A common way to use the SlickRater control is to subclass it with hard-coded properties and the functionality required to tie it to rating data within a database:

C#
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web.UI;
using KrispWare;

namespace localhost
{
    [ToolboxData("&lt;{0}:DBSlickRater runat=server></{0}:DBSlickRater>")]
    public class DBSlickRater : SlickRater
    {
        public override string Image
        {
            get { return "smiley.gif"; }
        }
        // custom rating scale
        protected override RatingCollection DefaultRatings
        {
            get
            { 
                return new RatingCollection(new string[]{"Thumbs WAY Down",
                    "Thumbs Down",
                    "Thumbs Sideways",
                    "Thumbs Up",
                    "Thumbs WAY Up"});
            }
        }
        public override string OnClickJScript
        {
            get
            { 
                if (!(bool)(Page.Session["IsLoggedOn"]))
                {
                    return "function(){document.location.href='/signup.aspx'}";
                }
                return String.Empty;
            }
        }
        // set the UserRating and AverageRating properties
        protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
        {            
            string connectionStr = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ConnectionString"];
            SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionStr);
            
            SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("spGetRatings",connection);
            command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
            command.Parameters.Add("@RatedID",this.RatedID);
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserID",Page.Session["UserID"]);
            
            SqlDataReader reader = null;
            try
            {
                connection.Open();
                reader = command.ExecuteReader(
                    CommandBehavior.SingleRow | CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
                reader.Read();
                this.UserRating = reader.GetInt32(0);
                this.AverageRating = reader.GetSqlDecimal(1).Value;
            }
            finally
            {
                if (reader != null && !reader.IsClosed)
                    reader.Close();
            }
            base.OnLoad (e);
        }
        protected override void OnRatingChanged(SlickRaterRatingChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            string connectionStr = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ConnectionString"];
            SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionStr);
            
            SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("spSetRating",connection);
            command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
            command.Parameters.Add("@RatedID",this.RatedID);
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserID",Page.Session["UserID"]);
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserRating",this.UserRating);
            
            try
            {
                connection.Open();
                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }
            finally
            {
                if (connection.State != ConnectionState.Closed)
                    connection.Close();
            }
            
            base.OnRatingChanged(e);
        }
    }
}

VB.NET
Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports KrispWare
 
Namespace localhost
    <ToolboxData("<{0}:DBSlickRater runat=server></{0}:DBSlickRater>")> _ 
    Public Class DBSlickRater
	 Inherits SlickRater
        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property Image() As String
        	Get 
            	 Return "smiley.gif"
        	End Get
        End Property
        ' custom rating scale
        Protected Overrides ReadOnly Property DefaultRatings() As RatingCollection
        	Get 
                Return New RatingCollection(New String(){"Thumbs WAY Down",
                    "Thumbs Down",
                    "Thumbs Sideways",
                    "Thumbs Up",
                    "Thumbs WAY Up"
        	End Get
        End Property
        Public Overrides ReadOnly Property OnClickJScript() As String
        	Get 
                If Not CType((Page.Session("IsLoggedOn")),Boolean) Then
                    Return "function(){document.location.href=/'signup.aspx'}"
                End If
                Return String.Empty
        	End Get
        End Property
        ' set the UserRating and AverageRating properties
        Protected Overrides  Sub OnLoad(ByVal e As EventArgs)            
            Dim connectionStr As String =  ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("ConnectionString") 
            Dim connection As SqlConnection =  New SqlConnection(connectionStr) 
 
            Dim command As SqlCommand =  New SqlCommand("spGetRatings",connection) 
            command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
            command.Parameters.Add("@RatedID",Me.RatedID)
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserID",Page.Session("UserID"))
 
            Dim reader As SqlDataReader =  Nothing 
            Try
                connection.Open()
                reader = command.ExecuteReader(
                    CommandBehavior.SingleRow | CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)
                reader.Read()
                Me.UserRating = reader.GetInt32(0)
                Me.AverageRating = reader.GetSqlDecimal(1).Value
            Finally
                If reader <> Nothing And Not reader.IsClosed Then
                    reader.Close()
                End If
            End Try
            MyBase.OnLoad (e)
        End Sub
        Protected Overrides  Sub OnRatingChanged(ByVal e As SlickRaterRatingChangedEventArgs)
            Dim connectionStr As String =  ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("ConnectionString") 
            Dim connection As SqlConnection =  New SqlConnection(connectionStr) 
 
            Dim command As SqlCommand =  New SqlCommand("spSetRating",connection) 
            command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
            command.Parameters.Add("@RatedID",Me.RatedID)
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserID",Page.Session("UserID"))
            command.Parameters.Add("@UserRating",Me.UserRating)
 
            Try
                connection.Open()
                command.ExecuteNonQuery()
            Finally
                If connection.State <> ConnectionState.Closed Then
                    connection.Close()
                End If
            End Try
 
            MyBase.OnRatingChanged(e)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

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