.Net Repeater equivalent for a single object?

Question

Hi,

Could someone try to recommend the best cause of action to solve the request below:

I have created a number of extended classes using the Repeater class as a Base and love the flexibility, the ease and the results of doing this. What I want to to do now is to make a similar Custom Web Control for a single object (i.e the DataSource not implementing a IListSource or IEnumerable). I have created the structure of what I'm trying to achieve by extending the repeater and then when setting the datasource using a list of 1 item to hold the object and then databinding.

e.g a rough example:

    Dim oObj as New MyObject(1)
    Dim gl As New Generic.List(of MyObiect)()
    gl.Add(oObj)
    rpt.DataSource = gl
    rpt.DataBind()

This does seem like a small hack around things, what I would like to be able to do is the following:

e.g new call, where my control is the new custom control:

    Dim oObj as New MyObject(1)
    myControl.DataSource = oObj 
    myControl.DataBind()

I want to able to define this custom control with various variables and properties, the result of which will enable the following type of layout:

<My:ObjControl ID="frm" runat="server">
    <Tabs>
        <My:Tab name="Details">
            <Items>
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="First Name" Property="FirstName" />
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="Last Name" Property="LastName" />
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="Title" Property="Title" />
            </Items>
        </Tab>
        <My:Tab name="Address">
            <Items>
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="Address 1" Property="Address1" />
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="Address 2" Property="Address2" />
                <My:Item Type="Text" Label="Address 3" Property="Address3" />
            </Items>
        </Tab>
    </Tabs>
</My:ObjControl>

This implementation has to take place using WebForms, although it looks like using MVC would be the ideal approach considering the above. By doing this I want to create a flexible WebControl that uses reflection (that can be used for all classes that implement a specific interface) which will generate the required form with only the three lines of code behind (above) each time it's needed.

Should I just add a property to a custom repeater (DataObject) that takes an object and sets the DataSource accordingly and saving my time? Or is there a better way?

Hope this all makes sense!

Cheers, Steve

Answer 1

You're trying way to hard to get around the fact that the repeater wants an List and you want to give it 1 instance. Just wrap it in a new List* oObj ) and move on. It's done all the time.

I certainly dunno what they heck is going on with that custom server control. Seems to me you are trying too hard again.

<asp:repeater id="whatever" runat=server>
   <ItemTemplate>First Name: <%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,"FirstName") %></ItemTemplate>
</asp:repeater>

Answer 2

I completely understand your point of view, stibstibstib. I also wish the ASP.NET Framework came with a template driven server control like ListView but for a single data object. It seems unnecessary, and feels kinda hakish, to create a list out of a single item just to get it to work with Repeater and ListView. I get that it works. I get that it is a simple solution. But ASP.NET is a Framework, and it just seems like an omission that should be fixed. This article http://gadgetopia.com/post/5343 touches on the same concept, that there are two fundamental ways to view content on a web site: as a single item, and as an item in list. Still surprised ASP.NET doesn't have something like an ItemView server control