Question

I have an ASP.NET repeater that is being populated via a datasource. The data loads and presents perfectly on the screen, but all attempts to access any row of data in that repeater via code behind during the load phase are unsuccessful. I can access everything perfectly on a form submit, once the repeater has rendered on the screen, but in every load-related event I have tried (Load, Init, PreRender, DataBind, etc), it shows as empty. Is it necessary to populate the repeater programatically in code behind, rather than ASPX markup, in order to access this data during the load phase or am I just doing something wrong?

ASPX snippet:

<div runat="server" id="rpt3" style="display: block;">
<p class="approvalHeaderText">
Rejected Items</p>
<asp:Repeater ID="RptRejected" runat="server" DataSourceID="SQL_EmployeeGetRejectedEdits">
<ItemTemplate>
<tr class="gridToggleWhite gridVisible" id="<%# Eval("RecID") %>_cont">
<td>
<%# Eval("OrderID")%>
</td>

Code behind snippet – tried in several events (assume all variables have been declared):

For i = 0 To RptRejected.Items.Count - 1
'Obtain current week's Expenses
curExpVal = RptRejected.Items(i).FindControl("ExpensePay")
If Not IsNothing(curExpVal) Then
If curExpVal.Text = "" Then
insertExp = 0
Else
insertExp = CSng(curExpVal.Text)
End If
Else
insertExp = 0
End If
Next

Answer 1

You can use the ItemDataBound event (and you don’t need the loop):

Sub rpt3_ItemDataBound(Sender As Object, e As RepeaterItemEventArgs)
  If (e.Item.ItemType = ListItemType.Item) OrElse _
            (e.Item.ItemType = ListItemType.AlternatingItem) Then

    Dim curExpVal = e.Item.FindControl("ExpensePay")
    If Not IsNothing(curExpVal) Then
      If curExpVal.Text = "" Then
        insertExp = 0
      Else
        insertExp = CSng(curExpVal.Text)
      End If
    Else
      insertExp = 0
    End If
  End If

End Sub