Question

I’m trying to set the first column elements as hyperlinks redirecting to another page..but somehow it doesn’t seem to work no matter what I try.

reportTable.Rows[i].Cells[1].Text = report.reportId.ToString();
                TableCell tCell = new TableCell();

                tCell.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" report.reportId.ToString      ()"));
                // Create Hyperlink Web Server control and add to cell
                System.Web.UI.WebControls.HyperLink h = new HyperLink();
                h.Text = reportTable.Rows[i].Cells[1].Text = report.reportId.ToString();
                h.NavigateUrl = "~/manage.aspx";
                tCell.Controls.Add(h);

                reportTable.Rows[i].Cells[2].Text = bench.mechId;
                reportTable.Rows[i].Cells[3].Text = bench.elecId;
                reportTable.Rows[i].Cells[4].Text = bench.name;

Answer 1

asp.net Grid and data controls are very good for data binding.

Also they provide Item templates that can be customized to include links, drop down lists, etc.

Do not populate your grid by manually creating all the controls. That totally defeats the purpose of using a grid.

e.g:

 <asp:GridView ID="ReportsGridView" 
  DataSourceID="ReportsDataSource"
  AllowPaging="true" 
  AutoGenerateColumns="false" 
  runat="server">
  <Columns>
    <asp:TemplateField>
      <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:LinkButton runat="server"
          ID="RedirectButton"
          CommandName="Manage"
          PostBackUrl="~/manage.aspx"
          Text="Manage" />
      </ItemTemplate>
    </asp:TemplateField>
    <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" 
      HeaderText="Report Name"/> 
  </Columns>
</asp:GridView>