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Complete ListView in ASP.NET 3.5

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3.53/5 (89 votes)
23 Mar 2008CPOL2 min read 643.3K   20.7K   85   48
Most powerful data binding control which has the power of easier data-binding, flexible pagination, sorting, inserting, deleting, and updating and CSS implement features.
CompleteListView

Introduction

ASP.NET 3.5 introduces a new data binding control named the ListView. ASP.NET already has a lot of data bind controls; it should be more than 10. But the good news is, ListView can literally replace all other data binding controls in ASP.NET. ListView control makes data binding easier than previous controls. It has included styling with CSS, flexible pagination, and sorting, inserting, deleting, and updating features.

Complete ListView

Listview having full data control support

In this article, I will describe features in ListView step by step with related code review.

  1. Data binding
  2. Data pager
  3. Sorting
  4. Insert, update and delete

DataBinding

The ListView is a template driven control which means that it will not render anything. By default, the developer must completely specify the HTML he/she wants to render in the form of templates. To show data in ListView control, you need to take a LayoutTemplate (to define top level of HTML for output rendering). To show data, you need to take ItemTemplate and AlternativeItemTemplate to show alternative row as with different CSS. Here is the example of simple data binding with AlternativeItemTemplate.

XML
//very simple databinding in ListView
<LayoutTemplate>
 <table border="0" cellpadding="1">
  <tr style="background-color:#E5E5FE">
   <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkId" runat="server">Id</asp:LinkButton></th>
   <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkName" runat="server">Name</asp:LinkButton></th>
   <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkType" runat="server">Type</asp:LinkButton></th>
   <th></th>
  </tr>
  <tr id="itemPlaceholder" runat="server"></tr>
 </table>
</LayoutTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
  <tr>
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblId"><%#Eval("ID") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblName"><%#Eval("FirstName")+" 
	"+Eval("LastName") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblType"><%#Eval("ContactType") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td></td>
  </tr>
</ItemTemplate>
<AlternatingItemTemplate>
  <tr style="background-color:#EFEFEF">
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblId"><%#Eval("ID") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblName"><%#Eval("FirstName")+" "+
	Eval("LastName") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblType"><%#Eval("ContactType") %></asp:Label></td>
   <td></td>
  </tr>
</AlternatingItemTemplate>

Here Layout template is making header of the control, and ItemTemplate is showing data taken from table by Binding columns with Label controls, and AlternativeItemTemplate does the same as ItemTemplate just changing CSS for alternative columns.

DataPager

To add pagination in the listview, you need to add an asp:DataPager control, better to put this control inside LayoutTemplate at the end of the LayoutTemplate. DataPager control has many options to show pagination and these are useful too. Here I have just used a simple one.

ASP.NET
<asp:DataPager ID="ItemDataPager" runat="server" PageSize="5">
    <Fields>
         <asp:NumericPagerField ButtonCount="2" />
    </Fields>
</asp:DataPager>    

Sorting

It is very easy to sort data in ListView. Sort functionality is defined in the CommandArgument property of the button that contains the columns to be sorted. It occurs when a button with its CommandName property set to Sort is clicked. And you need to make a call to the Sort method named onsorting="ListView1_Sorting".

HTML
// to allow sort if click on the header of the table make 
//table header controls clickable 
//and give commandname and commandargument
<tr style="background-color:#E5E5FE">
 <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkId" runat="server" 
	CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="ID">Id</asp:LinkButton></th>
 <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkName" runat="server" 
	CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="FirstName">Name</asp:LinkButton></th>
 <th align="left"><asp:LinkButton ID="lnkType" runat="server" 
	CommandName="Sort" CommandArgument="ContactType">Type</asp:LinkButton></th>
 <th></th>
</tr>    

Insert, Update and Delete

To insert data into ListView, you need to add a tag in ListView named InsertItemTemplate. Add to add inserted code, add code in ItemCommand.

HTML Code

HTML
<InsertItemTemplate>
    <tr runat="server">
        <td></td>
        <td>
        <asp:TextBox ID="txtFname" runat="server" 
		Text='<%#Eval("FirstName") %>' Width="100px">First Name</asp:TextBox>
        <asp:TextBox ID="txtLname" runat="server" 
		Text='<%#Eval("LastName") %>' Width="100px">Last Name</asp:TextBox>
        </td>
        <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtCtype" runat="server" 
	Text='<%#Eval("ContactType") %>' Width="100px">Contact Type</asp:TextBox></td>
        <td><asp:Button ID="InsertButton" runat="server" 
		CommandName="Insert" Text="Insert" /></td>
    </tr>
</InsertItemTemplate>    

CS Code

In the CS file, insert this code in ItemCommand:

C#
if (e.CommandName == "Insert")
{
    TextBox txtFname = (TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("txtFname");
    TextBox txtLname = (TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("txtLname");
    TextBox txtCtype = (TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("txtCtype");
    string insertCommand = "Insert into [Contacts] 
	    ([FirstName],[LastName],[ContactType]) Values('" + txtFname.Text + "', '" 
                 + txtLname.Text + "', '" + txtCtype.Text + "');";
    SqlDataSource1.InsertCommand = insertCommand;
}

In the same way, code for Update and Delete will be done using EditItemTemlpate. Please check the attached source files to get the complete code.

History

  • 24th March 2008: First version of the article

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
Canada Canada
Software engineer with broad experience in enterprise application development, product deployment automation, software test & test automation, application & system management, and manage big projects and team using proven agile technologies.

Passionate on Microsoft technologies, developed solutions using C#, .net (1.1/2.0/3.5/4), SQL Server (2005/2008). Work on Powershell, SSRS, SSIS, WPF, Ajax, WCF, JQuery.

Develop innovative application with cutting edge technologies always boosting inside.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] Demo has no database Pin
paddyirishman054-Oct-12 6:27
paddyirishman054-Oct-12 6:27 
GeneralExcellent for them who are beginner with the ListView Pin
harish kr chandna30-May-11 22:33
harish kr chandna30-May-11 22:33 
GeneralMy vote of 3 Pin
Meikanda 21-Apr-11 18:05
Meikanda 21-Apr-11 18:05 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Anele 'Mashy' Mbanga9-Mar-11 11:46
professionalAnele 'Mashy' Mbanga9-Mar-11 11:46 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Member 746380123-Sep-10 20:21
Member 746380123-Sep-10 20:21 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
AlexanderHaniche9-May-10 22:14
AlexanderHaniche9-May-10 22:14 
GeneralRe: My vote of 1 Pin
nahid47717-Aug-10 14:40
nahid47717-Aug-10 14:40 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
emission15-Mar-10 2:44
emission15-Mar-10 2:44 
Generalignore the novice Pin
tslois24-Dec-09 17:46
tslois24-Dec-09 17:46 
GeneralGood Pin
kasmatt26-Oct-09 22:47
kasmatt26-Oct-09 22:47 
GeneralGood Pin
Abhishek Sur28-Sep-09 21:26
professionalAbhishek Sur28-Sep-09 21:26 
Generalmissing Pin
ykiranbabu16-Jul-09 0:04
ykiranbabu16-Jul-09 0:04 
GeneralGood Article Pin
robertoqzs24-Jun-09 20:00
robertoqzs24-Jun-09 20:00 
GeneralRe: Good Article Pin
quangngocanh14-Apr-11 21:32
quangngocanh14-Apr-11 21:32 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Kam17-Apr-09 7:23
Kam17-Apr-09 7:23 
GeneralDatabase is missing PinPopular
Keyurc24-Mar-09 6:11
Keyurc24-Mar-09 6:11 
GeneralSomething is missing PinPopular
Member 189129023-Feb-09 4:21
Member 189129023-Feb-09 4:21 
GeneralGood introduction Pin
Fredrik Josefsson3-Feb-09 2:03
Fredrik Josefsson3-Feb-09 2:03 
GeneralRe: Good introduction Pin
Ashrafur Rahaman3-Feb-09 4:49
Ashrafur Rahaman3-Feb-09 4:49 
GeneralMy vote of 2 Pin
Frank Kerrigan9-Dec-08 2:33
Frank Kerrigan9-Dec-08 2:33 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
gino_montano1-Dec-08 3:09
gino_montano1-Dec-08 3:09 
Questionhow to set header information dynamically Pin
gargvijay30-Oct-08 19:24
gargvijay30-Oct-08 19:24 
GeneralNot bad, but... Pin
JaceMalloy27-Jul-08 20:42
JaceMalloy27-Jul-08 20:42 

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