Really I'm a PHP dev and support some legacy ASP, so my terminology might be a bit... obtuse. But my need is to insert a value established in my global.asa file in to a data grid in an ASPX file. I normally reference the variable in ASP files by uttering this:

<% Application("MY_VAR") %>

And this gets resolved to whatever value I've set in the global.asa file; it works great.

Now I have a data grid in an ASPX page that's defined thusly:

<asp:DataGrid id="dgClicks" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False">

And it has lots of BoundColumns and one template column where I need to insert this variable. My attempts to reference the variable like I do on ASP pages just results in a compilation error:

<asp:TemplateColumn HeaderText="Url to Use" ItemStyle-Font-Size="11px"> <ItemTemplate><% Application("MY_VAR") %>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "some_value")%>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateColumn>

Produces this error:

Compiler Error Message: CS1002: ; expected

If I use this statement instead I'm able to adjust the error:

<% Application("MY_VAR"); %>

Compiler Error Message: CS0118: 'System.Web.UI.Page.Application' denotes a 'property' where a 'method' was expected

And this makes me think that I don't understand the hierarchy that I'm working with. Is it possible to make the kind of reference that I'm describing? Or is my global.asa file outside of the scope of the ASPX page? Any tips or hints or good questions would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance, AG

Try using a label in the template. then set the label.text value = to your app variable..

Just a thought...

Jim

An ASP global.asa file will be out of the scope of ASPX pages. They operate in different application spaces with different programs. The .NET global.asax is in the scope of ASPX pages.

Instead of the ASP syntax using <% %> you should be able to get away with something like this:

<%# Application["MY_VAR"] %>

Remember, if your page language is C# you'll need to use the right indexing syntax : [n] versus (n). That's probably what causes the first error.

-Peter

I really appreciate the input; with a little additional research, I've added these lines to my ASAX file:

<script language="C#" runat="server">
    public void Application_OnStart()
    {
        Application["MY_VAR"] = "my_value";
    }
</script>

(Which compiles without error.) And I now use this in my ASPX page:

<%# Application["MY_VAR"] %>

And what's interesting is that the page takes longer to load with this line in there than without it, but the result is not displayed. It's as if the variable is being evaluated but not drawn--is there anything obvious that I'm missing? (Even outside the datagrid, this variable doesn't resolve.)

Thanks again for setting me down the right track--I hope you're all having great days, AG