Wizard control eliminates the need to design forms to execute a step by step process in the actual business flow. This simplifies the work of developers to design and write the code.
The control provides a mechanism that allows you to easily build the desired wizard as a collection of steps, add a new step, or reorder the steps. You don't have to write any infrastructure whatsoever for navigation or to persist user data between steps.
The asp:wizard is a control name and wizardsteps is the parent element for the asp:wizardstep element.
<asp:wizard id="wizard1" runat="server>
<wizardsteps>
<asp:WizardStep runat="server" Title="Personal Information" StepType="Auto">
//Place the control here.
</asp:wizardstep>
</wizardsteps>
</asp:wizard>
There can be multiple wizard step which iterates from by form. The control can be placed in the wizard step tag.
The step is the enum type which has the attributes Auto, Complete, Finish, Start and Step,
The first form will have the next button and all the subsequent forms will have the previous and next button.
The last wizard step tag should be defined as the complete step type.
There are events which are used to write the events on the controls in the wizard control.
OnActiveStepChanged
OnCancelButtonClick
OnPreviousButtonClick
OnNextButtonClick
OnFinishButtonClick
OnSideBarButtonClick
For example the Finish button click event can be written in the server side like the following.
protected void OnFinish(object sender, WizardNavigationEventArgs e)
{
WizardStepType t = Wizard1.WizardSteps[e.NextStepIndex].StepType;
if (t == WizardStepType.Finish)
{
//code here...
}
}
Wizard control properties:
| Template |
Description |
| FinishNavigationTemplate |
Specifies the navigation bar shown before the last page of the wizard; by default, navigation bar contains the Previous and Finish buttons |
| HeaderTemplate |
Specifies the title bar of the wizard |
| SideBarTemplate |
Used to display content in the left side of the wizard control |
| StartNavigationTemplate |
Specifies the navigation bar for the first view in the wizard; by default, contains only the Next button |
| StepNavigationTemplate |
Specifies the navigation bar for steps other than first, finish, or complete; by default, contains Previous and Next buttons |
Wizard Style Properties
| CancelButtonStyle |
Wizard Cancel button |
| FinishStepButtonStyle |
Wizard Finish button |
| FinishStepPreviousButtonStyle |
Wizard Previous button at the finish step |
| HeaderStyle |
Wizard header |
| NavigationButtonStyle |
Navigation buttons |
| NavigationStyle |
Navigation area |
| NextStepButtonStyle |
Wizard Next button |
| PreviousStepButtonStyle |
Wizard Previous button |
| SideBarButtonStyle |
Buttons on the sidebar |
| StartStepNextButtonStyle |
Wizard Next button at the start step |
| StepStyle |
Area where steps are displayed |
Wizard Control Properties:
| Property |
Description |
| ActiveStep |
Returns the current wizard step object; the object is an instance of the WizardStep class |
| ActiveStepIndex |
Gets and sets the zero-based index of current wizard step |
| DisplaySideBar |
Toggles the visibility of the sidebar; the default value is True |
| FinishStepButtonText |
Gets and sets the text for the Finish button |
| HeaderText |
Gets and sets the title of the wizard |
| NextStepButtonText |
Gets and sets the text for the Next button |
| PreviousStepButtonText |
Gets and sets the text for the Previous button |
I have designed an example application for the Wizard control.
The wizard ActiveStep property can be set by the ActiveStepIndex="0" of the wizard control. The first form will have the next navigation control.
The next form can be navigated through the "Next" button or user can jump into any wizard by clicking side bar navigation control.
The Last form in the wizard will have the finish button. The user can identify the step by ActiveStepType in the finish button.
Note: The properties, styles properties and template table have been taken from the MSDN.