How do I make an attribute on a custom user/server control be mandatory?

Question

If certain attributes on built-in ASP.NET controls aren't specified, then an exception will be thrown.

How do I do this on my custom user/server control?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 24 '11 at 14:21

1

One approach would be to ensure the getter on the property checks for an 'unset' state and throws an exception if that's found to be true.

answered Feb 24 '11 at 14:21

Lazarus

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 24 '11 at 14:43

0

Is there any specific reason why you want to throw an exception ?

The standard approach is to assign a default value if nothing is specified by the user. Another alternative is already mentioned above by Lazarus.

answered Feb 24 '11 at 14:43

I want the user to have to explicitly provide the attribute. If I make it silently use a default, then its behaviour may be unpredictable from the user's perspective, and debugging will be more difficult. If they're forced to set it, then it's less prone to user error. – crdx Feb 24 '11 at 15:14

2 Answers2