In ASP.NET how do I find the Control ID of a TextBox that is nested within a DetailsView which is then nested in an AJAX UpdatePanel control?

Question

n ASP.NET how do I find the Control ID of a TextBox that is nested within a DetailsView which is then nested in an AJAX UpdatePanel control ?

The heirachy is: UpdatePanel1 -> dvContentDetail (DetailsView Control) -> TextBox2

I have tried something like the following but just says that the object isn't found:

UpdatePanel1.FindControl("dvContentDetail").FindControl("TextBox2").ClientID

Answer 1

There is no need to find control from updatepanel, because these controls directly available, so you code will be like this...

TextBox TextBox2 = (TextBox)dvContentDetail.FindControl("TextBox2");

Answer 2

You could try something like the code below. But if you know the Hierarchy is not going to change it would be better to do a series of "FindControl" calls. To discover the correct hierarchy, Debug the app and search through the Control Hierarchy.

public static T FindControlRecursiveInternal<T>(Control startingControl, string controlToFindID) where T : Control
{
    if (startingControl == null || String.IsNullOrEmpty(controlToFindID))
        return (T)null;

    Control foundControl = startingControl.FindControl(controlToFindID);
    if (foundControl == null)
    {
        foreach (Control innerControl in startingControl.Controls)
        {
            foundControl = FindControlRecursiveInternal<T>(innerControl, controlToFindID);
            if (foundControl != null)
                break;
        }
    }

    return (T)foundControl;
}