Implement Paging in DataList using ASP.NET

When building ASP.NET Web applications, one of the most common tasks is displaying data. ASP.NET offers a powerful data Web control - the DataList but imposes some limitations on its paging capabilities. Therefore, i am going to explain how to implement paging in DataList using ASP.NET.

aspx page

<form id="form1" runat="server">
        <table>
            <asp:DataList ID="dltItems" runat="server">
                <HeaderTemplate>
                    <h2>Item Details </h2>
                </HeaderTemplate>
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <tr>
                        <td>
                            <h4>Price</h4>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                            <h4>Quantity</h4>
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td>
                            <h5><%#Eval("price") %></h5>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                            <h5><%#Eval("quantity") %></h5>
                        </td>
                    </tr>
                </ItemTemplate>
            </asp:DataList>
        </table>
        <table>
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <asp:Button ID="btnfirst" runat="server" Font-Bold="true" Text="<<" OnClick="btnfirst_Click" /></td>
                <td>
                    <asp:Button ID="btnprevious" runat="server" Font-Bold="true" Text="<" OnClick="btnprevious_Click" /></td>
                <td>
                    <asp:Button ID="btnnext" runat="server" Font-Bold="true" Text=">" OnClick="btnnext_Click" /></td>
                <td>
                    <asp:Button ID="btnlast" runat="server" Font-Bold="true" Text=">>" OnClick="btnlast_Click" /></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </form>

aspx.cs page

    PagedDataSource pdsPaging = new PagedDataSource();
    int startPosition;
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            ViewState["vspaging"] = 0;
        }

        startPosition = Convert.ToInt32(ViewState["vspaging"].ToString());
        bindData();
    }

    void bindData()
    {
        string connectionString = "Server=localhost;Database=shopping;Trusted_Connection=true";
        SqlConnection myConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
        SqlDataAdapter ad = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT price, quantity FROM demo", myConnection);
        DataSet ds = new DataSet();
        ad.Fill(ds);
        pdsPaging.DataSource = ds.Tables[0].DefaultView; //returns dataview
        pdsPaging.PageSize = 4; // specify no. of rows bind at startup
        pdsPaging.AllowPaging = true; // make it true to allow paging
        pdsPaging.CurrentPageIndex = startPosition;
        dltItems.DataSource = pdsPaging;
        dltItems.DataBind(); // bind data in datalist
    }

    protected void btnfirst_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        startPosition = 0; // set it zero to go to first page
        bindData();
    }

    protected void btnprevious_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        startPosition = Convert.ToInt32(ViewState["vspaging"].ToString());
        startPosition -= 1; // subtract one from actual postion
        ViewState["vspaging"] = startPosition; // set new value in viewstate
        bindData();
    }

    protected void btnnext_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        startPosition = Convert.ToInt32(ViewState["vspaging"].ToString());
        startPosition += 1; // add one in actual postion
        ViewState["vspaging"] = startPosition; // set new value in viewstate
        bindData();
    }

    protected void btnlast_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // subtract one from no. of total pages because index starts from zero
        startPosition = pdsPaging.PageCount - 1;
        bindData();
    }

Paging Output

That’s it!!…..Happy Programming...