How to access a user control in a masterpage from a content page?

Question

Lets say that I have a header user control in a master page, and want to change a property of the user control depending on what content page is loaded inside of the master page. How might I go about this?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can use two methods. The first is by using Page.Master.FindControl('controlID'). Then you can cast it to the type of your user control. The second method is by adding a <%@ MasterType VirtualPath="" TypeName=""%> tag to your aspx page. In the VirtualPath add the virtual path to the master page, and the class in the TypeName. You can then access everything with intellisense.

Answer 2

There's one other method, and that's by making a public property on the master page that exposes the user control.

Answer 3

Using a public property would work. In the content page's FormLoad method, you could do something like this (VB):

Dim myMaster as MyMasterPage = CType(Page.Master, MyMasterPage)
myMaster.MyUserControl.Text = "Hello!"

Answer 4

This is also a good link about accessing objects inside of the MasterPage.