In this article I will explain with an example, how to use the RowCommand event in ASP.Net GridView with C# and VB.Net.
 
 
 

HTML Markup

The HTML Markup consists of:
GridView – For displaying data.

Columns

The GridView consists of two TemplateField columns
TemplateField – Both TemplateField consists of ItemTemplate
The first ItemTemplate consist of TextBox.
TextBox – For showing Name.
The Second ItemTemplate consist of Button.
Button – for control CommandArgument property and is bound to the Container.DataItemIndex property.
<asp:GridView ID="gvCustomers" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false" OnRowCommand="GridView1_RowCommand">
    <Columns>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Name" ItemStyle-Width="150">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Name")%>' />
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Country" HeaderText="Country" ItemStyle-Width="150px" />
        <asp:TemplateField>
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:Button Text="Select" runat="server" CommandName="Select" CommandArgument="<%# Container.DataItemIndex%>" />
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
 
 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespace.
C#
using System.Data;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
 
 

Binding the ASP.Net GridView control

Inside the Page_Load event handler, an object of DataTable is created.
Then, three columns are added to the DataTable Columns collection using the AddRange method.
An Array of objects of type DataColumn is specified which will hold the name and the optional parameter Data Type i.e. the Type of the column.
Once the schema is ready i.e. all the columns are defined, some rows have been added using the Rows.Add method.
Finally, the DataTable is assigned to the DataSource property of the GridView and the GridView is populated.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[3] {
                            new DataColumn("Id"),
                            new DataColumn("Name"),
                            new DataColumn("Country") });
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States");
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India");
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France");
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia");
        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt;
        gvCustomers.DataBind();
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Dim dt As New DataTable()
        dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(2) {
                            New DataColumn("Id"),
                            New DataColumn("Name"),
                            New DataColumn("Country")})
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States")
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India")
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France")
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia")
        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt
        gvCustomers.DataBind()
    End If
End Sub
 
 

Calling GridView RowCommand event on Button Click in ASP.Net

When the Select Button is clicked, the OnRowCommand event handler is executed. First the Button that was clicked is identified using the CommandName property of the GridViewCommandEventArgs object.
Then the row index is determined using the CommandArgument property of GridViewCommandEventArgs object and using the row index, the GridView Row is determined.
The TextBox control is referenced using the FindControl method of the GridView Row by passing the ID of the control as parameter. FindControl method returns the TextBox as an object of Control class and hence it has to be type casted to its respective type in order to access its properties.
The value of Name column is fetched from the TextBox, while the value of Country column is fetched from the GridView Cell based on the Column Index.
The name and country values are displayed using JavaScript Alert message box.
C#
protected void GridView1_RowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.CommandName == "Select")
    {
        //Determine the RowIndex of the Row whose Button was clicked.
        int rowIndex = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument);
 
        //Reference the GridView Row.
        GridViewRow row = gvCustomers.Rows[rowIndex];
 
        //Fetch value of Name.
        string name = (row.FindControl("txtName")as TextBox).Text;
 
        //Fetch value of Country
        string country = row.Cells[1].Text;
 
        ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(this.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Name: " + name + "\\nCountry: " + country + "');", true);
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub GridView1_RowCommand(sender As Object, e As GridViewCommandEventArgs)
    If e.CommandName = "Select" Then
        'Determine the RowIndex of the Row whose Button was clicked.
        Dim rowIndex As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument)
 
        'Reference the GridView Row.
        Dim row As GridViewRow = gvCustomers.Rows(rowIndex)
 
        'Fetch value of Name.
        Dim name As String = TryCast(row.FindControl("txtName"), TextBox).Text
 
        'Fetch value of Country
        Dim country As String = row.Cells(1).Text
 
        ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Name: " & name & "\nCountry: " & country + "');", True)
    End If
End Sub
 
 

Screenshot

Using RowCommand event in ASP.Net GridView
 
 

Browser Compatibility

The above code has been tested in the following browsers.
Microsoft Edge   FireFox  Chrome  Safari  Opera
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Demo

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Downloads

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