gridview text display

Hi,

Im still very new to asp and c#.

I want to display comments from a multi line textbox in a gridview.

I can do this using a template and multi line textbox but it looks poor.

Is there a way to display the text in the grid view so that it displays text similar to the way the comments work on this forum or should I move away from the gridview and try databinding

many thanks

jimmy

Re: gridview text display

when displaying the data, i'd use a label or a literal control and not a multiline textbox. if the data was entered from a multiline textbox, you'll likely need to deal with the fact the the data might have CRLF characters that don't render. in this case, i would simply replace those characters with a tag.

check this for a sample: http://forums.asp.net/thread/1515605.aspx

Re: gridview text display

Thanks but it still does not solve my problem. i am using a datagrid at the moment and want to display text in a way similar to the way this forum works. should i move away from the datagrid and use a dataset instead. i would have used this method in php.

or is there a way to display multiline text neatly into a datagrid.

thanks

jimmy

Re: gridview text display

text received from a regular multiline textbox will contain crlf characters. in order to display that text (like this forum does) the line breaks need to be converted to tags.

the idea of moving from a datagrid to a dataset won't work since a datagrid is a UI control and a dataset in not a UI control. they are not at all interchangeable. The simpleset was to display multiline text in a gridview / datagrid is to replace the crlf sequences with tags.

if you use a rich html editor control like freetextbox or tinymce (like i think this forum does), then it would give you your multiline text as an html fragment that already uses tags and not CRLF's.

Re: gridview text display

thanks for bearing with me.

i understand replacing crlf characters with tags.

i can get data to be displayed in a multiline text box within a datagrid however it looks rubbish with my understanding of asp and c# so far.

the textbox is of a fixed size and has scroll bars on it. this size textbox is the same for all rows in the data grid and does not respond to the amount of text displayed.

thanks

jimmy

Re: gridview text display

the textbox should only be used to collect/edit the data.

when presenting/displaying the data, i would recommend using either a Literal control or a Label control in your grid controls template. you would bind your multiline data to the text property of this Literal/Label. Then, as long as you have converted the crlfs, your display should look much better.

Re: gridview text display

thanks for you help.

i have used a label now and ive got the look i want. i am having a some trouble with the FixCrLf function.

i get an error saying

CS1502: The best overloaded method match for 'Default2.FixCrLf(string)' has some invalid arguments

<asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server" Text='<%# FixCrLf(Eval("PostContent")) %>'> </asp:Label>

i am using c# and have used the following in my application

protected string FixCrLf(string value) {

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) {

return string.Empty;

}

return value.Replace(Environment.NewLine, " ");

}

Text='<%# FixCrLf(Eval("PostContent")) %>' this line shows cannot convert object to string in the VS error list

thanks again for your help

jimmy

Re: gridview text display

The Eval method you are using returns an object. To get Eval to return a String, you can use its overload that allows you to specify a formatstring. When a formatstring is specified (even if its just an empty string "") the Eval method will return a String and not an object.

like this:

<asp:Label ID="Label2"
           runat="server"
           Text='<%# FixCrLf(Eval("PostContent","")) %>'>
</asp:Label>

Re: gridview text display

Thanks for all your help. That has worked a treat.

jimmy