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Repeater grouping items from single database

I have a table with headers(example): Group, DisplayName, EditableData, description.
I have been trying for the last few days to learn repeaters to sort the information based on the Group so I can get something that looks like the following layout. This is a user control I am trying to put together.
Group1
------------------
Name1 EditableData Some Description
Name2 EditableData Some Description
Group2
------------------
Name3 EditableData Some Description
Name4 EditableData Some Description
I have looked a the following other examples online:
Nested repeaters - grouping data and
Nested Repeaters in ASP.NET
I believe I do not properly understand how repeaters work enough to deal with nesting or datasource.
<asp:Repeater ID="Repeater1" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
Group: <%#Eval("Group")%><br />
<%--Nested Repeater would go here for all the children info for each "Group"--%>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
Using DISTINCT in my SQL to just retrieve "Group" leaves me with the proper groups without repeats and I guess I could just instead set the groups in labels and then later make repeaters for each specific label... This seems terrible when I may later update editableData back to the database.
What I really want I guess is at least a link to a walkthrough that explains how repeaters work along with Eval() and datasources. I mean, code to do everything I need to complete this first step in my project would be perfect ;P But I also want to be able to understand these better as I am probably going to be using them often in the near future.

I once encountered the same issue where I was to sort the data by group and I had to display the common items in a grouped segment.
There are of-course multiple ways of how you retrieve data, for example, you can get Distinct Group Names and bind it to the repeater and then on ItemDataBound event you can execute and get other elements like this:
<asp:Repeater runat="server" ID="rptrGroups" OnItemDataBound="rptrGroups_ItemDataBound">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblGroupName" Text='<%# Eval("GroupName") %>' />
<asp:GridView runat="server" ID="gv">
</asp:GridView>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
protected void rptrGroups_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item)
{
var lblGroupName = (Label)e.Item.FindControl("lblGroupName");
GridView gv = (GridView)e.Item.FindControl("table");
var dataTable = FetchDataWithGroupName(lblGroupName.Text); // Method that fetches data with groupname.
gv.DataSource = dataTable;
gv.DataBind();
}
}
This is not a recommended way because it goes to database, runs query, and then fetches data for each item (if you are fetching this data from db). If you have thousands of Groups then it will make db calls for thousands of times which is a bad thing.
The second solution is, you design a model and feed a custom model that will do the job. Let me explain it by a sample model:
public class GroupedModel
{
public string GroupName {get; set;}
public List<NestedData> TableData {get; set;}
}
public class NestedData
{
public string Id {get; set;}
// Your columns here...
}
Then query and initialize list of GroupedModel class then feed it to the repeater. Let me do it with some dummy data.
var tableData = new List<NestedData>();
var nestedData1 = new NestedData { Id = "1" };
var nestedData2 = new NestedData { Id = "2" };
tableData.Add(nestedData1);
tableData.Add(nestedData2);
var groupedModel = new GroupedModel
{
GroupName = "Group1",
TableData = tableData
};
var listGroupedModel = new List<GroupedModel>();
listGroupedModel.Add(groupedModel);
rptrGroups.DataSource = listGroupedModel;
Then modify the markup like this:
<asp:Repeater runat="server" ID="rptrGroups">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblGroupName" Text='<%# Eval("GroupName") %>' />
<asp:GridView runat="server" ID="gv" DataSource='<%# ((GroupedModel)Container.DataItem).TableData %>'>
</asp:GridView>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>

I find that just using a gridview or list view works rather nice. However, DO NOT attempt to use the grouping feature - as it is for placing items across the page, not down.
Lets make this really simple!
Ok, so I have a list of Hotels, but I want to group by city.
So, you build a query like this:
Dim strSQL As String =
"SELECT ID, FirstName, LastName, HotelName, City FROM tblHotels ORDER BY City, HotelName"
GridView1.DataSource = Myrst(strSQL)
GridView1.DataBind()
Ok, so that fills out our grid view. We get this:
So far, two lines of code!
But, we want to group by City.
So at the forms class level, add simple var:
Public Class HotelGroupGrid
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page
Dim LastCity As String <----- this one
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
If IsPostBack = False Then
LastCity = ""
Call LoadGrid()
End If
End Sub
Ok, so now on the data item bind event, simply add a NEW row.
The code looks like this:
If e.Row.RowType = DataControlRowType.DataRow Then
' if grouping = 1 then create a new row!
Dim gvRow As DataRowView = DirectCast(e.Row.DataItem, DataRowView)
If gvRow("City") <> LastCity Then
LastCity = gvRow("City")
' insert a new row for grouping header
Dim MyRow As New GridViewRow(-1, -1, DataControlRowType.DataRow, DataControlRowState.Normal)
Dim MyCel As New TableCell()
'MyCel.Width = Unit.Percentage(100)
Dim MyTable As Table = e.Row.Parent
MyCel.ColumnSpan = MyTable.Rows(0).Controls.Count
Dim MyLable As New Label
MyLable.Text = "<h2>" & gvRow("City") & "</h2>"
MyCel.Controls.Add(MyLable)
MyRow.Cells.Add(MyCel)
MyTable.Rows.AddAt(MyTable.Rows.Count - 1, MyRow)
End If
End If
Now, above is a "bit" of a chunk to chew on - but still not a lot of code.
So, now when we run above, we get this:
Our grid view markup looks like this:
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False" DataKeyNames="ID">
<Columns>
<asp:BoundField DataField="City" HeaderText="City" InsertVisible="False" ReadOnly="True" SortExpression="ID" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="ID" HeaderText="ID" InsertVisible="False" ReadOnly="True" SortExpression="ID" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="FirstName" HeaderText="FirstName" SortExpression="FirstName" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="LastName" HeaderText="LastName" SortExpression="LastName" />
<asp:BoundField DataField="HotelName" HeaderText="HotelName" SortExpression="HotelName" />
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
So, not too bad.
If you decide to use a listview? Then the code becomes quite a bit less, but the markup for listview is quite a handfull.
All we do is create a row that is our heading, and now show, or hide that row based on the start of new grouping.
So, if one decides to use a list view? Then we get this:
(I assume you use the databind wizards - your not possibly typing in the markup by hand - right? - saving world poverty here)
So, for a list view (and I think the list view is BETTER, since the layout options for that heading row is wide open to any kind markup and extra controls you dream up.
So, the markup (generated - and then chopped out the fat) is this:
<asp:ListView ID="ListView1" runat="server" DataKeyNames="ID">
<EmptyDataTemplate>
<table runat="server" style="">
<tr><td>No data was returned.</td></tr>
</table>
</EmptyDataTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<tr id="GroupHeading" runat="server" style="display:none">
<td colspan="4">
<h2><asp:Label ID="City" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("City") %>' /></h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><asp:Label ID="IDLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("ID") %>' /></td>
<td><asp:Label ID="FirstNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("FirstName") %>' /></td>
<td><asp:Label ID="LastNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("LastName") %>' /></td>
<td><asp:Label ID="HotelNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("HotelName") %>' /></td>
</tr>
</ItemTemplate>
<LayoutTemplate>
<table id="itemPlaceholderContainer" runat="server" border="0" style="">
<tr runat="server">
<th runat="server">ID</th>
<th runat="server">FirstName</th>
<th runat="server">LastName</th>
<th runat="server">HotelName</th>
</tr>
<tr id="itemPlaceholder" runat="server">
</tr>
</table>
</LayoutTemplate>
</asp:ListView>
Now no question that the listview spits out a lot more markup - but we now have a full row for the heading. So we get this:
But, now our code simply will hide or show that "extra" row we have in the marketup.
And it quite simple now:
If e.Item.GetType = GetType(ListViewDataItem) Then
Dim MyRow As HtmlTableRow = e.Item.FindControl("GroupHeading")
Dim lblCity As Label = MyRow.FindControl("City")
If lblCity.Text <> LastCity Then
LastCity = lblCity.Text
' Hide/show group heading
MyRow.Style("display") = "normal"
Else
MyRow.Style("display") = "none"
End If
End If
So the trick in most cases is to simply layout that extra row item, and then on the item data bound event you simply hide or show that heading part.

Split a Gridview in two Grids in c#.net

I have a GridView which gets the data from a SQL Server database.
The GridView binds when the user select the date from an CalendarExtender, because the data is different one day to another, also the rows quantity.
E. G., in Saturdays the GridView is filled with 18 rows. In Tuesdays, with 58.
Concern:
What I need to do is to split the GridView in 2 parts (2 GridViews). E. G., In tuesdays, 29 rows each GridView, in saturdays, 9 rows each.
I have tried:
To bring the daily data into a GridView, called "GVTotal":
if (Weekday.Value == "Saturday")
{
GVTotal.DataSourceID = SaturdayData.ID;
GVTotal.DataBind();
}
To count the rows from GVTotal, and divide by 2.
int everything = GVTotal.Rows.Count;
int half = everything / 2;
What I want to do now, is to "Copy" the rows from 0 to half to GVPart1, and from half to everything to GVPart2, in the exactly same order than in GVTotal.
I have read that maybe using a DataTable will made this possible.
I am not pretty sure how to do that. Could someone help me please?

You could have a Repeater with two items, one for each GridView. In the example below, the Repeater is rendered as a table with a single row. Each GridView is in a cell of that row, with an empty cell between them.
<asp:Repeater ID="repeater1" runat="server" OnItemDataBound="repeater1_ItemDataBound">
<HeaderTemplate>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<td>
<asp:GridView ID="gvHalf" runat="server" >
...
</asp:GridView>
</td>
</ItemTemplate>
<SeparatorTemplate>
<td style="width: 32px;" />
</SeparatorTemplate>
<FooterTemplate>
</tr>
</table>
</FooterTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
In order to get the two data sources, you declare two DataTables in your class:
private DataTable dtTopHalf;
private DataTable dtBottomHalf;
In Page_Load, the two DataTables are populated by splitting the full DataTable in two parts, and the data source of the Repeater is set to two boolean values:
void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("Data Source=(local); Integrated Security = True; Initial Catalog=TestMP"))
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Clients ORDER BY ClientID ASC", conn))
{
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
SqlDataAdapter dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
dataAdapter.Fill(dt);
int halfCount = dt.Rows.Count / 2;
dtTopHalf = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(x => x).Take(halfCount).CopyToDataTable();
dtBottomHalf = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(x => x).Skip(halfCount).CopyToDataTable();
}
// Each value in the Repeater indicates if it is the top half or not
repeater1.DataSource = new List<bool>() { true, false };
repeater1.DataBind();
}
}
The specific data source can then be set for each GridView in the ItemDataBound event handler of the Repeater:
protected void repeater1_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item || e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.AlternatingItem)
{
bool isTopHalf = (bool)e.Item.DataItem;
GridView gvHalf = e.Item.FindControl("gvHalf") as GridView;
gvHalf.DataSource = isTopHalf ? dtTopHalf : dtBottomHalf;
gvHalf.DataBind();
}
}
Note 1: The Repeater allows to share the same markup for both GridViews. If you prefer, you can declare two separate GridViews in the markup and apply the specific data source to each one in Page_Load.
Note 2: You need a reference to System.Data.DataSetExtensions in your project to use some of the LINQ methods mentioned above.

Thanks to ConnorsFan for the assistance. His answer is the right way to do what I wanted.
As I need to select the date before the data comes in, I wrote Connor's code into my date Textbox OnTextChanged event, into the if (Weekday.Value == "<day of the week>") statement.
This is the solution:
ASPX:
Updated: Only with one GridView, as reccomended:
<asp:Repeater ID="repeater1" runat="server" OnItemDataBound="repeater1_ItemDataBound">
<HeaderTemplate>
<table cellspacing="200px" cellpadding="0">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<td>
<asp:GridView ID="gvHalf" runat="server" BackColor="White" AutoGenerateColumns="False" HeaderStyle-CssClass="tituloshandoff" RowStyle-CssClass="contenidohandoffbatch">
<Columns>
<asp:BoundField HeaderText="IDBATCH" DataField="IDBatch" SortExpression="IDBatch" HeaderStyle-CssClass="TituloInvisible" ItemStyle-CssClass="TituloInvisible" />
<asp:BoundField HeaderText="BATCH" DataField="Nombre" SortExpression="Nombre" />
<asp:BoundField HeaderText="DEALER" DataField="DealerCodigo" SortExpression="DealerCodigo" />
<asp:BoundField HeaderText="CT TIME" DataField="CTStart" SortExpression="CTStart" />
<asp:BoundField HeaderText="STATUS" DataField="Estado" SortExpression="Estado" />
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="CONTROL">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Button ID="Button1" CssClass="botongrid" runat="server" Text="Select" Width="100px" /></ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
</td>
</ItemTemplate>
<SeparatorTemplate>
<td style="width: 100px;" />
</SeparatorTemplate>
<FooterTemplate>
</tr>
</table>
</FooterTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
C#:
I will show only one day in example:
string LaConexion = #"<My Connection String>";
private DataTable dtTopHalf;
private DataTable dtBottomHalf;
protected void TextDate_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (diasemana.Value == "Monday")
{
using (SqlConnection conexion = new SqlConnection(LaConexion))
using (SqlCommand comando = new SqlCommand("SELECT [1Monday].IDBatch, Batch.Nombre, Dealer.DealerCodigo, Batch.CTStart, BatchDatos.Estado FROM [1Monday] INNER JOIN Batch ON [1Monday].IDBatch = Batch.IDBatch INNER JOIN Dealer ON Batch.IDDealer = Dealer.IDDealer LEFT OUTER JOIN BatchDatos ON [1Monday].ID = BatchDatos.ID ORDER BY Batch.CTStart", conexion))
{
comando.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
SqlDataAdapter dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(comando);
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
dataAdapter.Fill(dt);
int halfCount = dt.Rows.Count / 2;
dtTopHalf = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(x => x).Take(halfCount).CopyToDataTable();
dtBottomHalf = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(x => x).Skip(halfCount).CopyToDataTable();
}
// Each value in the Repeater indicates if it is the top half or not
repeater1.DataSource = new List<bool>() { true, false };
repeater1.DataBind();
}
}
A Picture:

Text Boxes Not Populating from Database

Framework: ASP.NET 4.5 | Database: MSMMS
My demo application is supposed to populate textboxes with dynamic data when a selection is made from a dropdown list. I've added a button, that when pressed fires, an OnClick event that is supposed to assign values from the DB to the appropriate textboxes. Right now my code looks like:
protected void btnChoose_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
API_DatabaseEntities1 db = new API_DatabaseEntities1();
var customer = (from c in db.Customers
where c.CustomerID == 4
select c).FirstOrDefault();
if (customer == null)
{
return;
}
if (ddlCustomer.SelectedValue == "Marisol") {
tbDescription.Text = customer.ToString();
tbFName.Text = customer.Fname;
tbSocial.Text = customer.SSN;
tbDOB.Text = customer.DOB.ToString();
tbFName1.Text = customer.Fname;
tbMName.Text = customer.Mname;
tbLName.Text = customer.Lname;
tbPrimaryPhone.Text = customer.PrimaryPhone;
tbSecondaryPhone.Text = customer.SecondaryPhone;
tbAdd1.Text = customer.Address;
tbCity.Text = customer.City;
tbZip.Text = customer.Zip;
tbEmail.Text = customer.Email;
tbMonLease.Text = customer.MortLeaseAmt;
tbEmployer.Text = customer.Employer;
tbPosition.Text = customer.Position;
tbHireDate.Text = customer.HireDate.ToString();
tbWorkPhone.Text = customer.WorkPhone;
tbGross.Text = customer.GrossIncome;
}
Debug.WriteLine(tbPosition.Text);
}
When the button is clicked, the page sends a request to the DB, but the textboxes remain blank. I am returning a value from the database, but it's not populating. Here is some code from my front page:
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<asp:DropDownList ID="ddlCustomer" runat="server" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" DataTextField="Fname" DataValueField="CustomerID"></asp:DropDownList>
<asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" runat="server" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:APIConnectionString %>" SelectCommand="SELECT [CustomerID], [Fname], [Lname] FROM [Customer] ORDER BY [Fname]"></asp:SqlDataSource><br /><br />
<asp:Button ID="btnChoose" runat="server" Text="Choose Test Case" OnClick="btnChoose_Click" /><br /><br />
Description of Goods and/or Services:<asp:TextBox ID="tbDescription" runat="server"></asp:TextBox><br /><br />
<div>
Membership #:<asp:TextBox ID="tbMembership" runat="server"></asp:TextBox> Ext.: <asp:TextBox ID="tbExt1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
First Name:<asp:TextBox ID="tbFName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox><br /> <br /><br />
Soc Sec No.: <asp:TextBox ID="tbSocial" runat="server"></asp:TextBox> Date of Birth:<asp:TextBox ID="tbDOB" runat="server" ></asp:TextBox>
</div><br /> <br />
I'm not sure if the problem is from the code behind or from the front page design. Any help would be appreciate. Thank you.

It looks like your code is checking for a selection in the drop-down list of the name "Marisol" - however, the "Value" field of the drop-down list is configured to use the CustomerID column. So this code populating the fields will never execute.
Maybe you should instead be using ddlCustomer.SelectedValue in the WHERE clause of your query.

How do I get the textbox value to the database within a repeater?

I have a repeater that I populate from a database:
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connString))
{
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(#"SELECT CommunityName, CID, Budget FROM Donation WHERE Year = year(getdate()) ORDER BY CommunityName", conn);
conn.Open();
SqlDataAdapter adp = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
DataSet myDataSet = new DataSet();
adp.Fill(myDataSet);
myRep.ItemDataBound += new RepeaterItemEventHandler(myRep_ItemDataBound);
myRep.DataSource = myDataSet;
myRep.DataBind();
}
void myRep_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
{
var textbox = e.Item.FindControl("community");
textbox.ClientIDMode = ClientIDMode.Static;
textbox.ID = "community" + (e.Item.ItemIndex + 1);
}
Repeater:
<asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel" runat="server" UpdateMode="Always">
<ContentTemplate>
<asp:Repeater ID="myRep" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<div class="form-group">
<asp:Label ID='thisLbl' runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CommunityName") %>' />
<asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="community" Text='<%# Eval("Budget") %>' CssClass="form-control" />
</div>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
</ContentTemplate>
</asp:UpdatePanel>
This creates 6 textboxes with labels and values, now my question is how do I detect which of these boxes belongs to the record it was initially pulled from in the database? I want to be able to modify the value in these boxes and hit a button to save them back to the database but I can't seem to wrap my head around getting them to the proper records.
Should I set the ID of the textbox to something I can parse through and match with the proper record? In the ItemDataBound?

You have to put a hidden field inside the repeater item template that takes the value from budget, and another hidden field to keep the CID value that has to be read in the post back request. Of course you need also a button and its click event handler.
<asp:Repeater ID="myRep" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<div class="form-group">
<asp:Label ID='thisLbl' runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CommunityName") %>' />
<asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtBudget" Text='<%# Eval("Budget") %>' CssClass="form-control" />
<asp:HiddenField runat="server" ID="hdOriginalBudget" Value='<%# Eval("Budget") %>' />
<asp:HiddenField runat="server" ID="hdCID" Value='<%# Eval("CID") %>' />
</div>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
<br />
<asp:Button ID="btn" runat="server" OnClick="btn_Click" />
In your code behind you need to loop inside the repeater to check whether the text box has been changed by comparing its value to the hidden field. After you save the budget value in the database you need to realign the hidden field value to the the new value entered by the user, otherwise you will always save that value after each post back:
protected void btn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
foreach (RepeaterItem item in myRep.Items)
{
var txtBudget = item.FindControl("txtBudget") as TextBox;
var hdOriginalBudget = item.FindControl("hdOriginalBudget") as HiddenField;
var hdCID = item.FindControl("hdCID") as HiddenField;
if (txtBudget.Text != hdOriginalBudget.Value)
{
//If you enter here means the user changed the value of the text box
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connString))
{
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(#"UPDATE Donation SET Budget = #Budget WHERE CID = #CID", conn);
cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("#Budget", int.Parse(txtBudget.Text)));
cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("#CID", int.Parse(hdCID.Value)));
conn.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
//After you write in the database realign the values
hdOriginalBudget.Value = txtBudget.Text;
}
}
}
Take care that my code is missing the most basic validation, so if the user writes an invalid value in the textbox (for example "yyy") it breaks. So please don't put it in production as it is!

Getting value from textarea in ASP.NET repeater?

I have an asp.net repeater control, displaying data from a sql db.
I have delete, edit and save buttons displaying next to each record, sort of like an admin.
When edit is clicked, hidden textboxes appear in place of the literals that were displaying the data.
When save is clicked, the new values should be saved to the db (which they are), and the literals display the new value.
But the new value strings are returning as empty strings. They're not null, but the string contains no characters!
This worked fine when I had two TextBox's , however when I switched one to a HTMLTextArea , this happened!
Here is my relevant code...
if (e.CommandName == "edit")
{
((TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("Onebox")).Visible = true;
((TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("Onebox")).Text = ((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("onelit")).Text;
((HtmlTextArea)e.Item.FindControl("Threebox")).Visible = true;
((HtmlTextArea)e.Item.FindControl("Threebox")).Value = ((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("threelit")).Text;
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
DataTable dt2 = new DataTable();
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("onelit")).Visible = false;
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("threelit")).Visible = false;
((LinkButton)e.Item.FindControl("LinkButton2")).Visible = false;
((LinkButton)e.Item.FindControl("LinkButton3")).Visible = true;
}
if (e.CommandName == "save")
{
string newoneval = ((TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("Onebox")).Text;
string newtwoval = ((HtmlTextArea)e.Item.FindControl("Threebox")).Value;
((TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("Onebox")).Visible = false;
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("onelit")).Text = ((TextBox)e.Item.FindControl("Onebox")).Text;
((HtmlTextArea)e.Item.FindControl("Threebox")).Visible = false;
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("threelit")).Text = ((HtmlTextArea)e.Item.FindControl("Threebox")).Value;
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("onelit")).Visible = true;
((Literal)e.Item.FindControl("threelit")).Visible = true;
((LinkButton)e.Item.FindControl("LinkButton2")).Visible = true;
((LinkButton)e.Item.FindControl("LinkButton3")).Visible = false;
if(newoneval != null && newtwoval != null)
{
SqlDataReader dataReader;
String editstr = "update news set title = '" + newoneval + "', short_desc ='" + newtwoval + "' where pk_ID = #pk_ID";
SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(editstr, conn);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#pk_ID", e.CommandArgument);
try
{
conn.Open();
dataReader = command.ExecuteReader();
dataReader.Close();
command.Dispose();
conn.Close();
BindRepeater();
}
catch (Exception exc)
{
Response.Write(exc);
}
}
else
{
Response.Write("No value");
}
and here is the asp repeater template...
<asp:Repeater ID="list_holder" runat="server" OnItemCommand="runCommands">
<ItemTemplate>
<table>
<tr>
<!-- FIRST BOX CONTROLS ---------------->
<td class="cells">
<asp:Textbox id="Onebox"
text=''
runat="server"
enabled="true"
visible="false">
</asp:Textbox>
<asp:Literal id="onelit"
runat="server"
text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem ,"title") %>'
/>
</td>
<td class="cells">
<textarea id="Threebox"
text=''
runat="server"
enabled="true"
Visible="false">
</textarea>
<asp:Literal id="threelit"
text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem ,"short_desc") %>'
runat="server"
/>
</td>
<!-------------------------------------->
<!---- Link Buttons ------------------------>
<td class="cells">
<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1"
runat="server"
CommandName="delete"
OnClientClick='javascript:return confirm("Are you sure you want to delete?")'
CommandArgument='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pk_ID") %>'
CausesValidation="false">Delete</asp:LinkButton>
</td>
<td class="cells">
<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton2"
runat="server"
CommandName="edit"
CommandArgument='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pk_ID") %>'
CausesValidation="false"
Visible ="true">Edit</asp:LinkButton>
<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton3"
runat="server"
CommandName="save"
CommandArgument='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pk_ID") %>'
CausesValidation="false"
Visible ="false">Save</asp:LinkButton>
</td>
<!-------------------------------------------------->
</tr>
</table>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
Why are both the strings returning empty, when before they were returning correctly?

In ASP.NET when you set visible to false, Control don't render on page.
For more see MSDN.