How to call extension methods using Eval in a databound control

Question

I have a simple extension method on the int type so I can do the following:

string timeLength = 61.ToTime() // timeLength will be "1:01"

This works great in code, but I want to use this extension method in a Repeater Template. When databinding I want to do the following:

<%# Eval("LengthInSeconds").ToTime() %>

That didn't work so I tried:

<%# ((int) Eval("LengthInSeconds")).ToTime() %>

and it still didn't work. The JIT compiler is not seeing my extension method and I do have the proper import statement in the page.

My only idea for solving this is to replace the Eval with a Literal control and call the extension method in the code-behind, but either way, I would still like to know why this isn't working.

Thanks