Customizing WSP files using VSeWSS 1.3 in Visual Studio 2008

Using VSeWSS 1.3 with Visual Studio 2008, when you create a new Web Part project, you can edit the Web part properties and descriptions using the WSP View. The typical Solution Explorer in VS 2008 looks like the following when working on a Web part project:

In order to see the manifest.xml or feature.xml file, you have to look at the “WSP View“. WSP View can be accessed by going to the menu and hitting View–>Other Windows–>WSP View. The WSP View looks like the following:

The manifest.xml file doesn’t contain “product description” type information. The manifest.xml contains assemblies and features information. The feature.xml file, that on the other hand, start containing “description” type data. Here’s what the feature.xml contents typically look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<Feature Id="cfc5cfdd-62cf-4d98-aeba-e1b38ec6f64f"

             Title="HelloPart"

             Description="A Web part that wants to say hello to you."

             Scope="Site" Version="1.0.0.0" Hidden="FALSE"

             DefaultResourceFile="core" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">

  <ElementManifests>

    <ElementManifest Location="HelloPart\HelloPart.xml" />

    <ElementFile Location="HelloPart\HelloPart.webpart" />

  </ElementManifests>

</Feature>

See that Title and Description attributes inside the Feature element? They will get displayed in the Site Features Gallery: 

What about the Web part file (in the example I’m using above, the filename is HelloPart.webpart)? What information can be customized and modified here? First, let’s take a look at the contents of the webpart file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<webParts>

  <webPart xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v3">

    <metaData>

      <!--

      The following Guid is used as a reference to the web part class,

      and it will be automatically replaced with actual type name at deployment time.

      -->

      <type name="247ef4d4-489d-46d1-a628-8d8daa6267a3" />

      <importErrorMessage>Cannot import HelloPart Web Part.</importErrorMessage>

    </metaData>

    <data>

      <properties>

        <property name="Title" type="string">Gabe's Hello Web Part</property>

        <property name="Description" type="string">HelloPart is a user-friendly Web part....</property>

      </properties>

    </data>

  </webPart>

</webParts>

Inside webPart–>data–>properties section, there are property elements. The first one is the “Title” and the other is the “Description“. The values for “Title” and “Description” contained in the webpart file are what gets displayed in the Web part catalog:

 

Finally, let’s take a look at the Web part XML file (in the example I used above, the filename is HelloPart.xml). The Web part XML file contains the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<Elements Id="247ef4d4-489d-46d1-a628-8d8daa6267a3" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" >

  <Module Name="WebParts" List="113" Url="_catalogs/wp">

    <File Path="HelloPart.webpart" Url="HelloPart.webpart" Type="GhostableInLibrary" />

  </Module>

</Elements>

See how the File element doesn’t have any children? We can put a Property element as a child of the File element. This Property element will contain the “Group” the Web part appears in the catalog. By default, like the in the Web part XML file example above, the Group is not specified and therefore, the Web part gets listed under Miscellaneous Group in the Web Part catalog. If you want the Web part to appear in a group other than Miscellaneous, transform the Web part XML file from the above example to the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<Elements Id="247ef4d4-489d-46d1-a628-8d8daa6267a3" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" >

  <Module Name="WebParts" List="113" Url="_catalogs/wp">

        <File Path="HelloPart.webpart" Url="HelloPart.webpart" Type="GhostableInLibrary">

              <Property Name="Group" Value="My Stuff"/>

        </File>

  </Module>

</Elements>

We added the Property element below the File element. The Name attribute of the Property element should have a value of “Group” and the Value attribute is the group name you want the Web part to appear in the catalog. In the example above, after the Web part gets deployed, the Web part appears in a category called “My Stuff“: