Dreamweaver

Add an ASP.NET DataList control to a page

The DreamweaverDataList server behavior lets you insert an ASP.NET DataList object into a page. This object is only available with ASP.NET document types.

Note: Before inserting the DataList server behavior, you must define a DataSet (referred to as a recordset by other document types) for the DataList.
  1. Open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select DataList.
  2. (Optional) Change the default name of the DataList.
  3. Associate a DataSet with the DataList.

    You can select an existing DataSet or enter an arbitrary value. By default, the first DataSet in the list is selected.

  4. Specify the data to be displayed in the DataList by doing the following in order:
    1. Select the Item template for the Templates list. The Item template represents all the rows in the list other than the header and footer rows.
    2. Click the Add Data Field To Contents button.
    3. In the Add Data Field dialog box, select a DataSet column and click OK. Dreamweaver adds an appropriate data binding expression to the Contents box in the DataList Object dialog box.
    4. Format the data to be displayed by enclosing the binding expression with HTML tags in the Contents box.
  5. Adjust the layout of the DataList, as required.

    You control the layout of a DataList by selecting from the templates in the Templates list, and then adding HTML tags in the Contents box. The following table lists the available templates:

    Template

    Description

    Header

    The text and controls to render at the beginning of the list.

    Item

    The HTML elements and controls to render once for each row in the data source.

    Alternating Item

    Similar to the Item template element, but rendered for every other row in the DataList. If you use this template, you typically create a different look for it, such as a different background color than that of the Item template.

    Edit Item

    The layout of an item when it is in edit mode. This template typically contains editing controls such as Text Box controls.

    Select Item

    The elements to render when the user selects an item in the DataList. Typical uses are to visually mark the row using a background or font color. You can also expand the item by displaying additional fields from the data source.

    Separator

    The elements to render between each item. A typical example might be a line (using an <HR> element).

    Footer

    The text and controls to render at the end of the list.
  6. To organize the items in a table, select the Organize Items In A Table option.

    If using a table, specify the number of columns in the table. If the number is greater than 1, specify a fill order for the table cells: select the Wrap Top To Bottom option to wrap the data horizontally or the Wrap Left To Right to wrap the data vertically.

  7. Click OK to close the dialog box and create the DataList.

In the Document window, the DataList object is displayed with a tabbed, gray outline surrounding it. In the Live Data window (View > Live Data), the gray outline disappears and the object’s placeholder is replaced with the specified DataList.