Different Usage of BulletedList Control

In addition to display item / text value in a bullet format width different styles, you can also create a list of HyperLink and LinkButton from it by changing its DisplayMode properties:

• Text
• HyperLink
• LinkButton

The name of the DisplayMode property explain its nature and use obviously, and the following two examples can show its features:

• HyperLink

  HTML:
  
  <form runat="server">
     
         <asp:bulletedlist id="BulletedList1" runat="server"
          displaymode="HyperLink"
          datasourceid="Datasetdatasource1"
          datatextfield="Name"
          datavaluefield="Url" />
      <br />
     
      <asp:datasetdatasource id="Datasetdatasource1" runat="server"
          datafile="NavigationMenu.xml" />
             
  </form>
  
  NavigationMenu.xml
  
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
  <QuickLinks>
      <QuickLink>
          <Name>Whidbey @ ASP.NET</Name>
          <Url>http://www.asp.net/Whidbey</Url>
      </QuickLink>
      <QuickLink>
          <Name>ASP.NET Dev Center</Name>
          <Url>http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/</Url>
      </QuickLink>
      <QuickLink>
          <Name>.NET WebLogs @ ASP.NET</Name>
          <Url>http://weblogs.asp.net</Url>
      </QuickLink>
      <QuickLink>
          <Name>ASP.NET Web Matrix</Name>
          <Url>http://asp.net/WebMatrix</Url>
      </QuickLink>
  </QuickLinks>
  
  
  
  Screen Shot:
  

• LinkButton
  
  
  HTML:

<form runat="server">

    <h2>Download Presentation/Demo</h2>

   

<asp:bulletedlist id="demoBulletedList" runat="server"

displaymode="LinkButton"

bulletstyle="Numbered"

tooltip="Download Demo"

onclick="Bulletedlist1_Click">

 

<asp:ListItem>ASP.NET Tips & Tricks</asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem>Operating & Deploying ASP.NET Applications </asp:ListItem><asp:ListItem>ASP.NET Http Runtime </asp:ListItem>

<asp:ListItem>Building Custom ASP.NET Server Controls </asp:ListItem>

 

    </asp:bulletedlist>

   

    <br />

   

    <asp:label id="messageLabel" runat="Server" />

</form>


Server Code:

 

void Bulletedlist1_Click(object sender, System.Web.UI.WebControls.BulletedListEventArgs e) {

    // WriteFile here

    messageLabel.Text = "You've downloaded the Presenation # " + (e.Index + 1).ToString() ;                             

}



Screen Shot:

Conclusion

One of the features of ASP.NET v2.0 is developer productivity, while the creation of BulletedList control is obviously save a lots of codes to be written and a common feedback of existing ASP.NET 1.* developers.

With the use of datasourceid property of the BulletedList control, developer can retrieve data from anyDataSourceControl and display them in a bullet format easily in ASP.NET v2.0

The addition of (SmartTag) wizard for server control provide a user friendly configuration tool for developers. This BulletedList control can save the development time and avoid the overkill of repeater control as in ASP.NET 1.*

Version Note

This article was based on an early Alpha release of ASP.NET v2.0 and VS.NET Whidbey. It is possible that some implementation or v1.* compatibility details will change.