One way is using the RowDataBound
event in codebehind:
Protected Sub Gridview1_RowDataBound(sender As Object, e As GridViewRowEventArgs) Handles Gridview1.RowDataBound
Select Case e.Row.RowType
Case DataControlRowType.DataRow
' assuming the comments column is the first column '
If e.Row.Cells(0).Text.Length > 20 Then
e.Row.Cells(0).Text = e.Row.Cells(0).Text.Substring(0, 20)
End If
End Select
End Sub
Note that you can access the text on this way only with BoundFields
. With TemplateFields
you need to use FindControl
to get a reference of your controls(f.e. a TextBox
).
If you would use a TemplateField
you could also limit the text on the aspx markup:
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Commnents">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtID"
MaxLength="20" runat="server"
Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Comments") %>'>
</asp:TextBox>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>