Data binding boundfields in web form

Question

I have the following DetailsView, with several BoundFields, and SQlDataSource that populates the fields:

<asp:DetailsView ID="DetailsView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateRows="False" DataKeyNames="TICKET_ID"
        DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" HeaderText="Completed IT ticket information"
        CellPadding="4" ForeColor="#333333" GridLines="None" HorizontalAlign="Center">
        <Fields>
            <asp:BoundField DataField="TICKET_ID" SortExpression="TICKET_ID" Visible="False" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="SUBMITTED_BY" SortExpression="SUBMITTED_BY" Visible="False" />

            <asp:BoundField DataField="TICKET_TITLE" HeaderText="Ticket Description" SortExpression="TICKET_TITLE" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="SUBMITTED_BY" HeaderText="Submitted By" SortExpression="SUBMITTED_BY" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="SOLUTION_NOTES" HeaderText="Solution Notes" SortExpression="SOLUTION_NOTES" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="EMAIL_HISTORY" HeaderText="Email History" SortExpression="EMAIL_HISTORY" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="COMPLETED_BY" HeaderText="Completed By" SortExpression="COMPLETED_BY" />
            <asp:BoundField DataField="COMPLETE_DATE" HeaderText="Completed Date" ReadOnly="True" SortExpression="COMPLETE_DATE" />
        </Fields>
    </asp:DetailsView>
    </div>
    <asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" runat="server" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:TTPRODConnectionString %>"
        SelectCommand="SELECT USR_ITFAC.TS_ID AS TICKET_ID, USR_ITFAC.TS_EC1_SUBMITTER AS SUBMITTED_BY, USR_ITFAC.TS_TITLE AS TICKET_TITLE, USR_ITFAC.TS_SOLUTION_NOTES AS SOLUTION_NOTES, USR_ITFAC.TS_EMAIL_HISTORY AS EMAIL_HISTORY, TS_USERS.TS_NAME AS COMPLETED_BY, DATEADD(HOUR,-8,USR_ITFAC.TS_CLOSEDATE) AS COMPLETE_DATE FROM USR_ITFAC INNER JOIN TS_USERS ON USR_ITFAC.TS_COMPLETED_BY = TS_USERS.TS_ID WHERE (USR_ITFAC.TS_ISSUEID = '00033')">
        <SelectParameters>
            <asp:QueryStringParameter Name="ts_id" QueryStringField="id" />
        </SelectParameters>
    </asp:SqlDataSource>

I hard-coded a value at the end of the query '00033', which is the ID of a record I know is in the database. I tested the query and it returns a value as expected, what I'm trying to do is fetch the values of the BoundField in the code-behind after a user has pressed a button.

Protected Sub btnSubmit_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
        Try
            ''Use a Dictionary to store answers to questions that were marked poor or fair
            Dim answers As New Dictionary(Of String, String)

            ''For Each test
        For Each dv_row As DetailsViewRow In DetailsView1.Rows
            ''Print rows data to console
        Next

        Catch ex As Exception
            lblWarn.Text = "<br /><b>Please answer all the questions on this survey</b><br />"
            'Response.Write(ex)
        End Try
    End Sub

Above I'm doing a test to fetch the values and print them onscreen, the problem is that the row count is 0, I'm not sure why that is. I expected the row count to be 8, when debugging I notice that the field count is 8, but I'm not sure how to get the values from the fields. I thought the way to get row data was something like:

Dim rowText As String = DetailsView1.Rows(0).Cells(1).Text

But when I try that I get a Null exception. Any insight is appreciated.

Answer 1

I misread the code. FindControl() is effective when using templates.

Try instead to use the FindControl(controlID) method on your details view to find your data-bound control. The method returns an object of type Control, so you'll probably have to type cast the result to get any real use out of it.

Answer 2

Was able to get it up and running. Turns out the BoundFields were not getting populated because the parameter in the QueryStringField, namely "id", was not being specified in the request URL. To resolve this I first tried to rewrite the URL path on Page_Load, that didn't work, so I just created a separate page with a hyperlink to the page I'm working on with a variable appended to the end of the URL which provides the QueryString for the SQLDataSource to reference. More on the QueryString property here.