ASP.NET 2.0 Cookbook, 2nd Edition

2.8. Adding First/Last Navigation to a DataGrid

Problem

You need to display data from a database in a table, but the database has more rows than will fit on a single page, and you want to use first/last buttons along with next/previous buttons for navigation.

Solution

Use a DataGrid control, add first/last and next/previous buttons (with event handlers for each one), and then bind the data to it.

In the .aspx file:

1. Add a DataGrid control to the .aspx file.

2. Add a row below the DataGrid with first/last and next/previous buttons for navigation.

In the code-behind class for the page, use the .NET language of your choice to:

1. Create a routine that binds a dataset to the DataGrid in the usual fashion.

2. For each of the four buttons, create an event handler to handle the button’s click event, perform the requisite page navigation, and rebind the data.

Figure 2-8 shows the appearance of a typical DataGrid within a browser with first/last and next/previous buttons for navigation. Examples 2-20, 2-21 through 2-22 show the .aspx and code-behind files for an application that produces this result.

Figure 2-8. DataGrid with first/last and next/previous navigation output

Discussion

The main theme of this recipe is to provide an alternative to the DataGrid control’s default pagination controls and, at the same time, handle the custom paging. Setting the PagerStyle-Visible attribute to False makes the pager invisible ...