DataBind Repeater to string[] in ViewData without code behind. MVC 2

[Roger Frost]

Greetings,

I'm coming from a WinForms background and diving into ASP.Net. I'm using:

C#, VS2010, .Net 4.0, ASP.Net, MVC 2.

What I want to do is get a string[] of roles in the controller with:

string[] currentUsersRoles = Roles.GetRolesForUser(User.Identity.Name);

Then I want to attach this to the ViewData object (also in the controller):

ViewData["CurrentUsersRoles"] = currentUsersRoles;

Now, in the View I want to bind a Repeater to the array I fed to ViewData.
Something
like:

<asp:Repeater ID="CurrentUsersRoles" runat="server" DataSourceID="[WHAT GOES
HERE?]">
<HeaderTemplate>
<b>Account Roles:</b>
<br />
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<%# [WHAT GOES HERE?] %>
<br />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>

I want to do this without code behind (which I can already do with my
limited knowledge)
because using code behind defeats the purpose of using MVC in the first
place, but that's
just me. Anyhow, this should be easy right? The Repeater exists for the
sole purpose of
displaying collections efficiently, yes? So is there a collection any
simpler or more fundamental
than an array? I suspect some casting will be needed from object back to
string[], but I don't know
where to begin, all I have now is a hammer and they all look like nails to
me.

I've been googling this for hours, but the posts I've seen all want to use
code behind to
acomplish this except this one:

http://forums.asp.net/t/1257598.aspx

I believe she is on the right track...at least it looks good to me, but
being the newbie that I am, I'm
stuck on the line:

<ext:ViewDataSource ID="MyViewDataSource" runat="server"
ViewDataKey="Computers" />

Because evidently "ext" doesn't mean anything in asp.net.

But, back to my point about simple-array-binding-repeater-thingamajigs, this
approach
seems like overkill for such a trivial task anyhow.

Can someone please enlighten me? All productive answers will be extremely
appreciated!

Thanks,
Roger

 

[Roger Frost]

Hello,

Just a quick update here, I may have stumbled upon
something that will lead me in the right direction.

I'm going to attempt to use ExpressionBuilder(s) as
described in:

http://weblogs.asp.net/infinitiesloop/archive/2006/08/09/The-CodeExpressionBuilder.aspx

....I will post back with the results as soon as I have
time to try it. I don't fully understand it yet, or
even what it's capable of, but it's something.

In the mean time, I'm still interested in any idea's
regarding the OP (below).

Thanks,
Roger

 

[Cubaman]

Greetings,

I'm coming from a WinForms background and diving into ASP.Net. I'm using:

C#, VS2010, .Net 4.0, ASP.Net, MVC 2.

What I want to do is get a string[] of roles in the controller with:

     string[] currentUsersRoles = Roles.GetRolesForUser(User.Identity.Name);

Then I want to attach this to the ViewData object (also in the controller):

    ViewData["CurrentUsersRoles"] = currentUsersRoles;

Now, in the View I want to bind a Repeater to the array I fed to ViewData..
Something
like:

<asp:Repeater ID="CurrentUsersRoles" runat="server" DataSourceID="[WHAT GOES
HERE?]">
    <HeaderTemplate>
        <b>Account Roles:</b>
        <br />
    </HeaderTemplate>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <%# [WHAT GOES HERE?] %>
        <br />
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>

I want to do this without code behind (which I can already do with my
limited knowledge)
because using code behind defeats the purpose of using MVC in the first
place, but that's
just me.  Anyhow, this should be easy right?  The Repeater exists for the
sole purpose of
displaying collections efficiently, yes?  So is there a collection any
simpler or more fundamental
than an array?  I suspect some casting will be needed from object back to
string[], but I don't know
where to begin, all I have now is a hammer and they all look like nails to
me.

I've been googling this for hours, but the posts I've seen all want to use
code behind to
acomplish this except this one:

http://forums.asp.net/t/1257598.aspx

I believe she is on the right track...at least it looks good to me, but
being the newbie that I am, I'm
stuck on the line:

<ext:ViewDataSource ID="MyViewDataSource" runat="server"
ViewDataKey="Computers" />

Because evidently "ext" doesn't mean anything in asp.net.

But, back to my point about simple-array-binding-repeater-thingamajigs, this
approach
seems like overkill for such a trivial task anyhow.

Can someone please enlighten me?  All productive answers will be extremely
appreciated!

Thanks,
Roger

Hello Roger.
There is no runat="server" in MVC Views. You don't use aspnet common
controls with MVC, so forget about Repeaters, DataGrids, etc.
Take a deeper look at some MVC tutorials, specially a foreach loop in
a view, in order to get something like a repeater effect.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brada/archi...nd-with-the-entity-framework.aspx?PageIndex=1

Best regards

Oscar Acosta

 

[Roger Frost]

Oscar,

Thanks for replying.

While I can guarantee to a complete certainty that the
following is valid in an MVC 2 View aspx page...

<asp:Label ID="mylabel" Text="Some Text" runat="server">
</asp:Label>

....I will not deny that you are correct in that maybe I should
not use common asp.net controls in my MVC 2 application
in the first place. The further along I get the more headaches
arrise. With my WinForms/Database background, coding the
output manually will probably feel more comfortable anyway.
To heck with markup and server tags! (...to a point at least)

Thanks for making me think outside of the box, I'll
put my hammer away now.

-Roger

Greetings,

I'm coming from a WinForms background and diving into ASP.Net. I'm using:

C#, VS2010, .Net 4.0, ASP.Net, MVC 2.

What I want to do is get a string[] of roles in the controller with:

string[] currentUsersRoles =
Roles.GetRolesForUser(User.Identity.Name);

Then I want to attach this to the ViewData object (also in the
controller):

ViewData["CurrentUsersRoles"] = currentUsersRoles;

Now, in the View I want to bind a Repeater to the array I fed to
ViewData.
Something
like:

<asp:Repeater ID="CurrentUsersRoles" runat="server" DataSourceID="[WHAT
GOES
HERE?]">
<HeaderTemplate>
<b>Account Roles:</b>
<br />
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<%# [WHAT GOES HERE?] %>
<br />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>

I want to do this without code behind (which I can already do with my
limited knowledge)
because using code behind defeats the purpose of using MVC in the first
place, but that's
just me. Anyhow, this should be easy right? The Repeater exists for the
sole purpose of
displaying collections efficiently, yes? So is there a collection any
simpler or more fundamental
than an array? I suspect some casting will be needed from object back to
string[], but I don't know
where to begin, all I have now is a hammer and they all look like nails
to
me.

I've been googling this for hours, but the posts I've seen all want to
use
code behind to
acomplish this except this one:

http://forums.asp.net/t/1257598.aspx

I believe she is on the right track...at least it looks good to me, but
being the newbie that I am, I'm
stuck on the line:

<ext:ViewDataSource ID="MyViewDataSource" runat="server"
ViewDataKey="Computers" />

Because evidently "ext" doesn't mean anything in asp.net.

But, back to my point about simple-array-binding-repeater-thingamajigs,
this
approach
seems like overkill for such a trivial task anyhow.

Can someone please enlighten me? All productive answers will be
extremely
appreciated!

Thanks,
Roger

Hello Roger.
There is no runat="server" in MVC Views. You don't use aspnet common
controls with MVC, so forget about Repeaters, DataGrids, etc.
Take a deeper look at some MVC tutorials, specially a foreach loop in
a view, in order to get something like a repeater effect.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brada/archi...nd-with-the-entity-framework.aspx?PageIndex=1

Best regards

Oscar Acosta

 

[Cubaman]

Oscar,

Thanks for replying.

While I can guarantee to a complete certainty that the
following is valid in an MVC 2 View aspx page...

<asp:Label ID="mylabel" Text="Some Text" runat="server">
</asp:Label>

...I will not deny that you are correct in that maybe I should
not use common asp.net controls in my MVC 2 application
in the first place.  The further along I get the more headaches
arrise.  With my WinForms/Database background, coding the
output manually will probably feel more comfortable anyway.
To heck with markup and server tags!  (...to a point at least)

Thanks for making me think outside of the box, I'll
put my hammer away now.

-Roger

Greetings,
I'm coming from a WinForms background and diving into ASP.Net. I'm using:
C#, VS2010, .Net 4.0, ASP.Net, MVC 2.
What I want to do is get a string[] of roles in the controller with:
     string[] currentUsersRoles =
Roles.GetRolesForUser(User.Identity.Name);
Then I want to attach this to the ViewData object (also in the
controller):
    ViewData["CurrentUsersRoles"] = currentUsersRoles;
Now, in the View I want to bind a Repeater to the array I fed to
ViewData.
Something
like:
<asp:Repeater ID="CurrentUsersRoles" runat="server" DataSourceID="[WHAT
GOES
HERE?]">
    <HeaderTemplate>
        <b>Account Roles:</b>
        <br />
    </HeaderTemplate>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <%# [WHAT GOES HERE?] %>
        <br />
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
I want to do this without code behind (which I can already do with my
limited knowledge)
because using code behind defeats the purpose of using MVC in the first
place, but that's
just me.  Anyhow, this should be easy right?  The Repeater exists for the
sole purpose of
displaying collections efficiently, yes?  So is there a collection any
simpler or more fundamental
than an array?  I suspect some casting will be needed from object back to
string[], but I don't know
where to begin, all I have now is a hammer and they all look like nails
to
me.
I've been googling this for hours, but the posts I've seen all want to
use
code behind to
acomplish this except this one:
http://forums.asp.net/t/1257598.aspx
I believe she is on the right track...at least it looks good to me, but
being the newbie that I am, I'm
stuck on the line:
<ext:ViewDataSource ID="MyViewDataSource" runat="server"
ViewDataKey="Computers" />
Because evidently "ext" doesn't mean anything in asp.net.
But, back to my point about simple-array-binding-repeater-thingamajigs,
this
approach
seems like overkill for such a trivial task anyhow.
Can someone please enlighten me?  All productive answers will be
extremely
appreciated!
Thanks,
Roger

Hello Roger.
There is no runat="server" in MVC Views. You don't use aspnet common
controls with MVC, so forget about Repeaters, DataGrids, etc.
Take a deeper look at some MVC tutorials, specially a foreach loop in
a view, in order to get something like a repeater effect.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brada/archive/2008/01/29/asp-net-mvc-example-...

Best regards

Oscar Acosta

Hello Roger:
Here you'll find a good tutorial to get started with mvc. Just try to
don't thing in classic asp.net terms and you'll get it.
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/03/10/free-asp-net-mvc-ebook-tutorial.aspx

Best regards.