In this article, I am going to share with you how to create a dynamic menu in #Asp.Net using the Oracle database. I will guide you step by step process of creation.
Database Structure and Table Fields
First, create one table which holds the list of menus to be displayed in the navigation.
Sharing the structure here.
Database Table Script.
CREATE TABLE SAMPLE_MAS_MENU_TBL
(
MENU_ID NUMBER, -- Unique Menu ID
TITLE VARCHAR2(50 BYTE), -- Menu Title
PARENT_ID NUMBER, -- Child Menu Parent ID
SEQ NUMBER, -- Ordering Sequence
URL VARCHAR2(100 BYTE), -- Navigation Url
ACTIVE CHAR(1 BYTE) -- Active/Inactive
)
Once you created the table, put entries in the table as below.
| MENU_ID |
TITLE |
PARENT_ID |
SEQ |
URL |
ACTIVE |
| 1 |
Home |
0 |
1 |
Home.aspx |
Y |
| 2 |
Master |
0 |
2 |
Home.aspx |
Y |
| 3 |
User Management |
0 |
3 |
Home.aspx |
Y |
| 4 |
Master 1 |
2 |
1 |
Master1.aspx |
Y |
| 5 |
Master 2 |
2 |
2 |
Master2.aspx |
Y |
| 6 |
User Management 1 |
3 |
1 |
UserMgmt1.aspx |
Y |
| 7 |
User Management 2 |
3 |
2 |
UserMgmt2.aspx |
Y |
So this is what your database entries look like. I have just added three menus, Home, master, and User Management, and two child menus of master and User Management.
As your menu increases, you add entries in the table and assign parent id to the same. Also, if you want to hide any menu, then update the active flag to N.
So that is from the database part now will move to master page creation and code behind part.
Master Page Code Snippets
Here sharing the Menu code. Once you created the master page, add this section to your page main content.
<div class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light bg-light">
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" style="background-color: #0B6121;">
<asp:Menu ID="NavigationMenu" runat="server" StaticMenuStyle-CssClass="nav navbar-nav" DynamicMenuStyle-CssClass="dropdown-menu" EnableViewState="false" IncludeStyleBlock="false" Orientation="Horizontal"></asp:Menu>
</div>
</div>
So after this, we need to assign the code behind for menu to work. So let's work on that part.
string strConnection = "Provider=MSDAORA.1;User ID=user123;password=aBCD1234;Data Source=NameofDatabase;Persist Security Info=False";
Note: pass the connection string as per your database credentials.
Code Behind of Master Page
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
}
GetMenu(NavigationMenu);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Response.Redirect("ExceptionPage.aspx");
}
}
GetMenu Function
private void GetMenu(Menu CntMenu, string UtCode)
{
ClsCommand _dbContext = new ClsCommand(); // This is class file used for getting the dataset
SqlQuery = "SELECT MENU_ID, TITLE, PARENT_ID, URL FROM SAMPLE_MAS_MENU_TBL WHERE ACTIVE = 'Y' ORDER BY MENU_ID";
DataSet dbTbl = _dbContext.GetDataSet(SqlQuery, Obj._ConnIND);
DataColumn dbColAccess = new DataColumn("Access", typeof(System.String));
dbColAccess.DefaultValue = "0";
dbTbl.Tables[0].Columns.Add(dbColAccess);
int MenuIndex = 0;
foreach (DataRow tblRow in dbTbl.Tables[0].Rows)
{
tblRow.SetField("Access", AccessRight.Substring(MenuIndex, 1));
MenuIndex++;
}
DataTable dbTblMenu = new DataTable();
dbTbl.Tables[0].DefaultView.RowFilter = "Access = 1 AND PARENT_ID=0";
dbTblMenu = dbTbl.Tables[0].DefaultView.ToTable();
foreach (DataRow dbRowId in dbTblMenu.Rows)
{
MenuItem menuItem = new MenuItem(dbRowId["TITLE"].ToString(), dbRowId["MENU_ID"].ToString(), "", dbRowId["URL"].ToString());
CntMenu.Items.Add(menuItem);
AddChild(menuItem, dbTbl);
}
}
Child Menu Code
private void AddChild(MenuItem ParentMenuItem, DataSet dbTbl)
{
DataTable dbTblSubMenu = new DataTable();
dbTbl.Tables[0].DefaultView.RowFilter = "Access = 1 AND PARENT_ID=" + ParentMenuItem.Value;
dbTblSubMenu = dbTbl.Tables[0].DefaultView.ToTable();
foreach (DataRow row in dbTblSubMenu.Rows)
{
MenuItem menuItem = new MenuItem(row["TITLE"].ToString(), row["MENU_ID"].ToString(), "", row["URL"].ToString());
ParentMenuItem.ChildItems.Add(menuItem);
AddChild(menuItem, dbTbl);
}
}
Now create the Class file name ClsCommand and add the following code
public string _ConnIND = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["DbConnWebconfig"].ConnectionString;
OleDbConnection ObjOleDBConn = new OleDbConnection();
OleDbCommand ObjOleDBComd = new OleDbCommand();
DataSet ObjDTSet = null;
OleDbDataAdapter ObjOleDBAdapter = null;
string SQL = "";
public string GetNonScalar_Ret(string strQuery, string Conn)
{
string RetVal = "FALSE"; ;
try
{
OleDbConnection ObjOleDBConn = new OleDbConnection(Conn);
ObjOleDBConn.Open();
ObjOleDBComd.Connection = ObjOleDBConn;
ObjOleDBComd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
ObjOleDBComd.CommandText = strQuery;
ObjOleDBComd.ExecuteNonQuery();
RetVal = "TRUE";
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.Message.ToString();
}
finally
{
ObjOleDBComd.Dispose();
ObjOleDBConn.Close();
}
return RetVal;
}
public DataSet GetDataSet(string str_SQL, string Conn)
{
ObjOleDBComd = new OleDbCommand();
ObjDTSet = new DataSet();
try
{
OleDbConnection ObjOleDBConn = new OleDbConnection(Conn);
ObjOleDBConn.Open();
ObjOleDBComd.Connection = ObjOleDBConn;
ObjOleDBComd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
ObjOleDBComd.CommandText = str_SQL;
ObjOleDBAdapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(ObjOleDBComd);
ObjDTSet.Clear();
ObjOleDBAdapter.Fill(ObjDTSet);
}
catch (Exception Exp)
{
Exp.Message.ToString(); ObjOleDBConn.Close();
}
finally
{
ObjOleDBComd.Dispose();
ObjOleDBConn.Close();
}
return ObjDTSet;
}
Add this connection string to Web.config
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DbConnWebconfig" connectionString="Provider=MSDAORA.1;Data Source=NameofDatabase;Password=aBCD1234;User ID=user123" providerName="System.Data.Oledb"/>
</connectionStrings>
All is good. Now run the project. Your Dynamic Menu is ready to operate. please feel free to share if any help is required and faced any problems.
Output
HomePage
![Home Page]()
Master Page
![]()
User Management
![]()