Locating controls in repeater header/footer - ASP.NET guide

When it comes to displaying data in a tabular format, the Repeater control in ASP.NET is a powerful tool that can help you achieve this. One of the challenges that developers often face is locating controls in the Repeater header and footer sections. In this guide, we will explore ways to locate controls in the Repeater header and footer.

Firstly, it is important to note that the Repeater control provides two events that can be used to locate controls in the header and footer. These events are ItemCreated and ItemDataBound. The ItemCreated event is raised when an item in the Repeater is created, including the header and footer. The ItemDataBound event, on the other hand, is raised when data is bound to an item in the Repeater.

To locate controls in the header, you can handle the ItemCreated event and check if the current item is the header. If it is, you can use the FindControl method to locate the control you are interested in. For example, if you have a label control with an ID of "lblHeader", you can locate it as follows:

<%-- In the ItemCreated event --%>
if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Header)
{
    Label lblHeader = (Label)e.Item.FindControl("lblHeader");
}

To locate controls in the footer, you can do the same thing in the ItemCreated event, but this time you need to check if the current item is the footer. For example, if you have a button control with an ID of "btnFooter", you can locate it as follows:

<%-- In the ItemCreated event --%>
if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Footer)
{
    Button btnFooter = (Button)e.Item.FindControl("btnFooter");
}

In conclusion, locating controls in the Repeater header and footer can be done using the ItemCreated and ItemDataBound events. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you should be able to easily locate controls in the header and footer sections of your Repeater control.