Adding an edit button to Gridview - asp.net

Question

I have written a method that retrieves data from the database and returns a datatable comprising of three columns.
This datatable I am binding to a gridview control after hiding the ID field.
DataTable dt = _qbObj.getAllTags();
dvTags.DataSource = dt;
BoundField bfName = new BoundField();
bfName.DataField = dt.Columns["Name"].ToString();
bfName.HeaderText = "Name";
BoundField bfId = new BoundField();
bfId.DataField = dt.Columns["ID"].ToString();
bfId.Visible = false;
BoundField bfDesc = new BoundField();
bfDesc.DataField = dt.Columns["Description"].ToString();
bfDesc.HeaderText = "Description";
dvTags.Columns.Add(bfId);
dvTags.Columns.Add(bfName);
dvTags.Columns.Add(bfDesc);
dvTags.DataBind();
To this gridview control, I want to add an edit button, which should pop-up a jquery modal dialog box where I can enter the updated details.
I realize that I can go with a , but the problem is that I need to pop that modal dialog box without refreshing the page, and the doesn't exactly have great support for scripting.
So inside my gridview I inserted this, an Item Template.
<asp:GridView ID="dvTags" runat="server" CssClass="labs-grid-view"
AutoGenerateColumns="False" >
<Columns>
<asp:TemplateField>
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Button ID="btnEdit" runat="server" Text="Edit" OnClick="dvTagEdit" CommandName="UpdateRecord"
CommandArgument='<%# Eval("ID") %>' />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
Now after I am done editing the gridview doesn't update automatically, and hence I have a dedicated refresh grid button which deletes the existing "dynamically inserted columns" using this code :-
int noOfRows = dvTags.Columns.Count;
if (noOfRows > 1)
{
dvTags.Columns.RemoveAt(noOfRows - 1);
dvTags.Columns.RemoveAt(noOfRows - 2);
dvTags.Columns.RemoveAt(noOfRows - 3);
// THERE ARE A TOTAL OF **THREE** COLUMNS
}
But the problem is that after refreshing the page a couple of times, my button inside the ItemTemplate disappears and in the html is replaced with an " "
Please help me find the error. I'm thinking there is a better and easier way to achieve this. If so I'm open to them.
Thanks for reading,
Abijeet.

Answer 1

A few things to consider:
First, can you post your code behind for your ItemCommand event, which is rendering the modal popup and which is performing the update? It could be that your refresh after edit is not processing properly.
Second, instead of doing your databinding "inline" on your GridView, consider using the RowDataBound event within the Gridview. You can detect which row is being generated (header, data, footer) and you can properly create your edit button in there. Better yet, you can access your button from within this method and simply set the CommandArgument to your Id.
Third, when using the asp button in your GridView, it will trigger the "ItemCommand" event when clicked, which will cause a postback.
I'd recommend having a simple link in your template column, or something that you can use to trigger a jQuery modal, and you can setup a static naming convention for your items that will properly retrieve the data to put into your modal popup for editing. Then from there you should be able to process your update as normal.
I hope something in here helps.