DataGrid control doesn't display correctly in .aspx page

Article
01/25/2022

This article helps you resolve the problem that data grid may not appear when you view an .aspx page that contains a DataGrid control. This article refers to the Microsoft .NET Framework Class Library namespace System.Data.SqlClient.

Original product version: ASP.NET
Original KB number: 313156

Symptoms

When you view an .aspx page that contains a DataGrid control, the data grid may not appear. Alternately, only the header of the data grid may appear, but the data grid may not contain any data.

Cause 1: Data grid doesn't appear

The data grid does not appear at all if:

You do not set the DataSource property of the DataGrid control. Or
You do not call the DataBind method of the DataGrid control or the DataBind method of the Page object from your code.

Cause 2: Data grid header appears but data grid is empty

The data grid header appears, but the data grid does not contain any data if:

The data source does not contain any data. Or
You don't fill the dataset that is bound to the DataGrid with data at run time.

Note

You must write code to explicitly fill the dataset so that the DataGrid is populated with data from the database at run time. You can do this when you use the designer to add the DataAdapter object and to generate a dataset at design time.

This problem occurs because the .aspx page retrieves the details of the header fields from the DataSetName.xsd file. The DataSetName.xsd file is created for each dataset when you generate a dataset at the design time. This file contains the Extensible Markup Language (XML) representation of the dataset. The .aspx page retrieves the header field details from this file. Therefore, the data grid header appears but the data grid is empty.

Resolution for the cause 1

Set the DataSource property of the DataGrid to point to the appropriate data source. For example:
```
DataGrid1.DataSource = dataSet11.Tables("Authors")
```
```
DataGrid1.DataSource = dataSet11.Tables["Authors"] ;
```
Note

If you programmatically retrieve the data from the data source, assign the data source to the DataSource property of the DataGrid.
If you use the designer to add a DataAdapter to the Web form and to generate a dataset, open the DataGrid property page, and then select the appropriate DataSet or DataView object in the DataSource property.

Call the DataBind method of the DataGrid control or the DataBind method of the Page object. For example:

'Use one of the following lines.
'Page.DataBind()
DataGrid1.DataBind()

//Use one of the following lines.
//Page.DataBind();
DataGrid1.DataBind();

Resolution for the cause 2

Make sure that your data source contains data and that your query returns data.

Use a DataAdapter to fill the dataset. For example:

sqlDataAdapter1.Fill(dataSet11, "Authors")

sqlDataAdapter1.Fill(dataSet11,"Authors");

Status

This behavior is by design.

More information

Bind the DataGrid Web server control to a data source through the DataSource property of the DataGrid to correctly render the data grid on the page. After you set the data source, you must also explicitly call the DataBind method of the DataGrid control or the DataBind method of the Page object from your code.

Steps to reproduce the behavior - data grid does not appear

Create a new ASP.NET Web Application project in Visual Basic .NET or Visual C# .NET.
Drag a DataGrid control from the toolbox, and drop the control onto the form.
In the designer, double-click the .aspx page to open the code-behind window. Add the following code to the top of the code-behind window to add the required namespace references:
```
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
```
```
using System.Data.SqlClient;
```

Replace the code in the Form_Load event with the following code:

Note

You must change uid = <username> and pwd = <strong password> to the correct values before you run this code. Be sure that UID has the appropriate permissions to perform this operation on the database.

Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
     'Write code to access the database.
     Dim myConnection As New SqlConnection("server=(local);database=pubs;uid=<username>;pwd=<strong password>")
     Dim myDataAdapter As New SqlDataAdapter("select * from authors", myConnection)
     Dim myDataSet As New DataSet()
     myConnection.Open()
     myDataAdapter.Fill(myDataSet)'Uncomment the following line to resolve this problem.
     'DataGrid1.DataSource = myDataSet
     DataGrid1.DataBind()
End Sub

private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    //Write code to access the database.
    SqlConnection myConnection = new SqlConnection("server=(local);database=pubs;uid=<username>;pwd=<strong password>");
    SqlDataAdapter myDataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from authors", myConnection);
    DataSet myDataSet = new DataSet();
    myConnection.Open();
    myDataAdapter.Fill(myDataSet);

    //Uncomment the following line to resolve this problem.
    //DataGrid1.DataSource = myDataSet;
    DataGrid1.DataBind();
}

Modify the connection string as appropriate for your environment.
Build the project, and then view the .aspx page in the browser. Notice that data grid does not appear.

Steps to reproduce the behavior - data grid header appears but data grid is empty

Create a new ASP.NET Web Application project in Visual Basic .NET or Visual C# .NET.
Drag a DataGrid control from the toolbox, and drop the control onto the form.
Add a SqlDataAdapter control to the Web form. Complete the following steps in the DataAdapter Configuration Wizard to set the connection properties:
1. Select New Connection to create a new connection to your SQL Server database. Select the server, type the logon information, and then select the Pubs database.
2. Under Query type, select SQL Statements, and then select Next.
3. Type the following SQL statement:
```
Select * From Authors
```
4. Select Finish.
Right-click the DataAdapter, and then select Generate dataset.
Set the DataSource property of the DataGrid to the dataset that is generated.
In the designer, double-click the .aspx page to open the code-behind window. Add the following code to the Page_Load event:
```
DataGrid1.DataBind()
```
```
DataGrid1.DataBind();
```
Build the project, and then view the .aspx page in the browser.

Note

The header of the data grid appears, but the data grid does not contain any data.

References

For more information about the DataGrid control and for samples that use this control, see DataGrid Class.