hello world button text default not working

I would be interested to see if this.GetValue("ButtonText") was returning an empty string. I believe GetString will only use the default value if the first parameter is null or cannot be parsed into a string

Good point. maybe before this i could write an if statement returning the this.GetValue("ButtonText") as a string variable if it is not null or "", and as null otherwise. Then plug that variable in like so GetString(myStringVariable,"Show time"). I'll post Monday if this works. Either way, this is an example from kentico, and should work. Maybe the method GetString(); has changed since this example was created?

Just a note about setting defaults in code, if you have the following code:

public string ButtonText
{
    get
    {
        return ValidationHelper.GetString(GetValue("ButtonText"), "Show Time");
    }
    set        
    {
        SetValue("ButtonText", value);
    }
}

If the user doesn't provide a value, it will always return "Show Time". BUT if you leave that default value empty and specify it within your webpart properties, you can change it whenever you want without having to modify code.

Another thing to note about webparts is in 99% of the cases you should set your webpart control values in the OnContentLoaded event and NOT the PageLoad event. Take a look an other webparts and you'll see the code you'll need to follow. Webparts have a different page lifecycle than a standard ascx control.

Thank you Brenden, I am now trying to use the OnContentLoaded method. My results are still the same. Neither the default value in the cs file, nor the default value set in kentico webpart properties seem to be doing anything. The button shows blank, unless the value is set on an instance of the webpart. I am going to post a link of this forum to kentico support, so for the sake of that.

My original code, coming from the guide at https://docs.kentico.com/display/K8/Creating+new+web+parts :

HelloWorld.ascx:

<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="~/CMSWebParts/MyWebParts/HelloWorld.ascx.cs" Inherits="CMSWebParts_MyWebParts_HelloWorld" %>
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClick="Button1_Click" />
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="Label" Visible="False"></asp:Label>

HelloWolrd.ascx.cs:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

using CMS.PortalControls;
using CMS.Helpers;

public partial class CMSWebParts_MyWebParts_HelloWorld : CMSAbstractWebPart
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Button1.Text = ValidationHelper.GetString(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), "Show Time");
    }
        protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Label1.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString();
        Label1.Visible = true;
    }
}

And my attempts at trying to create this using properties and the OnContentLoaded method (named helloWord2):

helloWorld2.ascx:

<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="~/CMSWebParts/MyWebParts/helloWorld2.ascx.cs" Inherits="CMSWebParts_MyWebParts_helloWorld2" %>
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClick="Button1_Click" />
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="Label" Visible="False"></asp:Label>

hellowWorld2.ascx.cs:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

using CMS.PortalControls;
using CMS.Helpers;

public partial class CMSWebParts_MyWebParts_helloWorld2 : CMSAbstractWebPart
{
    #region "public properties"
    public string ButtonText
    {
        get
        {
            return ValidationHelper.GetString(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), "Show Time");
        }
        set
        {
            this.SetValue("ButtonText", "Show Time");
        }
    }
    #endregion

    #region "methods"

    /// <summary>
    /// Content loaded event handler.
    /// </summary>
    public override void OnContentLoaded()
    {
        base.OnContentLoaded();
        SetupControl();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes the control properties.
    /// </summary>
    protected void SetupControl()
    {
        if (this.StopProcessing)
        {
            // Do not process
        }
        else
        {
            Button1.Text = ButtonText;
        }
    }

    protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Label1.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString();
        Label1.Visible = true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Reloads the control data.
    /// </summary>
    public override void ReloadData()
    {
        base.ReloadData();

        SetupControl();
    }

    #endregion
}

I think all of the default values are being overridden. The default text is set 3 times. Once on the ascx file, once on the ascx.cs file, and once in the CMS administration --> webparts app --> properties --> General --> Default Value.

I just checked to see if ValidationHelper.GetString(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), "Show Time") returned an empty string, and it does. So how can I point to the "Default Value" property of this "ButtonText" property I have created? I can place an if statement checking to see if ValidationHelper.GetString(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), "Show Time") returns "", and when it does, tell it to use that Default Value property of the BottonText property.

Hey, following up with this for future reference: Timothy Fenton, Support Engineer with Kentico was able to help me out. ValidationHelper.GetString() was a mistake in the documentation. It should be Button1.Text = DataHelper.GetNotEmpty(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), "Default Text");

Furthermore you can plug in the "default value" property of the "ButtonText" property of the webpart into the place where we have written "Default Text".

protectedvoid Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        WebPartInfo test = WebPartInfoProvider.GetWebPartInfo(this.ID);
        Button1.Text = DataHelper.GetNotEmpty(this.GetValue("ButtonText"), test.GetWebPartFormInfo().GetFormField("ButtonText").DefaultValue);
    }

Thank you again Brenden, I will try your newest response when I get a chance. I understand that using properties (with get/set) is the norm for controls and webparts, and this will help me to learn that. Also, how do you paste code on these forums? My all-orange code is difficult to follow.