18

I'm looking to load a GridView with a generic list and have the columns be auto-generated. I am getting an exception that it does not have the correct properties to allow it to auto-generate the columns.

Exception

The data source for GridView with id 'GV1' did not have any properties or attributes from which to generate columns.  Ensure that your data source has content.

GridView

<asp:GridView ID="GV1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="true"></asp:GridView>

Page Load

    //LINQ query to populate list
    List<student> su = new List<student>();
    dbDataContext db = new dbDataContext();
    var q = from c in db.data_table
            where c.processed == false
            orderby c.date_complete descending
            select c;
     //iterate through results and add to list
     foreach(var c in q)
     {
         student s = new student { name = c.name, address = c.address };
         su.Add(s);
     } 

     //Load GridView
     GV1.DataSource = su;
     GV1.DataBind(); //Exception thrown here

Student Class

public class student
{
    public string name;
    public string address;
}

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated, feel free to let me know if I'm going about this completely wrong.

jon3laze
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1 Answers1

26

Try adjusting your student class and change your fields into properties like this:

public class student
{
   public string name { get; set; }
   public string address { get; set; }
}
CodingGorilla
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  • This answered a similar question that I had. What I don't understand is why it works. Why is it that I can access `student.name` manually but `GridView` can't do it unless I add the accessors? – Brendan Nov 14 '12 at 17:34
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    I can't say specifically, I can only tell you that the grid will only access properties and not fields. I can *guess* that when it does the reflection, it reflects onto public properties (`BindingFlags.GetProperty`) and not public fields (`BindingFlags.GetField`). – CodingGorilla Nov 14 '12 at 19:30
  • After hours of searching, you are a god send. This answer solved my problem. Thank you! – Holden Apr 20 '20 at 21:58