Did you ever find a way to do this? I have the exact same problem.
I had to work around this. I used three datalists and three tables. I
used a data apapter and then created manual filters on the
ItemDataBound. Here's the example:
<!--HTML CODE-->
<html>
<head><style type=text/css>
.hidden {display:none;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<!--A GROUP-->
<asp:Table ID="tblA" Runat=server Visible=False Width=100%>
<asp:TableRow><asp:TableCell
Width=100%><b>A-GROUP</b></asp:TableCell></asp:TableRow></asp:Table>
<asp
ataList id="dlA" runat="server" RepeatColumns="4"
RepeatDirection="Horizontal">
<itemtemplate>
<asp:label id="lblGroupLetter" runat=server text='<%#
Container.DataItem("groupletter")%>' Visible=False />
<!-- CODE HERE-->
</itemtemplate>
</datalist>
<!--B GROUP-->
<asp:Table ID="tblB" Runat=server Visible=False Width=100%>
<asp:TableRow><asp:TableCell
Width=100%><b>B-GROUP</b></asp:TableCell></asp:TableRow></asp:Table>
<asp
ataList id="dlC" runat="server" RepeatColumns="4"
RepeatDirection="Horizontal">
<itemtemplate>
<asp:label id="lblGroupLetter" runat=server text='<%#
Container.DataItem("groupletter")%>' Visible=False />
<!-- CODE HERE-->
</itemtemplate>
</datalist>
<!--C GROUP-->
<asp:Table ID="tblC" Runat=server Visible=False Width=100%>
<asp:TableRow><asp:TableCell
Width=100%><b>C-GROUP</b></asp:TableCell></asp:TableRow></asp:Table>
<asp
ataList id="dlC" runat="server" RepeatColumns="4"
RepeatDirection="Horizontal">
<itemtemplate>
<asp:label id="lblGroupLetter" runat=server text='<%#
Container.DataItem("groupletter")%>' Visible=False />
<!-- CODE HERE-->
</itemtemplate>
</datalist>
</body>
</html>
<!--CODE BEHIND-->
'Get the data and bind it to all datalists
Dim adapter As SqlDataAdapter
Dim dt As New DataTable
cmd = New SqlCommand("qryGroups", c)
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
c.Open()
adapter = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
adapter.Fill(ds)
dlA.DataSource = ds.Tables(0)
dlA.DataBind()
dlB.DataSource = ds.Tables(0)
dlB.DataBind()
dlC.DataSource = ds.Tables(0)
dlC.DataBind()
'''''The following needs to exist for dlA & dlB, but they would all be
the same except for the groupletter filter.
Private Sub dlC_ItemDataBound(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataListItemEventArgs) Handles
dlC.ItemDataBound
Dim groupletter As String
groupletter = CType(e.Item.FindControl("lblGroupLetter"),
Label).Text
If groupletter = "C" Then
dlC.Visible = True
tblC.Visible = True
Else
'Otherwise, clear the result
e.Item.CssClass = "hidden"
e.Item.Visible = False
e.Item.Controls.Clear()
End If
End Sub
