Change value of databound control within Repeaters in C#

Question

Hey SO,

I have a nested repeater control that displays a list of data, in my case it is an FAQ list. here is the design portion:

<asp:Repeater ID="lists" runat="server">
    <ItemTemplate>
        <h2 class="sf_listTitle"><asp:Literal ID="listTitle" runat="server"></asp:Literal></h2>

        <p class="sf_controlListItems">
            <a id="expandAll" runat="server">
                <asp:Literal ID="Literal1" runat="server" Text="<%$Resources:ExpandAll %>"></asp:Literal>
            </a>
            <a id="collapseAll" runat="server" style="display:none;">
                <asp:Literal ID="Literal2" runat="server" Text="<%$Resources:CollapseAll %>"></asp:Literal>
            </a>
        </p>

        <ul class="sf_expandableList" id="expandableList" runat="server">
            <asp:Repeater ID="listItems" runat="server">
                <HeaderTemplate>
                </HeaderTemplate>
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <li>
                        <h1 id="headlineContainer" runat="server" class="sf_listItemTitle">
                            <a id="headline" runat="server" title="<%$Resources:ClickToExpand %>"></a>
                        </h1>
                        <div id="contentContainer" runat="server" class="sf_listItemBody" style="display:none;">
                            <asp:Literal ID="content" runat="server"></asp:Literal>
                        </div>
                    </li>
                </ItemTemplate>
                <FooterTemplate>
                </FooterTemplate>
            </asp:Repeater>
        </ul>
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>

The repeater that I am interested in is the second repeater, listItems. In my code-behind, I cannot directly call listItems and see the controls inside of it. I tried to grab the control inside of list.DataBinding (maybe I need to use a different event?) method:

void lists_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{
    var oRepeater = (Repeater) lists.FindControl("listItems");
}

but this comes up as null. Can anyone give me some pointers/tips of what I need to do to gain access to the listItems repeater and it's children controls?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to change that line to

var oRepeater = (Repeater) e.Item.FindControl("listItems");

Answer 2

lists

belongs to each RepeaterItem, not directly to the Repeater itself.

Try :-

void lists_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{


    if ( e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.AlternatingItem 
        || e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item )
    {
       Repeater oRepeater = (Repeater)e.Item.FindControl("listItems");

       // And to get the stuff inside.
       foreach ( RepeaterItem myItem in oRepeater.Items )
       {
          if ( myItem.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.AlternatingItem 
              || myItem.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item )  
          {
             Literal myContent = (Literal)myItem.FindControl("content");

             // Do Something Good!
             myContent.Text = "Huzzah!";

          }
       }
    }
}

And you should be good :)

Edited to incorporate DavidP's helpful refinement.

Answer 3

You're close! Inside your event handler check the RepeaterItemEventArgs for what kind of row you're dealing with. Your child repeater will only be available on (Alt)Item rows, not headers or footers. My guess is that it's blowing up on the header.