How to get Reference to the label in repeater item in code behind

Question

<asp:repeater id="rpt" run="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:LinkButton id="Delete" runat="server" OnCommand="Delete_Command"></asp:linkButton>
<asp:label id="lblMessage" run="server">
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:repeater>

Code Behind:

protected void Delete_Command(object sender, CommandEventArgument e)
{

}

how i get the reference to the "lblMessage" in Delete_Command.

Answer 1

Try this:

protected void Delete_Command(object sender, CommandEventArgs e)
{
    LinkButton button = (LinkButton)sender;
    Label label = (Label)button.NamingContainer.FindControl("lblMessage");
    // do something with the label
}

If you:

1. Have bound the repeater
2. Have ViewState enabled
3. Do not re-bind the repeater earlier in the post back

this should work. If not, please verify that the id of the label is indeed exactly the same as in the ...FindControl("lblMessage");. Also make sure that runat="server" is set on all the controls involved.

Edit: One more thing to check: Search the markup file (the .aspx file) and check if there are any other controls that also use the same event in the code behind. If another control is using the same event handler and that control is not in the repeater, the label will not be found.