In this article I will explain with an example, how to dynamically add LinkButton with RowCommand to GridView in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
 
 

Database

I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follow.
Dynamically Add LinkButton with RowCommand to GridView in ASP.Net
 
I have already inserted few records in the table.
Dynamically Add LinkButton with RowCommand to GridView in ASP.Net
 
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
            Download SQL file
 
 

HTML Markup

The HTML Markup consists of following control:
GridView – For displaying data.

Columns

The GridView consists of three BoundField columns.
<asp:GridView ID="gvCustomers" runat="server" OnRowCommand="OnRowCommand" AutoGenerateColumns="false"> 
    <Columns>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="CustomerId" HeaderText="Customer Id" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Country" HeaderText="Country" />
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
 
 

Namespaces

You will need to import following namespaces.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
 
 

Populating GridView and adding LinkButton column suing C# and VB.Net

Inside the Page_Load event handler, first the connection string is read from the Web.Config file and the SELECT query is defined.
Note: For more details on how to read connection string from Web.Config file, please refer my article Read or Write Connection Strings in Web.Config file using ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
 
Then, a connection to the database is established using the SqlConnection class.
The SqlDataAdapter object is initialized with the SqlCommand and using the Fill function, the DataTable is populated with the records from database.
Then, an object of CommandField class is created and the ButtonType and ShowSelectButton properties are set as Link and TRUE respectively.
After that, the CommandFiled is added as column to the GridView.
Finally, the DataTable is assigned to the GridView and the GridView is populated.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
        string sql = "SELECT CustomerId, Name, Country FROM Customers";
        using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
        {
            using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(sql, con))
            {
                using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd))
                {
                    using (DataTable dt = new DataTable())
                    {
                        sda.Fill(dt);
 
                        // Adding CommandField column.
                        CommandField commandField = new CommandField();
                        commandField.ButtonType = ButtonType.Link;
                        commandField.ShowSelectButton = true;
                        gvCustomers.Columns.Add(commandField);
                        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt;
                        gvCustomers.DataBind();
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
        Dim sql As String = "SELECT CustomerId, Name, Country FROM Customers"
        Using con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(constr)
            Using cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand(sql, con)
                Using sda As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
                    Using dt As DataTable = New DataTable()
                        sda.Fill(dt)
 
                        'Adding CommandField column.
                        Dim commandField As CommandField = New CommandField()
                        commandField.ButtonType = ButtonType.Link
                        commandField.ShowSelectButton = True
                        gvCustomers.Columns.Add(commandField)
                        gvCustomers.DataSource = dt
                        gvCustomers.DataBind()
                    End Using
                End Using
            End Using
        End Using
    End If
End Sub
 
 

Fetching selected value using RowCommand event

When the Select Button is clicked, the index of the GridView Row is determined using the CommandArgument and it is used to select the Name of the Customers from the respective column of the GridView.
Finally, the selected Name is displayed in JavaScript Alert Message Box using the RegisterClientScriptBlock function.
C#
protected void OnRowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)
{
    int index = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument);
    if (e.CommandName == "Select")
    {
        string name = gvCustomers.Rows[index].Cells[2].Text;
        ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(this.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Selected Name: " + name + "');", true); 
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub OnRowCommand(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GridViewCommandEventArgs)
    Dim index As Integer = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument)
    If e.CommandName = "Select" Then
        Dim name As String = gvCustomers.Rows(index).Cells(2).Text
        ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(Me.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Selected Name: " & name & "');", True)
    End If
End Sub
 
 

Screenshot

Dynamically Add LinkButton with RowCommand to GridView in ASP.Net
 
 

Demo

View Demo
 
 

Downloads

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