How to use string as variable name in c#

Question

am having a viewstate which pertains value like:

string temp; ViewState["temp"] = dc.ColumnName.ToString();

This returns weekdays like: Monday,tuesday,wednesday etc

Now am using this value here:

string a = "txt" + ViewState["temp"].ToString();
TextBox a = new TextBox();

But it gives me error

Cannot implicitly convert type 'System.Web.UI.WebControls.Textbox' to 'string'

I want textbox variable name like txtmonday,txttuesday dynamically. Is there any way that I can assign variable name???

That does not make any sense. The variable name does not generally affect what code does. Can you explain what you are actually trying to achieve? — Andrew Savinykh
– Andrew Savinykh, Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 6:14
Why would you want to do something like that? What is your requirement? — L-Four
– L-Four, Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 6:18
Also think compile-time vs run-time. Local variable names exist only during compile-time and the values you are trying to use do not exist at compile-time at all since the program has not executed yet. — Andrew Savinykh
– Andrew Savinykh, Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 6:18
if it is to be added at runtime you can have place holder to contian your controls and that manages viewstate. you can do anything here. — Vinay Pandey
– Vinay Pandey, Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 6:21
can u elaborate with an example or link vinay?because am new to asp — Balram
– Balram, Commented Apr 7, 2014 at 7:08

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-07 06:16:17Z

3

No, you can't. At least not without reflection, and you shouldn't be using reflection here. Variables in C# are a compile-time concept. (Even with reflection, it'll only work for fields, not for local variables.)

If you want a collection of values, use a collection... e.g. a List<T> or a Dictionary<TKey, TValue>. So for example, you could have a List<TextBox> (which is accessed by index) or a Dictionary<string, TextBox> which is accessed by string key ("monday", "tuesday" or whatever you want).

If you're only actually creating a single TextBox, what does it matter what the variable name is? Just use:

TextBox textBox = new TextBox();
// Do appropriate things with the TextBox, possibly using ViewState

The variable name just gives you a way of referring to the variable. That's all it's there for. The object you create doesn't know anything about which variables (if any) contain references to it.

answered Apr 7, 2014 at 6:16

Jon Skeet

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2 Comments

Balram Over a year ago

sir,,am actually trying to append this textbox to a gridview,,am adding template field dynamically,so on rowdatabound event,am trying to add this textbox on specified column.for ezample,if a field is generated with headertext MONDAY ,,so it should have txtmonday so as to ease my future gridview manipulations

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@user2177138: But how would know when to use txtmonday? If you're going to do things dynamically, that strongly suggests that a collection is the way to go...

Adil · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-07 06:18:00Z

0

You can not declare objects at runtime they way you art trying. You can store the week days in array / List<T> starting Monday at index 0 and Sunday at index 6, You can give id of element with the string name you want.

List<TextBox> weekList = new List<TextBox>();
weekList.Add(new TextBox());
weekList[0].ID  =  "txt" + ViewState["temp"].ToString();

answered Apr 7, 2014 at 6:18

Adil

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