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Note

This legacy content applies to Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) versions 10 and 11.

The rendering is based on the `PropertyControl` interface, and the `PropertyDataControl` base class.

The `EPiServer.Web.PropertyControls` namespace contains default controls for built-in properties. You can render properties in different ways, but rendering always implements `IPropertyControl` in Web Forms. The property implementation returns the default control by overriding the `CreatePropertyControl` method from `PropertyData`.

The abstract base class `PropertyDataControl` does a lot of the underlying work, so you do not need to inherit from any classes in this namespace when you create custom controls. However, custom controls must inherit from `System.Web.UI.Control` and implement the `EPiServer.Core.IPropertyControl` interface. `PropertyDataControl` has the following more important methods and properties:

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Note

You can use several of the methods in `PropertyDataControl` only when you create a Web Forms-based editor. However, in the default edit view in EPiServer 7 or later, you can use Web Forms-based editing if you configured legacy editing, or if you edit dynamic properties or dynamic content.

## Change rendering with PropertyControlBase<T> 

If you want to change rendering of an existing property, perhaps based on a tag, `PropertyControlBase<T>` lets you to use any user control. You also can apply the same method to a `WebControl` by implementing the `IPropertyDataControl<T>` interface. A generic implementation of `IPropertyControl` wraps your control. The following example shows a definition that renders an alternative to `PageReference` when you use the _Testing_ tag.

## Change rendering for a web browser

If you want to change rendering of a property based on the web browser of the current request, map a [control adapter](🔗) using a .browser-file. Because a control adapter inherits from an adapter base class, the `EPiServer.Web.PropertyControls.Adapters.PropertyDataControlAdapter` base class facilitates implementation of a custom control adapter for a property. `PropertyDataControlAdapter` implements many of the properties and methods that exist on `PropertyDataControl` and redirects the method back to the current `PropertyDataControl` by default, so you can implement the specific methods for which you want to change the behavior. The following example shows a control adapter that overrides the default behavior for `EPiServer.Web.PropertyControls.PropertyLongStringControl` :

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Note

You must use `Control.Controls.Add()` to add a child control in a control adapter. Also, CMS applies control adapters even for inherited classes, so you can apply a `PropertyDataControl` control adapter to modify the behavior of any control that inherits from `PropertyDataControl`.

## Map presentation of properties with PropertyControlClassFactory

Mapping a `PropertyClass` through `PropertyControlClassFactory` overrides which control is used. The following code shows how to map a property to use the second argument, (which is required to inherit from `Control` and implement `IPropertyControl`), instead of the default control:

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Note

`PropertyMappings` are not applied recursively for child classes. This means that `PropertyXhtmlString `still has its default `PropertyControl` even if you map `PropertyLongString`.