c# - Can't access DropDownList inside EditItemTemplate in Gridview (it's always null in code-behind)

Question

<asp:GridView ID="grdUsers" CssClass="" runat="server"
AutoGenerateColumns="False" CellPadding="4" DataKeyNames="usr_id" EnableModelValidation="True"
AllowPaging="True" PageSize="10" BorderWidth="0"
OnRowCommand="grdUsers_RowCommand" OnRowDeleting="grdUsers_RowDeleting" OnRowDataBound="grdUsers_OnRowDataBound" OnRowEditing="grdUsers_RowEditing" OnRowUpdating="grdUsers_RowUpdating" OnRowCancelingEdit="grdUsers_RowCancelingEdit">
<Columns>
    <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country">
        <ItemTemplate>
            <asp:Label ID="lbl_country" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("usr_country") %>'></asp:Label>
        </ItemTemplate>
        <EditItemTemplate>
            <asp:DropDownList ID="ddl_countries" runat="server" CssClass="" AppendDataBoundItems="false" AutoPostBack="false"
                DataValueField="cou_id" DataTextField="cou_name">
            </asp:DropDownList>
        </EditItemTemplate>
    </asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:Gridview>

First I tried to access DropDownList in RowEditing (RowEditing occurs before RowDataBound):

protected void grdUsers_RowEditing(object sender, System.Web.UI.WebControls.GridViewEditEventArgs e)
{
    grdUsers.EditIndex = e.NewEditIndex;//NewEditIndex property used to determine the index of the row being edited.

    GridViewRow editingRow = grdUsers.Rows[e.NewEditIndex];
    DropDownList ddlCountries0 = (DropDownList)(editingRow.FindControl("ddl_countries"));

    DropDownList ddlCountries1 = (DropDownList)(grdUsers.Rows[grdUsers.EditIndex].FindControl("ddl_countries"));

    DropDownList ddlCountries2 = (DropDownList)grdUsers.Rows[e.NewEditIndex].FindControl("ddl_countries");

    DropDownList ddlCountries = ((DropDownList)grdUsers.Rows[e.NewEditIndex].Cells[4].FindControl("ddl_countries"));

    if (ddlCountries != null)
    {
        LoadCountriesDropdownValue(ddlCountries);
    }
}

But ddlCountries is always null. So I tried RowDataBound event (below are several different tries) but ddlCountries is always null as well:

protected void grdUsers_OnRowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Header)
    {
        e.Row.TableSection = TableRowSection.TableHeader;
    }

    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow && grdUsers.EditIndex == e.Row.RowIndex)
    {
        DropDownList ddl = (DropDownList)e.Row.FindControl("ddl_countries");
    }

    GridViewRow row = e.Row;
    DropDownList ddl = (DropDownList)row.FindControl("ddl_countries");
    if ((row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow) && ((row.RowState & DataControlRowState.Edit) > 0))
    {
        DropDownList ddl2 = (DropDownList)row.FindControl("ddl_countries");
    }

    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow && (e.Row.RowState & DataControlRowState.Edit) == DataControlRowState.Edit)
    {
        // Here you will get the Control you need like:
        DropDownList dl = (DropDownList)e.Row.FindControl("ddl_countries");
    }

    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)//skip header row
    {
        //if (grdUsers.EditIndex == e.Row.RowIndex)
        //if ((e.Row.RowState & DataControlRowState.Edit) > 0)
        if ((e.Row.RowState & DataControlRowState.Edit) == DataControlRowState.Edit)
        {
            //DropDownList ddlCountries = grdUsers.Rows[e.RowIndex].FindControl("ddl_countries") as DropDownList;
            DropDownList ddlCountries = (DropDownList)e.Row.Cells[4].FindControl("ddl_countries");
            LoadCountriesDropdownValue(ddlCountries);
        }
    }
}

Sorry in case it was asked before but after hours of searching I always have ddlCountries as null in code-behind.

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65646375/cant-access-dropdownlist-inside-edititemtemplate-in-gridview-its-always-null

Answer 1

Waitting for answers