Understanding ObjectDataSource and Select Parameters

Question

I have in a GridView control a TemplateField like:

<asp:TemplateField ItemStyle-Width="150px">
   <ItemTemplate>
      <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlFields" runat="server" DataSourceID="odsOperator" DataTextField="Text" DataValueField="Value" />
      <asp:HiddenField ID="hfFieldType" runat="server" Value='<%# Eval("FieldType")%>' />
   </ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

I have a dropdown that I want to populate from a ObjectDataSource, but for each line I want to pass a Select Parameter so it populates with the right values

<asp:ObjectDataSource ID="odsOperator" runat="server" TypeName="OperatorFieldsDAO"
   SelectMethod="FindByType">      
   <SelectParameters>
      <asp:ControlParameter ControlID="hfFieldType" Type="String" Name="Type" PropertyName="Value" />
   </SelectParameters>
</asp:ObjectDataSource>

---

my OperatorFieldsDAO class is:

public class OperatorFieldsDAO
{
    private List<OperatorField> OperatorFields
    {
        get
        {
            List<OperatorField> operatorFields = HttpContext.Current.Session["OperatorFields"] as List<OperatorField>;
            if (operatorFields == null)
            {
                operatorFields = new List<OperatorField>();
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "contains", "C"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "begins with", "BW"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is equal to", "E"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is not equal to", "NE"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is less than", "L"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is greater than", "G"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is less than or equal to", "LE"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is greater than or equal to", "GE"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is from", "F"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is between", "B"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is nothing", "N"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("string", "is something", "S"));

                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is the same as", "S"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is not the same as", "S"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is one of", "S"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is not one of", "S"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is nothing", "N"));
                operatorFields.Add(new OperatorField("number", "is something", "S"));
            }
            return operatorFields;
        }
    }
    public OperatorFieldsDAO() { }

    [DataObjectMethod(DataObjectMethodType.Select)]
    public IEnumerable<OperatorField> FindAll()
    {
        return this.OperatorFields;
    }

    [DataObjectMethod(DataObjectMethodType.Select)]
    public IEnumerable<OperatorField> FindByType(String type)
    {    
        List<OperatorField> r = new List<OperatorField>();

        foreach (OperatorField f in this.OperatorFields)
            if (f.Type == type)
                r.Add(f);

        return r;
    }
}

all of this to tell you that I get an error:

Could not find control 'hfFieldType' in ControlParameter 'Type'.

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to programatically pass that selected parameter using the OnRowDataBound method?

Answer 1

to get this working I add to create two methods (one for the GridView and other for the ObjectDataSource), as well change the Select Parameter from a ControlParameter to a normal Parameter.

The idea is to set the Parameter every time the row it's created...

protected void gvSearch_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
    {
        DropDownList d = (DropDownList)e.Row.FindControl("ddlFields");
        string type = ((HiddenField)e.Row.FindControl("hfFieldType")).Value;

        _type = type;
        d.DataBind();
    }
}
protected void odsOperator_Selecting(object sender, ObjectDataSourceSelectingEventArgs e)
{
    e.InputParameters["Type"] = _type;
}

private string _type = "";

and the ObjectDataSource will be

<asp:ObjectDataSource ID="odsOperator" runat="server" TypeName="OperatorFieldsDAO"
   SelectMethod="FindByType" onselecting="odsOperator_Selecting">
   <SelectParameters>
      <asp:Parameter Type="String" Name="Type" />
   </SelectParameters>
</asp:ObjectDataSource>

I hope it helps anyone ...

Answer 2

Since you have:

<asp:HiddenField ID="hfFieldType" runat="server" .../>

Within a TemplateField of your view, there may be none, one or many instances of that field on the page. Therefore hfFieldType would not be a unique ID, in fact the actual ID will be determined at runtime.

Thus your control parameter cannot find it since it is looking for its value in a property of a control called hfFieldType somewhere on the page.

I haven't worked with ObjectDataSource in a few years, but I suspect you might want to hook into the Selecting event.