Problem with EditItemTemplate

[idledaylight]

Hi,

I am working through the "Build Your Own ASP.NET Web Site" book, and am currently stuck on an issue in Chapter 10: Displaying Content Using Data Lists.

I have a DataList set up like so:

<asp:DataList ID="employeesList" runat="server" OnItemCommand="employeesList_ItemCommand">
        <ItemTemplate>
            <asp:Literal ID="extraDetailsLiteral" runat="server" EnableViewState="false" />
            Name: <strong><%# Eval("Name") %></strong><br />
            Username: <strong><%# Eval("Username") %></strong><br />
            <asp:LinkButton ID="detailsButton" runat="server"
                Text='<%# "View more details about " + Eval("Name") %>'
                CommandName="MoreDetailsPlease" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("EmployeeID") %>' /><br />
            <asp:LinkButton ID="editButton" runat="server"
                Text='Edit Employee <%# Eval("Name") %>'
                CommandName="EditItem" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("EmployeeID") %>' />
        </ItemTemplate>
        <EditItemTemplate>
            Name: <asp:TextBox ID="nameTextBox" runat="server"
                Text='<%# Eval("Name") %>' /><br />
            Username: <asp:TextBox ID="usernameTextBox" runat="server"
                Text='<%# Eval("Username") %>' /><br />
            <asp:LinkButton ID="updateButton" runat="server"
                Text="Update Item" CommandName="UpdateItem"
                CommandArgument='<%# Eval("EmployeeID") %>' />
            or
            <asp:LinkButton ID="cancelButton" runat="server"
                Text="Cancel Editing" CommandName="CancelEditing"
                CommandArgument='<%# Eval("EmployeeID") %>' />
        </EditItemTemplate>
        <SeparatorTemplate>
            <hr />
        </SeparatorTemplate>
    </asp:DataList>

Using the ItemCommand event, I check to see when the "editButton" button is clicked and set the EditItemIndex to that Item. This reveals the "nameTextBox" and "usernameTextBox" controls and the "updateButton" button control. I then check (using the ItemCommand event) if the updateButton" is clicked and, if so, call a function which runs a stored procedure on the DB. You will see that the CommandName for the "updateButton" is "UpdateItem". Here is the code for that command:

else if (e.CommandName == "UpdateItem")
        {
            // Get the employee ID
            int employeeId = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument);
            // Get the new name
            TextBox nameTextBox =
                (TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("nameTextBox");
            string newName = nameTextBox.Text;
            // Get the new username
            TextBox usernameTextBox =
                (TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("usernameTextBox");
            string newUsername = usernameTextBox.Text;
            // Update the item
            UpdateItem(employeeId, newName, newUsername);
            // Cancel edit mode
            employeesList.EditItemIndex = -1;
            // Refresh the DataList
            BindList();
        }

You can see that I am "finding" the TextBox controls and setting their values to two new variables and then calling the "UpdateItem" function (which handles the DB update). I have debugged the code and everything should work. The problem is that after grabbing the contents of the TextBox controls, the values in the new variables are set to the original values of the TextBox controls, not the values as they were when the "updateButton" was clicked. In other words, if I change the username or name TextBoxes before clicking "updateButton" it behaves as if I didn't change the values at all.

Is there some weird ViewState setting that could cause this?

I have Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition.

Please help!

[honeymonster]

Probably you are re-initializing the control data on each postback. You have to guard the databinding in the Page_Load with a if (!IsPostback) { ... }

[idledaylight]

Thanks! That was it. I feel stupid....