Viewstate of ascx lost between postbacks
asp.net, viewstate
Solution
Take a look at the ASP.NET Page Life Cycle and Understanding View State. View State gets loaded after Initialization, so you won't be able to access it in `Page_Init`. You'd be better off using a hidden field.
If you are dead set on using View State, the earliest you can get to it would be by overriding the `LoadViewState` method (Remember to call `base.LoadViewState` before trying to access it though).
Problem
In my ASP.NET application, I am loading an .ascx dynamically using LoadControl, using the following pattern: ``` var ctrl = LoadControl("/path/to/control.ascx"); ((ControlType)ctrl).SomeProperty = someData; placeholder.Controls.Add(ctrl); ``` The control that I add saves the SomeProperty property value directly to ViewState, as follows: ``` public int? SomeProperty { get { return (int?)ViewState["SomeProperty"]; } set { ViewState["SomeProperty"] = value; } } ``` After that, the ascx control lives a life on its own and all is well until postback occurs. When the page posts back, suddenly the view state is empty! I suspect this happens because I manipulate the ViewState before I add the instantiated ascx to my page. Also, I can prevent the ViewState from getting lost by adding the following line in the `Page_Load()` method of my ascx control: ``` SomeProperty = SomeProperty; ``` I have to do the above for each and every property to ensure that the ViewState is preserved. Now, is there a prettier way of doing this? Manipulating the ViewState after the instantiated .ascx has been added to the page is not an option - I need the contents of the ViewState in the `Page_Init()` and `Page_Load()` methods, which are triggered the instant I add the .ascx to my page. Thanks.