Implementing GridView Pagination in ASP.NET WebForms to Manage Large

This guide covers the setup and configuration of pagination controls, enhancing user experience by dividing data into manageable pages, and optimizing performance for better data handling.

To handle large datasets like your 2000 rows in a GridView, you can implement paging to display the data across multiple pages. Here’s how you can achieve this in C# ASP.NET WebForms.

Step 1. Enable Paging in the GridView

Enable paging directly on the GridView control by setting its AllowPaging property to true and defining the PageSize.

<asp:GridView 
    ID="GridView1" 
    runat="server" 
    AllowPaging="True" 
    PageSize="10" 
    OnPageIndexChanging="GridView1_PageIndexChanging">
</asp:GridView>

Step 2. Bind Data to the GridView

In your code-behind, bind the data to the GridView. Make sure you only bind the data when the page is not being posted back (i.e., on the first load).

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!IsPostBack)
    {
        BindGridView();
    }
}

private void BindGridView()
{
    // Assuming you have a method to fetch data from your data source
    DataTable dt = GetDataFromDatabase(); // Replace with your data fetching logic
    GridView1.DataSource = dt;
    GridView1.DataBind();
}

private DataTable GetDataFromDatabase()
{
    // Example method to get data - replace this with your actual database code
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    dt.Columns.Add("ID");
    dt.Columns.Add("Name");
    for (int i = 1; i <= 2000; i++)
    {
        dt.Rows.Add(i, "Name " + i);
    }
    return dt;
}

Step 3. Handle Page Index Changing Event

To navigate between pages, handle the PageIndexChanging event of the GridView.

protected void GridView1_PageIndexChanging(object sender, GridViewPageEventArgs e)
{
    GridView1.PageIndex = e.NewPageIndex;
    BindGridView();
}

Step 4. (Optional) Customize Paging Appearance

If you want to customize the appearance of the paging controls (e.g., showing first, previous, next, and last buttons), you can do this in the GridView's PagerSettings.

<asp:GridView 
    ID="GridView1" 
    runat="server" 
    AllowPaging="True" 
    PageSize="10" 
    OnPageIndexChanging="GridView1_PageIndexChanging">
    
    <PagerSettings 
        Mode="NumericFirstLast" 
        FirstPageText="First" 
        LastPageText="Last" />
        
</asp:GridView>

Complete Example Code

Here’s how the complete implementation would look:

ASP.NET WebForm (ASPX)

<asp:GridView 
    ID="GridView1" 
    runat="server" 
    AllowPaging="True" 
    PageSize="10" 
    OnPageIndexChanging="GridView1_PageIndexChanging">
    <PagerSettings 
        Mode="NumericFirstLast" 
        FirstPageText="First" 
        LastPageText="Last" />
</asp:GridView>

Code-Behind (C#)

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

public partial class WebForm1 : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            BindGridView();
        }
    }

    private void BindGridView()
    {
        DataTable dt = GetDataFromDatabase();
        GridView1.DataSource = dt;
        GridView1.DataBind();
    }

    private DataTable GetDataFromDatabase()
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.Add("ID");
        dt.Columns.Add("Name");
        for (int i = 1; i <= 2000; i++)
        {
            dt.Rows.Add(i, "Name " + i);
        }
        return dt;
    }

    protected void GridView1_PageIndexChanging(object sender, GridViewPageEventArgs e)
    {
        GridView1.PageIndex = e.NewPageIndex;
        BindGridView();
    }
}

Conclusion

With the above code, you’ll have a GridView that displays 10 rows per page and allows users to navigate through the pages to view all 2000 rows. This approach makes your web application more user-friendly and efficient when dealing with large datasets.