Access a control inside a the LayoutTemplate of a ListView

Question

How do I access a Control in the LayoutTemplate of a ListView control?

I need to get to litControlTitle and set its Text attribute.

<asp:ListView ID="lv" runat="server">
  <LayoutTemplate>
    <asp:Literal ID="litControlTitle" runat="server" />
    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceHolder" runat="server" />
  </LayoutTemplate>
  <ItemTemplate>
  </ItemTemplate>
</asp:ListView>

Any thoughts? Perhaps via the OnLayoutCreated event?

score 35 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 11 '09 at 22:37

35

Try this:

((Literal)lv.FindControl("litControlTitle")).Text = "Your text";

answered Jan 11 '09 at 22:37

tanathos

5,566
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I tried that initially, but that didn't work. Then I came here. Thanks though! – craigmoliver Jan 11 '09 at 22:57
3

very strange... I place this code inside the callback of OnLayoutCreated, and when I bind the ListView it works fine... – tanathos Jan 11 '09 at 23:08
oh, well I didn't put it in that event, trying now – craigmoliver Jan 11 '09 at 23:11
9

For anyone reading this answer, make sure you call `FindControl` after the `ListView` has been bound to a source (i.e., after calling `DataBind` on you ListView). Otherwise the ListView's Layout Template will not be ready by the time you look up the control, hence `FindControl` will not succeed. – asm00 Jan 17 '14 at 16:30
Also: if data binding occurs on an empty collection then the control cannot be found. Do a null reference check for this situation. – John K Feb 20 '16 at 00:08

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered May 20 '10 at 10:02

17

The complete solution:

<asp:ListView ID="lv" OnLayoutCreated="OnLayoutCreated" runat="server">
  <LayoutTemplate>
    <asp:Literal ID="lt_Title" runat="server" />
    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceHolder" runat="server" />
  </LayoutTemplate>
  <ItemTemplate>
  </ItemTemplate>
</asp:ListView>

In codebehind:

protected void OnLayoutCreated(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    (lv.FindControl("lt_Title") as Literal).Text = "Your text";
}

answered May 20 '10 at 10:02

Vindberg

1,502
2
15
27

This solution is more stable than tanathos's. tanathos's sometimes doesn't work when DataBind and access in the same method. – Gqqnbig Nov 06 '15 at 01:19

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 20 '12 at 22:53

This technique works for template layout; use the init event of the control:

<asp:ListView ID="lv" runat="server" OnDataBound="lv_DataBound">
  <LayoutTemplate>
    <asp:Literal ID="litControlTitle" runat="server" OnInit="litControlTitle_Init" />
    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceHolder" runat="server" />
  </LayoutTemplate>
  <ItemTemplate>
  </ItemTemplate>
</asp:ListView>

And capture a reference to the control for use in the code-behind (e.g) in the ListView's DataBound event:

private Literal litControlTitle;

protected void litControlTitle_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    litControlTitle = (Literal) sender;
}

protected void lv_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    litControlTitle.Text = "Title...";
}

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 04 '13 at 18:21

0

For Nested LV Loop:

void lvSecondLevel_LayoutCreated(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Literal litText = lvFirstLevel.FindControl("lvSecondLevel").FindControl("litText") as Literal;
    litMainMenuText.Text = "This is test";
}

edited Sep 04 '13 at 18:21

nhahtdh

55,989
15
126
162

answered Sep 04 '13 at 13:32

Dheeraj Palagiri

1,829
3
23
46

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 20 '18 at 05:10

0

In case you need the VB version, here it is

Dim litControl = CType(lv.FindControl("litControlTitle"), Literal)
litControl.Text = "your text"

answered Oct 20 '18 at 05:10

Jeff

1,362
14
17

Access a control inside a the LayoutTemplate of a ListView

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