What is a TemplateField in GridView in ASP.NET C# and how to use it

Question

Hi friends What is a TemplateField in GridView in ASP.NET C# and use it in Gridview . Please Elaborate with an Example. Thanks Aamir

MuthuMari M · Answer

Hi The GridView is composed of a set of fields that indicate what properties from the DataSource are to be included in the rendered output along with how the data will be displayed. The simplest field type is the BoundField  which displays a data value as text. Other field types display the data using alternate HTML elements. The CheckBoxField  for example renders as a check box whose checked state depends on the value of a specified data field; the ImageField renders an image whose image source is based upon a specified data field. Hyperlinks and buttons whose state depends on an underlying data-field value can be rendered using the HyperLinkField and ButtonField field types respectively. While the CheckBoxField  ImageField  HyperLinkField  and ButtonField field types allow for an alternate view of the data they still are fairly limited with respect to formatting. A CheckBoxField can only display a single check box whereas an ImageField can display only a single image. What if a particular field must display some text a check box and an image all based upon different data-field values? Or what if we wanted to display the data using a Web control other than the CheckBox  Image  HyperLink  or Button ? Furthermore the BoundField limits its display to a single data field. What if we wanted to show two or more data-field values in a single GridView column? To accommodate this level of flexibility the GridView offers the TemplateField  which renders using a template. A template can include a mix of static HTML Web controls and data-binding syntax. Furthermore the TemplateField has a variety of templates that can be used to customize the rendering for different situations. For example the ItemTemplate is used by default to render the cell for each row but the EditItemTemplate template can be used to customize the interface when editing data. pls refer this url for more info: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288032.aspx http://www.asp.net/web-forms/tutorials/data-access/custom-formatting/using-templatefields-in-the-gridview-control-cs thanks. If this post is useful then mark it as  Accepted Answer

Veera Chenna · Answer

If you are new to GridView I would recommend these articles which would explain using GridView in ASP.NET with working examples. http://technico.qnownow.com/2012/03/28/using-gridview-in-asp-net-c-part-1/ http://technico.qnownow.com/2012/03/28/using-gridview-in-asp-net-c-part-2/ http://technico.qnownow.com/2012/03/29/how-to-insert-update-delete-rows-in-asp-net-gridview-control/ http://technico.qnownow.com/2012/03/30/default-paging-in-asp-net-gridview-control/ http://technico.qnownow.com/2012/03/30/custom-paging-in-asp-net-gridview-control/

Satyapriya Nayak · Answer

Hi Aamir We use TemplateFields when we wish to display ASP.Net controls in a GridView column. We display ASP.Net controls in a GridView column to provide additional functionality in the user interface. For example by placing a DropDownList control in a GridView column users will be able to select a list of options from within the Gridview control interface. Other examples of providing more functionality to the GridView interface are placing Checkboxes Labels Textboxes and Validation controls. A Template field supports many types of templates and a list of template types is given in the table below. TemplateType Description AlternatingItemTemplate The contents of this template are displayed for every other row rendered by the GridView EditItemTemplate The contents of this template are displayed when a row is selected for editing FooterTemplate The contents of this template are displayed in the column footer HeaderTemplate The contents of this template are displayed in the column header InsertTemplate The contents of this template are displayed when a new data item is inserted ItemTemplate The contents of this template are displayed for every row rendered by the GridView We can create TemplateFields in the GridView control using element. Steps to create the element in the GridView control a. Declare the GridView and set the AutoGenerateColumns property to 'false'. b. Create a Template column using tag within the element. Create within the element to display value of field as text. Create to display TextBox control to modify value of field when editing the record. AutoGenerateColumns=false AutoGenerateEditButton=true AutoGenerateDeleteButton=true runat=server> ' runat=server /> ' runat=server /> ConnectionString=  SelectCommand=SELECT * FROM Sample UpdateCommand=Update SAMPLE SET Name=@NameDescription=@Description Where Code=@Code DeleteCommand=Delete SAMPLE Where Code=@Code runat=server/> Configure the SqlDataSource control and set the SelectCommand and UpdateCommand properties to display and update records from the Sample Table. Observe that we have created two Template fields the GridView control. The first TemplateField is used to display and edit the value of the 'Name' field in the SAMPLE table. The second TemplateField is used to display and edit the value of the 'Description' field in the SAMPLE table. The contents of the ItemTemplate are displayed when a row is in normal mode and the contents of the EditItemTemplate are displayed when a row is in edit mode. Please refer the below link http://www.vkinfotek.com/gridview/templatefields-in-gridview.html Thanks

Keyur Narkhi · Answer

Hi Aamir Please follow below URL to understand TemplateField http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/38669/Using-Formatting-Functions-with-GridView-Template http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288032.aspx

Senthilkumar · Answer

Hi please refer these urls: http://www.maconstateit.net/tutorials/aspnet20/ASPNET07/aspnet07-05.aspx http://www.asp.net/web-forms/tutorials/data-access/custom-formatting/using-templatefields-in-the-gridview-control-cs http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288032.aspx