Apologies for the slightly aggressive title, but I have been coding, googling, and browsing the forums for hours, and I am basically no nearer to getting anything to work!
Your advice on working with Entity Framework objects is all over the place, and I can't seem to work out a simple answer. One page says I should bind to an EntityDataSource, the next says that NeedDataSource is the preferred binding method for Entity Framework. Oh and for good measure, some people say ObjectDataSource should be used (this is related to the fact I'm using Code First POCOs). So here are my challenges:
Binding through EntityDataSource
If I bind through the entity data source, it works for a whole 1 request, that is to say that no postback operations work in the slightest. I set up my entity data source, enabled updates/deletes/inserts, and I can click anything I like, but nothing actually seems to interact with the data source. I see the following events on deleting for example:
Binding through NeedDataSource
This can not possibly be the recommended approach! Everything becomes manual to the point of complete frustration and the only benefit I get from the grid is it looks pretty! Everything from Sort Expressions, to grouping, to OH MY WORD filtering (what a nightmare) becomes a hassle from hell. What the heck is the idea behind using dynamic linq expressions for filtering??? Can't you just spit out some predicates or something. Yeah it might not be that simple, but you guys have a heck of a lot of developers there.
Entity Framework is I admit newer than sql, but come on, it's not that new! It's not like we're on CTP V1, we're now expecting V5 of Entity Framework and apologies, but it's high time telerik caught up. It's starting to feel like the ASP.NET controls are losing funding and you guys are on your way to retiring them. If that's the case, please just say so, so I can go out and advise clients to move to a different control suite if they want to build ASP.NET apps.
By the way, don't get me wrong, I've been a Telerik fan for a long time, and Sitefinity, Kendo, and the rest of your product line are all pretty fantastic (OpenAccess is an odd one, but you can't do everything perfect!! :)
I appreciate that this post is about 40% fuelled by a tired mind frustrated at not being able to accomplish what I'm trying to do, but that should also be a concern for you. If I can't find what I need from your forums, documentation and examples, I'm not going to be a happy customer... oh wait, that's exactly what I'm not right now!
Please help me keep some of my hair from going grey. Obi Wan Telerik, you're my only hope!
(p.s I know this post is devoid of code examples, but if I was to post all the things I've tried, I'd cause out of memory exceptions in your web server or disk space problems for your dba's, so if you can point me in the right direction, I'll let you know where I've been already down that road.)
Your advice on working with Entity Framework objects is all over the place, and I can't seem to work out a simple answer. One page says I should bind to an EntityDataSource, the next says that NeedDataSource is the preferred binding method for Entity Framework. Oh and for good measure, some people say ObjectDataSource should be used (this is related to the fact I'm using Code First POCOs). So here are my challenges:
Binding through EntityDataSource
If I bind through the entity data source, it works for a whole 1 request, that is to say that no postback operations work in the slightest. I set up my entity data source, enabled updates/deletes/inserts, and I can click anything I like, but nothing actually seems to interact with the data source. I see the following events on deleting for example:
- Click delete
- Grid deletecommand event fires, where all references to the data item in question are null
- No call to data source events
- NeedDataSource is called
- Result - no effect
Binding through NeedDataSource
This can not possibly be the recommended approach! Everything becomes manual to the point of complete frustration and the only benefit I get from the grid is it looks pretty! Everything from Sort Expressions, to grouping, to OH MY WORD filtering (what a nightmare) becomes a hassle from hell. What the heck is the idea behind using dynamic linq expressions for filtering??? Can't you just spit out some predicates or something. Yeah it might not be that simple, but you guys have a heck of a lot of developers there.
Entity Framework is I admit newer than sql, but come on, it's not that new! It's not like we're on CTP V1, we're now expecting V5 of Entity Framework and apologies, but it's high time telerik caught up. It's starting to feel like the ASP.NET controls are losing funding and you guys are on your way to retiring them. If that's the case, please just say so, so I can go out and advise clients to move to a different control suite if they want to build ASP.NET apps.
By the way, don't get me wrong, I've been a Telerik fan for a long time, and Sitefinity, Kendo, and the rest of your product line are all pretty fantastic (OpenAccess is an odd one, but you can't do everything perfect!! :)
I appreciate that this post is about 40% fuelled by a tired mind frustrated at not being able to accomplish what I'm trying to do, but that should also be a concern for you. If I can't find what I need from your forums, documentation and examples, I'm not going to be a happy customer... oh wait, that's exactly what I'm not right now!
Please help me keep some of my hair from going grey. Obi Wan Telerik, you're my only hope!
(p.s I know this post is devoid of code examples, but if I was to post all the things I've tried, I'd cause out of memory exceptions in your web server or disk space problems for your dba's, so if you can point me in the right direction, I'll let you know where I've been already down that road.)