Control.NamingContainer Property (System.Web.UI)

Microsoft Developer Network

NamingContainer Property

.NET Framework Class Library

Control..::.NamingContainer Property

Gets a reference to the server control's naming container, which creates a unique namespace for differentiating between server controls with the same Control..::.ID property value.

Namespace: System.Web.UI
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<BindableAttribute(False)> _
<BrowsableAttribute(False)> _
Public Overridable ReadOnly Property NamingContainer As Control

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Control
Dim value As Control

value = instance.NamingContainer

[BindableAttribute(false)]
[BrowsableAttribute(false)]
public virtual Control NamingContainer { get; }

Visual C++

[BindableAttribute(false)]
[BrowsableAttribute(false)]
public:
virtual property Control^ NamingContainer {
    Control^ get ();
}

JScript

public function get NamingContainer () : Control

Property Value

Type: System.Web.UI..::.Control
The server control's naming container.

Remarks

Each page in an ASP.NET Web application contains a hierarchy of controls. This hierarchy is not dependent on whether a control generates UI visible to the user. The naming container for a given control is the parent control above it in the hierarchy that implements the INamingContainer interface. A server control that implements this interface creates a unique namespace for the ID property values of its child server controls.

Creating a unique namespace for server controls is particularly important when you bind data against list Web server controls, such as the Repeater and DataList server controls. When multiple entries in the data source create multiple instances of a server control that is a child of the repeating control, the naming container ensures that each instance of these child controls have UniqueID property values that do not conflict. The default naming container for a page is the instance of the Page class generated when that page is requested.

You can use this property to determine the naming container where a specific server control is located.

Topic	Location
How to: Access Members of a Control's Naming Container	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
How to: Access Members of a Web Server Control's Naming Container	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Access Members of a Web Server Control's Naming Container	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Access Members of a Web Server Control's Naming Container	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio

Examples

The following example demonstrates using the NamingContainer property.

Visual Basic

<%@ Import Namespace = "System.Data"  %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html  >
   <head>
    <title>
            Control NamingContainer Example
         </title>
<script language="VB" runat="server">
      ' Build the DataSource.
      Function CreateDataSource() As ICollection
         Dim myDataTable As New DataTable()
         Dim myDataRow As DataRow
         myDataTable.Columns.Add(New DataColumn("EmployeeName", GetType(String)))
         Dim i As Integer
         For i = 0 To 9
            myDataRow = myDataTable.NewRow()
            myDataRow(0) = "somename" + i.ToString()
            myDataTable.Rows.Add(myDataRow)
         Next i
         Dim myDataView As New DataView(myDataTable)
         Return myDataView
      End Function

      Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
         If Not IsPostBack Then
            ' Bind 'DataView' to the DataSource.
            myDataList.DataSource = CreateDataSource()
            myDataList.DataBind()
         End If
         ' Attach EventHandler for SelectedIndexChanged event.
         AddHandler myDataList.SelectedIndexChanged, AddressOf selectedItemChanged
      End Sub

      ' Handler function for 'SelectedIndexChanged' event.
      Sub selectedItemChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
         Dim myCurrentItem As DataListItem = myDataList.SelectedItem
         Dim myNamingContainer As Control = myCurrentItem.Controls(0).NamingContainer
         ' Display the NamingContainer.
         myLabel1.Text = "The NamingContainer is : " + myNamingContainer.UniqueID
         ' Display the UniqueID.
         myLabel2.Text = "The UniqueID is : " + CType(myCurrentItem.Controls(0), Control).UniqueID
      End Sub
    </script>
   </head>
   <body>
      <form runat="server" id="Form1">
         <h3>
            Control NamingContainer Example
         </h3>
         <h4>
            Click an item to view it's Naming Container and UniqueID
         </h4>
         <asp:Label ID="myLabel1" Runat="server"></asp:Label>
         <br />
         <asp:Label ID="myLabel2" Runat="server"></asp:Label>
         <br />
         <asp:DataList id="myDataList" runat="server" BorderColor="black">
            <HeaderStyle BackColor="#aaaadd"></HeaderStyle>
            <SelectedItemStyle BackColor="lightgreen"></SelectedItemStyle>
            <HeaderTemplate>
               EmployeeName
            </HeaderTemplate>
            <ItemTemplate>
               <asp:LinkButton id="button1" Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "EmployeeName") %>' CommandName="select" runat="server" />
               &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
            </ItemTemplate>
         </asp:DataList>
      </form>
   </body>
</html>

<% @ Import Namespace = "System.Data"  %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html  >
   <head>
    <title>
            Control NamingContainer Example
         </title>
<script language="C#" runat="server">
      // Build the DataSource.
      ICollection CreateDataSource()
      {
         DataTable myDataTable = new DataTable();
         DataRow myDataRow;
         myDataTable.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("EmployeeName", typeof(string)));
         for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) 
         {
            myDataRow = myDataTable.NewRow();
            myDataRow[0] = "somename" + i.ToString();
            myDataTable.Rows.Add(myDataRow);
         }
         DataView myDataView = new DataView(myDataTable);
         return myDataView;
      }

      void Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) 
      {
         if (!IsPostBack) 
         {
            // Bind 'DataView' to the DataSource.
            myDataList.DataSource = CreateDataSource();
            myDataList.DataBind();
         }
         // Attach EventHandler for SelectedIndexChanged event.
         myDataList.SelectedIndexChanged += new EventHandler(selectedItemChanged);
      }

      // Handler function for 'SelectedIndexChanged' event.
      void selectedItemChanged(Object sender,EventArgs e)
      {
         DataListItem myCurrentItem = myDataList.SelectedItem;
         Control myNamingContainer = myCurrentItem.Controls[0].NamingContainer;
         // Display the NamingContainer.
         myLabel1.Text = "The NamingContainer is : " + myNamingContainer.UniqueID;
         // Display the UniqueID.
         myLabel2.Text = "The UniqueID is : " + ((Control)(myCurrentItem.Controls[0])).UniqueID;
      }      

    </script>
   </head>
   <body>
      <form runat="server" id="Form1">
         <h3>
            Control NamingContainer Example
         </h3>
         <h4>
            Click an item to view it's Naming Container and UniqueID
         </h4>
         <asp:Label ID="myLabel1" Runat="server"></asp:Label>
         <br />
         <asp:Label ID="myLabel2" Runat="server"></asp:Label>
         <br />
         <asp:DataList id="myDataList" runat="server" BorderColor="black">
            <HeaderStyle BackColor="#aaaadd"></HeaderStyle>
            <SelectedItemStyle BackColor="lightgreen"></SelectedItemStyle>
            <HeaderTemplate>
               EmployeeName
            </HeaderTemplate>
            <ItemTemplate>
               <asp:LinkButton id="button1" Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "EmployeeName") %>' CommandName="select" runat="server" />
               &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
            </ItemTemplate>
         </asp:DataList>
      </form>
   </body>
</html>

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

Reference

Control Class

Control Members

System.Web.UI Namespace

INamingContainer

UniqueID

Control..::.ID