Error ::Invalid token '=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration

Question

trying to hide a panel of Master Page in my content page using the following code

 Panel p = this.Master.FindControl("panel1") as Panel;  
 p.Visible = false; //Error is showing on this line

Why this error ?

Answer 1

I suspect you've got the code like this:

class MyPage : Page
{
    Panel p = this.Master.FindControl("panel1") as Panel;  
    p.Visible = false;
}

You can't just put code in the class like that - everything other than declarations (eg fields) needs to be in a method:

class MyPage : Page
{
    public void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Panel p = this.Master.FindControl("panel1") as Panel;  
        p.Visible = false;
    }
}