C# – Should one bind data with Eval on aspx or override ItemDataBound in code-behind

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For data bound controls (Repeater, ListView, GridView, etc.), what's the preferred way of binding data?

I've seen it where people use Eval() directly on the aspx/ascx inside the data bound control to pull the data field, but to me, it just seems so…inelegant. It seems particularly inelegant when the data needs to be manipulated so you wind up with shim methods like <%# FormatMyData(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "DataField")) %> inside your control.

Personally, I prefer to put in Literal controls (or other appropriate controls) and attach to the OnItemDataBound event for the control and populate all the data to their appropriate fields in the code-behind.

Are there any advantages of doing one over the other? I prefer the latter, because to me it makes sense to compartmentalize the data binding logic and the presentation layer. But maybe that's just me.

Best Answer

I suggest you to go through this SO Question : Eval and ItemDataBound or RowDataBound event to display data, which one is better?

Base on the performance comparsion on the title : Real World ASP.NET Best Practices Using inline format expression mechanism (i.e. tag) is better than event hanlder mechanism (via ItemDataBound).

As i explored about this that the DataBinder.Eval syntax uses reflection and should be avoided if you can determine the object type at design time. Ref: Avoiding DataBinder.Eval in ASP.NET

Check this for Asp.net performance and scalibilty :

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C# – How should data be passed between client-side Javascript and C# code behind an ASP.NET app

You can simply and easily call a static page method from JavaScript like in this example. If you need to call the method from multiple pages, you can setup a web service and call it from Javascript the same way. Example also included below.

.aspx Code

<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" 
EnablePageMethods="true" 
EnablePartialRendering="true" runat="server" />

Code-behind Code

using System.Web.Services;

[WebMethod]
public static string MyMethod(string name)
{
    return "Hello " + name;
}

Javascript Code

function test() {
    alert(PageMethods.MyMethod("Paul Hayman"));
}

NOTE: The page methods have to be static. This could be problematic for you, depending on what the application is trying to do. However, if the information is based on session at all, and you're using some sort of built-in authentication, you can put an EnableSession attribute on the WebMethod decorator, and that will allow you to get at HttpContext.Current.User, Session, etc.

C# – Best Practice of making a Composite Control with a repeater activity

Though this is not a comprehensive answer for your question. But if you disable view state, then event handling for components inside the repeater will stop working. I did write a blog post about it, and a workaround for that problem. http://petesdotnet.blogspot.com/2009/08/asp.html

Best Answer

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C# – How should data be passed between client-side Javascript and C# code behind an ASP.NET app

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