.Net 3.5, VB 

I have a datalist which contains a list of contacts, and in the header template I specify the header columns for the labels and then have a table in the item template.

What I have to do is hardcode the width of the columns in both the header and the item template so they are the same, is there any way on loading of the table to extract the width of the column and then apply this to the relevant column in the header?

The current code is below:

<asp:DataList ID="dlContacts" runat="server">

<ItemStyle CssClass="DataListLineStyle" />

<AlternatingItemStyle CssClass="DataListAlternatingLineStyle" />

<HeaderTemplate>

<table class="Table" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">

<tr>

<td colspan="6" class="CellHeader">

</td>

</tr>

<tr class="CellLabel">

<td width="150px" align="left">

</td>

<td width="100px" align="center">

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

</td>

<td width="175px" align="center">

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

</td>

</tr>

</table>

</HeaderTemplate>

<ItemTemplate>

<table width="100%" class="Table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">

<tr>

<td width="150px" align="left">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContact" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CUS_CONTACT") %>' Width="10px" Visible="False" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

Text='<%# Eval("NAME") %>' CssClass="LinkButtonDisplayLeftAlign"

CommandName="Select" Width="150px"></asp:LinkButton>

</td>

<td width="100px" align="center">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContactJobTitle" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("TITLE") %>' Width="100px" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContactTel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("TEL_OFFICE") %>' Width="125px" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContactMobile" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("TEL_MOBILE") %>' Width="125px" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

</td>

<td width="175px" align="center">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContactEmail" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("EMAIL") %>' Width="175px" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

</td>

<td width="125px" align="center">

<asp:TextBox ID="txtContactFax" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("FAX") %>' Width="125px" CssClass="TextBoxDisplayCenterAlign"></asp:TextBox>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

</ItemTemplate>

</asp:DataList>

Instead of trying to line-up your tables, why not start the Table within the HeaderTemplate, continue within the ItemTemplate, and close within the FooterTemplate. This way everything will be within one table and everything will line-up beautifully.

Instead of doing that you should use one table for the header and item templates.

ie

<HeaderTemplate>
     <table>
        <tr>
            <td>column 1</td><td>column 2</td>
        </tr>
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
         <tr>
            <td>....</td><td>....</td>
         </tr>
</ItemTemplate>
<FooterTemplate>
      </table>
</FooterTemplate>

Big thanks to you both - did not realise you could do that!