Not able to access edit template field dropdownlist in gridview

Question

I am using a gridview which is having dropdownlist in edittemplate field. There are 3 list items in dropdown : Red,Amber,Green. Instead of displaying text in listitems, I want to show the colors, for the same I am using dropdownlist's onLoad event, however this event is not able to recognize the dropdownlist. Dropdownlist Designer code :

<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Color">
<EditItemTemplate> 
  <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlcolor" runat="server" AppendDataBoundItems="true" DataTextField="COLOR" DataValueField ="COLOR" OnLoad="DDLColor_Load">
            <asp:ListItem Value="-1">- Select Color -</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="0">Amber</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="1">Green</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="2">Red</asp:ListItem>                
  </asp:DropDownList></EditItemTemplate></asp:TemplateField>

Dropdownlist onLoad Event in codebehing :

  protected void DDLColor_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

    for (int i = 0; i < ddlcolor.Items.Count; i++)
    {
        ddlcolr.Items[i].Attributes.Add("style", "background-color:" + ddlcolor.Items[i].Text);

    }
} 

However, it shows that the dropdownlist ddlcolor does not exists in current context. Do I need to find this control in gridview ? Please suggest.

Answer 1

You are right. You need to find the control. Using the sender argument will help you locate the drop down without using the find control method

 protected void DDLColor_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
 {
    DropdownList ddlcolr=(Dropdownlist)sender;
for (int i = 0; i < ddlcolor.Items.Count; i++)
  {
    ddlcolr.Items[i].Attributes.Add("style", "background-color:" + ddlcolor.Items[i].Text);

  }
 }