The DynamicFormView control is the recommended DataBound control for single record-style interfaces within DES Dynamic Data. While you can also use the DetailsView and FormView controls for these interfaces, both have limitations that are overcome by the DynamicFormView control.

DynamicFormView is really a blend of the FormView control with PatternTemplates. It subclasses from System.Web.IU.WebControls.FormView. As a result, it has every feature of FormView. Internally, it populates all of the Templates found on FormView with PatternTemplates. You provide a list of data fields to the DynamicFormView (optionally using scaffolding) and it builds the HTML output by connecting each data field name to the controls defined in the PatternTemplate.

If needed, you can switch to declaring controls directly in its Templates, making it return to its FormView roots.

The default DynamicFormView control uses the DetailsView.ascx PatternTemplate file which mimics the appearance of the DetailsView control. Create your own PatternTemplates to address your specific formatting.