Cannot use ListItems when inheriting from DropDownList

[Nathan Sokalski]

I am creating a control in which I inherit from the DropDownList. The only
method that I override is RenderContents. Here is my basic code:

Public Class StatesDropDownList : Inherits DropDownList

Protected Overrides Sub RenderContents(ByVal writer As
System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter)
'I add several items to the Items property here using Me.Items.Add()
MyBase.RenderContents(writer)
End Sub

End Class

However, when I attempt to add ListItems declaratively (by placing
<asp:ListItem/> tags between the opening and closing tags for my control),
Visual Studio 2005 tells me "Element 'ListItem' is not a known element." I
am inheriting from DropDownList, and DropDownList works fine even in the
same Page, so shouldn't my control allow <asp:ListItem/> tags as well? Any
help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[PJ on Development]

Hi, Nathan.

You need to specify a ControlBuilder.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.controlbuilder(VS.85)..aspx

The ControlBuilder object must know how to create the items.

Regards,

Paulo Santos
http://pjondevelopment.50webs.com