OK - remember when you first heard about the DataGrid, and how Paging and
Sorting were what was called "built-in"? And then, when you found out what a
hassel it was, even though it was a lot better than what you had before, you
still were kind of disappointed?

Well - now we have the GridView, in ASP.Net 2.0 and your disappointment is
over! The 'AllowPaging' and 'AllowSorting' properties mean exactly what they say
- once you set them to 'True' - that's it - that's all you need to do. It's what
we were all wishing for with the DataGrid.

I know - you might be saying to yourself "That can't be correct!", but I
assure you, it is. Here's all you need to display data from your favorite
Database table:

<asp:GridView id="MyGridView" DataSourceID="MyDataSource1" Runat="Server"/>

<asp:SqlDataSource ID="MyDataSource1" runat="server" 
  ConnectionString="Server=YourServer;uid=YourUID;pwd=YourPWD;database=YourDB"
  ProviderName="System.Data.SqlClient"
  SelectCommand="SELECT [Field Name List] FROM [Table Name]">
</asp:SqlDataSource>

Really! - that's all there is to it! One thing to remember is that the
Provider name is apparently case-sensitive, so make aure that's entered
correctly. And - as was noted earlier, to enable Paging and/or Sorting, just add
the 'AllowPaging' and 'AllowSorting' properties to the GridView:

<asp:GridView id="MyGridView" 
 DataSourceID="MyDataSource1" 
 AllowSorting="True" 
 AllowPaging="True" 
 Runat="Server"/>

Naturally, there are many more features/attributes to the GridView, much like
the DataGrid, including all the formatting options you might need. And, you're
probably saying - "Yea - but what about updating/editing?". Well, that's gotten
a lot easier also. Just a few things to add.

1. Enter an Updatecommand (Update SQL Statement) to the existing DataSource,
   just as you added a SelectCommand.


2. Add two properties to your GridView (AutoGenerateEditButton and
   DataKeysNames)

So - here's what's needed in the changed Controls (using Pubs as an example):

<asp:GridView id="MyGridView" 
 DataSourceID="MyDataSource1" 
 AllowSorting="True" 
 AllowPaging="True" 
 DataKeys="au_id"
 AutoGenerateEditButton="True"
 Runat="Server"/>

<asp:SqlDataSource ID="MyDataSource1" runat="server" 
  ConnectionString="Server=YourServer;uid=YourUID;pwd=YourPWD;database=YourDB"
  ProviderName="System.Data.SqlClient"
  SelectCommand="SELECT [au_id], [au_fname], [au_lname], [phone] FROM [Authors]"
  UpdateCommand="UpdateCommand="Update [pbAuthors] Set [au_lname]=@au_lname, [au_fname]=@au_fname, [phone]=@phone WHERE [au_id]=@au_id">
</asp:SqlDataSource>

Here, the 'Where clause' (WHERE [au_id]=@au_id) gets it's record key from the
key assigned in the DataKeys property in the GridView.

One other way to limit viewed fields from the table is to use 'BoundFields',
very similar to the way the DataGrid works. First, like the DataGrid, turn off
the auto-generation of the columns, with the property:

AutoGenerateColumns="False"

Then, inside the Start and End tags for the GridView, insert a 'Columns'
section, and list each of the columns you need to show, separately:

<Columns>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="ID" DataField="au_id" ReadOnly="true" />
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="Last Name" DataField="au_lname" />
</Columns>

The 'ReadOnly' attribute is used when you don't want that particular field to
be edited. For each column you would like to use for sorting, also add a
SortExpression attribute, most likely, the same as the DataField:

<asp:BoundField HeaderText="Last Name" DataField="au_lname" SortExpression="au_lname" />

And, lastly, to add Deleting capability, it's just as easy. All you need to
do is to add a 'DeleteCommand' to the DataSource Control:

DeleteCommand="Delete from [Authors] Where [au_id]=@au_id"

Next, set the 'AutoGenerateDeleteButton' to 'True' in the GridView (sense
a pattern here?), and then, as you did with the UpdateCommand, make sure the
DataKeys Property is set to the Primary Key for your table.

So, there - you have it - Viewing/Sorting/Paging/Editing a database table,
and technically, not writing a single line of code. Grid style web development
has come a long way since ASP.Net first started, only a few years ago!