Tracking names of dynamically generated controls

Question

I am creating separate checkedlistbox for different sections of a database at runtime which i got to work the way i want to my question is how do i keep track of the names of the checkedlistboxes so that i can refer to them later in code. Say the program creates 3 boxes. how do i name them consecutively and call them further into the program in another sub?

Andrew Wooster · Answer

did a search on msdn for FindControl and this is what i got...have fun http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref/html/frlrfsystemwebuicontrolclassfindcontroltopic.asp

ken · Answer

is there anything in c# like vb's findcontrol method? or how else can i accomplish calling a control in code that doesn't exist until runtime? example of what doesnt work: CheckedListBox newcheck = CheckedListBox(this.Controls(dynaname.ToString())); where dynaname is a string containing the name of the control i want to do this so i can use 'newcheck' to fill the control with the correct amount of checkboxes.

Andrew Wooster · Answer

There are a couple of ways to do this. Which option you pick depends on what you are doing with them/how many controls you have. A very simple way to do it is to simply have 3 variables that each track their own control. This is not a very good option because if you want to change to 4 controls then you have to create a new variable. Another option is to realize that they are placed on the form and are stored in the .Controls accessor. You can get them out by using the typeof operator or by checking for their name. Again not a great solution because it's not very expandable or if you change the name of the control your code might break. Another option is to create an array of the controls and put them in there. You have to be careful with this one because if you want to access a specific control you will have to know where in the array it is stored. Take your pick on any of these options or come up with your own.