Sorry for the length of this post.
I have created a rather complex form which has a header/line item (parent
and child records) structure. It's for an intranet. A screenshot can be
seen here: http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/temp1.gif All the fields on this
form have validation controls on them so they can not submit the form unless
all fields are completed and some fall within a specified numeric range.
When the form first is loaded, there are two buttons as shown in the link
above that are disabled by default. They become enabled once the form is
submitted.
Here's the basic concept. The user fills out the form and clicks Save Data.
The form is using ViewState so when the form is submitted (Save Data), the
page posts to itself and the data "sticks" in the fields. The Save Data
button fires a sub routine which writes the data in the top section of the
form to one table and the "line item" section to another table. When the
data is successfully saved as shown in
http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/temp2.gif, a confirmation label is shown on the
page and a DataGrid displays the new line item. The user can then add a
second, third or however many line items by simply filling in the fields
(and even changing the header information if needed) and clicking Save Data
each time. My sub successfully works and each time the page "loads", the
DataGrid gets a new row (image only shows one). So far, so good.
The thought behind this structure is that the user needs to able to enter in
multiple line items as needed, so here I'm letting them add them one at a
time instead hard coding X number of blank line items ...X number of rows of
form fields (the validation for that would be a nightmare).
All works fine. Once the SaveData sub is fired, I set a variable in
ViewState and enable the two additional buttons at the button and change my
INSERT statement to UPDATE statement for the header data. One of the newly
enabled buttons is a "Delete" button. I wanted to allow the user to Delete
all the records and start over with a fresh form.
Here's the problem (finally): My delete sub works just fine but by clicking
the "Delete" button causes the form to post and all of the field validators
are triggered. Instead of deleting the data and refreshing the page as my
sub should do, I'm prompted to provide data in all the required fields! In
short, my form thinks my delete button is a submit button instead of just a
plain button.
Is there anyway to work around this? I see that you cannot define exactly
what TYPE of button it is using asp:button such as type="button" or
type="submit". So how can I use a button to call my DeleteRecords sub
without being pestered by the form validation controls?
TIA!!!
-Shane
