How do i get the value of a datalist item with a button click

Question

I have a dataList with a command button, i want to click the button and obtain the value of a field in the datalist view of the button i have clicked.

I have tried various solutions but keep getting

{"Object reference not set to an instance of an object."}

here is my datalist

<asp:DataList ID="DataList1" runat="server" DataKeyField="ID" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" Width="579px" OnItemCommand = "Datalist1_ItemCommand">
    <ItemTemplate>
        Epic:
        <asp:Label ID="EpicLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Epic") %>' />
        <br />
        ID:
        <asp:Label ID="IDLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("ID") %>' />
        <br />
        Company:
        <asp:Label ID="CompanyLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Company") %>' />
        <br />
        Date:
        <asp:Label ID="DateLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Date") %>' />
        <br />
        time:
        <asp:Label ID="timeLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("time") %>' />
        <br />
        NewsItem:
        <asp:Label ID="NewsItemLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("NewsItem") %>' />
        <br />
        HeadLine:
        <asp:Label ID="HeadLineLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("HeadLine") %>' />
        <br />

        <asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("Epic", "{0}") %>' Text="Button" />

<br />
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:DataList>

and her is my code behind

    public void Datalist1_ItemCommand(object sender, DataListCommandEventArgs e)

    {
        var button = sender as Button;

       /// if (button == null) return;

        var dataListItem = button.NamingContainer as DataListItem;

        if (dataListItem == null) return;

        var currentKey = DataList1.DataKeys[dataListItem.ItemIndex];

        var myLabel = button.Parent.Controls.Cast<Control>().FirstOrDefault(x => x.ID == "Epic") as Label;

      ///  if (myLabel == null) return;

        var myLabelText = myLabel.Text;
    }

Answer 1

If I am not mistaken, the ID of the control you are looking for is actually called EpicLabel, not just Epic. If myLabel is what the debugger is saying is not set to an instance of an object, this is most likely your problem.

So this line:

var myLabel = button.Parent.Controls.Cast<Control>().FirstOrDefault(x => x.ID == "Epic") as Label;

would need to be:

var myLabel = button.Parent.Controls.Cast<Control>().FirstOrDefault(x => x.ID == "EpicLabel") as Label;

Answer 2

You code do this using the following changes on your code;

on your button control:

 <asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" CommandName="myCommand" Text="Button" />

on your ItemCommand event:

    protected void DataList1_ItemCommand(object source, 
                                        DataListCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        switch (e.CommandName)
        { 
            case "myCommand":
                // more code could go here

                Label myLabel = (Label)e.Item.FindControl("EpicLabel");
                var myLabelText = myLabel.Text;

                // more code could go here
                break;
        }
    }