Is it possible to have the datasource of a asp.net repeater be a list<string> that is a property of a class? - asp.net

Question

Here is the aspx for my repeater:
<asp:Repeater ID="rpt_Files" runat="server">
<HeaderTemplate>
<th><asp:Label runat="server" ID="lbl_FileNameHeader" Text="File Name" /></th>
</HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lbl_FileName" Text='<%# Eval("JobFileNames") %>' />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
Here is the code for binding the data in C#:
rpt_Files.DataSource = CurrentQuote;
rpt_Files.DataBind();
And here is the class definition of CurrentQuote:
public class CurrentQuote
{
// Properties
private List<string> _jobfilenames;
public List<string> JobFileNames
{
get
{
if (_jobfilenames != null)
return _jobfilenames;
else
{
_jobfilenames = new List<string>();
return _jobfilenames;
}
}
set { _jobfilenames = value; }
}
Here is the error I receive:
An invalid data source is being used for rpt_Files. A valid data source must implement either IListSource or IEnumerable.
If I change the repeaters datasource to CurrentQuote.JobFileNames I receive an error stating that string has no property called "JobFileNames".

Answer 1

If you have one quote with multiple files your DataSource should look something like this:
CurrentQuote cq = new CurrentQuote();
string[] filenames = new string[] { "file1", "file2", "file3" };
cq.JobFileNames = filenames.ToList();
rpt_Files.DataSource = cq.JobFileNames;
rpt_Files.DataBind();
Then in the markup you can use:
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lbl_FileName" Text='<%# Container.DataItem %>' />
So yes "It is possible to have the datasource of a asp.net repeater be a list that is a property of a class" but you should instantiate the class first and from markup you have to access directly the DataItem since it is a string.

Answer 2

You should assign DataSource to a List of objects like this:
List<CurrentQuote> myCurrentQuoteList = new List<CurrentQuote>();
CurrentQuote currentQuoteObj = new CurrentQuote();
currentQuoteObj.JobFileNames.Add("test");
myCurrentQuoteList.Add(myCurrentQuoteList );
rpt_Files.DataSource = myCurrentQuoteList;
rpt_Files.DataBind();
You cannot directly assign a class Object, you should implement IListSource or IEnumerable to be used as your data source.