Show hide div using codebehind

Question

I have a DropDownList for which I am trying to show a div OnSelectedIndexChanged but it says OBJECT REQUIRED.

I am binding the DataList in that div:

aspx:

<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="lstFilePrefix1" AutoPostBack="True" 
                  OnSelectedIndexChanged="DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged" >
  <asp:ListItem Text="Prefix1" Value="Prefix1" />
  <asp:ListItem Text="Prefix2" Value="Prefix2" />
  <asp:ListItem Text="Prefix3" Value="Prefix3" />
  <asp:ListItem Text="Prefix1 and Prefix2" Value="Prefix1 and Prefix2" />
  <asp:ListItem Text="Prefix2 and Prefix3" Value="Prefix2 and Prefix3" />
</asp:DropDownList>

<asp:DataList ID="DataList1" runat="server" RepeatColumns="4"  
              CssClass="datalist1"  OnItemDataBound="SOMENAMEItemBound"
              CellSpacing="6" onselectedindexchanged="DataList1_SelectedIndexChanged" 
              HorizontalAlign="Center" Width="500px">

code behind:

protected void DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (lstFilePrefix1.SelectedItem.Text=="Prefix2")
    {
        int TotalRows = this.BindList(1);
        this.Prepare_Pager(TotalRows);
        Page.ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(GetType(), "JScript1", "ShowDiv('data');", true);
    }
}

javascript:

function ShowDiv(obj)
{
     var dataDiv = document.getElementById(obj);
     dataDiv.style.display = "block";
}

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Hiding on the Client Side with javascript

Using plain old javascript, you can easily hide the same element in this manner:

var myDivElem = document.getElementById("myDiv");
myDivElem.style.display = "none";

Then to show again:

myDivElem.style.display = "";

jQuery makes hiding elements a little simpler if you prefer to use jQuery:

var myDiv = $("#<%=myDiv.ClientID%>");
myDiv.hide();

... and to show:

myDiv.show();

Answer 2

You can use a standard ASP.NET Panel and then set it's visible property in your code behind.

<asp:Panel ID="Panel1" runat="server" visible="false" />

To show panel in codebehind:

Panel1.Visible = true;

Answer 3

I was having a problem where setting element.Visible = true in my code behind wasn't having any effect on the actual screen. The solution for me was to wrap the area of my page where I wanted to show the div in an ASP UpdatePanel, which is used to cause partial screen updates.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb399001.aspx

Having the element runat=server gave me access to it from the codebehind, and placing it in the UpdatePanel let it actually be updated on the screen.

Answer 4

Make the div

runat="server" 

and do

if (lstFilePrefix1.SelectedValue=="Prefix2")
{
    int TotalRows = this.BindList(1);
    this.Prepare_Pager(TotalRows);
    data.Style["display"] = "block";
}

Your method isn't working because the javascript is being rendered in the top of the body tag, before the div is rendered. You'd have to include code to tell the javascript to wait for the DOM to be completely ready to take on your request, which would probably be easiest to do with jQuery.

Answer 5

<div id="OK1"  runat="server" style ="display:none" >
    <asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList2" runat="server"></asp:DropDownList>
</div>

vb.net code

  Protected Sub DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles DropDownList1.SelectedIndexChanged
    If DropDownList1.SelectedIndex = 0 Then
        OK1.Style.Add("display", "none")
    Else
        OK1.Style.Add("display", "block")
    End If
End Sub

Answer 6

RegisteredClientScriptBlock adds the script at the top of the page on the post-back with no assurance about the order, meaning that either the call is being injected after the function declaration (your js file with the function is inlined after your call) or when the script tries to execute the div is probably not there yet 'cause the page is still rendering. A good idea is probably to simulate the two scenarios I described above on firebug and see if you get similar errors.

My guess is this would work if you append the script at the bottom of the page with RegisterStartupScript - worth a shot at least.

Anyway, as an alternative solution if you add the runat="server" attribute to the div you will be able to access it by its id in the codebehind (without reverting to js - how cool that might be), and make it disappear like this:

data.visible = false