How to bind an array of lists with a GridView or a DataList?

Question

I have created an array of lists. The array has seven rows who represents the days of week and the lists contain the available slots for doctor appointments. I am trying to bind it with a GridView or a DataList (whatever is more appropriate) without success.

I have declared the list:

List<string>[] list=new List<string>[7]; //An array of 7 lists
                    for (int i = 0; i < 7; i++)
                    {
                        list[i]=new List<string>();
                    }

I have filled in the lists with strings that represent the available slots for appointments with a doctor.

The result that I want to achieve is the availability for one of the doctors as it is depicted at this site: link

Answer 1

Thank you very much. It was really helpful, I spent some time trying to understand the logic behind this transformation and as a newbie I end up with a little angler piece of code:

 private System.Data.DataTable CreateDataTable(List<string> columnDefinitions, List<List<string>> rows)
    {
        DataTable table = new DataTable();

        foreach (string colDef in columnDefinitions)
        {
            DataColumn column;
            column = new DataColumn();
            column.DataType = typeof(string);
            column.ColumnName = colDef;
            table.Columns.Add(column);
        }

        for (int i = 0; i < rows[0].Count; i++)
        {
            table.Rows.Add(rows[0][i], rows[1][i], rows[2][i], rows[3][i], rows[4][i], rows[5][i], rows[6][i]);
        }
        return table;
    }

    private List<string> GetColDefsFromBackend()
    {
        List<string> cols = new List<string>();
        cols.Add("Monday");
        cols.Add("Tuesday");
        cols.Add("Wednesday");
        cols.Add("Thursday");
        cols.Add("Friday");
        cols.Add("Saturday");
        cols.Add("Sunday");
        return cols;
    }

Answer 2

Turn the List into a datatable and then bind. Array of array's are little complicated for binding clearly.

Answer 3

You could change the array to a List<List<string>> like this:

List<List<string>> list = new List<List<string>>();

Then you can bind it to a GridView in the following way (just adapt to your case):

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    List<string> cols = GetColDefsFromBackend();
    List<List<string>> rows = GetDataFromBackend();


    GridView1.DataSource = CreateDataTable(cols, rows);
    GridView1.DataBind();
}


private System.Data.DataTable CreateDataTable(List<string> columnDefinitions, List<List<string>> rows)
{
    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    foreach (string colDef in columnDefinitions)
    {
        DataColumn column;
        column = new DataColumn();
        column.DataType = typeof(string);
        column.ColumnName = colDef;
        table.Columns.Add(column);
    }


    // Create DataRow and Add it to table
    foreach (List<string> rowData in rows)
    {
        DataRow row = table.NewRow();
        // rowData is in same order as columnDefinitions
        for (int i = 0; i < rowData.Count; i++)
        {
            row[i] = rowData[i];
        }
        table.Rows.Add(row);
    }


    return table;
}


/// <summary>
/// Simulates a StoredProcedureCall which returns
/// the data in a List with Lists of strings
/// </summary>
private List<List<string>> GetDataFromBackend()
{
    List<List<string>> myData = new List<List<string>>();
    myData.Add(Row(1));
    myData.Add(Row(2));
    myData.Add(Row(3));
    return myData;
}


private List<string> Row(int p)
{
    List<string> row = new List<string>();
    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
    {
        row.Add(string.Format("Column {0}/{1}", p, i));
    }
    return row;
}     

private List<string> GetColDefsFromBackend()
{
    List<string> cols = new List<string>();
    cols.Add("Col1");
    cols.Add("Col2");
    cols.Add("Col3");
    cols.Add("Col4");
    return cols;
}

Source: Use List<List<string>> as GridView - DataSource