1. Include a Button, LinkButton, or ImageButton in a control template.

2. Set the button's CommandName property to a string that identifies its function, such as "sort" or "copy".

3. Create a method for the ItemCommand event of the containing control. In the method, do the following:

   1. Check the CommandName property of the event-argument object to see what string was passed.

   2. Perform the appropriate logic for the button that the user clicked.

   The following example shows how you can respond to a button click in a DataList control. In the example, the ItemTemplate contains an ImageButton control that displays a shopping cart. The button sends the command AddToCart. The ItemCommand event handler determines which button was clicked, and — if it was the shopping cart button — performs the appropriate logic.

   Visual BasicВ	Copy Code
   Protected Sub DataList1_ItemCommand(ByVal source As Object, _ ByVal e As DataListCommandEventArgs) If e.CommandName = "AddToCart" Then ' Add code here to add the item to the shopping cart. ' Use the value of e.Item.ItemIndex to find the data row ' in the data source. End If End Sub

   C#В	Copy Code
   protected void DataList1_ItemCommand(object source, DataListCommandEventArgs e) { if (e.CommandName == "AddToCart") { // Add code here to add the item to the shopping cart. // Use the value of e.Item.ItemIndex to find the data row // in the data source. } }

For an example using the DataList Web server control, see How to: Allow Users to Select Items in DataList Web Server Controls.