ASP.NET – Page 2 – Tech.It.2.Me

On one of my ASP.NET 2.0 projects, I had to use an XML file as the data source for a GridView control. The problem was that I had never used this method before. But after doing some research, I found it to be very similar (and straightforward) to binding to a database – with the exception of the need to use XPath.

So…without further adieu, here are the steps and code. Enjoy!

1. Create an XML file that contains your data, like below (taken from Microsoft’s website to save a lot of typing). Save it as books.xml.

<font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;?</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">xml</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">version</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">=</span>"<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">1.0</span>"</font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">?&gt;
&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">catalog</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
  &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">book</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">id</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">=</span>"<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">bk101</span>"</font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">author</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>Gambardella, Matthew<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">author</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">title</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>XML Developer's Guide<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">title</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">genre</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>Computer<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">genre</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">price</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>44.95<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">price</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">publish_date</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>2000-10-01<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">publish_date</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">description</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>      An in-depth look at creating applications
      with XML.
<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">    &lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">description</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
  &lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">book</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
  &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">book</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">id</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">=</span>"<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">bk102</span>"</font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">author</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>Ralls, Kim<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">author</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">title</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>Midnight Rain<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">title</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">genre</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>Fantasy<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">genre</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">price</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>5.95<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">price</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">publish_date</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>2000-12-16<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">publish_date</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
    &lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">description</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>      A former architect battles corporate zombies,
      an evil sorceress, and her own childhood to become queen
      of the world.
<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">    &lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">description</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
  &lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">book</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">catalog</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span></font>

2. Add a GridView control to your .aspx page and rename it to gdvBooks.
3. Drag an XmlDataSource control to your form, rename it xdsBooks, and assign your XML file (books.xml) in the control’s DataFile property.
4. Next, change to Source view and input the code below.

<font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">GridView</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">ID</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="gdvServerVersions"</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">runat</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="server"</span>         </font>

<font size="2">    <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">AutoGenerateColumns</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="False"</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">DataKeyNames</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="id"</span>         </font>

<font size="2">    <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">DataSourceID</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="xdsServerVersions" </span><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">EmptyDataText</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="No data available."&gt;</span>                </font>

<font size="2">    <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">Columns</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">BoundField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Book ID" </span><span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">DataField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="id"</span> </font>

<font size="2">            <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">SortExpression</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="id"</span> </font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">/&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Author"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("author") </font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Title"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("title") </font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Genre"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("genre") </font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Price"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("price") </font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Publish Date"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("publish_date") </font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0)">HeaderText</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">="Description"&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>                <span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">&lt;%<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)"></span>#</span> XPath("description")</font><font size="2"><span style="background: rgb(255,238,98)">%&gt;
</span>            <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
</span>        <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">TemplateField</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span>
    <span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">Columns</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;
&lt;/</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">asp</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">:</span><span style="color: rgb(163,21,21)">GridView</span><span style="color: rgb(0,0,255)">&gt;</span></font>&nbsp;

5. That’s it! Simply navigate to your newly created page and see the results.

I built an ASP.NET 2.0 web application [for the company I work for] that streamlined the deployment process to our production environment. It processed, tracked, archived, and notified automatically on each step of the deployment process.

So with that in mind, I’ll be showing you how to add text highlighting in a GridView; for example, a Date & Time column (i.e., red=overdue, green=still OK), which, at work, presented to the the technical group if a deployment was late or not. =0)

Here’s a screenshot:

Fig. 1.1 – Text highlighting in ASP.NET 2.0 GridView

Adding this feature is quite easy. The first thing you’ll need to do is add a RowDataBound event in the GridView code:

<font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;</span><span style="color: #a31515">asp</span><span style="color: #0000ff">:</span><span style="color: #a31515">GridView</span> <span style="color: #ff0000">OnRowDataBound</span><span style="color: #0000ff">="GridView_RowDataBound"&gt;</span></font>

The second thing is add an ASP label within an ASP template field, like so:

<font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;</span><span style="color: #a31515">asp</span><span style="color: #0000ff">:</span><span style="color: #a31515">TemplateField</span> <span style="color: #ff0000">HeaderText</span><span style="color: #0000ff">="Date &amp; Time"</span>

            <span style="color: #ff0000">SortExpression</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">="TargetDateTime"&gt;

</span>    <span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;</span><span style="color: #a31515">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">&gt;

</span>        <span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;</span><span style="color: #a31515">asp</span><span style="color: #0000ff">:</span><span style="color: #a31515">Label</span> <span style="color: #ff0000">ID</span><span style="color: #0000ff">="lblTargetDateTime"</span> <span style="color: #ff0000">runat</span><span style="color: #0000ff">="server"</span>

                <span style="color: #ff0000">Text</span><span style="color: #0000ff">='</span><span style="background: #ffee62 none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial">&lt;%</span># Eval("TargetDateTime") <span style="background: #ffee62 none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial">%&gt;<span style="color: #0000ff"></span>'</span> </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">/&gt;

</span>    <span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;/</span><span style="color: #a31515">ItemTemplate</span></font><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">&gt;

</span><span style="color: #0000ff">&lt;/</span><span style="color: #a31515">asp</span><span style="color: #0000ff">:</span><span style="color: #a31515">TemplateField</span><span style="color: #0000ff">&gt;</span></font>

Pretty simple so far, ‘ey? Now, to the last bread-and-butter step, the code-behind file:

<font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">using</span> System.Drawing;</font><font size="2">
</font><span style="color: #0000ff"><font size="2">private</font></span><font size="2"> <span style="color: #0000ff">void</span> GridView_RowDataBound(<span style="color: #0000ff">object</span> sender,

        <span style="color: #2b91af">GridViewRowEventArgs</span> e)

{

    </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #008000">// Find control to add text highlighting

</span>    <span style="color: #0000ff">if</span> (e.Row.RowType == <span style="color: #2b91af">DataControlRowType</span>.DataRow)

    {

        </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #008000">// Create Label datatype then cast and assign control

</span>        <span style="color: #2b91af">Label</span> dateTimeType =

            (<span style="color: #2b91af">Label</span>)e.Row.FindControl(<span style="color: #a31515">"lblTargetDateTime"</span>);</font>

<font size="2">
</font><font size="2">        </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #008000">// Instantiate new DateTime object

</span>        <span style="color: #2b91af">DateTime</span> dateTime = <span style="color: #0000ff">new</span> <span style="color: #2b91af">DateTime</span>();

        dateTime = <span style="color: #2b91af">Convert</span>.ToDateTime(dateTimeType.Text);</font>

<font size="2">
</font><font size="2">        </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #008000">// Set coloring based on date and time

</span>        <span style="color: #0000ff">if</span> (<span style="color: #2b91af">DateTime</span>.Compare(dateTime, <span style="color: #2b91af">DateTime</span>.Today) &gt;= 0)

            dateTimeType.BackColor = Color.LawnGreen;

        </font><font size="2"><span style="color: #0000ff">else

</span>            dateTimeType.BackColor = Color.Red;

    }

}</font>

That’s it! Using text highlighting in your GridView not only makes it look “pretty,” but also emphasizes a record’s importance based on colors.

Category: ASP.NET

Bind an XMLDataSource to a GridView control

Add text highlighting in ASP.NET 2.0 GridView