Question

What is the difference between the following?

<asp:Label runat="server">Hello World</asp:Label>

<asp:Label runat="server" Text="Hello World"></asp:Label>

---

UPDATED:

If they are exactly the same then why does

<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server">
There were <%#transactionCount%> transactions today
</asp:Label>

bind correctly when using single-value databinding and displays the correct value for transactionCount, while…

<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="There were <%#transactionCount%> transactions today">
</asp:Label>

does not show a value for transactionCount in the page?

---

UPDATED AGAIN:

I understand the points being made about using the Literal controls. I shall slap my face accordingly – but it still doesn’t solve the problem – though is perhaps getting closer to a solution.

If I use…

<asp:Literal ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="<%#transactionCount%>"></asp:Literal>

…I see transactionCount’s value show up in the web page.

On the other hand, if I put any character or word in front of the single-value databinding field e.g.

<asp:Literal ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="No. <%#transactionCount%>"></asp:Literal>

…transactionCount does not appear.

Answer 1

They will render the same in your final HTML. However the Text attribute is useful for programmatically setting the displayed text in your code behind.