Advanced Topics on

Using ADO.NET in
ASP.NET Data Binding

Yilei Wang
Developer Support
Microsoft Corporation
Agenda
 Further exploration on the DataGrid
Web server control
 Multiple item selection
 Multiple item editing
 Summary rows
 Master/Detail page
 Web data access strategy

2
DataGrid - Multiple Item Selection
 Functionality: Users select multiple rows by
checking the check box for each row, and
then perform an action on the selected
items.
 Add a template column to the DataGrid, put a
CheckBox control in its ItemTemplate.

3
DataGrid - Multiple Item Selection (2)
 In the code behind, walk through each
DataGrid item to see if the check box is
checked; if checked, perform the action.

4
DataGrid - Multiple Item Editing
 Functionality
 Data is displayed in editable controls by
default.
 Users make changes in multiple items and
then click a button to commit all changes
at once.

5
DataGrid - Multiple Item Editing (2)
 Create template columns for editable data.
 Add editable controls in the ItemTemplate.

6
DataGrid - Multiple Item Editing (3)
 Updating is slightly different in the code
behind.
 When the user clicks the Update button,
there is no way to keep track of which
columns of which rows have been modified.
 Need to go through each DataGrid item,
extract values from all editable controls, and
make updates for all the rows.

7
DataGrid - Multiple Item Editing (4)

8
DataGrid - Summary Rows
 Functionality: DataGrid contains summary
rows to display partial totals of grouped
columns.
 The sample is based on the
Northwind Microsoft® SQL
Server™ database. The
DataGrid lists all the orders
that each customer has
issued in year 1998.
 For each customer, a
summary row displays the
total amount of orders.
An extra row summarizes the
grand total for all customers.
9
DataGrid - Summary Rows (2)
 DataGrid doesn’t have the feature for
summary; you must insert summary rows
directly into the data source before attaching
the data to the grid.
 When rows are being drawn, distinguish
summary rows from ordinary rows, and
render the former with different layout and
style.

10
 DataGrid - Summary Rows (3)

 The GROUP BY clause of the SELECT statement in T-SQL

provides the WITH ROLLUP extension that adds predefined
summary rows to the result set.
 GROUPING is the T-SQL aggregate function that works in
conjunction with ROLLUP. The use of the GROUPING operator
causes a new column to be added to the result set. This column
contains a value of 1 if it is grouped by the ROLLUP operator.
Otherwise, the column takes a value of 0.
 By using a CASE..WHEN..END statement you can merge this new
column with the grouping column.
11
DataGrid - Summary Rows (4)

 The result of the query on the previous slide.

12
DataGrid - Summary Rows (5)
 The DataGrid declaration in HTML view.

 In the ItemCreated event handler, detect each

summary row, and modify its layout and style.

13
DataGrid - Summary Rows (6)
 The item text is set only during the
OnItemDataBound event.
 Modifying the text in summary rows must be
done in the OnItemDataBound event
handler.

14
DataGrid - Summary Rows (7)
 The final DataGrid.

15
DataGrid - Master/Detail Page
 Functionality: Users select an item in the
master DataGrid, and the details will be
displayed in another DataGrid.
 Load two tables in the DataSet and create a
DataRelation between them.

16
DataGrid - Master/Detail Page (2)
 The SelectedIndexChanged event is fired on
selecting an item in the master DataGrid.
 In its event handler, get the corresponding
DataRows through the DataRelation, and bind
the rows to the detail DataGrid.

17
Web Data Access Strategy
DataReader or DataSet
 DataReader
 Slightly better performance and memory
usage
 Data object, by default, is discarded with
each round trip—using DataAdapter for
data binding is usually recommended
 Reasons for using DataSet
 Working with related tables
 Exchanging data with other processes
 Working with a static set of records
18
Web Data Access Strategy
Cache DataSet or Reload DataSet
 Caching DataSet
 Pro: saves trips to the data source.
 Con: consumes memory between round
trips; can get out of sync with the data
source.
 Scenarios for reloading DataSet
 Paging through data: reload the DataSet
to get the next set of records to display.
 Working with very volatile data source.

19
Web Data Access Strategy
Cache on Client or on Server
 Caching on the client: Save the DataSet
using view state or by putting the data
into your own hidden field.
 Pro: no server resources are required.
 Con: storing large values can slow down
the page loading and posting back.
 Example:

20
Web Data Access Strategy
Cache on Client or on Server (2)
 Caching on the server: Save the dataset
in Session state, Application state, or
using a cache.
 Session is scoped to the current browser
session.
 Application: global storage accessible
from all pages in the Web application.
 Cache: thread-safe application level
global storage. Cache manager will
remove the least-used items if the server
needs memory or if cached data expires.
21
Web Data Access Strategy
Cache on Client or on Server (3)
 Example for using caching session
 To store the DataSet in the cache:

 To get the DataSet back:

22
Web Data Access Strategy
Save DataSet in XML File
 Doesn’t take up server or client resources
 Takes a relatively long time to serialize and
deserialize data.

23
Additional Resources
 Knowledge Base articles
 Q313481 “INFO: Roadmap for Web Forms Data
Binding”
 Q307860 “INFO: ASP.NET Data Binding
Overview”
 Q305140 “INFO: ASP.NET Roadmap”
 Q313590 “INFO: Roadmap for ADO.NET”
 Other links
 Support WebCast: Microsoft ASP.NET DataGrid W
eb Server Control
 Support WebCast: Data Binding in ASP.NET Web
Forms
24
25