My goal is create a Web Part in Sharepoint 2010 displays a grid bound to an External List and adds buttons that generate batch files in the filesystem. I have eliminated the possibility of using 'Connections' between the OOB Data View Web Part and my custom one - the Interface is insufficient for that. I am left with the possibilities of a wholly original Web Part or possible inheriting from some OOB Web Part. Most of the examples I am finding are for ASP 2.0 Web Parts and don't relate to SP2010 data sources.
I'm looking for guidance on putting together a solution for this while re-inventing as little of the wheel as possible. If I build the UI of my Web Part with Designer, how do I bind the DataGrid to the External List?
