Here's a class that extends the standard GridView. The code is not entirely made by me. It's basicaly a lot snippets from other posts/articles/blogs polished and combined into a single class: 

#region Using directives

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

#endregion

namespace MyWebControls
{

	public class GridViewEx : GridView
	{
		#region Properties

		/// <summary>
		/// When true and the GridView is inside a container with overflow this will make the header fixed. 
		/// Only the rest of the rows will scroll.
		/// </summary>
		/// <remarks>
		///	Works only in IE.
		/// </remarks>
		[Category("Behaviour")]
		[Themeable(true)]
		[Bindable(false)]
		[DefaultValue(false)]
		public bool FreezeHeader
		{
			get
			{
				if (ViewState["FreezeHeader"] == null)
					return false;

				return (bool)ViewState["FreezeHeader"];
			}
			set
			{
				ViewState["FreezeHeader"] = value;
			}
		}

		[Category("Behaviour")]
		[Themeable(true)]
		[Bindable(BindableSupport.No)]
		[DefaultValue(false)]
		public bool ShowWhenEmpty
		{
			get
			{
				if (ViewState["ShowWhenEmpty"] == null)
					return false;

				return (bool)ViewState["ShowWhenEmpty"];
			}
			set
			{
				ViewState["ShowWhenEmpty"] = value;
			}
		}


		protected GridViewRow _footerRow2;
		public override GridViewRow FooterRow
		{
			get
			{
				GridViewRow f = base.FooterRow;
				if (f != null)
					return f;
				else
					return _footerRow2;
			}
		}

		protected GridViewRow _headerRow2;
		public override GridViewRow HeaderRow
		{
			get
			{
				GridViewRow h = base.HeaderRow;
				if (h != null)
					return h;
				else
					return this._headerRow2;
			}
		}

		[Bindable(BindableSupport.Yes, BindingDirection.OneWay)]
		public override string Caption
		{
			get
			{
				return base.Caption;
			}
			set
			{
				base.Caption = value;
			}
		}


		/// <summary>
		/// Enable/Disable MultiColumn Sorting.
		/// </summary>
		[
		Description("Whether Sorting On more than one column is enabled"),
		Category("Behavior"),
		DefaultValue("false"),
		]
		public bool AllowMultiColumnSorting
		{
			get
			{
				object o = ViewState["EnableMultiColumnSorting"];
				return (o != null ? (bool)o : false);
			}
			set
			{
				AllowSorting = true;
				ViewState["EnableMultiColumnSorting"] = value;
			}
		}
		/// <summary>
		/// Get or Set Image location to be used to display Ascending Sort order.
		/// </summary>
		[
		Description("Image to display for Ascending Sort"),
		Category("Misc"),
		Editor("System.Web.UI.Design.UrlEditor", typeof(System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor)),
		DefaultValue(""),

		]
		public string SortAscImageUrl
		{
			get
			{
				object o = ViewState["SortImageAsc"];
				return (o != null ? o.ToString() : "");
			}
			set
			{
				ViewState["SortImageAsc"] = value;
			}
		}
		/// <summary>
		/// Get or Set Image location to be used to display Ascending Sort order.
		/// </summary>
		[
		Description("Image to display for Descending Sort"),
		Category("Misc"),
		Editor("System.Web.UI.Design.UrlEditor", typeof(System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor)),
		DefaultValue(""),
		]
		public string SortDescImageUrl
		{
			get
			{
				object o = ViewState["SortImageDesc"];
				return (o != null ? o.ToString() : "");
			}
			set
			{
				ViewState["SortImageDesc"] = value;
			}
		}

		public DataControlRowState? RowState
		{
			get
			{
				return (DataControlRowState?)ViewState["RowState"];
			}
			set
			{
				ViewState["RowState"] = value;

			}
		}

		#endregion
		#region Life Cycle

		protected override void OnSorting(GridViewSortEventArgs e)
		{
			if (AllowMultiColumnSorting)
				e.SortExpression = GetSortBLOCKED EXPRESSION;

			base.OnSorting(e);
		}

		protected override void OnRowCreated(GridViewRowEventArgs e)
		{
			if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Header)
			{
				if (SortExpression != String.Empty)
					DisplaySortOrderImages(SortExpression, e.Row);
			}

			base.OnRowCreated(e);
		}

		protected override GridViewRow CreateRow(int rowIndex, int dataSourceIndex, DataControlRowType rowType, DataControlRowState rowState)
		{
			if (RowState.HasValue)
				return base.CreateRow(rowIndex, dataSourceIndex, rowType, RowState.Value);
			else
				return base.CreateRow(rowIndex, dataSourceIndex, rowType, rowState);
		}

		#endregion
		#region Protected Methods
		/// <summary>
		///  Get Sort Expression by Looking up the existing Grid View Sort Expression 
		/// </summary>
		protected string GetSortExpression(GridViewSortEventArgs e)
		{
			string[] sortColumns = null;
			string sortAttribute = SortExpression;

			//Check to See if we have an existing Sort Order already in the Grid View.	
			//If so get the Sort Columns into an array
			if (sortAttribute != String.Empty)
			{
				sortColumns = sortAttribute.Split(",".ToCharArray());
			}

			//if User clicked on the columns in the existing sort sequence.
			//Toggle the sort order or remove the column from sort appropriately

			if (sortAttribute.IndexOf(e.SortExpression) > 0 || sortAttribute.StartsWith(e.SortBLOCKED EXPRESSION
				sortAttribute = ModifySortExpression(sortColumns, e.SortExpression);
			else
				sortAttribute += String.Concat(",", e.SortExpression, " ASC ");
			return sortAttribute.TrimStart(",".ToCharArray()).TrimEnd(",".ToCharArray());

		}

		public void SaveAll()
		{
			for (int i = 0; i < this.Rows.Count; i++)
			{
				this.UpdateRow(i, false);
			}
		}

		/// <summary>
		///  Toggle the sort order or remove the column from sort appropriately
		/// </summary>
		protected string ModifySortExpression(string[] sortColumns, string sortExpression)
		{

			string ascSortExpression = String.Concat(sortExpression, " ASC ");
			string descSortExpression = String.Concat(sortExpression, " DESC ");

			for (int i = 0; i < sortColumns.Length; i++)
			{

				if (ascSortExpression.Equals(sortColumns[i]))
				{
					sortColumns[i] = descSortExpression;
				}

				else if (descSortExpression.Equals(sortColumns[i]))
				{
					Array.Clear(sortColumns, i, 1);
				}
			}

			return String.Join(",", sortColumns).Replace(",,", ",").TrimStart(",".ToCharArray());

		}
		/// <summary>
		///  Lookup the Current Sort Expression to determine the Order of a specific item.
		/// </summary>
		protected void SearchSortExpression(string[] sortColumns, string sortColumn, out string sortOrder, out int sortOrderNo)
		{
			sortOrder = "";
			sortOrderNo = -1;
			for (int i = 0; i < sortColumns.Length; i++)
			{
				if (sortColumns[i].StartsWith(sortColumn))
				{
					sortOrderNo = i + 1;
					if (AllowMultiColumnSorting)
						sortOrder = sortColumns[i].Substring(sortColumn.Length).Trim();
					else
						sortOrder = ((SortDirection == SortDirection.Ascending) ? "ASC" : "DESC");
				}
			}
		}
		/// <summary>
		///  Display a graphic image for the Sort Order along with the sort sequence no.
		/// </summary>
		protected void DisplaySortOrderImages(string sortExpression, GridViewRow dgItem)
		{
			string[] sortColumns = sortExpression.Split(",".ToCharArray());

			for (int i = 0; i < dgItem.Cells.Count; i++)
			{
				if (dgItem.Cells[i].Controls.Count > 0 && dgItem.Cells[i].Controls[0] is LinkButton)
				{
					string sortOrder;
					int sortOrderNo;
					string column = ((LinkButton)dgItem.Cells[i].Controls[0]).CommandArgument;
					SearchSortExpression(sortColumns, column, out sortOrder, out sortOrderNo);
					if (sortOrderNo > 0)
					{
						string sortImgLoc = (sortOrder.Equals("ASC") ? SortAscImageUrl : SortDescImageUrl);

						if (sortImgLoc != String.Empty)
						{
							Image imgSortDirection = new Image();
							imgSortDirection.ImageUrl = sortImgLoc;
							dgItem.Cells[i].Controls.Add(imgSortDirection);
							//Label lblSortOrder = new Label();
							//lblSortOrder.Font.Size = FontUnit.Small;
							//lblSortOrder.Text = sortOrderNo.ToString();
							//dgItem.Cells[i].Controls.Add(lblSortOrder);

						}
						else
						{

							//Label lblSortDirection = new Label();
							//lblSortDirection.Font.Size = FontUnit.XSmall;
							//lblSortDirection.Font.Name = "webdings";
							//lblSortDirection.EnableTheming = false;
							//lblSortDirection.Text = (sortOrder.Equals("ASC") ? "5" : "6");
							//dgItem.Cells[i].Controls.Add(lblSortDirection);

							if (AllowMultiColumnSorting)
							{
								Literal litSortSeq = new Literal();
								litSortSeq.Text = sortOrderNo.ToString();
								dgItem.Cells[i].Controls.Add(litSortSeq);

							}
						}
					}
				}
			}
		}

		protected override int CreateChildControls(System.Collections.IEnumerable dataSource, bool dataBinding)
		{
			int numRows = base.CreateChildControls(dataSource, dataBinding);

			//no data rows created, create empty table if enabled
			if (numRows == 0 && ShowWhenEmpty)
			{
				//create table
				Table table = new Table();
				table.ID = this.ID;

				//convert the exisiting columns into an array and initialize
				DataControlField[] fields = new DataControlField[this.Columns.Count];
				this.Columns.CopyTo(fields, 0);

				if (this.ShowHeader)
				{
					//create a new header row
					_headerRow2 = base.CreateRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.Header, DataControlRowState.Normal);

					this.InitializeRow(_headerRow2, fields);
					table.Rows.Add(_headerRow2);
				}

				//create the empty row
				GridViewRow emptyRow = new GridViewRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.EmptyDataRow, DataControlRowState.Normal);

				TableCell cell = new TableCell();
				cell.ColumnSpan = this.Columns.Count;
				cell.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
				if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(EmptyDataText))
					cell.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(EmptyDataText));

				if (this.EmptyDataTemplate != null)
					EmptyDataTemplate.InstantiateIn(cell);

				emptyRow.Cells.Add(cell);
				table.Rows.Add(emptyRow);

				if (this.ShowFooter)
				{
					//create footer row
					_footerRow2 = base.CreateRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.Footer, DataControlRowState.Normal);

					this.InitializeRow(_footerRow2, fields);
					table.Rows.Add(_footerRow2);
				}

				this.Controls.Clear();
				this.Controls.Add(table);
			}

			//does not work on Gecko
			if (this.FreezeHeader && this.HeaderRow != null)
			{
				this.HeaderRow.Style["top"] = "expression(this.offsetParent.scrollTop)";
				this.HeaderRow.Style["position"] = "relative";
				this.HeaderRow.Style["zindex"] = "2";
			}

			return numRows;
		}

		#endregion
	}
}

Entra features added are:

• Posibility to freeze the header (when the grid is placed in a container with overflow:scroll or auto)

• Show the header/footer rows even when the datasource is empty.

• Show images in the header that indicate the sort column and sort direction.

• Caption property is bindable

• Buld Editing (set RowState to Edit then call SaveAll())

• Sort by multiple columns (not properly implemented yet as I didn't need it)

Please post any suggestions and/or bugs that you can find here. Also, anyone who has made something that's not included here and is willing to share is more than welcomed to to so :D

This is a great class indeed, thanks for supplying it!

However, if I try fetching text from a code-behind function inside the EmptyDataTemplate it doesn't show the text. When debugging it enters the function and returns the text, but it doesn't get displayed. When using the asp:GridView the text shows up nicely (but of course without the header and footer).

Example:

<EmptyDataTemplate>

Do you have any idea why this is and if it can be fixed?

Thanks, that did the trick.

I ended up rewriting it a bit so it now looks like this:

//create the empty row
GridViewRow emptyRow;
if (this.EmptyDataTemplate != null)
    emptyRow = this.Controls[0].Controls[0] as GridViewRow;
else
{
    emptyRow = new GridViewRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.EmptyDataRow, DataControlRowState.Normal);

    TableCell cell = new TableCell();
    cell.ColumnSpan = this.Columns.Count;
    cell.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(EmptyDataText))
        cell.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(EmptyDataText));
        emptyRow.Cells.Add(cell);
}
table.Rows.Add(emptyRow);

Hi there,

 I think you would be more comfortable with a solution like

1    //create the empty row
2    GridViewRow emptyRow = new GridViewRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.EmptyDataRow, DataControlRowState.Normal);
3    //add row to table
4    tbl.Rows.Add(emptyRow);
5    //initialize row
6    InitializeRow(emptyRow, fields);

This way you could use the standard methods of the GridView without having to rewrite everything.

Additionaly I came up with one problem concerning the line

 
1    Table table = new Table();
2    table.ID = this.ID;
 

 I wouldn't do that, because this changes the IDs of the controls within the grid. The method of the GridView (CreateChildControls) creates the table as "ctl00" and changing the ID could cause problems on postbacks.

kind regards,

Chris

Hi,

I've used part of this customcontrol in the past to make a footerrow with insert functionality display/work when the gridview is empty. This has always worked great. Buttons and textboxes in the footer cuold always be used normaly when an empty gridview was encountered.

Now I've got some search functionalty embedded in the header and I'm using this customcontrol to show the gridview when it is empty.

This time it's not working though.

When an empty gridview is returned after a search has been done, the searchbutton and textboxes are shown. The sort-links returned by the GetHeader are not however. It seems the header never gets initialized properly when a search doesn't have any results. When a new search is performed after an empty search, a postback occurs, but the RowCommand is never called.

I've found that the properties HeaderText and SortExpression of the templatefield are not used when the templatefield contains a HeaderTemplate. Therefor the build-in functionality of sorting could not be used. The GetHeader function is for creating the sort-link in the header.

Because the search-textboxes are within the gridview, they do not automatically persist their value during postbacks. I've come up with a way to dynamically build and fill the filter parameters and expression and use this to persist (re-fill) the search fields.

I'm using caching and filterparameters to fill and search the data in the gridview.

My Code: 

protected override int CreateChildControls:
Same as above (minus FreezeHeader, I'm using only the ShowWhenEmpty functionality)

SelectMethod (because of caching only called when necessary):
public DataSet gvOrderList_Select(string sort)
        {
            string sql = "SELECT O.*, OS.Status AS StatusNaam, K.Achternaam FROM (ORDER O LEFT JOIN OrderStatus OS ON O.Status = OS.Id) LEFT JOIN Klant K ON O.KlantId = K.Id";

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(sort))
            {
                if (sort.Contains("IngangsDatum"))
                    sort = sort.Replace("IngangsDatum", "O.IngangsDatum");
                if (sort.Contains("Status"))
                    sort = sort.Replace("Status", "O.Status");
                sql += " ORDER BY " + sort + ";";
            }
            else
                sql += " ORDER BY O.IngangsDatum DESC;";

            DataSet ds = db.Select(sql);

            HttpContext.Current.Cache["CacheodsOrderList"] = ds;

            return ds;
        } 

OnRowCommand:
protected void gvOrderList_RowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        switch (e.CommandName)
        {
            case "new":
                break;

            case "edit":
                break;

            case "del":
                break;

            case "search":
                string search;

                odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Clear();

                search = ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchOrdernummer")).Text;
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(search))
                    odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Add("Ordernummer", search);
                search = ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchDatumVan")).Text;
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(search))
                    odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Add("DatumVan", TypeCode.DateTime, search);
                search = ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchDatumTot")).Text;
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(search))
                    odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Add("DatumTot", TypeCode.DateTime, search);
                search = ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchAchternaam")).Text;
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(search))
                    odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Add("Achternaam", search);
                search = ((DropDownList)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("ddlSearchStatus")).SelectedValue;
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(search))
                    odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Add("Status", TypeCode.Int32, search);

                BuildFilterBLOCKED EXPRESSION;

                break;

            default:
                break;
        }

OnDataBound:
protected void gvOrderList_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        BuildFilterBLOCKED EXPRESSION;
    }

GetHeader:
protectedstring GetHeader(string HeaderText, string SortExpression)
    {
        return "<a href=\"javascript:__doPostBack('" + gvOrderList.UniqueID + "','Sort$" + SortExpression + "')\"><font class=\"titel\">" + HeaderText + "</font></a>";
    }

BuildFilterExpression:
protected void BuildFilterBLOCKED EXPRESSION
    {
        if (odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Count > 0)
        {
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            for (int i = 0; i < odsOrderList.FilterParameters.Count; ++i)
            {
                switch (odsOrderList.FilterParameters[i].Name)
                {
                    case "Ordernummer":
                        ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchOrdernummer")).Text = odsOrderList.FilterParameters["Ordernummer"].DefaultValue;
                        sb.Append("Ordernummer LIKE '{" + i.ToString() + "}%' AND ");
                        break;
                    case "DatumVan":
                        ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchDatumVan")).Text = odsOrderList.FilterParameters["DatumVan"].DefaultValue;
                        sb.Append("IngangsDatum >= #{" + i.ToString() + "}# AND ");
                        break;
                    case "DatumTot":
                        ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchDatumTot")).Text = odsOrderList.FilterParameters["DatumTot"].DefaultValue;
                        sb.Append("IngangsDatum <= #{" + i.ToString() + "}# AND ");
                        break;
                    case "Achternaam":
                        ((TextBox)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("tbSearchAchternaam")).Text = odsOrderList.FilterParameters["Achternaam"].DefaultValue;
                        sb.Append("Achternaam LIKE '{" + i.ToString() + "}%' AND ");
                        break;
                    case "Status":
                        ((DropDownList)gvOrderList.HeaderRow.FindControl("ddlSearchStatus")).SelectedIndex = Convert.ToInt32(odsOrderList.FilterParameters["Status"].DefaultValue);
                        sb.Append("Status = {" + i.ToString() + "} AND ");
                        break;
                    default:
                        break;
                }
            }
            odsOrderList.FilterExpression = (sb.Remove(sb.Length - 5, 5)).ToString();
        }
    } 

Gridview:
<CustomControls:EmptyGridView ID="gvOrderList" runat="server" DataSourceID="odsOrderList" AllowSorting="true" AllowPaging="true" PageSize="10" PagerSettings-Position="Top" AutoGenerateColumns="false" ShowFooter="true" ShowHeader="true" DataKeyNames="Id" OnDataBound="gvOrderList_DataBound" OnRowCommand="gvOrderList_RowCommand" EmptyDataText="NIEUW - Geen orders" EnableViewState="false">
	<Columns>
		<asp:TemplateField>
			<HeaderTemplate>
				<asp:Button ID="btnGVSearch" runat="server" CommandName="search" TabIndex="6" Text="Zoek" CssClass="Teksten" />
			</HeaderTemplate>
			<ItemTemplate>
				<asp:ImageButton ID="ibtnEdit" runat="server" CommandName="edit" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("Id") %>' ImageUrl="~/images/edit.gif" />&nbsp;<asp:ImageButton ID="ibtnDel" runat="server" CommandName="del" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("Id") %>' OnClientClick="return confirm('Weet u zeker dat u deze order wilt verwijderen?')" ImageUrl="~/images/del.gif" />
			</ItemTemplate>
			<FooterTemplate>
				<hr width="100%" />
			</FooterTemplate>
			<HeaderStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Bottom" />
			<ItemStyle Width="75" HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top" />
		</asp:TemplateField>
		<asp:TemplateField>
			<HeaderTemplate>
				<%# GetHeader("Code", "Ordernummer") %>
				<br />
				<asp:TextBox ID="tbSearchOrdernummer" runat="server" TabIndex="1" />
			</HeaderTemplate>
			<ItemTemplate>
				<%# Eval("Ordernummer") %>
			</ItemTemplate>
			<HeaderStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top" />
			<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Left" VerticalAlign="Top" />
		</asp:TemplateField>
		...
		SOME MORE TEMPLATEFIELDS
		...
	</Columns>
</CustomControls:EmptyGridView>

<asp:ObjectDataSource ID="odsOrderList" runat="server"
TypeName="ObjectDataSources.odsOrderList"
EnableCaching="true"
CacheKeyDependency="CacheodsOrderList"
SelectMethod="gvOrderList_Select"
SortParameterName="sort"
>
</asp:ObjectDataSource>

Any light you could shed on this would be greatly appreciated.

H. Deur 

e.SortBLOCKED EXPRESSION is undefined, it does not seem to come with the GridViewEventArgs,

let me know what the space stands for in the middle or if a function or property is missing.

The line should be:

if (sortAttribute.IndexOf(e.SortExpression) > 0 || sortAttribute.StartsWith(e.SortExpression))

Hmm. No matter what I tried, I could not get the code to work.

 Here's what I did:

Started a new web project, created a folder called MyWebControls, and added a Web User Control to that. In the code-behind, I pasted the code code, and corrected where appropriate (The EXPRESSION BLOCKED).

Got this:

Error 1 Make sure that the class defined in this code file matches the 'inherits' attribute, and that it extends the correct base class (e.g. Page or UserControl). C:\Documents and Settings\..WebSite4\MyWebControls\GridViewExample.ascx.cs 1 33 C:\...\WebSite4\

I tried messing around in the ASPX file, by adding the MyWebControls namespace to the inherits bit:

<%@ Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="GridViewExample.ascx.cs" Inherits="MyWebControls_GridViewEx" %>

At times I got this error:

Doh. I think I just figured it out. Instead of creating it as a Web User Control, it helps if I create it as a Web Control Library.

Hey can you help me out?  What is the correction for the "BLOCKED EXPRESSION" stuff?  Thanks.

One of them is

if (sortAttribute.IndexOf(e.SortExpression) > 0 || sortAttribute.Startswith(e.SortBLOCKED EXPRESSION

 Not sure what the other one is, as I'm at work, but it's something starting with expression.

There is no need to do all these things if you are using Sqldatasource then just do the following thing,

 1) Insert new row in sqldatasource

 2) and just after that set gridview's edit index=0,

 So, it will open that newly added blank row in edit mode and thats all.

Great class!

I really can't understand why MS did not implement the ability to display a footer/header when the grid is empty.

Anyway, I had problems with the GridViewEx when having input controls in the footer. They do not maintain viewstate on postbacks. Therefore I did a little tweak to solve that:

The ViewState is maintained because the footer is not the same footer as the original footer. As you can see in the code, there is newly created footer named _footerRow2. Therefore the viewstate will not be kept on postback. To fix this simply add a new readonly property exposing the _footerRow2. This way it is possible to find the controls in the new footer (using myGrid.FooterRowEmpty.findControls("NameOfInputField") and setting the values manually. If using the myGrid.FooterRow, you will find the controls, but they will of course not be visible.

Here is the code for the property:

public virtual GridViewRow FooterRowEmpty
        {
            get
            {
                if (_footerRow2 == null)
                {
                    EnsureChildControls();
                }
                return _footerRow2;
            } 
        }

And here is the usage on the footerrows:

Private Sub Page_PreRender(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.PreRender
        If Not grdData Is Nothing Then
            Dim footerRow As GridViewRow = grdData.FooterRow
            If grdData.Rows.Count = 0 AndAlso Not grdData.FooterRowEmpty Is Nothing Then
                footerRow = grdData.FooterRowEmpty
                LoadFilterValues(footerRow) 'Put values into the fields in the footer.
                SetDefaultButtonAndFocus(footerRow)
            ElseIf Not footerRow Is Nothing Then
                SetDefaultButtonAndFocus(footerRow)
            End If
        End If
    End Sub