Is there a way to:

1.) Set the backcolor of so the first cell in each column is same and then
alternate from there? such as the example of repeatColumns = "3" below.
Otherwise, checking the alternatingitem won't work.

blue blue blue
white white white
blue blue blue
etc.

2.)  Put a "spacer" column between each column to spread them out a litte?

Thanks, Dave.

Yes, the key is to make the number of cells divisible by the right number.
Here is the code that I used when I created the collection I used that had
three columns:


Dim temppoems As SortedList = Global.GetPoems()
Dim poemcollection As New Collection
For Each poem As DictionaryEntry In temppoems
    poemcollection.Add(poem.Key)
Next
While (poemcollection.Count Mod 6) <> 0
    poemcollection.Add("")
End While

datPoems.DataSource = poemcollection
datPoems.DataBind()


Notice that the While loop adds null values to poemcollection until it is
divisible by 6. 6 is the number used in this situation because it is 2*3.
The DataList tag and the Template tags inside it are the same as they would
usually be, here is the one that I used:


<asp:datalist id="datPoems" runat="server" BorderWidth="2px"
BorderColor="Black" RepeatColumns="3">
<HeaderTemplate>
  <asp:Label id="lblPoems" runat="server"
Font-Size="X-Large">Poems</asp:Label>
</HeaderTemplate>
<AlternatingItemStyle Wrap="False"
BackColor="White"></AlternatingItemStyle>
<ItemStyle Wrap="False" BackColor="Silver"></ItemStyle>
<ItemTemplate>
  <asp:HyperLink id="lnkPoem1" runat="server"
style="padding-right:15px;padding-left:15px;" Text='<%#
DataBinder.Eval(Container, "DataItem") %>' NavigateUrl='<%#
"viewpoem.aspx?poem=" & Server.UrlEncode(Container.DataItem)
%>'></asp:HyperLink>
</ItemTemplate>
<HeaderStyle Font-Names="Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif" Font-Bold="True"
BackColor="#A080C0"></HeaderStyle>
<AlternatingItemTemplate>
  <asp:HyperLink id="lnkPoem2" runat="server"
style="padding-right:15px;padding-left:15px;" Text='<%#
DataBinder.Eval(Container, "DataItem") %>' NavigateUrl='<%#
"viewpoem.aspx?poem=" & Server.UrlEncode(Container.DataItem)
%>'></asp:HyperLink>
</AlternatingItemTemplate>
</asp:datalist>


If you want to see the results of this code, go to my website at
http://www.nathansokalski.com/poetry/index.aspx (Because you might not have
a number of items exactly divisible by 6, the While loop might add up to 5
blank cells depending on how many items you have in your DataSource, the
number of poems on my list just happens to currently be a multiple of 6). If
you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good Luck!
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