Can't access master page from user control

Question

My master page code looks something like this:

namespace Recipes
{
    public partial class MasterPage : System.Web.UI.MasterPage
    {
        ...

        public void UpdateUserLogin()
        {
            NicknameLbl.Text = ((Recipes.BasePage)Page).CurrentUser.Nickname;
        }

        ...
    }
}

I want to call the UpdateUserLogin() method from a user control, something like this:

((Recipes.MasterPage)this.Page.Master).UpdateUserLogin();

But for some reason the compiler doesn't know Recipes.MasterPage (are you missing an assembly blablabla). Sorry I can't show the exact error message, it's in French.

Maybe the problem is that I added the Recipes namespace around MasterPage manually, it wasn't added by VS. By the way I'm using VS Web Developer Express 2008.

Do you have any idea how I can make this call work?

Answer 1

Both the MasterPage and the UserControl are child controls of the page they are used by. Your UserControl could potentially be used in a page that doesn't use your MasterPage, and so calling UpdateUserLogin() would not be valid.

You can check it like this, however, and make your call conditionally:

if (Page.Master is MasterPage)
{
    ((MasterPage)Page.Master).UpdateUserLogin();
}

UPDATE It seems you were already aware of that, sorry. Your question is about the reference not working. What is the namespace of your UserControl?

Answer 2

I would recommend data binding the NicknameLbl to the CurrentUser.Nickname property. Then the NicknameLbl text will get updated automatically if the property changes.

Answer 3

1. include a MasterType directive at the top of the Content page ASPX file:

   '<%@ MasterType virtualpath="~/DetailsMaster.master" %>'

2. include a public method in the Master page

   public void UpdateUserLogin(string value) { NicknameLbl.Text = value; }

3. access the method from the Content page using the Master syntax:

   Master.UpdateUserLogin(Some Text");

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/Master_and_Contents.aspx

Answer 4

If your project is a Web Site Project (instead of a Web Application Project), then you do not have a project namespace. All code that is referenced from aspx.cs or master.cs files needs to be stored inside the App_Code directory, as the ASP.Net compiler will create several assemblies instead of just 1, and its not predictable which assembly will contain which aspx code.

Update after 1st comment:

The .ascx.cs and .aspx.cs stay where VS puts them. But it you want to reference classes etc, this needs to be placed inside App_Code, e.g. your Recipes.MasterPage or Recipes.BasePage objects.