HtmlSelect and RequiredFieldValidator

[BK]

I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control
(listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make sure
that someone has items in the listbox.

The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of client-side
javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).

Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating the
HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the RequiredFieldValidator
always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails validation
(I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there some
trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control? Some
property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small setting
that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to keep
struggling.

Any help is appreciated,
Thanks

[Karl Seguin]

I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added items.

Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1

but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they aren't
added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...

Karl
--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control
(listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make
sure
that someone has items in the listbox.

The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
client-side
javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).

Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating the
HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the RequiredFieldValidator
always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails validation
(I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there some
trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control?
Some
property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small
setting
that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to keep
struggling.

Any help is appreciated,
Thanks

[BK]

OK, this sort of makes sense to me. But, all the documentation that I have
read says that the RequiredFieldValidator works with an HtmlSelect server
control. I guess what you are saying is that the items need to be added
server-side for this to work?

Also, if this is the case, then is there a way to add them to the viewstate
in the described scenario or will I have to do some kind of convoluted
CustomValidation where I check the Request collection? Based upon the FAQ
below, I am assuming that converting to web controls wouldn't solve the
problem either - this seems to be a client vs server side issue with regard
to how the validation works.

Brian

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added items.
Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1

but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they aren't
added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...

Karl
--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control
(listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make
sure
that someone has items in the listbox.

The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
client-side
javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).

Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating the
HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the RequiredFieldValidator always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails validation (I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there some
trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control?
Some
property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small
setting
that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to keep
struggling.

Any help is appreciated,
Thanks

[Karl Seguin]

You are pretty much right about everything. Though I would expect the
client-side validation to still work (not necessarily ideal since it only
works in IE...)

-items need to be added server-side
-going to dropdownlist (server control) wouldn't change anything
-you'll need to write your own validator and use request.form

Cheers,
Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O3****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

OK, this sort of makes sense to me. But, all the documentation that I have
read says that the RequiredFieldValidator works with an HtmlSelect server
control. I guess what you are saying is that the items need to be added
server-side for this to work?

Also, if this is the case, then is there a way to add them to the
viewstate
in the described scenario or will I have to do some kind of convoluted
CustomValidation where I check the Request collection? Based upon the FAQ
below, I am assuming that converting to web controls wouldn't solve the
problem either - this seems to be a client vs server side issue with
regard
to how the validation works.

Brian

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added

items.

Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1

but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they
aren't
added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...

Karl
--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

> I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control
> (listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make
> sure
> that someone has items in the listbox.
>
> The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
> client-side
> javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).
>
> Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating the
> HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the RequiredFieldValidator > always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails validation > (I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
> ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there
> some
> trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control?
> Some
> property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small
> setting
> that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to keep
> struggling.
>
> Any help is appreciated,
> Thanks
>
>

[BK]

I'm still having trouble with this, here is what I have done (I'm not using
client-side validation, by the way - customer requirement):

1) As I mentioned before, everything works fine client-side in terms of
items being added to the HtmlSelect control. I get a nice list of items in
my form, as expected. In addition, I have a hidden input field that holds a
string representation of the values, so that I can persist between
postbacks. For the sake of argument, lets call my HtmlSelect (which is
runat=server) "lstValues" and my hidden input (which is also runat=server)
"hdnValues".

2) Now, from what I understand, I should be able to truly populate the
HtmlSelect control (as .NET sees it) on the server-side, so that when
validation rolls around in the page event cycle, it will see that items have
been added. This is where confusion sets in.

3) It seems that Page_Init is too early to set any values because
"hdnValues" is always an empty string. So, that doesn't work.

4) I have tried adding IPostbackDataHandler to my page and implementing
LoadPostbackData, but this doesn't seem to work. The values are set, but the
validation still fails.

5) I have tried adding multiple other events that supposedly occur before
validation and populating lstValues there, but all to no avail. Validation
still fails.

6) I have googled and read everything that I can find, but nothing seem to
work.

This cannot be this difficult. I feel like I have all that I need on the
client-side, I just need to know what to do and where to do it in the
code-behind in order to catch the page event before validation and populate
lstValues with the items that I have. Also, from what I understand (and I
have observed the problem, so I know its true) CustomValidators don't work
with HtmlSelect - the event doesn't fire, so that is not an option either.

Any help is appreciated, I have been working on this all day....

TIA
BK

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:Ot**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

You are pretty much right about everything. Though I would expect the
client-side validation to still work (not necessarily ideal since it only
works in IE...)

-items need to be added server-side
-going to dropdownlist (server control) wouldn't change anything
-you'll need to write your own validator and use request.form

Cheers,
Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O3****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

OK, this sort of makes sense to me. But, all the documentation that I have read says that the RequiredFieldValidator works with an HtmlSelect server control. I guess what you are saying is that the items need to be added
server-side for this to work?

Also, if this is the case, then is there a way to add them to the
viewstate
in the described scenario or will I have to do some kind of convoluted
CustomValidation where I check the Request collection? Based upon the FAQ below, I am assuming that converting to web controls wouldn't solve the
problem either - this seems to be a client vs server side issue with
regard
to how the validation works.

Brian

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added

items.

Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1

but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they
aren't
added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...

Karl
--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control > (listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make > sure
> that someone has items in the listbox.
>
> The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
> client-side
> javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).
>
> Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating the
> HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the

RequiredFieldValidator

> always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails

validation

> (I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
> ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there
> some
> trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control? > Some
> property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small
> setting
> that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to keep
> struggling.
>
> Any help is appreciated,
> Thanks
>
>

[Karl Seguin]

The information will be available in the Page_Load event. It's loaded in
the LoadPostbackData event of the individual contorl - not the pages.

Why not just write your own validation event....By the time you get to a
bottom's click event, the data is there, write a function "IsCustomValide()"
which checks to see if hdnValues has a value?

Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eb**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

I'm still having trouble with this, here is what I have done (I'm not
using
client-side validation, by the way - customer requirement):

1) As I mentioned before, everything works fine client-side in terms of
items being added to the HtmlSelect control. I get a nice list of items in
my form, as expected. In addition, I have a hidden input field that holds
a
string representation of the values, so that I can persist between
postbacks. For the sake of argument, lets call my HtmlSelect (which is
runat=server) "lstValues" and my hidden input (which is also runat=server)
"hdnValues".

2) Now, from what I understand, I should be able to truly populate the
HtmlSelect control (as .NET sees it) on the server-side, so that when
validation rolls around in the page event cycle, it will see that items
have
been added. This is where confusion sets in.

3) It seems that Page_Init is too early to set any values because
"hdnValues" is always an empty string. So, that doesn't work.

4) I have tried adding IPostbackDataHandler to my page and implementing
LoadPostbackData, but this doesn't seem to work. The values are set, but
the
validation still fails.

5) I have tried adding multiple other events that supposedly occur before
validation and populating lstValues there, but all to no avail. Validation
still fails.

6) I have googled and read everything that I can find, but nothing seem to
work.

This cannot be this difficult. I feel like I have all that I need on the
client-side, I just need to know what to do and where to do it in the
code-behind in order to catch the page event before validation and
populate
lstValues with the items that I have. Also, from what I understand (and I
have observed the problem, so I know its true) CustomValidators don't work
with HtmlSelect - the event doesn't fire, so that is not an option either.

Any help is appreciated, I have been working on this all day....

TIA
BK

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:Ot**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

You are pretty much right about everything. Though I would expect the
client-side validation to still work (not necessarily ideal since it only
works in IE...)

-items need to be added server-side
-going to dropdownlist (server control) wouldn't change anything
-you'll need to write your own validator and use request.form

Cheers,
Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O3****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

> OK, this sort of makes sense to me. But, all the documentation that I have > read says that the RequiredFieldValidator works with an HtmlSelect server > control. I guess what you are saying is that the items need to be added
> server-side for this to work?
>
> Also, if this is the case, then is there a way to add them to the
> viewstate
> in the described scenario or will I have to do some kind of convoluted
> CustomValidation where I check the Request collection? Based upon the FAQ > below, I am assuming that converting to web controls wouldn't solve the
> problem either - this seems to be a client vs server side issue with
> regard
> to how the validation works.
>
> Brian
>
> "Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
> wrote in message news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added
> items.
>>
>> Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1
>>
>> but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they
>> aren't
>> added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
>> postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...
>>
>> Karl
>>
>>
>> --
>> MY ASP.Net tutorials
>> http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
>> annoying)
>> http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
>> come!)
>>
>>
>> "BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>> > I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server control >> > (listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to make >> > sure
>> > that someone has items in the listbox.
>> >
>> > The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
>> > client-side
>> > javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).
>> >
>> > Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating
>> > the
>> > HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the
> RequiredFieldValidator
>> > always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails
> validation
>> > (I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
>> > ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there
>> > some
>> > trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect control? >> > Some
>> > property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small
>> > setting
>> > that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to
>> > keep
>> > struggling.
>> >
>> > Any help is appreciated,
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

[BK]

There is a requirement to use the validation controls (if possible, I
guess). And, there is a common page structure that does the standard
Page.Validate and Page.IsValid. So, it would be preferrable to have these
evaluate properly. Is there not a page event that I can override, load the
HtmlSelect with the values in the hdnValues field and expect the validators
to work?

If I am understanding you correctly, you are suggesting that I simply write
a function to see if something is there. If my purpose were simply to know
if something had been entered that would be a fine solution, but what I am
really trying to do is understand how I fit this within the context of using
the server-side validation controls (requiredfieldvalidator), since that is
the architecture that has been laid out.

If the server-side validation is driving off of viewstate, isn't there a
page event somewhere during the postback that I can modify the viewstate so
that the requiredfieldvalidator sees that the HtmlSelect is no longer
empty???

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

The information will be available in the Page_Load event. It's loaded in
the LoadPostbackData event of the individual contorl - not the pages.

Why not just write your own validation event....By the time you get to a
bottom's click event, the data is there, write a function "IsCustomValide()" which checks to see if hdnValues has a value?

Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eb**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

I'm still having trouble with this, here is what I have done (I'm not
using
client-side validation, by the way - customer requirement):

1) As I mentioned before, everything works fine client-side in terms of
items being added to the HtmlSelect control. I get a nice list of items in my form, as expected. In addition, I have a hidden input field that holds a
string representation of the values, so that I can persist between
postbacks. For the sake of argument, lets call my HtmlSelect (which is
runat=server) "lstValues" and my hidden input (which is also runat=server) "hdnValues".

2) Now, from what I understand, I should be able to truly populate the
HtmlSelect control (as .NET sees it) on the server-side, so that when
validation rolls around in the page event cycle, it will see that items
have
been added. This is where confusion sets in.

3) It seems that Page_Init is too early to set any values because
"hdnValues" is always an empty string. So, that doesn't work.

4) I have tried adding IPostbackDataHandler to my page and implementing
LoadPostbackData, but this doesn't seem to work. The values are set, but
the
validation still fails.

5) I have tried adding multiple other events that supposedly occur before validation and populating lstValues there, but all to no avail. Validation still fails.

6) I have googled and read everything that I can find, but nothing seem to work.

This cannot be this difficult. I feel like I have all that I need on the
client-side, I just need to know what to do and where to do it in the
code-behind in order to catch the page event before validation and
populate
lstValues with the items that I have. Also, from what I understand (and I have observed the problem, so I know its true) CustomValidators don't work with HtmlSelect - the event doesn't fire, so that is not an option either.
Any help is appreciated, I have been working on this all day....

TIA
BK

"Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net>
wrote in message news:Ot**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

You are pretty much right about everything. Though I would expect the
client-side validation to still work (not necessarily ideal since it only works in IE...)

-items need to be added server-side
-going to dropdownlist (server control) wouldn't change anything
-you'll need to write your own validator and use request.form

Cheers,
Karl

--
MY ASP.Net tutorials
http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
annoying)
http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to
come!)
"BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O3****************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> OK, this sort of makes sense to me. But, all the documentation that I

have

> read says that the RequiredFieldValidator works with an HtmlSelect

server

> control. I guess what you are saying is that the items need to be added > server-side for this to work?
>
> Also, if this is the case, then is there a way to add them to the
> viewstate
> in the described scenario or will I have to do some kind of convoluted > CustomValidation where I check the Request collection? Based upon the

FAQ

> below, I am assuming that converting to web controls wouldn't solve the > problem either - this seems to be a client vs server side issue with
> regard
> to how the validation works.
>
> Brian
>
> "Karl Seguin" <karl REMOVE @ REMOVE openmymind REMOVEMETOO . ANDME net> > wrote in message news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> I wouldn't expect server-side validation to work on client-side added > items.
>>
>> Take a look at: http://openmymind.net/FAQ.aspx?documentId=1
>>
>> but the quick answer is that when you add items in javascript, they
>> aren't
>> added to the viewstate which means they won't be recreated on
>> postback...explains why your htmlselect is empty...
>>
>> Karl
>>
>>
>> --
>> MY ASP.Net tutorials
>> http://www.openmymind.net/ - New and Improved (yes, the popup is
>> annoying)
>> http://www.openmymind.net/faq.aspx - unofficial newsgroup FAQ (more to >> come!)
>>
>>
>> "BK" <no*****@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:uM*************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>> > I'm having a really strange problem with and HtmlSelect server

control

>> > (listbox) and a RequiredFieldValidator that I am trying to use to

make

>> > sure
>> > that someone has items in the listbox.
>> >
>> > The way that the HtmlSelect is populated is via a combination of
>> > client-side
>> > javascript and another aspx page (launched by the javascript).
>> >
>> > Anyway, everything seems to work just fine in terms of populating
>> > the
>> > HtmlSelect. However, when I postback the form, the
> RequiredFieldValidator
>> > always thinks that there is nothing in the HtmlSelect and fails
> validation
>> > (I am only using server-side validation, by the way). I have the
>> > ControlToValidate and all those things hooked up properly. Is there >> > some
>> > trick to setting the RequiredFieldValidator for an HtmlSelect

control?

>> > Some
>> > property that I am not setting?? I suspect that there is some small >> > setting
>> > that I am missing, but I have spent way too much time on this to
>> > keep
>> > struggling.
>> >
>> > Any help is appreciated,
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>