ASP.NET 4 Unleashed

Using the FormView Control

You can use the FormView control to do anything that you can do with the DetailsView control. Just as you can with the DetailsView control, you can use the FormView control to display, page, edit, insert, and delete database records. However, unlike the DetailsView control, the FormView control is entirely template-driven.

I use the FormView control much more than the DetailsView control. The FormView control provides you with more control over the layout of a form. Furthermore, adding validation controls to FormView is easier than adding validation controls to a DetailsView control.

Web Standards Note

By default, the FormView control renders an HTML table. It creates an HTML table that contains a single cell. ...