Controls You Can Use on Web Forms   ASP.NET Data Source Controls   AccessDataSource Control

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Basically, to have a working AccessDataSource control on a Web Forms page, you need at least to add the control to the page, point it to the .mdb file, and set the SQL Select statement.

1. Declare an <asp:AccessDataSource> element on the page, specifying at the very least the following:
   1. the control’s ID property, which serves as the data source name that data-bound controls use to bind to the data source;
   2. the DataFile property, which sets the location of the Microsoft Access .mdb file to work with;
   3. the SelectCommand property, which specifies the SQL query to execute on the data file.
2. Optionally set the DataSourceMode property ( defaults to DataSet if not specified ).

<asp:accessdatasource id="ProductType" runat="server"
   datafile="~/app_data/gear.mdb"
   selectcommand="SELECT DISTINCT Type FROM Products"
   datasourcemode="DataReader" />

The following example demonstrates a typical display scenario using AcessDataSource controls with a DropDownList and a GridView control.

Basically, this is how the controls work and interact:

1. An AccessDataSource control is bound to the DropDownList control that provides a list of product categories from which the user makes a selection.

   <asp:accessdatasource id="ProductType" runat="server"
         datafile="~/app_data/gear.mdb"
         selectcommand="SELECT DISTINCT Type FROM Products"
         datasourcemode="DataReader" />
   
      ...
   
      Select Category: <asp:dropdownlist id="filterType" runat="server"
         datasourceid="ProductType" datatextfield="Type"
         autopostback />

2. Another AccessDataSource control is bound to the GridView control, whose SelectCommand property is set to an appropriate SQL query with a given FilterExpression, which is based on the DropDownList control’s SelectedValue.

   <asp:accessdatasource id="Products" runat="server"
         datafile="~/app_data/gear.mdb"
         selectcommand="SELECT Type, ProductId, Brand, Model, Description, Price FROM Products"
         filterexpression="Type='{0}’">
   
         <filterparameters>
            <asp:controlparameter controlid="filterType" 
               propertyname="SelectedValue" />
         </filterparameters>
   
      </asp:accessdatasource>

3. Each time the user makes a selection, the filtered data from the specified datafile is displayed in the GridView control.

   <asp:GridView id="ProductsGrid" runat="server"
         datasourceid="Products"
         ... />

Using the AccessDataSource Control Run Sample | View Source

Retrieving Data Using the AccessDataSource Control