overview.vb"
  Inherits="Toolzone_overview_vb"  %>
<%@ register TagPrefix="uc1" 
  TagName="DisplayModeMenuVB" 
  Src="DisplayModeMenuVB.ascx" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>Tool Zone Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
      <asp:WebPartManager ID="WebPartManager1" Runat="server" />
      <uc1:DisplayModeMenuVB ID="DisplayModeMenu1" runat="server" />
      <asp:WebPartZone ID="WebPartZone1" Runat="server" >
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:BulletedList 
            ID="BulletedList1" 
            Runat="server"
            DisplayMode="HyperLink" 
            Title="Favorite Links" >
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://msdn.microsoft.com">MSDN</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://www.asp.net">ASP.NET</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="http://www.msn.com">MSN</asp:ListItem>
          </asp:BulletedList>
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:WebPartZone>
      <asp:EditorZone 
        ID="EditorZone1" 
        Runat="server">
        <HeaderVerbStyle Font-Underline="true" />
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:AppearanceEditorPart ID="AppearanceEditorPart1" Runat="server" />
          <asp:LayoutEditorPart ID="LayoutEditorPart1" Runat="server" /> 
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:EditorZone>
      <asp:CatalogZone ID="CatalogZone1" Runat="server">
        <LabelStyle Font-Italic="true" />
        <ZoneTemplate>
          <asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart ID="DeclarativeCatalogPart1" Runat="server">
            <WebPartsTemplate>
              <asp:Calendar ID="Calendar1" Runat="server" Title="My Calendar" />
            </WebPartsTemplate>
          </asp:DeclarativeCatalogPart>
        </ZoneTemplate>
      </asp:CatalogZone>
      <asp:Button ID="Button1" Runat="server" Text="Update Edit Zone Text" OnClick="Button1_Click" />
      <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" Runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

You can load the page in a browser and switch among the various page display modes to see how the different tool zones behave. Switch the page into edit mode, enter some text into the text box, and click Update Edit Zone Text to see the effect of programmatically updating the InstructionText property. The instruction text appears near the top of the zone.

Remarks

The InstructionText property is used to hold a set of instructions that are provided for end users when a particular ToolZone control is displayed.

The value of this property, when set, can be saved automatically to a resource file by using a designer tool. For more information, see LocalizableAttribute and Globalization and Localization.

Notes to Inheritors

Tool zones in the Web Parts control set that derive from the ToolZone class (see the zones listed in the ToolZone class overview) override the InstructionText property to provide default instructions for end users.

Applies to

See also

• InstructionTextStyle
• ASP.NET Web Parts Controls