Visual Web Part Property Validation in Sandbox Solution [SharePoint Online 2013]

Question

How can I validate a custom web part property in a Sandbox solution (SharePoint Online 2013 environment)?

I am throwing a WebPartPageUserException when validation fails, as shown below.

private string fileName = "test";

[WebBrowsable(true),
Category("Custom Properties"),
Personalizable(PersonalizationScope.Shared),
WebDisplayName("Template File Name")]
public string TemplateFileName
{
    get { return fileName; }
    set
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
            throw new WebPartPageUserException("Template File Name cannot be empty.");

        fileName = value;
    }
}

Throwing the WebPartPageUserException exception is breaking the web part; it starts displaying this error message:

Web Part Error: Unhandled exception was thrown by the sandboxed code wrapper's Execute method in the partial trust app domain: An unexpected error has occurred. Correlation ID: 1e535d9c-0f00-e011-b94d-8fb08e826bea.

ULS logs the below error:

SPNavigationNode previousSibling, PortalSiteMapNode parentNode)    
 at Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Navigation.PortalWebSiteMapNode.PopulateNavigationChildrenInner(NodeTypes includedTypes)    
 at Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Navigation.PortalWebSiteMapNode.PopulateNavigationChildren(NodeTypes includedTypes)    
 at Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.CachedArea.CreateRefreshedVersion(List`1& newObjects)    
 at Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.CachedObjectFactory.ReSyncChangedCache()".

I thought the error might be related to the left navigation menu, so I tried removing it from the page (just in case). But this did not have any effect.

I have also tried deploying to several different environments and site collections, with no luck.

Can a WebPartPageUserException be thrown from a Sandbox solution? If not, what is the suggested way for handling custom web part property validation?

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

As you guessed, this is not allowed from inside a sandboxed solution.

You're going to have to test the value some way or the other, and maybe render a message to the user inside the webpart itself.

Related question here