In this article I will explain with an example, how to perform Select, Insert, Edit, Update and Delete operations using LINQ to SQL Framework in ASP.Net GridView using C# and VB.Net.
This process is also known as CRUD i.e. Create, Read, Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL Framework in ASP.Net.
Database
I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follows.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
I have already inserted few records in the table.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
Configuring and connecting LINQ to SQL Framework to database
Now I will explain the steps to configure and add LINQ to SQL Framework and also how to connect it with the database.
You will need to add LINQ to SQL classes to your project using Add New Item Dialog as shown below.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
As soon as you add the LINQ to SQL classes to your project you will be prompted with the following dialog. You need to click YES button.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Now we need to connect to the database and hence you need to right click Data Connections node in Server Explorer and click Add Connection.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
The above step will open up a Dialog in which you will need to select the Data Source, in our case it is SQL Server and then click Continue.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
In the next dialog, you will need to provide the details of the SQL Server i.e. Server Name and authentication details and then select the database.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Once above is done you can Test Connection and if it works then click OK.
Now you’ll be able to see the LINQ to SQL (dbml) class created in the App_Code folder of Solution explorer.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
And also the Customers database is available in the Server Explorer.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Now from here you will need to Drag and Drop the Customers Table to the LINQ to SQL Framework (dbml) class and the save it.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net GridView with multiple event handlers assigned which will be discussed later.
The GridView has a CommandField column which will display the command buttons i.e. Edit, Update, Cancel and Delete.
Below the GridView, there’s a Form which will allow us to insert data to the SQL Server database table using LINQ to SQL Framework.
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false" DataKeyNames="CustomerId"
OnRowDataBound="OnRowDataBound" OnRowEditing="OnRowEditing" OnRowCancelingEdit="OnRowCancelingEdit"
OnRowUpdating="OnRowUpdating" OnRowDeleting="OnRowDeleting" EmptyDataText="No records has been added.">
<Columns>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Name" ItemStyle-Width="150">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblName" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Name") %>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Name") %>'></asp:TextBox>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country" ItemStyle-Width="150">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label ID="lblCountry" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Country") %>'></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtCountry" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Country") %>'></asp:TextBox>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:CommandField ButtonType="Link" ShowEditButton="true" ShowDeleteButton="true" ItemStyle-Width="150"/>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse">
<tr>
<td style="width: 150px">
Name:<br />
<asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server" Width="140" />
</td>
<td style="width: 150px">
Country:<br />
<asp:TextBox ID="txtCountry" runat="server" Width="140" />
</td>
<td style="width: 100px">
<asp:Button ID="btnAdd" runat="server" Text="Add" OnClick="Insert" />
</td>
</tr>
</table>
Binding the GridView using LINQ to SQL Framework
The GridView is populated from the database using LINQ to SQL Framework inside the Page Load event of the page.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!this.IsPostBack)
{
this.BindGrid();
}
}
private void BindGrid()
{
using (CustomersDataContext ctx = new CustomersDataContext())
{
GridView1.DataSource = from customer in ctx.Customers
select customer;
GridView1.DataBind();
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
Me.BindGrid()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub BindGrid()
Using ctx As New CustomersDataContext()
GridView1.DataSource = From customer In ctx.Customers _
Select customer
GridView1.DataBind()
End Using
End Sub
Following is the GridView containing records.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
For the GridView I have set EmptyDataText to display message when no records are present.
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Inserting records to GridView using LINQ to SQL Framework
The following event handler is executed when the Add Button is clicked. The name and the country values are fetched from their respective TextBoxes and then passed through an object of Customer class to the InsertOnSubmit method of LINQ to SQL Framework.
Finally the SubmitChanges method of LINQ to SQL Framework is called which updates the changes to the database and the GridView is again populated with data by making call to the BindGrid method.
C#
protected void Insert(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (CustomersDataContext ctx = new CustomersDataContext())
{
Customer customer = new Customer
{
Name = txtName.Text,
Country = txtCountry.Text
};
ctx.Customers.InsertOnSubmit(customer);
ctx.SubmitChanges();
}
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub Insert(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Using ctx As New CustomersDataContext()
Dim customer As New Customer() With { _
.Name = txtName.Text, _
.Country = txtCountry.Text _
}
ctx.Customers.InsertOnSubmit(customer)
ctx.SubmitChanges()
End Using
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
Editing and Updating GridView records using LINQ to SQL Framework
Edit
When the Edit Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowEditing event handler is triggered. Here simply the EditIndex of the GridView is updated with the Row Index of the GridView Row to be edited.
C#
protected void OnRowEditing(object sender, GridViewEditEventArgs e)
{
GridView1.EditIndex = e.NewEditIndex;
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowEditing(sender As Object, e As GridViewEditEventArgs)
GridView1.EditIndex = e.NewEditIndex
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
Update
When the Update Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowUpdating event handler is triggered.
CustomerId which is the primary key is fetched from the DataKey property of GridView while the Name and Country fields are fetched from their respective TextBoxes and are set to the Customer object fetched from the LINQ to SQL Framework collection using the CustomerId.
Finally the SubmitChanges method of LINQ to SQL Framework is called which updates the changes to the database.
C#
protected void OnRowUpdating(object sender, GridViewUpdateEventArgs e)
{
GridViewRow row = GridView1.Rows[e.RowIndex];
int customerId = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys[e.RowIndex].Values[0]);
string name = (row.FindControl("txtName") as TextBox).Text;
string country = (row.FindControl("txtCountry") as TextBox).Text;
using (CustomersDataContext ctx = new CustomersDataContext())
{
Customer customer = (from c in ctx.Customers
where c.CustomerId == customerId
select c).FirstOrDefault();
customer.Name = name;
customer.Country = country;
ctx.SubmitChanges();
}
GridView1.EditIndex = -1;
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowUpdating(sender As Object, e As GridViewUpdateEventArgs)
Dim row As GridViewRow = GridView1.Rows(e.RowIndex)
Dim customerId As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys(e.RowIndex).Values(0))
Dim name As String = TryCast(row.FindControl("txtName"), TextBox).Text
Dim country As String = TryCast(row.FindControl("txtCountry"), TextBox).Text
Using ctx As New CustomersDataContext()
Dim customer As Customer = (From c In ctx.Customers Where c.CustomerId = customerId _
Select c).FirstOrDefault()
customer.Name = name
customer.Country = country
ctx.SubmitChanges()
End Using
GridView1.EditIndex = -1
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
Cancel Edit
When the Cancel Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowCancelingEdit event handler is triggered. Here the EditIndex is set to -1 and the GridView is populated with data.
C#
protected void OnRowCancelingEdit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
GridView1.EditIndex = -1;
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowCancelingEdit(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
GridView1.EditIndex = -1
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Deleting GridView records
When the Delete Button is clicked, the GridView’s OnRowDeleting event handler is triggered.
CustomerId which is the primary key is fetched from the DataKey property of GridView and is used to fetch the Customer object from the LINQ to SQL Framework collection using the CustomerId.
The fetched Customer object is passed to the DeleteOnSubmit method of LINQ to SQL Framework and the SubmitChanges method of LINQ to SQL Framework is called which updates the changes to the database.
C#
protected void OnRowDeleting(object sender, GridViewDeleteEventArgs e)
{
int customerId = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys[e.RowIndex].Values[0]);
using (CustomersDataContext ctx = new CustomersDataContext())
{
Customer customer = (from c in ctx.Customers
where c.CustomerId == customerId
select c).FirstOrDefault();
ctx.Customers.DeleteOnSubmit(customer);
ctx.SubmitChanges();
}
this.BindGrid();
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowDeleting(sender As Object, e As GridViewDeleteEventArgs)
Dim customerId As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(GridView1.DataKeys(e.RowIndex).Values(0))
Using ctx As New CustomersDataContext()
Dim customer As Customer = (From c In ctx.Customers Where c.CustomerId = customerId _
Select c).FirstOrDefault()
ctx.Customers.DeleteOnSubmit(customer)
ctx.SubmitChanges()
End Using
Me.BindGrid()
End Sub
In order to display a confirmation message when deleting row, I have made use of OnRowDataBound event handler where I have first determined the Delete Button and then I have attach the JavaScript Confirm to its client side Click event handler.
C#
protected void OnRowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow && e.Row.RowIndex != GridView1.EditIndex)
{
(e.Row.Cells[2].Controls[2] as LinkButton).Attributes["onclick"] = "return confirm('Do you want to delete this row?');";
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowDataBound(sender As Object, e As GridViewRowEventArgs)
If e.Row.RowType = DataControlRowType.DataRow AndAlso e.Row.RowIndex <> GridView1.EditIndex Then
TryCast(e.Row.Cells(2).Controls(2), LinkButton).Attributes("onclick") = "return confirm('Do you want to delete this row?');"
End If
End Sub
![Select Insert Edit Update and Delete in GridView using LINQ to SQL in ASP.Net]()
Downloads
