RadPanelItem.DataItem is null on DataBind within FormView

[Andrew]

I have a FormView hooked into an ObjectDataSource.  Inside the FormView sits a RadPanelBar.  I have some databound controls within the RadPanelBar and I've had a terrible time getting them to work.

First, I used the suggested method, DataBinder.Eval(FormView1.DataItem, "BillingDate").  This causes the FormView to have an empty oldValues and newValues collection when it updates.  That took me days to figure out.

I then tried an alternative method, strongly typing the DataItem from the container.  

((Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask)
                            (Container.DataItem ?? new Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask())).Code

I am getting a null DataItem here.  If I use FormView1.DataItem, the oldValues and newValues collections become empty again.  What can I do?

<asp:FormView ID="FormView1" runat="server" DataSourceID="ObjectDataSource1" DefaultMode="Edit" OnItemUpdated="FormView1_ItemUpdated" OnItemUpdating="FormView1_ItemUpdating">
    <EditItemTemplate>
        <telerik:RadPanelBar ID="RadPanelBar1" runat="server" Skin="Metro" Width="100%">
            <Items>
                <telerik:RadPanelItem runat="server" Expanded="True" PreventCollapse="True" Text="Basic Task Information">
                    <ContentTemplate>
                        <div>
                            <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" CssClass="fieldLabel">Task Code</asp:Label>
                            <%-- For some reason RadPanelItem requires you to do databinding with DataBinder.Eval --%>
                            <asp:TextBox ID="TaskCodeTb" runat="server" MaxLength="20" Text='<%# ((Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask)
                            (Container.DataItem ?? new Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask())).Code %>'></asp:TextBox>
                        </div>
                        <div>
                            <asp:Label ID="Label4" runat="server" CssClass="fieldLabel">Task Description</asp:Label>
                            <asp:TextBox ID="DescriptionTb" runat="server" MaxLength="250" Rows="3" Text='<%# ((Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask)
                            (Container.DataItem ?? new Wcsr.ProjectBilling.Business.Data.ProjectTask())).Description %>' TextMode="MultiLine"></asp:TextBox>
                        </div>
                    </ContentTemplate>
                </telerik:RadPanelItem>
        </telerik:RadPanelBar>
        <asp:LinkButton runat="server" ID="UpdateLb" Text="Update" CommandName="Update"></asp:LinkButton>
        <asp:LinkButton runat="server" ID="CancelLb" Text="Cancel" CommandName="Cancel"></asp:LinkButton>
    </EditItemTemplate>
 </asp:FormView>

[Kate]

Hi Andrew,

I will paste my answer from the ticket here as well in case anyone else encounter the same issue:

I prepared a very simplified runnable project that I believe complies with the scenario that you are trying to achieve. Please download the attached project, run it and let me know if this is the desired effect.

Greetings,
Kate
the Telerik team