Binding List to a repeater

Question

I have a complicated class which is something like:

    public class Person
    {
        public int Pid;
        IList<Address> Addressess;
        public Name Name;
        public Name PartnerName;

        Person(int id)
        {
            Addressess = new List<Address>();
        }
    }

    public class Address
    {
        public string HouseName;
        public string street;
        public string country;
        public string universe;
        public string galaxy;
    }

    public class Name
    {
        public string Firstname;
        public string Lastname;
        public string Fullname { get { return Firstname + " " + Lastname; } }
    }

So, now, when I bind the repeater like so:

rpPeople.DataSource = PeopleNearYou; //this is a List<Person>();

and in the actual repeater, I want to show the details. To access, say, Pid, all I need to do is:

<%# Eval("Pid") %>

Now, I can't figure out how to access the full name in repeater

<%# Eval("Fullname") %> //error, fullname not found

Also, I want to display only First Address only and I can't do that

<%# Eval("Address").First().Universe %> //red, glarring error. can't figure out how

So, how would I display these stuff please?

Many thanks.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 05 '11 at 10:56

This will be so much easier if you grab required class members when you bind the repeater.

rpPeople.DataSource = PeopleNearYou.Select(r => new
      {
           Pid = r.Pid,
           Universe = r.Addressess.First().Universe,
           Fullname = r.Name.Fullname
      }

Now all you need to do in your repeater is:

<%# Eval("Universe") %>
<%# Eval("Fullname") %>

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 05 '11 at 10:39

If I get in to complicated situations like this I always use the ItemDataBound event as you can get much more control. For example, in your situation I would create a label in the item template, bind the ItemDataBound to code similar to this...

void rpt1_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{
    ((Label)e.Item.FindControl("lblFullName")).Text = ((Person)e.Item.DataItem).FullName;
}

You'll need a check on e.Item.Type too if you have header/footer rows.

but it is a lot of overhead just to get the data don't you think? — LocustHorde, Aug 05 '11 at 11:08

Binding List to a repeater

2 Answers2