What is the best way to use custom pages?

Question

User-1735691636 posted

We have a database with 20 tables. All of the pages need some kind of adjustment.

Do I really need to create a folder with the table name and copy the default page templates (list.aspx, edit.aspx, insert.aspx) in there? (so i get 60 pages (3 templates * 20 folders).

 

Grz,

Marco

 

Answer 1

User-1005219520 posted

Custom pages have the most flexibility because you know the schema of the particular entity - but there are plenty of ways to to modify the display without a custom page. You can apply the custom field template to any field in the DB using annotations in the entity partial class. How to: Customize Data Field Appearance and Behavior For Non-Intrinsic Data Types in the Data Model shows how to do this. See also How to: Customize Data Field Display in the Data Model
 
Depending on what you want to modify, you can use UIHint http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.dynamicdata.dynamiccontrol.uihint.aspx   and  http://weblogs.asp.net/craigshoemaker/archive/2008/05/08/passing-arguments-to-a-dynamic-data-field-template-from-a-uihint-attribute.aspx

Answer 2

User1641955678 posted

Could you give examples of some of the tweaks that you need to do?

thanks,
David

Answer 3

User-1735691636 posted

There are pages where I don't need to show all colums or add functionality like search options.

Do I need to copy the list.aspx (and other template files) from the template folder and add this to a new created folder (tablename) in the solution (and repeat this for all different default lists)?

 

I hope you understand what I mean.

 

Grz,

Wilco

Answer 4

User1641955678 posted

You can use the ScaffoldColumn attribute on the model to choose what columns to show.  Generally, you can do a lot of things without creating custom pages with a combination of:

• Model attributes
• Custom column generator
• Customizing the shared page templates (under DynamicData\PageTemplates)

Of course, if you want to do really unique things for certain tables, then a custom page is the way to go.

David