Binding to Object-Based DataSources
You can bind RadPanelBar to an object-based data source such as ObjectDataSource,LinqDataSource or any class that implements the IEnumerable interface.
Binding to ObjectDataSource
To see this type of data binding in action, please visit the Declarative Data Sources live demo.
When using ObjectDataSource, you can bind RadPanelBar declaratively at design time. The SelectMethod of the ObjectDataSource should return an object that supports the IEnumerable or ICollection interface. Such collections include Array, ArrayList, and List<type>.
If the SelectMethod returns a collection of strings, those strings are automatically mapped to the Text property of the respective panel items. If the collection contains objects (as opposed to string values), you can use the DataTextField, DataNavigateUrlField, and the DataValueField properties to map a property from the object directly to the Text, NavigateUrl and Value properties of RadPanelBarItem. If the DataFieldID and DataFieldParentID properties are set, RadPanelBar will create a hierarchy of Items, determining the Root ones using the following algorithm:
- their DataFieldParentID property must be null if it is of nullable (e.g. int? ) or reference (e.g. string ) type.
Example: ID ParentID 1 (null) 2 1
- their DataFieldParentID property must return the default value if it is value type (e.g. 0 for int , Guid.Empty for Guid ).
Example: ID ParentID 1 0 2 1
To map additional properties from the object to other properties of the respective panel item, use an ItemDataBound event handler. The event arguments passed to the event, e.Item and e.Item.DataItem, hold the instance of the panel item being bound and the DataItem associated with the panel item. You can map a property from the DataItem to the property of the RadPanelBarItem class (make sure to cast the DataItem object to your respective data type first).
The following example shows a RadPanelBar bound declaratively to an ObjectDataSource:
<telerik:radpanelbar id="RadPanelBar1" runat="server" datasourceid="ObjectDataSource1"></telerik:radpanelbar>
<asp:ObjectDataSource ID="ObjectDataSource1" runat="server" SelectMethod="GetSiteData"
TypeName="SiteDataItem"></asp:ObjectDataSource>
The ObjectDataSource component is configured to use the SiteDataItem business object. The SiteDataItem class is defined below:
using System.Collections.Generic;
public class SiteDataItem
{
private string _text;
private string _url;
private int _id;
private int _parentId;
public string Text
{
get { return _text; }
set { _text = value; }
}
public string Url
{
get { return _url; }
set { _url = value; }
}
public int ID
{
get { return _id; }
set { _id = value; }
}
public int ParentID
{
get { return _parentId; }
set { _parentId = value; }
}
public SiteDataItem(int id, int parentId, string text, string url)
{
_id = id;
_parentId = parentId;
_text = text;
_url = url;
}
public static List<SiteDataItem> GetSiteData()
{
List<SiteDataItem> siteData = new List<SiteDataItem>();
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(1, 0, "All Sites", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(2, 1, "Search Engines", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(3, 1, "News Sites", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(4, 2, "Yahoo", "http://www.yahoo.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(5, 2, "MSN", "http://www.msn.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(6, 2, "Google", "http://www.google.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(7, 3, "CNN", "http://www.cnn.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(8, 3, "BBC", "http://www.bbc.co.uk"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(9, 3, "FOX", "http://www.foxnews.com"));
return siteData;
}
}
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Public Class SiteDataItem
Private _text As String
Private _url As String
Private _id As Integer
Private _parentId As Integer
Public Property Text() As String
Get
Return _text
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
_text = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property Url() As String
Get
Return _url
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
_url = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property ID() As Integer
Get
Return _id
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Integer)
_id = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property ParentID() As Integer
Get
Return _parentId
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Integer)
_parentId = value
End Set
End Property
Public Sub New(ByVal id As Integer, ByVal parentId As Integer, ByVal text As String, ByVal url As String)
_id = id
_parentId = parentId
_text = text
_url = url
End Sub
Public Shared Function GetSiteData() As List(Of SiteDataItem)
Dim siteData As New List(Of SiteDataItem)()
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(1, 0, "All Sites", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(2, 1, "Search Engines", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(3, 1, "News Sites", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(4, 2, "Yahoo", "http://www.yahoo.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(5, 2, "MSN", "http://www.msn.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(6, 2, "Google", "http://www.google.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(7, 3, "CNN", "http://www.cnn.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(8, 3, "BBC", "http://www.bbc.co.uk"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(9, 3, "FOX", "http://www.foxnews.com"))
Return siteData
End Function
End Class
Binding to an object that supports IEnumerable
To see this type of data binding in action, please visit the Hierarchical Data Binding live demo.
Instead of going through an ObjectDataSource, you can bind RadPanelBar directly to any collection that implements the ICollection or IEnumerable interface. Mapping properties of the objects in the collection to properties of the panel items works exactly the same way as when using ObjectDataSource.
To bind directly to a collection, you must bind the panel at runtime, using the following steps:
Create the collection.
Add items to the collection. Depending on the type of the collection, these can be strings, or more complex objects with properties that provide data for the various properties of RadPanelBarItem and/or for the ID -> ParentID relationship.
Set the DataSource property of RadPanelBar to the instance of the collection.
Call the DataBind method.
The following example shows a panel bound to an ArrayList. The list contains SiteDataItem objects with the same definition as in the ObjectDataSource example, only that their ParentID property is of nullable type - int?:
private ArrayList GenerateSiteData()
{
ArrayList siteData = new ArrayList();
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(1, null, "All Sites", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(2, 1, "Search Engines", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(3, 1, "News Sites", ""));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(4, 2, "Yahoo", "http://www.yahoo.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(5, 2, "MSN", "http://www.msn.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(6, 2, "Google", "http://www.google.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(7, 3, "CNN", "http://www.cnn.com"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(8, 3, "BBC", "http://www.bbc.co.uk"));
siteData.Add(new SiteDataItem(9, 3, "FOX", "http://www.foxnews.com"));
return siteData;
}
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
RadPanelBar1.DataTextField = "Text";
RadPanelBar1.DataNavigateUrlField = "Url";
RadPanelBar1.DataFieldID = "ID";
RadPanelBar1.DataFieldParentID = "ParentID";
RadPanelBar1.DataSource = GenerateSiteData();
RadPanelBar1.DataBind();
}
}
Private Function GenerateSiteData() As ArrayList
Dim siteData As New ArrayList()
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(1, Nothing, "All Sites", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(2, 1, "Search Engines", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(3, 1, "News Sites", ""))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(4, 2, "Yahoo", "http://www.yahoo.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(5, 2, "MSN", "http://www.msn.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(6, 2, "Google", "http://www.google.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(7, 3, "CNN", "http://www.cnn.com"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(8, 3, "BBC", "http://www.bbc.co.uk"))
siteData.Add(New SiteDataItem(9, 3, "FOX", "http://www.foxnews.com"))
Return siteData
End Function
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
If Not IsPostBack Then
RadPanelBar1.DataTextField = "Text"
RadPanelBar1.DataNavigateUrlField = "Url"
RadPanelBar1.DataFieldID = "ID"
RadPanelBar1.DataFieldParentID = "ParentID"
RadPanelBar1.DataSource = GenerateSiteData()
RadPanelBar1.DataBind()
End If
End Sub