what is the use of Eval() in asp.net

Question

While binding a databound control, you can evaluate a field of the row in your data source with eval() function.

For example you can add a column to your gridview like that :

<asp:BoundField DataField="YourFieldName" />

And alternatively, this is the way with eval :

<asp:TemplateField>
<ItemTemplate>
        <asp:Label ID="lbl" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("YourFieldName") %>'>
        </asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

It seems a little bit complex, but it's flexible, because you can set any property of the control with the eval() function :

<asp:TemplateField>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:HyperLink ID="HyperLink1" runat="server" 
          NavigateUrl='<%# "ShowDetails.aspx?id="+Eval("Id") %>' 
          Text='<%# Eval("Text", "{0}") %>'></asp:HyperLink>
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

Eval is used to bind to an UI item that is setup to be read-only (eg: a label or a read-only text box), i.e., Eval is used for one way binding - for reading from a database into a UI field.

It is generally used for late-bound data (not known from start) and usually bound to the smallest part of the data-bound control that contains a whole record. The Eval method takes the name of a data field and returns a string containing the value of that field from the current record in the data source. You can supply an optional second parameter to specify a format for the returned string. The string format parameter uses the syntax defined for the Format method of the String class.