How to hide a TemplateField column in a GridView - asp.net

Question

How can I hide a TemplateField column in a GridView?
I tried the following:
<asp:TemplateField ShowHeader="False" Visible='<%# MyBoolProperty %>' >
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:LinkButton ID="attachmentButton" runat="server" ... />
</ItemTemplate>
but it didn't work and gives the following error:
Databinding expressions are only supported on objects that have a DataBinding event.
System.Web.UI.WebControls.TemplateField does not have a DataBinding event.
I tried also to hide it programmatically, but seems it's not possible to get a column by the name because there iss no name for TemplateField column.

Answer 1

protected void OnRowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
e.Row.Cells[columnIndex].Visible = false;
}
If you don't prefer hard-coded index, the only workaround I can suggest is to provide a HeaderText for the GridViewColumn and then find the column using that HeaderText.
protected void UsersGrid_RowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
((DataControlField)UsersGrid.Columns
.Cast<DataControlField>()
.Where(fld => fld.HeaderText == "Email")
.SingleOrDefault()).Visible = false;
}

Answer 2

For Each dcfColumn As DataControlField In gvGridview.Columns
If dcfColumn.HeaderText = "ColumnHeaderText" Then
dcfColumn.Visible = false
End If
Next

Answer 3

If appears to me that rows where Visible is set to false won't be accessible, that they are removed from the DOM rather than hidden, so I also used the Display: None approach. In my case, I wanted to have a hidden column that contained the key of the Row. To me, this declarative approach is a little cleaner than some of the other approaches that use code.
<style>
.HiddenCol{display:none;}
</style>
<%--ROW ID--%>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Row ID">
<HeaderStyle CssClass="HiddenCol" />
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblROW_ID" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("ROW_ID") %>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
<ItemStyle HorizontalAlign="Right" CssClass="HiddenCol" />
<EditItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtROW_ID" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("ROW_ID") %>'></asp:TextBox>
</EditItemTemplate>
<FooterStyle CssClass="HiddenCol" />
</asp:TemplateField>

Answer 4

GridView1.Columns[columnIndex].Visible = false;

Answer 5

try this
.hiddencol
{
display:none;
}
.viscol
{
display:block;
}
add following code on RowCreated Event of GridView
protected void OnRowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
{
e.Row.Cells[0].CssClass = "hiddencol";
}
else if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Header)
{
e.Row.Cells[0].CssClass = "hiddencol";
}
}

Answer 6

Am I missing something ?
If you can't set visibility on TemplateField then set it on its content
<asp:TemplateField>
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:LinkButton Visible='<%# MyBoolProperty %>' ID="foo" runat="server" ... />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
or if your content is complex then enclose it into a div and set visibility on the div
<asp:TemplateField>
<ItemTemplate>
<div runat="server" visible='<%# MyBoolProperty %>' >
<asp:LinkButton ID="attachmentButton" runat="server" ... />
</div>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

Answer 7

A slight improvement using column name, IMHO:
Private Sub GridView1_Init(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles GridView1.Init
For Each dcf As DataControlField In GridView1.Columns
Select Case dcf.HeaderText.ToUpper
Case "CBSELECT"
dcf.Visible = Me.CheckBoxVisible
dcf.HeaderText = "<small>Select</small>"
End Select
Next
End Sub
This allows control over multiple column.
I initially use a 'technical' column name, matching the control name within.
This makes it obvious within the ASCX page that it's a control column.
Then swap out the name as desired for presentation.
If I spy the odd name in production, I know I skipped something.
The "ToUpper" avoids case-issues.
Finally, this runs ONE time on any post instead of capturing the event during row-creation.

Answer 8

protected void gvLogMessageDetail_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Header)
{
if (rdlForImportOrExport.SelectedIndex == 1)
{
e.Row.Cells[3].Visible = false;
e.Row.Cells[4].Visible = false;
e.Row.Cells[5].Visible = false;
}
else
{
e.Row.Cells[3].Visible = true;
e.Row.Cells[4].Visible = true;
e.Row.Cells[5].Visible = true;
}
}
if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow) //skip header row
{
try
{
if (rdlForImportOrExport.SelectedIndex == 1)
{
e.Row.Cells[3].Visible = false;
e.Row.Cells[4].Visible = false;
e.Row.Cells[5].Visible = false;
}
else
{
e.Row.Cells[3].Visible = true;
e.Row.Cells[4].Visible = true;
e.Row.Cells[5].Visible = true;
}
}
catch
{
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(GetType(), "Expand", "<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='javascript'>alert('There is binding problem in child grid.');</script>");
}
}
}

Answer 9

This can be another way to do it and validate nulls
DataControlField dataControlField = UsersGrid.Columns.Cast<DataControlField>().SingleOrDefault(x => x.HeaderText == "Email");
if (dataControlField != null)
dataControlField.Visible = false;