FormView.DataItem Property (System.Web.UI.WebControls)

DataItem Property

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

FormView..::.DataItem Property

Gets the data item bound to the FormView control.

Namespace: System.Web.UI.WebControls
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<BrowsableAttribute(False)> _
Public Overridable ReadOnly Property DataItem As Object

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As FormView
Dim value As Object

value = instance.DataItem

[BrowsableAttribute(false)]
public virtual Object DataItem { get; }

Visual C++

[BrowsableAttribute(false)]
public:
virtual property Object^ DataItem {
    Object^ get ();
}

JScript

public function get DataItem () : Object

Property Value

Type: System..::.Object
An Object that represents the data item bound to the FormView control.

Implements

IDataItemContainer..::.DataItem

Remarks

Use the DataItem property to access the data item bound to the FormView control. The data item is often used to access the field values of the current record directly. The type of the Object returned by this property varies depending on the data source. For example, when a SqlDataSource control is bound to the FormView control, a DataRowView object is returned.

Note:
This property is available only after data binding has occurred. Before data binding occurs, this property returns nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). This property is also not applicable when the FormView control is in insert mode and returns nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use the DataItem property to determine the value of a field in the data item.

Visual Basic

<%@ page language="VB" %>
<%@ import namespace="System.Data"%>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

  ' To dynamically create a template for a FormView control,
  ' you must create a custom template class to represent 
  ' the template. This template class represents the item
  ' template for a FormView control.
  Private NotInheritable Class EmployeeTemplate
    Implements ITemplate

    ' When implementing the ITemplate interface, you must
    ' implement the InstantiateIn method. The FormView
    ' control calls this method to create the template's 
    ' content. 
    Sub InstantiateIn(ByVal container As Control) Implements ITemplate.InstantiateIn

      ' Create the child controls contained in the template.
      ' For this example, the item template displays the
      ' FirstName and LastName fields from the data source.
      ' To support data binding, create event handlers 
      ' for the DataBinding event of each child child control.
      ' The event handler must bind the appropriate value 
      ' to the control.
      Dim firstNameLabel As New Label()
      firstNameLabel.ID = "FirstNameLabel"
      AddHandler firstNameLabel.DataBinding, AddressOf FirstNameLabel_DataBinding

      Dim lineBreak As LiteralControl = New LiteralControl("<br/>")

      Dim lastNameLabel As New Label()
      lastNameLabel.ID = "LastNameLabel"
      AddHandler lastNameLabel.DataBinding, AddressOf LastNameLabel_DataBinding

      ' Add the controls to the Controls collection of the 
      ' container control.
      container.Controls.Add(firstNameLabel)
      container.Controls.Add(lineBreak)
      container.Controls.Add(lastNameLabel)
    End Sub

    ' This event handler binds the value of the FirstName field
    ' to the FirstNameLabel Label control displayed in the template.
    Private Sub FirstNameLabel_DataBinding(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

      ' Use the sender parameter to retrieve the Label control
      ' being bound to data.
      Dim firstNameLabelControl As Label = CType(sender, Label)

      ' Retrieve the value to bind to the Label control. First,
      ' use the NamingContainer property to retrieve the parent 
      ' control of the Label control. In this example, the parent 
      ' control is the FormView control.
      Dim formViewContainer As FormView = CType(firstNameLabelControl.NamingContainer, FormView)

      ' Get the data item bound to the FormView control.
      Dim rowView As DataRowView = CType(formViewContainer.DataItem, DataRowView)

      ' Use the data item to retrieve the value of the FirstName field
      ' Set the Text property of the Label control to this value.        
      firstNameLabelControl.Text = rowView("FirstName").ToString()

    End Sub

    ' This event handler binds the value of the LastName field
    ' to the LastNameLabel Label control displayed in the template.
    Private Sub LastNameLabel_DataBinding(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

      ' Use the sender parameter to retrieve the Label control
      ' being bound to data.
      Dim lastNameLabelControl As Label = CType(sender, Label)

      ' Retrieve the value to bind to the Label control. First,
      ' use the NamingContainer property to retrieve the parent 
      ' control of the Label control. In this example, the parent 
      ' control is the FormView control.
      Dim formViewContainer As FormView = CType(lastNameLabelControl.NamingContainer, FormView)

      ' Get the data item bound to the FormView control.
      Dim rowView As DataRowView = CType(formViewContainer.DataItem, DataRowView)

      ' Use the data item to retrieve the value of the LastName field
      ' Set the Text property of the Label control to this value.         
      lastNameLabelControl.Text = rowView("LastName").ToString()

    End Sub

  End Class

  Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

    ' Create a new FormView object.
    Dim employeesFormView As New FormView()

    ' Set the FormView object's properties.
    employeesFormView.ID = "EmployeesFormView"
    employeesFormView.DataSourceID = "EmployeeSource"
    employeesFormView.AllowPaging = True
    employeesFormView.PagerSettings.Mode = PagerButtons.NextPrevious
    employeesFormView.HeaderText = "Employee Name"
    employeesFormView.RowStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightBlue
    employeesFormView.HeaderStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Silver
    employeesFormView.PagerStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Silver

    ' Create the dynamic template using the custom template class.
    employeesFormView.ItemTemplate = New EmployeeTemplate()

    ' Add the FormView object to the Controls collection
    ' of the PlaceHolder control.
    DetailsViewPlaceHolder.Controls.Add(employeesFormView)

  End Sub

</script>

<html  > 
  <head runat="server">
    <title>FormView Constructor Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">

      <h3>FormView Constructor Example</h3>

      <!-- Use a PlaceHolder control as the container for the -->
      <!-- dynamically generated FormView control.            -->       
      <asp:PlaceHolder id="DetailsViewPlaceHolder"
        runat="server"/>

      <!-- This example uses Microsoft SQL Server and connects  -->
      <!-- to the Northwind sample database. Use an ASP.NET     -->
      <!-- expression to retrieve the connection string value   -->
      <!-- from the Web.config file.                            -->
      <asp:sqldatasource id="EmployeeSource"
        selectcommand="Select [EmployeeID], [LastName], [FirstName] From [Employees]"
        connectionstring="<%$ ConnectionStrings:NorthWindConnectionString%>" 
        runat="server"/>

    </form>
  </body>
</html>

<%@ page language="C#" %>
<%@ import namespace="System.Data"%>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

  // To dynamically create a template for a FormView control,
  // you must create a custom template class to represent 
  // the template. This template class represents the item
  // template for a FormView control.
  private sealed class EmployeeTemplate : ITemplate
  {

    // When implementing the ITemplate interface, you must
    // implement the InstantiateIn method. The FormView
    // control calls this method to create the template's 
    // content. 
    void ITemplate.InstantiateIn(Control container)
    {
      // Create the child controls contained in the template.
      // For this example, the item template displays the
      // FirstName and LastName fields from the data source.
      // To support data binding, create event handlers 
      // for the DataBinding event of each child child control.
      // The event handler must bind the appropriate value 
      // to the control.
      Label firstNameLabel = new Label();
      firstNameLabel.ID = "FirstNameLabel";
      firstNameLabel.DataBinding += new EventHandler(FirstNameLabel_DataBinding);

      LiteralControl lineBreak = new LiteralControl("<br/>");

      Label lastNameLabel = new Label();
      lastNameLabel.ID = "LastNameLabel";
      lastNameLabel.DataBinding += new EventHandler(LastNameLabel_DataBinding);

      // Add the controls to the Controls collection of the 
      // container control.
      container.Controls.Add(firstNameLabel);
      container.Controls.Add(lineBreak);
      container.Controls.Add(lastNameLabel);
    }

    // This event handler binds the value of the FirstName field
    // to the FirstNameLabel Label control displayed in the template.
    private void FirstNameLabel_DataBinding(Object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
      // Use the sender parameter to retrieve the Label control
      // being bound to data.
      Label firstNameLabelControl = (Label)sender;

      // Retrieve the value to bind to the Label control. First,
      // use the NamingContainer property to retrieve the parent 
      // control of the Label control. In this example, the parent 
      // control is the FormView control.
      FormView formViewContainer = (FormView)firstNameLabelControl.NamingContainer;

      // Get the data item bound to the FormView control.
      DataRowView rowView = (DataRowView)formViewContainer.DataItem;

      // Use the data item to retrieve the value of the FirstName field
      // Set the Text property of the Label control to this value.        
      firstNameLabelControl.Text = rowView["FirstName"].ToString();
    }

    // This event handler binds the value of the LastName field
    // to the LastNameLabel Label control displayed in the template.
    private void LastNameLabel_DataBinding(Object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
      // Use the sender parameter to retrieve the Label control
      // being bound to data.
      Label lastNameLabelControl = (Label)sender;

      // Retrieve the value to bind to the Label control. First,
      // use the NamingContainer property to retrieve the parent 
      // control of the Label control. In this example, the parent 
      // control is the FormView control.
      FormView formViewContainer = (FormView)lastNameLabelControl.NamingContainer;

      // Get the data item bound to the FormView control.
      DataRowView rowView = (DataRowView)formViewContainer.DataItem;

      // Use the data item to retrieve the value of the LastName field.
      // Set the Text property of the Label control to this value.         
      lastNameLabelControl.Text = rowView["LastName"].ToString();
    }

  }

  void Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
  {

    // Create a new FormView object.
    FormView employeesFormView = new FormView();

    // Set the FormView object's properties.
    employeesFormView.ID = "EmployeesFormView";
    employeesFormView.DataSourceID = "EmployeeSource";
    employeesFormView.AllowPaging = true;
    employeesFormView.PagerSettings.Mode = PagerButtons.NextPrevious;
    employeesFormView.HeaderText = "Employee Name";
    employeesFormView.RowStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightBlue;
    employeesFormView.HeaderStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Silver;
    employeesFormView.PagerStyle.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Silver;

    // Create the dynamic template using the custom template class.
    employeesFormView.ItemTemplate = new EmployeeTemplate();

    // Add the FormView object to the Controls collection
    // of the PlaceHolder control.
    DetailsViewPlaceHolder.Controls.Add(employeesFormView);

  }

</script>

<html  > 
  <head runat="server">
    <title>FormView Constructor Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">

      <h3>FormView Constructor Example</h3>

      <!-- Use a PlaceHolder control as the container for the -->
      <!-- dynamically generated FormView control.            -->       
      <asp:PlaceHolder id="DetailsViewPlaceHolder"
        runat="server"/>

      <!-- This example uses Microsoft SQL Server and connects  -->
      <!-- to the Northwind sample database. Use an ASP.NET     -->
      <!-- expression to retrieve the connection string value   -->
      <!-- from the Web.config file.                            -->
      <asp:sqldatasource id="EmployeeSource"
        selectcommand="Select [EmployeeID], [LastName], [FirstName] From [Employees]"
        connectionstring="<%$ ConnectionStrings:NorthWindConnectionString%>" 
        runat="server"/>

    </form>
  </body>
</html>

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

Reference

FormView Class

FormView Members

System.Web.UI.WebControls Namespace