>>>Hi all,
>>>
>>>I have used place holder controls fairly often for adding user controls dynamically at runtime. Typically, I can access a placeholder directly and just add a control like this.
>>>

>>>ctrlSpecialSpecs specialSpecControl = (ctrlSpecialSpecs)Page.LoadControl("~/ORCSelection/UserControls/ctrlSpecialSpecs.ascx");
>>>           
>>>// Add the Control to the Placeholder
>>>this.holdSpecialSpecs.Controls.Add(specialSpecControl);
>>>

>>>
>>>Currently I have a place holder that is inside another complex control and accessing it this way just doesn't work as the control is not visible. I tried to do a find control like this, but get a null reference exception on the control.
>>>

>>>mmPlaceHolder defendantHolder = (mmPlaceHolder)this.Page.FindControl("holdDefendant");
>>>defendantHolder.Controls.Add(defendantDisplay);
>>>

>>>
>>>It is defined on the page like this; very straight forward.
>>>

>>> <mm:mmPlaceHolder ID="holdDefendant" runat="server" >
>>> </mm:mmPlaceHolder>
>>>

>>>
>>>Anybody have any ideas on how to get access to this control?
>>>Thanks
>>>Tim
>>
>>Based on a suggestion of Paul, here is what I use (sorry, we're a VB shop)
>>
>>

>> '*****************************************************************************
>>    'Description:
>>    '   Recursively searches for a control with Id property = controlID
>>    '   
>>    'Input Parameters: 
>>    '   Control to search
>>    '   controlID to search for
>>    ' 
>>    'Returned:  
>>    '   Control or Nothing
>>    '
>>    'Change Log:
>>    '2009.12.24 hewbxk  Defect 2955   Created  
>>    '
>>    '*****************************************************************************
>>    Public Function FindMyControl(Of T As Web.UI.Control)(ByVal controlToSearch As T, _
>>        ByVal controlID As String) As Control
>>
>>        Dim matchingControl As Control = Nothing
>>
>>        Try
>>            For Each subControl As Control In controlToSearch.Controls
>>                If ((Not subControl.ID Is Nothing) AndAlso (subControl.ID.EndsWith(controlID))) Then
>>                    matchingControl = subControl
>>                    Exit For
>>
>>                Else
>>                    If (Not matchingControl Is Nothing) Then    'found it
>>                        Exit For
>>
>>                    ElseIf subControl.HasControls() Then
>>                        matchingControl = Me.FindMyControl(subControl, controlID)
>>
>>                    End If
>>
>>                End If
>>
>>            Next
>>
>>        Catch objEx As Exception
>>            Throw
>>
>>        Finally
>>            FindMyControl = matchingControl
>>
>>        End Try
>>
>>    End Function
>>

>
>Hi Bruce,
>
>Thanks for the VB code, I should be able to translate that no problem. I am guessing you have this in a general use place and must pass in the page. It is a recursive call to itself which is something I have seen but never done. I will see what I can do to utilize this. Thanks!!
>Tim


Yes, you can pass in anything that inherits from Web.UI.Control (which Page does). Hope it helps.