Data controls are those that can be bound to data from external data sources. These data sources may include databases, XML files, or even flat files. ASP.NET 2.0 introduced some data source controls with a powerful data binding technique so the need for writing lengthy code for binding data to data controls has been eliminated.
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In ASP.NET, the term Data Binding implies binding the controls to data retrieved from a data source and providing a read or write connectivity between these controls and the data that they are bound to.
The Entity Data Source control is an example of a data control that is included as part of the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 release and can be used to bind data retrieved from an Entity Data Model to the data bound controls of ASP.NET. If you have installed Visual Studio 2008 SP1, you can see the EntityDataSource control listed in the Data section of your toolbox.
If you cannot locate the EntityDataSource control in the toolbox...