Useful Sitecore Extensions for an ASP.NET Repeater Control

If you are like me and you find yourself using ASP.NET Repeater’s all the time, then here are some useful extension methods I use.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using Sitecore.Data.Items;
using Sitecore.Web.UI.WebControls;

namespace Site.Extensions
{
    public static class RepeaterItemEventArgsExtensions
    {
        #region Methods

        public static Item GetItem(this RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
        {
            return e.Item.DataItem as Item;
        }

        public static void BindScFieldControl(this RepeaterItemEventArgs e, string scControlName, Item i = null, bool useParent = false, string fieldName = "")
        {
            if (i == null)
            {
                i = e.GetItem();
            }
            if (useParent)
            {
                i = i.Parent;
            }
            FieldControl t = e.Item.FindControl(scControlName) as FieldControl;
            if (t != null)
            {
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(fieldName))
                {
                    t.Field = fieldName;
                }
                if (t != null)
                {
                    t.Item = i;
                }
            }
        }

        public static void BindTextControl(this RepeaterItemEventArgs e, string controlName, string value)
        {
            ITextControl ctrl = e.Item.FindControl(controlName) as ITextControl;
            if (ctrl != null)
            {
                ctrl.Text = value;
            }
        }

        public static void BindControlVisiblity(this RepeaterItemEventArgs e, string controlName, bool visible)
        {
            Control ctrl = e.Item.FindControl(controlName) as Control;
            if (ctrl != null)
            {
                ctrl.Visible = visible;
            }
        }

        public static bool IsItemOrAltItem(this RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
        {
            return e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Item || e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.AlternatingItem;
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

As a basic example, I have the repeater below with an sc:Text Sitecore control in it.

     <asp:Repeater ID="_rptr" runat="server" OnItemDataBound="_rptr_ItemDataBound">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <sc:Text ID="_scText" runat="server" Field="Name" />
            </ItemTemplate>
     </asp:Repeater>

Filling the list:

      protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
            _rptr.DataSource = Sitecore.Context.Item.GetChildren().ToList();
            _rptr.DataBind();
      }

When the item is bond to the repeater:

      protected void _rptr_ItemDataBound(object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e)
      {
            if (e.IsItemOrAltItem())
            {
                  e.BindScFieldControl("_scText");
            }
      }

Make sure to include the using statement:

using Site.Extensions;

If you come up with any other repeater extensions, then please leave them in the comments.

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