Data Binding Overview

RadSiteMap supports binding to various types of data sources:

• SiteMapDataSource

• Hierarchical DataSource components

To bind the RadSiteMap to a data source, specify the data source as the value of the DataSource property and call the DataBind method. If you are using declarative data sources such as SiteMapDataSource, use the DataSourceID property instead of the DataSource property.

Usually, you also want to do one or more of the following:

1. Set Text or NavigateUrl properties using:

• DataTextField - specifies the field of the data source that provides the Text of the nodes.

• DataNavigateUrlField - specifies the field of the data source that provides the NavigateUrl of the nodes.

1. If the data source is not hierarchical, you can establish the hierarchy through an ID to ParentID relationship using:

• DataFieldID - The name of the field in the data source that acts as a key, uniquely identifying rows. DataFieldParentID - The name of the field in the data source that identifies the key field value of the parent node. The value of this field for root nodes should be null (table- or object-based data source) or the default value of the corresponding value type used (object-based data source).

1. If the data source contains fields that map to other properties of the nodes or to custom attributes, use the NodeDataBound event to set those values:

protected void RadSiteMap1_NodeDataBound(object sender, RadSiteMapNodeEventArgs e) 
{ 
    DataRowView nodeData = e.Node.DataItem as DataRowView; 
    e.Node.ToolTip = nodeData["tooltipColumn"].ToString(); 
}

Protected Sub RadSiteMap1_NodeDataBound(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RadSiteMapNodeEventArgs)
    Dim nodeData As DataRowView = TryCast(e.Node.DataItem, DataRowView)
    e.Node.ToolTip = nodeData("tooltipColumn").ToString()
End Sub