Using QueryString for Pager on Repeater Control in VB

Tutorial shows how to add page links to your Repeater control and make use of QueryString to move between pages. VB version.

The Repeater control is one of the most powerful controls in the ASP.NET toolbox. However, there is no built-in method of creating pages to display with it, like the GridView, for example. Building a pager for the Repeater control is possible in more than one ways, but if we use PostBack, then the result is not really SEO-friendly.

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An alternative to using PostBack is to use a QueryString for the page numbers. This tutorial will show how we can do this, based upon data in the Repeater.
First, add the following assembly references:

Imports System Imports System.Data Imports System.Configuration Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.Security Imports System.Web.UI Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls Imports System.Data.SqlClient

For this example, we use a sample database. Add the connection string in the Web.Config similar to the following:

<appSettings> <add key="ConnectionString" value="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\Database.mdf;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True" /> </appSettings>

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Next, we add the following to the ASPX page (a Repeater) and a Label:

<form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <asp:Label ID="lblCurrpage" runat="server"></asp:Label> <asp:Repeater ID="Repeater1" runat="server"> <HeaderTemplate><table width="100%"><tr><th>Name</th><th>City</th></tr></HeaderTemplate> <ItemTemplate> <tr><td><%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "name")%></td> <td><%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "city")%></td></tr> </ItemTemplate> <FooterTemplate></table></FooterTemplate> </asp:Repeater> </div> </form>

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The code-behind should look something like this:

Imports System Imports System.Data Imports System.Configuration Imports System.Web Imports System.Web.Security Imports System.Web.UI Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts Imports System.Web.UI.HtmlControls Imports System.Data.SqlClient Partial Class _Default Inherits System.Web.UI.Page Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load DisplayData() End Sub Public Sub DisplayData() Dim myConnection As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("ConnectionString")) Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM [Table1]", myConnection) cmd.Connection.Open() Dim myDA As New SqlDataAdapter(cmd) Dim ds As New DataSet() myDA.Fill(ds, "Table1") Dim pageds As New PagedDataSource() pageds.DataSource = ds.Tables("Table1").DefaultView pageds.AllowPaging = True pageds.PageSize = 3 Dim curpage As Integer = 0 If Request.QueryString("page") IsNot Nothing Then curpage = Convert.ToInt32(Request.QueryString("page")) Else curpage = 1 End If pageds.CurrentPageIndex = curpage - 1 If curpage = 1 AndAlso pageds.DataSourceCount > pageds.PageSize Then lblCurrpage.Text = "Pages: 1" ElseIf pageds.DataSourceCount = 0 Then lblCurrpage.Text = "No data to display." ElseIf curpage > 1 AndAlso pageds.DataSourceCount > pageds.PageSize Then lblCurrpage.Text = "Pages: <a href='Default.aspx?page=1'>1</a>" End If For i As Integer = 2 To pageds.PageCount If i = curpage Then lblCurrpage.Text = lblCurrpage.Text & ", " & i.ToString() Else lblCurrpage.Text = lblCurrpage.Text & ", <a href='Default.aspx?page=" & i.ToString() & "'>" & i.ToString() & "</a>" End If Next i Repeater1.DataSource = pageds Repeater1.DataBind() cmd.Connection.Close() cmd.Connection.Dispose() End Sub End Class

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