Can a .dwp Be Converted to a .wsp Easily?

Question

I have been given the task of converting a .dwp to a .wsp. Is there an easy way to do this in SharePoint 2010?

Is there a tool that can do this automatically?

Answer 1

You can export the dwp from the web part gallery and then add it to a SharePoint solution in Visual Studio.

Be aware that the web part may rely on an external assembly, which you would also need to include in your wsp if this is the case.

The MSDN article Creating a Basic Web Part for SharePoint 2003 walks you through deploying a dwp web part.