Custom Save button in asp.net

You have a couple of options. One is the OnItemCommand and you'll roll your own commands. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.detailsview.itemcommand.aspx

The easier way is to use the OnItemInserted and OnItemUpdating events. Just send the Insert or Update commands instead as appropriate and you can use easier EventArgs http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.detailsview.iteminserting.aspx <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.detailsview.itemupdating.aspx

From these pages, basically what you'll do is capture a command from a button in your DetailsView.

Custom "Add" commamnd with ItemCommand

Sub CustomerDetailView_ItemCommand(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DetailsViewCommandEventArgs)

    ' Use the CommandName property to determine which button
    ' was clicked. 
    If e.CommandName = "Add" Then
        ' Do your work here if Add Contact is clicked
    End If
End Sub

Easier built in Insert command with ItemInserting

Sub CustomerDetailView_ItemInserting((ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DetailsViewInsertEventArgs)
    ' Access the actual rows with
    Some variable1 = e.Values("CustomerID")
    Some variable2 = e.Values("CompanyName")
    Some variable3 = e.Values("City")

    ' Do something with them
End Sub

Code front

<asp:DetailsView ID="CustomerDetailView" 
    DataSourceID="DetailsViewSource"
    AutoGenerateRows="false" 
    DataKeyNames="CustomerID" 
    AllowPaging="true" 
    OnItemCommand="CustomerDetailView_ItemCommand"
    OnItemInserting="CustomerDetailView_ItemInserting"
    OnItemUpdating="CustomerDetailView_ItemUpdating"
    runat="server">
    <FieldHeaderStyle BackColor="Navy" ForeColor="White" />
    <Fields>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="CustomerID" HeaderText="Store ID" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="CompanyName" HeaderText="Store Name" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="City" HeaderText="City" />
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Name">
            <InsertItemTemplate>
                <asp:Button ID="btAddContact" runat="server" Text="Add Contact" CommandName="Add" />
                            Or
                <asp:Button ID="btAddContact" runat="server" Text="Add Contact" CommandName="Insert" />
            </InsertItemTemplate>
            <EditItemTemplate>
                <asp:Button ID="btAddContact" runat="server" Text="Save Contact" CommandName="Update" />
            </EditItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
    </Fields>
</asp:DetailsView>

You can use any button that implements the IButtonControl interface. The key is to set the CommandName correctly. Hopefully this will give you the freedom to style your button the way you need to.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.button.commandname.aspx

You can find a list of the relevant command names here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.listview.itemcommand.aspx

<asp:ImageButton runat="server" ... CommandName="Save" />
<asp:LinkButton runat="server" ... CommandName="Update" />