How to dynamically assign asp.net control ID's

Question

I want to do something like the following in an asp.net web form but get a Invalid Token error message:

<ul>
    <%foreach (var item in Items) {%>
    <li>
      <asp:TextBox ID="<%= item.Id  %>" runat="server" />
    </li>
    <%} %>
</ul>

What alternative methods are there to achieve the desired result?

Richard · Accepted Answer · 2010-05-10 10:25:22Z

6

Server side controls (i.e. those with runat="server") have to have IDs set at compile time (because the ID is used to name the member field representing the control).

Either:

Use some form of repeater control (i.e. create a collection of controls) and data binding to populate.
create HTML (i.e. not server side controls) directly.

In ASP.NET the former is usual, with ASP.NET MVC the latter (via HTML Helpers) is usual.

answered May 10, 2010 at 10:25

Richard

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2 Comments

Akk Over a year ago

By creating HTML directly can i get the control on a postback? Or do i need to specify the ID attribute?

Richard Over a year ago

@Akk: you can access the value from Request.Form of any input element, but there will be no ASP.NET control.

Vinay Pandey · Accepted Answer · 2010-05-10 10:31:34Z

1

Give a try to following approach:-

    foreach (Item item in items) 
    {
       TextBox txtBox=new TextBox();
       txtBox.ID=item.ID;
       placeHolder.Controls.Add(txtBox);
    }

Also make sure you dont have any invalid character like ("-"), it can create problem for you sometimes.

answered May 10, 2010 at 10:31

Vinay Pandey

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