problem with username in forms authentication

[Pradeep]

hi,
im using forms authentication, but instead of the default login control
that ships with asp.net, im using set of text boxes for user name and
password... Now how to pass this user name and password to the
membership providers ? so that it considers the value in the text box
as username... i tried calling validate user method in the membership
provider class, but when i use User.Identity.Name, it just returns
null...Could someone help me solve this problem..
Bye
Pradeep