Facebook Stream Publish for ASP.NET

Facebook Stream Publish Pop-up is used to publish stories on the user wall, friends' walls, or on the page wall (if the user is admin). This control is a wrapper around Graph API JavaScript method FB.UI(), and it hides all complexities (like JSON conversion, media attachments packaging, etc.) from the user. The control uses configuration of the stream publish story, by exposing pure .NET objects with properties that the user can set to his liking. Events are also provided, for checking whether publish dialog is opened, and if the story is published. The control is available in C# and VB.NET programming languages, as part of Facebook ASP.NET (C# and VB.NET) Control library. Please also look at similar ASP.NET control at Facebook Stream Publish Friend List control.

Usage Examples:

Following example shows usage of Facebook Stream Publish ASP.NET control, from registration and insertion in ASPX file, to implementation of an event handler and setting of dynamic properties in the code behind. Implementation is given in C# and VB.NET programming languages.

Examples of ASPX files show only the required code for registration and integration of ASP.NET control in a web page. To see all requirements for registered components, including JavaScript, CSS style and header setting, please look at the manual for page requirements. For following examples, all page requirements are placed in ASP.NET master page. Important parts for registration and integration of Facebook Stream Publish control inside ASP.NET page are highlighted. Note that the control uses its own JavaScript which is required to be included in every page where the control is used.

 <%@ Page MasterPageFile="~/Master.Master" AutoEventWireup="true" Inherits="FVK_Demo.StreamPublish" %>
 <%@ Register TagPrefix="fvk" TagName="streampublishpopup" Src="~/FVK/StreamPublishPopup.ascx" %>
 <asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" runat="server">
    <title>Facebook Stream Publish Control for ASP.NET</title>
    <meta name="description" content="ASP.NET Stream Publish popup control for Facebook Connect web sites." />
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/FVK/JavaScript/JSON.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="/FVK/JavaScript/StreamPublishPopup.js"</script>
 </asp:Content>
 <asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="ContentPlaceHolder1" runat="server">
    <fvk:streampublishpopup ID="streampublish1" runat="server" 
       OnPublishCalled="OnPublishStory" OnConfirmCalled="OnConfirmStory"
       Name = "Facebook Visual Kit for ASP.NET"
       Href = "http://vatlab.com"
       Caption = "{*actor*} is trying Facebook Visual Kit Demo."
       Description = "Facebook Visual Kit is a set of ASP.NET user controls ..."
       UserMessage = "Try this ASP.NET library for Facebook development !!"
    />
 </asp:Content>

Following code shows the code behind if you want to set image media, properties and action links in C# programming language. ActorId and TargetId are not set because story has to be published on selected user’s wall.

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

 namespace FVK_Demo
 {
    public partial class StreamPublish : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
       protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
       {
          if (!Page.IsPostBack)
          {
             // set image media
             streampublish1.Media = new ImageData("logo.png", "url1");

             // set properties
             List properties = new List();
             properties.Add(new PropertyData("Text Property", "This is property description"));
             properties.Add(new LinkedPropertyData("Link Property", "This is property link", "url2"));
             streampublish1.Properties = properties;
             
             // set action links
             List linkList = new List();
             linkList.Add(new LinkData("action link", "url3"));
             linkList.Add(new LinkData("action link2", "url4"));
             streampublish1.ActionLinkList = linkList;
          }
       }

       protected void OnPublishStory(object sender, EventArgs e)
       {
          // stream publish popup dialog opened
       }

       protected void OnConfirmStory(object sender, EventArgs e)
       {
          if (streampublish1.ReturnedPostId != null)
          {
             //Story is published
          }
          else
          {
             // Story is not published
          }
       }
    }
 }

Following code shows the code behind if you want to set image media, properties and action links in VB.NET programming language. ActorId and TargetId are not set because story has to be published on selected user’s wall.

 Imports System.Collections.Generic
 Imports System.Linq
 Imports System.Web
 Imports System.Web.UI
 Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
 Imports Facebook
 Imports FVK

 Namespace FVK_Demo
    Public Partial Class StreamPublish
       Inherits System.Web.UI.Page
       Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
          If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
             ' set image media
             streampublish1.Media = New ImageData("http://vatlab.com/.../logo.png", "url1")

             ' set properties
             Dim properties As New List(Of IJSONSerialize)()
             properties.Add(New PropertyData("Text Property", "This is property description"))
             properties.Add(New LinkedPropertyData("Link Property", "This is property link", "url2"))
             streampublish1.Properties = properties

             ' set action links
             Dim linkList As New List(Of LinkData)()
             linkList.Add(New LinkData("action link", "url3"))
             linkList.Add(New LinkData("action link2", "url4"))
             streampublish1.ActionLinkList = linkList
          End If
       End Sub

       Protected Sub OnPublishStory(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
          ' stream publish popup dialog opened
       End Sub

        Protected Sub OnConfirmStory(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
          If streampublish1.ReturnedPostId IsNot Nothing Then
             'Story is published
          Else
             ' Story is not published
          End If
       End Sub
    End Class
 End Namespace

Configuration

Configuration of the Facebook Stream Publish ASP.NET control is done in ASPX page by setting properties and optional event handlers. If dynamic setting of properties is required, they can be also set in the code behind, for example on Page_Load method. If event handlers are used, there should be methods in the code behind to execute additional code after event handlers are executed. For Facebook Stream Publish ASP.NET control, all properties are optional. It is possible to create a story which contains only user comments. However, Stream Publish is frequently used to publish some pictures, videos and interesting stories. The control is very frequently used in Facebook quiz and gift applications, for example, to publish results of a quiz, or to publish that user is sending a gift to somebody. Because of that, for Stream Publish ASP.NET control, configuration of properties is usually done in the code behind, to depend on user actions. It is also possible to make a mix, with properties which are static to ASPX file, and dynamic properties which depend on user action in the code behind. For example, static properties can be Name and Href, while dynamic properties can be Description and Media. Definition of event handlers is always done in ASPX file, since it does not depend on user action.

Property Name

Type

Description

CommandType

String

Can be set to 'link', 'button', or 'auto_open'. This means permissions popup dialog is opened by: pressing a link, button, or automatically on page load. Default value is 'button'.

CommandTitle

String

Text of stream publish button or link. If 'auto_open' command type is used, this parameter is ignored. Default value is 'Publish'.

Name

String

Name of the story. If this property is linked (if Href property is set), it is important to put relevant keywords inside name to raise search engine ranking of website or Facebook application.

Href

String

URL of the content inside website or Facebook application where story is pointing.

Caption

String

Caption of the story (first line below title). It is possible to include {*actor*} tag to write name of the user who published the story.

Description

String

Description of the story. The main text of the story. It has no limitation in length.

MessagePrompt

String

Message prompt is text displayed on top border of stream publish dialog.

UserMessage

String

Predefined user message. If user publishes a story, this text will be seen in news feed as he writes some comment about the story.

Media

IJsonSerialize

One of media objects (ImageData, VideoData, FlashData, or Mp3Data). Details about initializing media types can be found in following text.

MediaList

IList

List of media (IJsonSerialize) objects. Facebook currently supports only Image media type.

Properties

IList

List of PropertyData and LinkedPropertyData objects.

ActionLinkList

IList

List of action links (LinkData objects).

TargetId

String

Set to Facebook user id of a friend to publish on the friends' wall. ActorId must not be set.

ActorId

String

Set to page id to publish on Facebook page wall (only if user is admin of the page). TargetId must not be set.

Event Name

Description

OnPublishCalled

Has to be set to name of protected method that is implemented inside the code behind, and which will be called after Facebook Stream publish dialog is opened.

OnConfirmStory

Has to be set to name of protected method that is implemented inside the code behind, and which will be called after user confirms publishing of the story.

Media Types

Configuration of media types is done by creating new object with parameters in class constructor. It is also possible to create objects with default constructor and then set all properties of the objects. In following text, there are tables with descriptions of all constructor parameters and properties inside constructors, for each media type. Names of the properties and the constructor parameters are the same.

Property Name

Type

Description

ImageUrl

String

URL of image file

DestUrl

String

URL where user is redirected after a click on the image.

Property Name

Type

Description

VideoSrc

String

URL of video file

PreviewImg

String

URL of preview image.

VideoLink

String

Destination URL when video is clicked.

VideoTitle

String

Title of the video.

VideoLink

String

Destination URL when video is clicked.

VideoTitle

String

Title of the video.

Property Name

Type

Description

Src

String

URL of mp3 file

Title

String

Song Title

Artist

String

Artist name

Album

String

Album name

Property Name

Type

Description

SwfSrc

String

URL of SWF file

ImgSrc

String

URL of preview image file.

Width

Int

Width of preview

Height

Int

Height of preview

ExpandedWidth

Int

Expanded Width

ExpandedHeight

Int

Expanded Height

Action Links

Action links are links which are located at the bottom of stream post. They are not visible in Facebook Stream Publish dialog, but only when story is published on user’s or Facebook page wall. They are used to provide more actions for your post. Action links are set by setting a list of LinkData objects to ActionLinks property. There is an example of this in Usage Example section. Following table shows properties (constructor parameters) of LinkData class.

Property Name

Type

Description

Text

String

Anchor text of the link

Href

String

Destination of the link.

Properties

Properties are name-value pairs, positioned bellow story description. Value is separated from name with one space character. On the picture above, you can see how it looks. There are 2 types of properties: text property and linked property. Linked property creates link (instead of plain text) with defined target URL. Tables bellow show properties (constructor parameters) of PropertyData (text property) and LinkedPropertyData classes.

Property Name

Type

Description

Name

String

Name of property

Text

String

Text value of property.

Property Name

Type

Description

Name

String

Name of property

Text

String

Anchor text of property.

Href

String

Destination URL of property