ASP.net extra controls on page

Question

I have to list all controls on a page. I do it like so

protected void listControls(Control c)
{
    if (c.HasControls())
    {
        tb_message.Text += String.Format("{0}{1}", c.ID, System.Environment.NewLine);
        foreach (Control control in c.Controls)
        {
            tb_message.Text += String.Format("{0}{1}", control.ID, System.Environment.NewLine);
            listControls(control);
        }
    }
}

Why is the output like this (+ an extra two empty lines at the beginning)

    form1

    tb_life_cycle

    tb_message

    btn_button

If I only have the following controls: tb_life_cycle, tb_message, btn_button + the form form1? Thank you

you have the same controls listed in the output as the controls you say you have in expected results. [Duplicate Question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7362482/c-sharp-get-all-web-controls-on-page)? — crunchy, Jan 03 '14 at 15:38
He's probably talking about the "(+ an extra two empty lines at the beginning)" — Nick V, Jan 03 '14 at 15:40
I only add a new line after the control ID, so why are the two empty lines at the beginning and also after every control ID? — luca.p.alexandru, Jan 03 '14 at 15:43

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 03 '14 at 15:58

ASP.NET Web Forms adds several controls to a Control collection so that it can render things like plain text (defined as part of the ASPX designer.) You'll probably find that the extra controls you weren't expecting as part of your output are LiteralControls generated by ASP.NET.

Try also including the Type of each control as part of your output.

protected void listControls(Control c) {
    if (c.HasControls()) {
        litText.Text += String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", c.GetType(), c.ID, System.Environment.NewLine);
        foreach (Control control in c.Controls) {
            litText.Text += String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", control.GetType(), control.ID, System.Environment.NewLine);
            listControls(control);
        }
    }
}

ASP.net extra controls on page

1 Answers1