Unable to fetch value of textbox inside gridview on button click in ASP.NET C#

Question

I have a gridview where I want to write some remarks in textbox which is inside that gridview.

protected void btnRejectSite_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string strRemarks = string.Empty; string strID = string.Empty; string strCurrentUser = string.Empty;

    foreach (GridViewRow row in rptHotoIPDataInfo.Rows)
    {
        if (row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
        {
            CheckBox chkRow = (row.Cells[0].FindControl("chkRow") as CheckBox);
            strID = (row.Cells[1].FindControl("lbl_ID") as Label).Text;

            TextBox txtRemarks = (TextBox)row.FindControl("txtRemarks");
            strRemarks = txtRemarks.Text; // here I want the text

            strCurrentUser = CurrentUserName;
            int intGroupID = CurrentUserGroupID;
        }
    }
}

But when I debug the txtRemarks.Text I am getting null always.

This is the gridview aspx markup:

<asp:GridView ID="rptHotoIPDataInfo" runat="server"  
     AutoGenerateColumns="false" CssClass="appRejTableOuter appRejTable" Visible="true"
     AllowPaging="true" PageSize="20" 
     OnPageIndexChanging="rptHotoIPDataInfo_PageIndexChanging"
     DataKeyNames="SAP_ID" 
     OnRowEditing="rptHotoIPDataInfo_RowEditing" 
     OnRowUpdating="rptHotoIPDataInfo_RowUpdating"
     OnRowCancelingEdit="rptHotoIPDataInfo_RowCancelingEdit" 
     OnRowDataBound="rptHotoIPDataInfo_RowDataBound"
     OnRowCommand="rptHotoIPDataInfo_RowCommand" 
     EnableViewState="true">

    <Columns>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderStyle-CssClass="appRejTable">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:CheckBox ID="chkRow" runat="server" Checked="false" AutoPostBack="true" CssClass="appRejCheckbox" />
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="ID" ItemStyle-Width="50px" Visible="false">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:Label ID="lbl_ID" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("ID") %>'></asp:Label>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Rejected Remarks" HeaderStyle-CssClass="appRejTable">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:TextBox ID="txtRemarks" Text='<%# Eval("REJECT_REMARKS") %>' runat="server" CssClass="appRejInput"></asp:TextBox>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="SAP_ID" HeaderText="SAP ID"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="CHANGEREQUEST_ID" HeaderText="Change Request Number"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="R4GSTATE_CODE" HeaderText="State Code"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="HOTO_STATUS" HeaderText="Hoto Status"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="CR_Justifications" HeaderText="CR Justifications"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="APPROVE_REJECT" HeaderText="Status"></asp:BoundField>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="REJECTED_BY" HeaderText="Last Updated by"></asp:BoundField>
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>

What is wrong here?

Answer 1

Here's revised version of your code that uses the hierarchy to find the TextBox within the GridView:

protected void btnRejectSite_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string strRemarks = string.Empty; 
    string strID = string.Empty; 
    string strCurrentUser = string.Empty;

    foreach (GridViewRow row in rptHotoIPDataInfo.Rows)
    {
        if (row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
        {
            CheckBox chkRow = (row.Cells[0].FindControl("chkRow") as CheckBox);
            strID = (row.Cells[1].FindControl("lbl_ID") as Label).Text;

            TextBox txtRemarks = (TextBox)row.FindControl("txtRemarks");
            if (txtRemarks != null)
            {
                strRemarks = txtRemarks.Text;
                // Your other logic here
            }

            strCurrentUser = CurrentUserName;
            int intGroupID = CurrentUserGroupID;
        }
    }
}

Ensure that the btnRejectSite_Click method is properly wired up to the button's click event in your markup or code-behind. If the issue persists, you might want to check for any client-side JavaScript that might interfere with the normal postback behavior.

For showing an alert if remarks is null, you can use JavaScript to show a client-side alert. You can use ScriptManager to register a startup script.

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(strRemarks))
{
    ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScript(this, this.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Remarks cannot be empty.');", true);
    return; // or handle accordingly
}