In this article I will explain with an example, how to use the ASP.Net AJAX Control Toolkit Rating Extender Control in ASP.Net.
 
Database
For this article I have created a custom database the script of which is attached in the sample zip. The database has the following table.
ASP.Net AJAX Rating Control Example
The Id column is an INTEGER column and also is set IDENTITY ON. While the Rating column is a SMALLINT column to store the rating values from range 1 – 5.
 
 
Using the ASP.Net AJAX Control Toolkit Rating Extender Control
1. Drag an ASP.Net AJAX ToolScriptManager on the page.
2. Register the AJAX Control Toolkit Library after adding reference to your project.
 
<%@ Register Assembly="AjaxControlToolkit" Namespace="AjaxControlToolkit" TagPrefix="cc1" %>
 
 
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup is simple, it contains of an ASP.Net AJAX Control Toolkit Rating Extender Control and a Label control.
<cc1:ToolkitScriptManager ID="ToolkitScriptManager1" runat="server">
</cc1:ToolkitScriptManager>
<cc1:Rating ID="Rating1" AutoPostBack="true" OnChanged="OnRatingChanged" runat="server"
    StarCssClass="Star" WaitingStarCssClass="WaitingStar" EmptyStarCssClass="Star"
    FilledStarCssClass="FilledStar">
</cc1:Rating>
<br />
<asp:Label ID="lblRatingStatus" runat="server" Text=""></asp:Label>
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using AjaxControlToolkit;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports AjaxControlToolkit
 
 
Inserting and saving the User Ratings to SQL Server Database Table
In the HTML Markup you will notice that I have set AutoPostBack property to true and also have set the OnChanged event for the Rating Extender control.
Thus when user clicks on any of the Stars the following event is fired where the User Selected Rating is available in the RatingEventArgs Value property, which is then finally inserted into database.
C#
protected void OnRatingChanged(object sender, RatingEventArgs e)
{
    string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
    {
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("INSERT INTO UserRatings VALUES(@Rating)"))
        {
            using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())
            {
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Rating", e.Value);
                cmd.Connection = con;
                con.Open();
                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                con.Close();
            }
        }
    }
    Response.Redirect(Request.Url.AbsoluteUri);
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRatingChanged(sender As Object, e As RatingEventArgs)
    Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
    Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
        Using cmd As New SqlCommand("INSERT INTO UserRatings VALUES(@Rating)")
            Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Rating", e.Value)
                cmd.Connection = con
                con.Open()
                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
                con.Close()
            End Using
        End Using
    End Using
    Response.Redirect(Request.Url.AbsoluteUri)
End Sub
 
 
Populating the Average of the Total User Ratings from SQL Server Database Table
Now the Average of the Total User Ratings is calculated using the AVG Aggregate function of SQL Server and is set to the CurrentRating property of the Rating Extender Control.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        DataTable dt = this.GetData("SELECT ISNULL(AVG(Rating), 0) AverageRating, COUNT(Rating) RatingCount FROM UserRatings");
        Rating1.CurrentRating = Convert.ToInt32(dt.Rows[0]["AverageRating"]);
        lblRatingStatus.Text = string.Format("{0} Users have rated. Average Rating {1}", dt.Rows[0]["RatingCount"], dt.Rows[0]["AverageRating"]);
    }
}
 
private DataTable GetData(string query)
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
    using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
    {
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query))
        {
            using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter())
            {
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
                cmd.Connection = con;
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd;
                sda.Fill(dt);
            }
        }
        return dt;
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Dim dt As DataTable = Me.GetData("SELECT ISNULL(AVG(Rating), 0) AverageRating, COUNT(Rating) RatingCount FROM UserRatings")
        Rating1.CurrentRating = Convert.ToInt32(dt.Rows(0)("AverageRating"))
        lblRatingStatus.Text = String.Format("{0} Users have rated. Average Rating {1}", dt.Rows(0)("RatingCount"), dt.Rows(0)("AverageRating"))
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Function GetData(query As String) As DataTable
    Dim dt As New DataTable()
    Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
    Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
        Using cmd As New SqlCommand(query)
            Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
                cmd.Connection = con
                sda.SelectCommand = cmd
                sda.Fill(dt)
            End Using
        End Using
        Return dt
    End Using
End Function
 
 
Screenshot
ASP.Net AJAX Rating Control Example
 
 
Demo
View Demo
 
 
Downloads
Download Code