Question

This is what I’ve got. It works. But, is there a simpler or better way?

ASPX Page…

<asp:Repeater ID='RepeaterBooks' runat='server'>     <HeaderTemplate>         <table class='report'>             <tr>                 <th>Published</th>                 <th>Title</th>                 <th>Author</th>                 <th>Price</th>             </tr>     </HeaderTemplate>     <ItemTemplate>             <tr>                 <td><asp:Literal ID='LiteralPublished' runat='server' /></td>                 <td><asp:Literal ID='LiteralTitle' runat='server' /></td>                 <td><asp:Literal ID='LiteralAuthor' runat='server' /></td>                 <td><asp:Literal ID='LiteralPrice' runat='server' /></td>             </tr>     </ItemTemplate>     <FooterTemplate>         </table>     </FooterTemplate> </asp:Repeater> 

ASPX.VB Code Behind…

Protected Sub Page_Load( ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load     Dim db As New BookstoreDataContext     RepeaterBooks.DataSource = From b In db.Books _                                Order By b.Published _                                Select b     RepeaterBooks.DataBind() End Sub  Sub RepeaterBooks_ItemDataBound( ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.RepeaterItemEventArgs) Handles RepeaterBooks.ItemDataBound     If e.Item.ItemType = ListItemType.Item Or e.Item.ItemType = ListItemType.AlternatingItem Then         Dim b As Book = DirectCast(e.Item.DataItem, Book)         DirectCast(e.Item.FindControl('LiteralPublished'), Literal).Text = '<nobr>' + b.Published.ToShortDateString + '</nobr>'         DirectCast(e.Item.FindControl('LiteralTitle'), Literal).Text = '<nobr>' + TryNbsp(HttpContext.Current.Server.HtmlEncode(b.Title)) + '</nobr>'         DirectCast(e.Item.FindControl('LiteralAuthor'), Literal).Text = '<nobr>' + TryNbsp(HttpContext.Current.Server.HtmlEncode(b.Author)) + '</nobr>'         DirectCast(e.Item.FindControl('LiteralPrice'), Literal).Text = '<nobr>' + Format(b.Price, 'c') + '</nobr>'     End If End Sub  Function TryNbsp(ByVal s As String) As String     If s = '' Then         Return '&nbsp;'     Else         Return s     End If End Function 

Answer 1

@Geoff

That sort of Eval statement was actually added in 2.0, but if performance is important Eval should be avoided since it uses Reflection.

The repeater is a pretty good way of doing it, although it might be faster to generate the table in code:

ASPX Page:

<table class='report' id='bookTable' runat='server'>         <tr>             <th>Published</th>             <th>Title</th>             <th>Author</th>             <th>Price</th>         </tr>  </table> 

Code Behind:

Protected Sub Page_Load( ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load     If Not Page.IsPostback Then         BuildTable()     End If End Sub  Private Sub BuildTable()     Dim db As New BookstoreDataContext     Dim bookCollection = from b in db.Books _                          Order By b.Published _                          Select b     Dim row As HtmlTableRow     Dim cell As HtmlTableCell      For Each book As Books In bookCollection         row = New HtmlTableRow()         cell = New HtmlTableCell With { .InnerText = b.Published.ToShortDateString }         row.Controls.Add(cell)         cell = New HtmlTableCell With { .InnerText = TryNbsp(HttpContext.Current.Server.HtmlEncode(b.Title)) }         row.Controls.Add(cell)         cell = New HtmlTableCell With { .InnerText = TryNbsp(HttpContext.Current.Server.HtmlEncode(b.Author))         row.Controls.Add(cell)         cell = New HtmlTableCell With { .InnerText = Format(b.Price, 'c') }         row.Controls.Add(cell)         bookTable.Controls.Add(row)     Next 

I guess it depends on how important speed is to you. For simplicity’s sake I think I would go with the Repeater.