Server-side validation within an ASP.Net User Control

Question

I'm trying to get some User Controls I'm writing to perform their own server-side validation, checking the database to ensure that certain criteria are valid. In one case the control doesn't even accept any input, it just displayed some information based on database state.

I know the ASP.Net has its own validation framework, and I'm keen not to re-invent the wheel. However, I'd like the controls to check whether they're valid themselves (that seems more object oriented to me), rather than having to create custom validators on every page on which I place the controls. I've had a quick look at the IValidator interface, but this seems to be targeted at Validators, rather than the controls themselves. It seems cleaner to me to have the control itself check the entered data (where appropriate) and database state and report whether or not it is valid.

Is this possible in ASP.Net without re-writing the whole of the ASP.Net validation framework, or am I just trying to go about this in completely the wrong way?

Answer 1

It turns out I was close with the IValidator stuff, just missing the link to the Page.Validators collection. Here's a fully worked example:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/custom-controls/selfvalidatingtextbox.aspx

Hard to believe how much time I spent looking for this yesterday!