Dynamic Data Custom Pages: Dynamic/Templated FromView

These articles are now under the title of Custom PageTemplates:

1. Custom PageTemplates Part 1 - Custom PageTemplates with Ajax Control Toolkit Tabs
2. Custom PageTemplates Part 2 - A variation of Part 1 with the Details and SubGrid in Tabs
3. Custom PageTemplates Part 3 - Dynamic/Templated Grid with Insert (Using ListView)
4. Custom PageTemplates Part 4 - Dynamic/Templated FromView

Continuing on from Part 3 the same techniques will be applied to the FormView, making the FormView Dynamic and also having the facility to dynamically load user defined Templates at runtime.

Fugure 1 – FormViewPage in action

Note the Edit, Delete and New links these all act on this page and do not redirect to other pages.

Altering the Routing

Replace the default route Listing 1

routes.Add(new DynamicDataRoute("{table}/{action}.aspx")
{
    Constraints = new RouteValueDictionary(new { action = "List|Edit|Details|Insert" }),
    Model = model
});

Listing 1 – original routing in Global.asax

With the new routes in Listing 2

routes.Add(new DynamicDataRoute("{table}/{action}.aspx")
{
    Constraints = new RouteValueDictionary(new { action = "List" }),
    Model = model
});

routes.Add(new DynamicDataRoute("{table}/{action}/FormViewPage.aspx")
{
    Constraints = new RouteValueDictionary(new { action = "Edit|Details|Insert" }),
    ViewName = "FormViewPage",
    Model = model,
});

Listing 2 – changes to routing in global.asax

Note that the action {table}/{action}/FormViewPage.aspx as a prefix to the page name, this will be used to identify the pages mode (Edit, Delete and Insert)

The FromViewPage

<%@ Page 
    Language="C#" 
    MasterPageFile="~/Site.master" 
    CodeFile="FormViewPage.aspx.cs" 
    Inherits="FormViewPage" %>

<asp:Content 
    ID="Content1" 
    ContentPlaceHolderID="ContentPlaceHolder1" 
    Runat="Server">
    
    <asp:DynamicDataManager 
        ID="DynamicDataManager1" 
        runat="server" 
        AutoLoadForeignKeys="true" />

    <h2><%= table.DisplayName %></h2>

    <asp:ScriptManagerProxy 
        runat="server" 
        ID="ScriptManagerProxy1" />

    <asp:UpdatePanel 
        ID="UpdatePanel1" 
        runat="server">
        <ContentTemplate>

            <asp:ValidationSummary 
                ID="ValidationSummary_Edit" 
                EnableClientScript="true"
                HeaderText="List of validation errors" 
                ValidationGroup="FormView_Edit" 
                runat="server" />
                
            <asp:ValidationSummary 
                ID="ValidationSummary_Insert" 
                EnableClientScript="true"
                HeaderText="List of validation errors" 
                ValidationGroup="FormView_Insert" 
                runat="server" />
                
            <asp:DynamicValidator 
                ID="Validator_Edit" 
                Display="None" 
                ValidationGroup="FormView_Edit"
                ControlToValidate="FormView1" 
                runat="server" />
                
            <asp:DynamicValidator 
                ID="Validator_Insert" 
                Display="None" 
                ValidationGroup="FormView_Insert"
                ControlToValidate="FormView1" 
                runat="server" />
                
            <asp:FormView 
                ID="FormView1" 
                DataSourceID="FormViewDataSource" 
                OnItemDeleted="FormView_ItemDeleted"
                runat="server" onitemcommand="FormView1_ItemCommand" 
                oniteminserted="FormView1_ItemInserted">
            </asp:FormView>
            
            <asp:LinqDataSource 
                ID="FormViewDataSource" 
                AutoGenerateWhereClause="true" 
                EnableDelete="true" 
                EnableUpdate="true" 
                EnableInsert="true"
                runat="server">
                <WhereParameters>
                    <asp:DynamicQueryStringParameter />
                </WhereParameters>
            </asp:LinqDataSource>
            
            <br />
            
            <div class="bottomhyperlink">
                <asp:HyperLink 
                    ID="ListHyperLink" 
                    runat="server">Show all items</asp:HyperLink>
            </div>        
        
        </ContentTemplate>
    </asp:UpdatePanel>
</asp:Content>

Listing 3 – FormViewPage.aspx

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Web.DynamicData;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

public partial class FormViewPage : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected MetaTable table;

    protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        DynamicDataManager1.RegisterControl(FormView1);
        table = FormViewDataSource.GetTable();

        // supported templates
        // get tamplate path
        var formViewTemplatePath = table.Model.DynamicDataFolderVirtualPath + "Templates/FormViewPage/" + table.Name + "/";

        // load user templates if they exist
        if (File.Exists(Server.MapPath(formViewTemplatePath + "ItemTemplate.ascx")))
            FormView1.ItemTemplate = LoadTemplate(formViewTemplatePath + "ItemTemplate.ascx");
        else
            FormView1.ItemTemplate = new FromViewPageRowGenerator(table, FormViewTemplateType.ItemTemplate);

        // load user templates if they exist
        if (File.Exists(Server.MapPath(formViewTemplatePath + "EditItemTemplate.ascx")))
            FormView1.EditItemTemplate = LoadTemplate(formViewTemplatePath + "EditItemTemplate.ascx");
        else
            FormView1.EditItemTemplate = new FromViewPageRowGenerator(table, FormViewTemplateType.EditItemTemplate);

        // load user templates if they exist
        if (File.Exists(Server.MapPath(formViewTemplatePath + "InsertItemTemplate.ascx")))
            FormView1.InsertItemTemplate = LoadTemplate(formViewTemplatePath + "InsertItemTemplate.ascx");
        else
            FormView1.InsertItemTemplate = new FromViewPageRowGenerator(table, FormViewTemplateType.InsertItemTemplate);

        // load user templates if they exist
        if (File.Exists(Server.MapPath(formViewTemplatePath + "EmptyDataTemplate.ascx")))
            FormView1.EmptyDataTemplate = LoadTemplate(formViewTemplatePath + "EmptyDataTemplate.ascx");
        else
            FormView1.EmptyDataTemplate = new FromViewPageRowGenerator(table, FormViewTemplateType.EmptyDataTemplate);
        //FormView1.FooterTemplate = null;
        //FormView1.HeaderTemplate = null;
        //FormView1.PagerTemplate = null;
    }

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        table = FormViewDataSource.GetTable();
        Title = table.DisplayName;

        // I don't know if this is 
        // the best way to do this
        // get the FormViews mode from the url
        String path = Request.Path.Substring(0, Request.Path.LastIndexOf("/"));
        var qs = path.Substring(path.LastIndexOf("/") + 1, path.Length - (path.LastIndexOf("/") + 1));
        switch (qs)
        {
            case "Details":
                FormView1.DefaultMode = FormViewMode.ReadOnly;
                break;
            case "Edit":
                FormView1.DefaultMode = FormViewMode.Edit;
                break;
            case "Insert":
                FormView1.DefaultMode = FormViewMode.Insert;
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
        ListHyperLink.NavigateUrl = table.ListActionPath;
    }

    protected void FormView_ItemDeleted(object sender, FormViewDeletedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.Exception == null || e.ExceptionHandled)
        {
            Response.Redirect(table.ListActionPath);
        }
    }

    protected void FormView1_ItemCommand(object sender, FormViewCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.CommandName == "Cancel")
        {
            // option 1 go back to list
            //Response.Redirect(table.ListActionPath);

            // option 2 return to Normal ReadOnly
            FormView1.DefaultMode = FormViewMode.ReadOnly;
        }
    }

    protected void FormView1_ItemInserted(object sender, FormViewInsertedEventArgs e)
    {
        // option 1 go back to list
        Response.Redirect(table.ListActionPath);

        // option 2 return to Normal ReadOnly
        // note sure how to get this working at the moment
        //Response.Redirect(table.GetActionPath("Details", ???));
    }
}

Listign 4 – FormViewPage.aspx.cs

From Listings 3 and 4 you can see that this is a basic page like Details.aspx but with a FormView. The real magic goes on in the Page_Init event handler where the Templates are either loaded or dynamically generated and also in the Page_Load event handler where the default mode is detected via the URL.

Note: I’m not sure this is the best or most elegant way of doing this, but this will do for now and we will have a look at this again at a later date.

The RowGenerator

This will generate a table based FormView similar to the Details.aspx generated by the wizard (which at the time of writing was still in preview) the dynamically generated layout can be overridden be defining UserControl custom Templates in the ~/DynamicData/Templates/FormViewPage/<TableName>/<templated>.

/// <summary>
/// Template type for the FromViewPageRowGenerator 
/// </summary>
public enum FormViewTemplateType
{
    ItemTemplate,
    EditItemTemplate,
    InsertItemTemplate,
    EmptyDataTemplate,
    HeaderTemplate,
    FooterTemplate,
    PagerTemplate,
}

/// <summary>
/// Renders templates for ListView
/// </summary>
public class FromViewPageRowGenerator : ITemplate
{
    #region Member Fields, Constructor, Enums & Properties
    private MetaTable _table;
private FormViewTemplateType _type;

    public FromViewPageRowGenerator(MetaTable table, FormViewTemplateType type) 
    {
        _table = table;
        _type = type;
    }
    #endregion

    public void InstantiateIn(Control container)
    {
        IParserAccessor accessor = container;
        // get all the all scaffold columns 
        // except Long String Columns
        // SubGridViewsAttribute and column order
        var columnDetails = from c in _table.Columns
                            where c.Scaffold // && !c.IsLongString
                            select new ListViewColumn()
                            {
                                Column = c,
                                SubGridMetaData = c.Attributes.OfType<SubGridViewsAttribute>().FirstOrDefault(),
                                Order = c.Attributes.OfType<SubGridViewsAttribute>().FirstOrDefault() != null
                                && c.Attributes.OfType<SubGridViewsAttribute>().FirstOrDefault().Order > 0
                                ? c.Attributes.OfType<SubGridViewsAttribute>().FirstOrDefault().Order
                                : int.MaxValue,
                            };

        // sort according to Order first and Column Name second
        // Note: if SubGridViewsAttribute is null or the attribute
        // has no value for Order then just sort but column display name
        columnDetails = from sg in columnDetails
                        orderby sg.Order, sg.Column.DisplayName
                        select sg;

        // call the appropriate template generator
        switch (_type)
        {
            case FormViewTemplateType.ItemTemplate:
                GetItemTemplate(accessor, columnDetails, DataBoundControlMode.ReadOnly);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.EditItemTemplate:
                GetItemTemplate(accessor, columnDetails, DataBoundControlMode.Edit);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.InsertItemTemplate:
                GetItemTemplate(accessor, columnDetails, DataBoundControlMode.Insert);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.EmptyDataTemplate:
                GetEmptyDataTemplate(accessor, columnDetails);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.HeaderTemplate:
                GetHeaderTemplate(accessor, columnDetails);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.FooterTemplate:
                GetFooterTemplate(accessor, columnDetails);
                break;
            case FormViewTemplateType.PagerTemplate:
                GetPagerTemplate(accessor, columnDetails);
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
    }

    private void GetItemTemplate(IParserAccessor accessor, IEnumerable<ListViewColumn> columnDetails, DataBoundControlMode templateMode)
    {
        // create new table
        var table = new HtmlTable();
        table.Attributes.Add("class", "detailstable");

        // add table to accessor
        accessor.AddParsedSubObject(table);

        // make sure there are some children columns
        if (columnDetails.Count() > 0)
        {
            // add a cell for each column in table
            foreach (ListViewColumn columnDetail in columnDetails)
            {
                // create new row for template
                var row = new HtmlTableRow();

                // add row to accessor
                table.Rows.Add(row);

                // create field name cell
                var fieldNameCell = new HtmlTableCell();
                // add cell to row
                row.Cells.Add(fieldNameCell);
                // set the title
                fieldNameCell.InnerText = columnDetail.Column.DisplayName;

                // create field cell
                var fieldCell = new HtmlTableCell();
                // add cell to row
                row.Cells.Add(fieldCell);

                // instantiate a DynamicControl for this Children Column
                var lvColumn = new DynamicControl(templateMode)
                {
                    ID = columnDetail.Column.Name,
                    ValidationGroup = "FormView_" + templateMode.ToString(),
                    // set data field to column name
                    DataField = columnDetail.Column.Name,
                };

                // add control to cell
                fieldCell.Controls.Add(lvColumn);
            }
            // create new row for template
            var commandRow = new HtmlTableRow();
            // add row to accessor
            table.Rows.Add(commandRow);

            // create the cell to hold the command buttons
            var commandCell = new HtmlTableCell();
            commandCell.Attributes.Add("class", "nowrap");
            commandCell.ColSpan = 2;
            commandRow.Cells.Add(commandCell);

            // create a spacer
            var spaceLit = new Literal();
            spaceLit.Text = @"&nbsp;";

            // create cancel link
            var cancelLink = new LinkButton()
            {
                //ID="EditLinkButton",
                Text = "Cancel",
                CausesValidation = false,
                CommandName = "Cancel",
            };

            switch (templateMode)
            {
                case DataBoundControlMode.Edit:
                    // ceate update link
                    var updateLink = new LinkButton()
                    {
                        //ID="UpdateLinkButton",
                        Text = "Update",
                        CausesValidation = true,
                        CommandName = "Update",
                    };

                    commandCell.Controls.Add(updateLink);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(spaceLit);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(cancelLink);
                    break;
                case DataBoundControlMode.Insert:
                    // create insert link
                    var insertLink = new LinkButton()
                    {
                        //ID="InsertLinkButton",
                        Text = "Insert",
                        CausesValidation = true,
                        CommandName = "Insert",
                    };
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(insertLink);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(spaceLit);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(cancelLink);
                    break;
                case DataBoundControlMode.ReadOnly:
                    // create edit link
                    var editLink = new LinkButton()
                        {
                            //ID="EditLinkButton",
                            Text = "Edit",
                            CausesValidation = false,
                            CommandName = "Edit",
                        };
                    // create delete link
                    var deleteLink = new LinkButton()
                        {
                            //ID="DeleteLinkButton",
                            Text = "Delete",
                            CommandName = "Delete",
                            CausesValidation = false,
                            OnClientClick = "return confirm(\"Are you sure you want to delete this item?\");",
                        };
                    // create new link
                    var newLink = new LinkButton()
                        {
                            //ID="insertLinkButton",
                            Text = "New",
                            CausesValidation = false,
                            CommandName = "New",
                        };

                    commandCell.Controls.Add(editLink);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(spaceLit);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(deleteLink);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(spaceLit);
                    commandCell.Controls.Add(newLink);
                    break;
                default:
                    break;
            }

        }
        // if there are no children columns don't
        // bother to set the accessor to anything
    }

    private void GetEmptyDataTemplate(IParserAccessor accessor, IEnumerable<ListViewColumn> columnDetails)
    {
        // create a spacer
        var literal = new Literal();
        literal.Text = @"There are currently no items in this table.";

        // add row to accessor
        accessor.AddParsedSubObject(literal);
    }

    private void GetPagerTemplate(IParserAccessor accessor, IEnumerable<ListViewColumn> columnDetails)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    private void GetFooterTemplate(IParserAccessor accessor, IEnumerable<ListViewColumn> columnDetails)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    private void GetHeaderTemplate(IParserAccessor accessor, IEnumerable<ListViewColumn> columnDetails)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    private class ListViewColumn
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Column to display
        /// </summary>
        public MetaColumn Column { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// MetaData if any from the original column
        /// </summary>
        public SubGridViewsAttribute SubGridMetaData { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Holds the sort order value
        /// </summary>
        public int Order { get; set; }
    }
}

Listing 5  - FromViewPageRowGenerator

The main difference between this implementation of ITemplate and the implementation in Part 3 is that the column title is in the same row as the DynamicControl so it produces a template similar to the output shown in Listing 6. The only difference between the different template types that are implemented are the links shown (Edit, Delete & New for ReadOnly), (Update & Cancel for Edit) and (Insert & Cancel for Insert) and the mode of the DynamicControls.

<table class="detailstable">
    <tr>
        <th>
            OrderDate
        </th>
        <td>
            <asp:DynamicControl 
                ID="DynamicControl1" 
                DataField="OrderDate" 
                Mode="ReadOnly" 
                runat="server" />
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <th>
            RequiredDate
        </th>
        <td>
            <asp:DynamicControl 
                ID="DynamicControl2" 
                DataField="RequiredDate" 
                Mode="ReadOnly" 
                runat="server" />
        </td>
    </tr>
    ...// shortened for brevity 

    <tr>
        <td colspan="2">
            <asp:LinkButton ID="EditLinkButton" CausesValidation="false" CommandName="Edit" runat="server"> Edit </asp:LinkButton>
            <asp:LinkButton ID="DeleteLinkButton" CausesValidation="false" CommandName="Delete"
                OnClientClick='return confirm("Are you sure you want to delete this item?");'
                runat="server"> Delete </asp:LinkButton>
            <asp:LinkButton ID="InsertLinkButton" CausesValidation="false" CommandName="New" runat="server"> New </asp:LinkButton>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

Listing 6 – Fragment of the output from FormViewTemplateType

Project Download

Again V3 contains all from the previous parts 1 - 3