How to programmatically create and use a list of checkboxes from ASP.NET?

Question

I have a page with a table of stuff and I need to allow the user to select rows to process. I\'ve figured out how to add a column of check boxes to the table but I can\'t se

Answer 1

Your post is a little vague. It would help to see how you're adding controls to the table. Is it an ASP:Table or a regular HTML table (presumably with a runat="server" attribute since you've successfully added items to it)?

If you intend to let the user make a bunch of selections, then hit a "Submit" button, whereupon you'll process each row based on which row is checked, then you should not be handling the CheckChanged event. Otherwise, as you've noticed, you'll be causing a postback each time and it won't process any of the other checkboxes. So when you create the CheckBox do not set the eventhandler so it doesn't cause a postback.

In your submit button's eventhandler you would loop through each table row, cell, then determine whether the cell's children control contained a checkbox.

I would suggest not using a table. From what you're describing perhaps a GridView or DataList is a better option.

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EDIT: here's a simple example to demonstrate. You should be able to get this working in a new project to test out.

Markup

Code-behind

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
        var row = new HtmlTableRow();
        var cell = new HtmlTableCell();
        cell.InnerText = "Row: " + i.ToString();
        row.Cells.Add(cell);
        cell = new HtmlTableCell();
        CheckBox chk = new CheckBox() { ID = "chk" + i.ToString() };
        cell.Controls.Add(chk);
        row.Cells.Add(cell);
        tbl.Rows.Add(row);
    }
}

protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    foreach (HtmlTableRow row in tbl.Rows)
    {
        foreach (HtmlTableCell cell in row.Cells)
        {
            foreach (Control c in cell.Controls)
            {
                if (c is CheckBox)
                {
                    // do your processing here
                    CheckBox chk = c as CheckBox;
                    if (chk.Checked)
                    {
                        Response.Write(chk.ID + " was checked 
");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}