Issue in rendering CustomToolpart to select data source for custom webpart..

Question

I have a custom webpart in which i have added a tool part.This toolpart should allow me to select any list in the sitecollection which would be displayed on the webpage on doing apply in the webpart properties.The dropdown list with all lists is coming fine.The
grid is diplaying as well.But in the toolpart,not in the webpart. I cant seem to segregate the two.There is also a textbox in the  toolpart in which the entered text comes in the webpart.But the same approach is failing for the gridview.Please suggest
what to do.
Also,i am failing at making a separate category for the toolpart by specifying [category("List settings")]..Any suggestion as to what i'm doing wrong in that are welcome too.
Here is my webpart class and toolpart class.
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages;
using System.Data;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities;
namespace BB.WorkSpaces.Common.WebParts.CustomList
[ToolboxItemAttribute(false)]
public class CustomList : Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart
[Browsable(false),
Category("List Settings"),
Description("Text Property")]
// Visual Studio might automatically update this path when you change the Visual Web Part project item.
private const string _ascxPath = @"~/_CONTROLTEMPLATES/BB.WorkSpaces.Common.WebParts/CustomList/CustomListUserControl.ascx";
public string ListName
get
return _listName;
set
_listName = value;
string _listName;
public string ListValue
get
return _listValue;
set
_listValue = value;
string _listValue;
public GridView Gv
get { return gv; }
set { gv = value; }
GridView gv;
protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter writer)
base.Render(writer);
writer.Write(ListName);
writer.Write("<br />");
writer.Write(ListValue);
writer.Write("<br />");
writer.Write(Gv);
public override ToolPart[] GetToolParts()
ToolPart[] allToolParts = new ToolPart[3];
WebPartToolPart standardToolParts = new WebPartToolPart();
CustomPropertyToolPart customToolParts = new CustomPropertyToolPart();
allToolParts[0] = standardToolParts;
allToolParts[1] = customToolParts;
allToolParts[2] = new CustomToolPart();
return allToolParts;
public class CustomToolPart : Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.ToolPart
DropDownList ddl;
TextBox tb;
protected override void CreateChildControls()
ddl = new DropDownList();
ddl.ID = "ddl";
// Simply getting the lists of the current web, and displaying them in the dropdown-list.
SPListCollection lists = SPContext.Current.Web.Lists;
foreach (SPList list in lists)
ddl.Items.Add(list.Title);
tb = new TextBox();
tb.ID = "tb";
Controls.Add(ddl);
Controls.Add(tb);
base.CreateChildControls();
public override void ApplyChanges()
CustomList wp = (CustomList)this.ParentToolPane.SelectedWebPart;
wp.ListName = ddl.SelectedValue;
wp.ListValue = tb.Text;
SPSite site = SPContext.Current.Site;
SPWeb web = site.RootWeb;
SPList list = web.Lists[ddl.SelectedItem.Text];
//SPListItemCollection slist = list.GetItems();
GridView GV1 = new GridView();
DataTable dt = list.Items.GetDataTable();
GV1.DataSource = dt;
GV1.DataBind();
this.Controls.Add(GV1);

Answer 1

Hi,
According to your post, my understanding is that you have an issue about the custom web part.
Per my knowledge, we should customize the EditorPart instead of the
ToolPart to bind the lists to the dropdown list.
There is a good article about customizing web part, you can refer to it.
http://www.concurrency.com/blog/create-a-custom-web-part-for-sharepoint-2010/
More reference:
http://www.enjoysharepoint.com/Articles/Details/show-all-list-in-dropdown-list-using-visual-web-part-20676.aspx
Thanks & Regards,
Jason
Jason Guo
TechNet Community Support