Populating GridView using Objects Collection instead of Dataset

[ragstta]

Hi All

Is there an easy way to
Populat GridView using Objects Collection instead of Dataset

i know this is how it works with dataset

gridview1.DataSource = Dataset.Tables(TABLE1)

but i want to

For each ObjCustomer in ObCustomers

'Add record to grid??

Next

Thanks in advance...

[gep13]

Hey,

What is the Type of the collection that you are speaking of?

You should be able to assign the collection directly to the DataSource property of the GridView. You shouldn't need to first loop through all the records in the collection.

Can you show what you are trying to do?

Gary

[mendhak]

Set the DataSource to a List<YourObjectType>.

[ragstta]

Awsome that worked. Thankyou very much

passing in the Collection Class to the datasource property shows all the data :-)

GridView1.PageIndex = 0
GridView1.DataSource = objCustomers

GridView1.DataBind()

Can I hide columns which i dont want to display??

Cheers

[Webskater]

Would you mind showing the code that creates objCustomers? I keep hearing about people using objects instead of datasets but don't really understand what they mean - or the advantages of using objects instead of datasets.

[gep13]

Hey,

You can use an ObjectDataSource to display the contents of custom created Business Object, which is essentially a class with lots of properties, depending on what the Object represents, and that has methods such as GetCustomer, UpdateCustomer, DeleteCustomer, NewCustomer, which you can bind to the ObjectDataSource methods, for controlling the display and modification of the data contained within the Object.

I use the above approach, and this is because I feel that it gives you more control over the Objects, but there are arguments for and against and it has been the topic of debate for a long time now.

As for your question ragstta, it probably makes sense to only pull back the information for the database that you actually want. In which case you might want to create overloaded get methods, i.e. GetAllCustomers(), GetRecentCustomers(), GetOldCustomers() (bad examples I know, but you get the idea), and use these methods in the ObjectDataSource to only display the information you want.

Gary

[ragstta]

Cool yep those all are good ideas. I've found this

    Protected Sub GridView1_RowDataBound(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridViewRowEventArgs)
        Dim i As Integer
        Dim strColumnsInterestedIn As String
        
        strColumnsInterestedIn = "[1]"
        
        For i = 0 To (e.Row.Cells.Count - 1)
            
            'Hide Columns we are not interested in
            If Not strColumnsInterestedIn.Contains("[" & i.ToString & "]") Then
                e.Row.Cells(i).Visible = False

            End If
            
            'Rename Columns names
            If e.Row.Cells(i).Text = "DBName" Then
                e.Row.Cells(i).Text = "Database name"
            End If
        Next i

    End Sub

It lets me remove the columns i dont want. Its not pretty but does the job.
Im still playing with concepts so all ur advice is really useful cheers

[gep13]

Hey,

I guess it comes down to how many rows we are talking about.

If there are lots, there bringing them back from the database, then looping through them only to hide them seems a little unintuitive, and may result in the page taking longer to load than it normally would. Something to keep in mind as the application grows.

Gary

[ragstta]

Yep defo, i might just populate my dataset from my object.
main problem is we are still using ado the old ado
so our business layer returns ado recordsets and not datasets :-s

[gep13]

I think the general consensus would be to upgrade to ADO.Net when you get a chance.

Gary

[mendhak]

Yes, definitely move over.

Also, if you only want certain fields visible, then consider going down the TemplateField route rather than setting a few columns to invisible so that you have control over what the columns look like, what is displayed and what isn't displayed.