Assigning a variable to a repeater control container

[Chumley the Walrus]

I need to assign a variable to a record drawn from a db by way of a
repeater control:
<ASP:Repeater id="thedata" runat="server">

<itemtemplate>
<%dim display

display = Container.DataItem("displaygroup") %>

<%# Container.DataItem("displaygroup")%>

</ItemTemplate>
</ASP:Repeater>

the display = Container.DataItem("displaygroup") does not work (error:
Name 'Container' is not declared.), and i need to find a way to assign
what's in <%# Container.DataItem("displaygroup")%> a variable

thanks
chum