textboxes reads empty string ("") when i press submit button!

Question

I have a form , with 5 textboxes, 1 radiobutton group (4 radiobuttons) , and a submit button, i added some "code behind" to handle cases where a user doesnt fill in all the fields,

something like

 if (question.Value == "") // question = a textbox with runat=server property
{
  // handle error
}

the problem is that, the 1st time i fill the form,and click submit, it always sends empty values :S in other words. the above snippet of code will always be true :S can some1 explain to me where did i go wrong ?

note: if the same question been asked before.. please link me..

Answer 1

Assuming question is a textbox, you want question.Text

Answer 2

You might want to check and see if you databinding on your button post back is not blanking out your textboxes. You can use;

if(!Page.IsPostBack)
{
    // more code here
}

to make sure that your input items keep their values when you click your button.