I generated a typed list and I am binding it to asp.net datagrid. In Item_DataBound event I am trying to convert e.item.dataitem into typelists row like this but it does not work since the dataitem is of DataRowView type.

Dim alertRow As TypedListClasses.PublishedUserAlertsRow = DirectCast(e.Item.DataItem, TypedListClasses.PublishedUserAlertsRow)

I tought that the type of the item would be as above. What is then this generated row used for?

I believe that's an artifact of Databinding. Cast the data item to a DataRowView. The DataRowView object's Row property will contain the TypedListClasses.PublishedUserAlertsRow instance.

Dim alertRow As TypedListClasses.PublishedUserAlertsRow = DirectCast(DirectCast(e.Item.DataItem, DataRowView).Row, TypedListClasses.PublishedUserAlertsRow)

This is caused by the fact that a datatable doesn't bind directly to a control, it binds via a DataView. So the current object in the control isn't a datarow, but a dataview. Brian's example shows you how to work around that